A Framework of Behavior

Organization of the Framework

The ACT behavioral skills framework is hierarchical; at the highest level, it includes six broad domains of behavior and drills down into more detailed (and age-appropriate) components, subcomponents, and behavioral skill dimensions. In addition to components of behavior, the framework also includes additional levels of specificity that are developmentally appropriate and aligned to important school and work transitions. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a comprehensive and detailed model has been advanced (see Figure 6 for an illustration of the framework’s hierarchical organization). The work was generally guided by the HEXACO taxonomy (Ashton et al., 2004); such that an attempt was made to group behavioral skill dimensions within the appropriate HEXACO domains.

The behavioral skills framework’s highest-order domains are consistent with HEXACO (see Table 6 for a full list of ACT behavioral domains and definitions, and their respective components and subcomponents). Altogether, the framework includes 23 components and 50 subcomponents, and— unlike other frameworks in the behavior and personality literature—it is not symmetrical. This reflects the extant research and expert opinion as to the relative importance and utility of certain domains for education and work outcomes. For example, the Sustaining Effort domain has the largest number of components and subcomponents and reflects the research evidence that Conscientiousness is the most consistently important behavioral predictor of education and work outcomes (e.g., Poropat, 2009; Sacket & Walmsley, 2014; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Figure 7 provides two examples of how the behavioral skills in this framework provide a richer description than the components and subcomponents that are included in much other taxonomy.

Table 6. Domains, Components, and Subcomponents of the ACT Behavioral Framework

Domains	Components	Subcomponents
Acting Honestly (Honesty-Humility) Describes the extent to which a person values and adheres to ethical and moral standards of behavior, as well as personal level of humility	Genuineness Being sincere and truthful in interactions, appropriately giving others credit, and acknowledging his or her mistakes	Truthfulness
		Acceptance of Responsibility
	Fairness* Acting in ways that are intended to be unbiased and fair to everyone	Fairness
	Modesty* Being humble about achievements, presenting a realistic view of himself or herself, and avoiding boasting or acting superior to others	Modesty
Keeping an Open Mind (Openness to Experience) Describes a person’s level of open-mindedness and curiosity about a variety of ideas, beliefs, people, and experiences	Creativity Generating original ideas, using existing ideas or things in new ways, and having an active imagination	Originality
		Active Imagination
	Curiosity Seeking out information to better understand a wide range of topic areas and/or obtaining a depth of understanding in one topic area that goes beyond what is required	Information Seeking
		Depth of Knowledge
	Flexibility Adapting to new environments and making adjustments to accommodate changes	Environmental Adaptability
		Accommodation
	Accepting Differences Being open-minded and accepting of ideas, cultures, and ways of doing things that are different from his or her own	Open-mindedness
		Embracing Diversity
Maintaining Composure (Emotionality) Describes the extent to which a person is relatively calm, serene, and able to manage emotions effectively	Stress Tolerance The degree to which a person can control feelings of anxiety and other negative emotions in order to function effectively in a range of situations	Worry Management
		Negative Feeling Management
	Self-Confidence A tendency to be self-assured and to make decisions without needing a lot of input from others	Decisiveness
		Independence
Socializing with Others (Extraversion) Describes a person’s preferred level of social interaction, behavior in interpersonal situations, and optimism	Assertiveness Influencing others and preferring to be in charge in social interactions and group activities	Taking Charge
		Influence
	Optimism The degree to which a person expresses a positive mood and a positive outlook	Cheerful Mood
		Positive Outlook
	Sociability Seeking out and enjoying situations involving interpersonal interaction and building relationships with others	Interacting with Others
		Networking
Getting Along with Others (Agreeableness) Describes the extent to which a person interacts positively and cooperates with others, and is generally kind, friendly, and tactful	Cooperation Being respectful, polite, collaborative, and skilled at working through conflict with other people	Respect for Others
		Collaboration
		Conflict Management
	Perspective Taking Identifying, acknowledging, and understanding the emotions of others, showing concern for others, and considering the audience when providing information	Interpreting Emotional Reactions
		Showing Concern
		Considering the Audience
	Goodwill Assuming others have good intentions, trusting others, being able to forgive and not holding grudges	Forgiveness
		Trust
	Helpfulness Helping others and being generous with his or her time and/or resources despite personal cost	Assisting Others
		Selflessness
	Patience Tolerating frustrations presented by others or by situations without expressing irritation or hostility	Tolerating Frustrations with Others
		Tolerating Situational Frustrations
Sustaining Effort (Conscientiousness) Describes a person's level of diligence, effort, organization, self-control, and compliance	Dependability Reliably fulfilling responsibilities, meeting deadlines, and producing quality work	Timeliness
		Follow Through
		Quality
	Order Planning and organizing tasks and materials, creating schedules, monitoring progress, and paying close attention to details	Organization
		Planning
		Monitoring
	Persistence Working hard, making progress on relevant tasks, and maintaining focus despite setbacks or difficulties	Overcoming Challenges
		Maintaining Effort
		Focusing
	Rule Consciousness Following rules and procedures and complying with authority	Compliance
		Respect for Rules/Authority
	Goal Striving Setting challenging goals, doing tasks without being told, and working to improve or learn new skills	Self-Improvement
		Initiative
		Goal Setting
	Self-Control Managing impulses and weighing the consequences of one’s behavior before acting	Restraint
		Thinking Before Acting

Only one subcomponent exists for this component.

Figure 7. Examples of Behavioral Skill Domains

Persistence is part of the Sustaining Effort domain and includes behavioral skills associated with working hard, making progress on relevant tasks, and maintaining focus despite setbacks or difficulties. Persistence is further subdivided into three subcomponents describing narrower sets of behavior, each associated with more specific behavioral skill examples: (1) Overcoming Challenges (e.g., working through obstacles in order to complete tasks, responding to failure by trying harder), (2) Maintaining Effort (e.g., steadily making effort on tasks over time; putting forth effort on tasks even when he or she finds them boring, uninteresting, or unimportant), and (3) Focusing (e.g., focusing attention on current task despite distractions, spending a sufficient amount of time focusing all his or her attention on the task at hand without moving to a different task).

Cooperation is part of the Getting Along Well with Others domain and includes behavioral skills associated with being respectful, polite, and collaborative, and with working through conflict with other people. Cooperation is further subdivided into (1) Respect for Others (e.g., using polite and respectful language when speaking to others, not interrupting when others are speaking), (2) Collaboration (e.g., sharing ideas about potential ways to define tasks and/or solve problems, actively listening and asking questions when appropriate to better understand what others are saying), and (3) Conflict Management (e.g., identifying sources of conflict in the group, compromising with others in order to resolve conflict).