Big 5 Personality Traits | Psychology Today

Big 5 Personality Traits ; Openness to experience (includes aspects such as intellectual curiosity and creative imagination) ; Conscientiousness (organization, ... Skiptomaincontent Big5PersonalityTraits ReviewedbyPsychologyTodayStaff Thedifferencesbetweenpeople’spersonalitiescanbebrokendownintermsoffivemajortraits—oftencalledthe“BigFive.”Eachonereflectsakeypartofhowapersonthinks,feels,andbehaves.TheBigFivetraitsare: Opennesstoexperience(includesaspectssuchasintellectualcuriosityandcreativeimagination) Conscientiousness(organization,productiveness,responsibility) Extroversion(sociability,assertiveness;itsoppositeisIntroversion) Agreeableness(compassion,respectfulness,trustinothers) Neuroticism(tendenciestowardanxietyanddepression) Individualpersonalitiesarethoughttofeatureeachofthesefivebroadtraitstosomedegree.Whenthetraitsaremeasured,somepeopleratehigherandothersratelower:Someonecanbemoreconscientiousandlessagreeablethanmostpeople,forinstance,whilescoringaboutaverageontheothertraits.Thesetraitsremainfairlystableduringadulthood. PeoplecanalsodifferonthemorespecificfacetsthatmakeupeachoftheBigFivetraits.Arelativelyextrovertedpersonmightbehighlysociablebutnotespeciallyassertive. Thefive-factormodeliswidelyusedbypersonalityresearchers,butitisnottheonlymodel.Amorerecentlyintroducedsix-factormodelknownasHEXACOaddsthefactorofhonesty-humilitytotheoriginalfivetraits. Contents MeasuringtheBigFive WhytheBigFiveMatter OtherPersonalityTests HowtheBigFivePersonalityTraitsAreMeasured TheBigFivetraitsaretypicallyassessedusingoneofmultiplequestionnaires.Whilethesetestsvaryintheexacttermstheyuseforeachtrait,theyessentiallycoverthesamebroaddimensions,providinghigh-to-lowscoresoneach:opennesstoexperience(alsocalledopen-mindednessorjustopenness),conscientiousness,extroversion(thereverseofwhichisintroversion),agreeableness,andneuroticism(sometimesnegativeemotionalityoremotionalstability). Onetest,thelatestversionoftheBigFiveInventory,askshowmuchapersonagreesordisagreesthatheorsheissomeonewhoexemplifiesvariousspecificstatements,suchas: “Iscuriousaboutmanydifferentthings”(foropenness,oropen-mindedness) “Issystematic,likestokeepthingsinorder”(forconscientiousness) “Isoutgoing,sociable”(forextroversion) “Iscompassionate,hasasoftheart”(foragreeableness) “Ismoody,hasupanddownmoodswings”(forneuroticism,ornegativeemotionality) Basedonaperson’sratingsfordozensofthesestatements(orfewer,forothertests),anaveragescorecanbecalculatedforeachofthefivetraits. WhatdoesyourscoreontheBigFivetellyou? CreatedwithSketch. ScoresonaBigFivequestionnaireprovideasenseofhowloworhighapersonratesonacontinuumforeachtrait.Comparingthosescorestoalargesampleoftesttakers—assomeonlinetestsdo—offersapictureofhowopen,conscientious,extroverted(orintroverted),agreeable,andneuroticoneisrelativetoothers.  HowweretheBigFivetraitsdetermined? CreatedwithSketch. AnalyzingEnglishwordsusedtodescribepersonalitytraits,researchersusedstatisticaltechniquestoidentifyclustersofrelatedcharacteristics.Thisledtoasmallnumberofoverarchingtraitdimensionsthatpersonalitypsychologistshavescientificallytestedinlargepopulationsamples. WhodevelopedtheBigFivepersonalitytraits? CreatedwithSketch. TheBigFivewerenotdeterminedbyanyoneperson—theyhaverootsintheworkofvariousresearchersgoingbacktothe1930s.In1961,ErnestTupesandRaymondChristalidentifiedfivepersonalityfactorsthatotherswouldreanalyzeandrename.LewisGoldbergusedthetermBigFivein1981todescribethesebroadfactors.  DoBigFivetestsmeasuremorespecifictraits? CreatedwithSketch. SomeBigFivequestionnairesbreakthefivemaintraitsdownintosmallersub-componentsor“facets,”whicharecorrelatedwitheachotherbutcanbeindependentlymeasured.IntheBigFiveInventory,forinstance,“sociability”and“assertiveness”aredistinctfacetsofextroversion,while“organization”and“responsibility”arefacetsofconscientiousness. articlecontinuesafteradvertisement WhytheBigFivePersonalityTraitsAreImportant Thefive-factormodelnotonlyhelpspeoplebetterunderstandhowtheycomparetoothersandtoputnamestotheircharacteristics.It’salsousedtoexplorerelationshipsbetweenpersonalityandmanyotherlifeindicators.Theseincludeconsequentialoutcomessuchasphysicalhealthandwell-beingaswellassuccessinsocial,academic,andprofessionalcontexts.Personalitypsychologistshaveobservedreliableassociationsbetweenhowpeoplerateontraitscalesandhowtheyfareorfeel,onaverage,invariousaspectsoftheirlives. WhatcanBigFivescorestellusaboutotheroutcomes? CreatedwithSketch. Quitealot,atleastinWesternsamples.Thereisreliableevidence,forexample,thatextroversionisassociatedwithsubjectivewell-being,neuroticismwithlowerworkcommitment,andagreeablenesswithreligiousness.Certaintraitshavebeenlinkedtomortalityrisk.However,theseareoverallpatternsanddon’tmeanthatatraitnecessarilycausesanyoftheseoutcomes. CanBigFivepersonalitytraitschange? CreatedwithSketch. Yes.Whilepersonalitytraitmeasurestendtobefairlyconsistentovershortperiodsoftimeinadulthood,theydochangeoverthecourseofalifetime.There’salsoreasontobelievethatdeliberatepersonalitychangeispossible. TheBigFiveandOtherPersonalityTests Variouswaysofrepresentingmajortraitshavebeenproposed,andpersonalityresearcherscontinuetodisagreeonthenumberofdistinctcharacteristicsthatcanbemeasured.Thefive-factormodeldominatestherest,asfaraspsychologistsareconcerned,althoughmultipletypesofassessmentsexisttomeasurethefivetraits. Outsideofacademicpsychology,teststhataimtosortpeopleintopersonalitytypes—includingtheMyers-Briggs/MBTIandEnneagram—arehighlypopular,thoughmanyexpertstakeissuewithsuchtestsonscientificgrounds.Thefive-factormodelhasconceptualandempiricalstrengthsthatotherslack. HowdoBigFivetestscomparetotheMyers-Briggs? CreatedwithSketch. Foranumberofreasons,manypersonalitypsychologistsconsiderBigFivetestssuperiortotheMyers-BriggsTypeIndicator.TheseincludeconcernsaboutthereliabilityofthetypesassignedbytheMyers-Briggsandthevalidityofthetest—thoughthereissomeoverlapbetweenitsdimensions(whichincludeextroversion-introversion)andtheBigFive. DotheBigFivecapturepersonalitytypes? CreatedwithSketch. Itdependsonhowstrictlyyoudefinea“type.”Researchindicatesthatforanygiventrait,peoplefallatvariouspointsalongacontinuumratherthanfittingneatlyintocategories.Whilesomeidentifywholeheartedlyasatotalextrovertorintrovert,forexample,therearemanyshadesinbetween,andmostofuswouldscoresomewhereinthemiddle. DoBigFivetestshaveknownlimitations? CreatedwithSketch. Yes.Somehavecriticizedthefive-factormodelforitsoriginsindataratherthanintheoryandarguedthatitdoesnotencompassallfundamentaltraits(seeHEXACO).ThereisalsoevidencethatcurrenttestsprovidelessreliableresultsoutsideofWestern,industrializedcountries. EssentialReads HowWellDoYouReallyUnderstandYourself? Theideathatself-understandingiscriticaltomentalhealthisalong-standingassumption.Newresearchteststhisassumptionwithanovelapproachtoself-insight. 5ThingsYourDreamsMaySayAboutYourPersonality Researchstudieshaverevealedsignificantlinksbetweenwhoweareduringthedaytimeandwhatfillsourheadsatnight. HowWellDoesYourPartnerReadYou? So,youthinkyouknowyourpartner’spersonality?Newresearchtrackingcouples'perceptionsofeachotherovertimequestionsjusthowaccuratethisknowledgemightbe. WhatYouNeedtoKnowAbouttheTraitofAnankastia Theideathatpersonalitydisordersfallintodistinctcategoriescontinuestobechallengedbyresearchers.Arecentstudyshowswhatyoucangainbylearningaboutanankastia. RecentPosts DoesYourCatLikeYou? NigelBarberPh.D.onSeptember2,2022inTheHumanBeast Animalbehavioristsarerevisingourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweencatsandpeople. Animalbehavioristsarerevisingourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweencatsandpeople. AretheBehaviorsofLargeandSmallDogsReallyDifferent? StanleyCorenPhD.,DSc,FRSConJuly26,2022inCanineCorner Anewanalysisofdogbehavioraldatafindsthatdogsizeissignificantlyrelatedtotheirsociability,activitylevelandemotionalreactivity. Anewanalysisofdogbehavioraldatafindsthatdogsizeissignificantlyrelatedtotheirsociability,activitylevelandemotionalreactivity. TheseSkillsCanBuildSuccessatWorkandatHome PollyCampbellonJuly25,2022inImperfectSpirituality Doyouhavethequalitiesemployerswantmost? Doyouhavethequalitiesemployerswantmost? 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Shouldyoudatesomeonewhoissimilaroryouropposite?Studieshaverepeatedlyquestionedthiscontradictorydatingadvice.Theiranswerisoverwhelminglyclear. WhatDoYourSpendingHabitsSayAboutYourPersonality? BarbaraGreenbergPh.D.onJune6,2022inTheTeenDoctor Ifyouwanttoknowsomeonebetter,watchwhattheydowiththeirmoney. Ifyouwanttoknowsomeonebetter,watchwhattheydowiththeirmoney. Pagination 1 2 Next Big5PersonalityTraitsResources GetHelp Findatherapistnearme CityorZip ConnectedTopics Personality Agreeableness Conscientiousness Extroversion Introversion Neuroticism Openness HEXACO PersonalityChange TestYourself What'sYourPersonalityType? MostPopular UnderstandingDopamineCanHelpUsCreateBetterHabits TheMentalHealthEffectsofGhosting ThereAre5DifferentTypesofRomanticRelationships 6SignsYouAreLyingtoYourself 7SignsofDoominaRelationship TheRelationshipSkillEveryCoupleMustKeepInMind advertisement FindaTherapist Getthehelpyouneedfromatherapistnearyou–aFREEservicefromPsychologyToday. 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