People are always curious about, well, other people. We read horoscopes, take quizzes, and some of us even sign up for surveys with titles like, “What superhero character are you?” The truth is that most of us want to understand ourselves, and others, better. Psychology is a great way to do that, but it’s hard to narrow down exactly who someone is unless you have clear guidelines. This is where we turn to scientific models. One model, developed in the ’80s under an area of study called psychological trait theory, broke down personality into five neat little aspects. By combining where you fall in each aspect, you can have a better understanding of who you are as a person. Let’s take a look at this model, called the Five-Factor Model, to figure out how people are.
1. Openness to experience.
In the general scheme of things, openness to experience is exactly what it sounds like. How open-minded are you when it comes to trying or thinking about things outside of your normal sphere? If you’re very open, you’ll find that you’re inventive and very curious. These people self-examine often and tend to have more artistic tendencies. On the other hand, you might be most closed off to experiences, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This could mean you have a lifestyle that is very consistent and cautious – basically, you don’t rock the boat. These people are more comfortable with familiar and traditional experiences. Upbringing plays a big part in this. Generally, most people score in the middle of the spectrum, but there are always some who lean towards the extremes.
2. Conscientiousness.
This personality trait has to do with being careful or diligent… or not. More conscientious people are efficient and organized. This aligns more with the type-A personalities who follow a dependable structure, tending to be neat and systematic. While this can be good, the negative side is the extreme case who may be labeled as a “workaholic” or “perfectionist”. On the other end, you have less conscientious people, sometimes referred to as “easy-going”. Of course, every trait has its boundary, and having too little conscientiousness will put you under the label of being “careless” or “disorderly”. A little balance goes a long way on this one.
3. Extraversion (Extroversion).
When it comes to extraversion, the higher you score, the more outgoing you tend to be; The lower you score, the more introverted, or reserved you tend to be. Extroverted people are probably what you imagine – the life of the party, someone who starts a conversation with strangers, and a person who needs a higher level of socialization in their day-to-day life. Lower scorers may prefer to stay home doing a solitary activity, and don’t feel the need to spend much time in packed, loud places. The extremes of both include the obnoxious person who always needs to be the center of attention or the hermit who never leaves their room. We definitely see people falling all over the spectrum on this one.
4. Agreeableness.
Agreeableness follows a line that includes qualities like sympathy, cooperation, warmness, and consideration. Everyone has these qualities, but in vastly different quantities depending on the person. Do you consider yourself to be extra-friendly? Or, perhaps, you are more of a challenger when it comes to conversation. The extremes include someone who is self-sacrificing, or, on the other hand, someone manipulative. Think of that person who lets everyone walk all over them or a murderer. Don’t worry, though, most of us will find ourselves somewhere in the middle of this spectrum!
5. Neuroticism.
While neuroticism sounds extreme, scoring a bit high on this one does not necessarily mean you are a cuckoo. It actually evaluates emotional stability. How often do you feel anxious, frustrated, or down? Many people are sensitive more often than not, and those people will score higher on this branch. If instead, you feel more confident and secure in your emotions, you will score lower on this aspect. We all have our ups and downs, so be sure to evaluate yourself on a day you feel “normal”, whatever that might mean to you. You don’t want to take a neuroticism test on the day you win the lottery, nor on the day you fail an exam. Otherwise, you may score an extreme that isn’t true!
Conclusion:
These Big Five Traits, nicknamed O.C.E.A.N. as an acronym, are used often in psychology studies around personality. As you have probably noticed, each trait has its extremes, but the “average” person tends to fall in the middle of most of them. There are plenty of tests around this method that you can find online, and I definitely recommend you take five minutes to do one for a bit of fun! Just a word of caution, though; as I mentioned in number five, it’s important to note that you may score totally different on an O.C.E.A.N. test one day than another. What happened during your day, or even your week or month may push you to one extreme of the test. So, just do your best to take these tests on what you’d consider being a “normal” day or week. After all, no one wants to be labeled a closed-off, disagreeable, hermit, crazy person, right? There you have it, the big five personality traits.