The congruity of the conceptual and empirical structures of personality traits was examined by comparing the structure of trait covariation ratings to the five‐factor structure of self‐reported traits. The covariation ratings were found to be highly reliable, and no evidence of systematic sex or age differences was found. Besides a rough similarity, there were replicable differences between the conceptual and empirical structures. Most importantly, Neuroticism and Extraversion had a weak negative correlation in self‐reports, but were judged to be almost bipolar opposites in covariation ratings; impulsiveness was judged to be a negative indicator of Conscientiousness in covariation ratings, but was equally strongly related to Neuroticism component in self‐ratings. These systematic differences demonstrate that the structure of self‐rated traits is not reducible to semantic similarities of traits descriptors. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.