The Theory Identifies Five Factors:
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Extraversion
(outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved) -
Agreeableness
(friendly/compassionate vs. critical/rational) -
Openness to Experience
(inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious) -
Conscientiousness
(efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless) -
Neuroticism
(sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)
Beneath each proposed global factor, there are a number of correlated and more specific primary factors. For example, extraversion is typically associated with qualities such as gregariousness, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, warmth, activity, and positive emotions. These traits are not black and white, but rather placed on continua.
Family life and upbringing affects these traits. Twin studies and other research have shown that about half of the variation between individuals results from their genetic inheritance and half from their environment. Researchers have found conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and neuroticism to be relatively stable from childhood through adulthood…
Each of the Big Five personality traits contains two separate, but correlated, aspects reflecting a level of personality below the broad domains but above the many facet scales that are also part of the Big Five. The aspects are labeled as follows: Volatility and Withdrawal for Neuroticism; Enthusiasm and Assertiveness for Extraversion; Intellect and Openness for Openness to Experience; Industriousness and Orderliness for Conscientiousness; and Compassion and Politeness for Agreeableness. People who do not exhibit a clear predisposition to a single factor in each dimension above are considered adaptable, moderate and reasonable, yet they can also be perceived as unprincipled, inscrutable and calculating.
Descriptions of the Particular Personality Traits
Openness to Experience: (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious).
Openness to experience is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, open to emotion, sensitive to beauty and willing to try new things. They tend to be, when compared to closed people, more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are also more likely to hold unconventional beliefs. High openness can be perceived as unpredictability or lack of focus, and more likely to engage in risky behavior or drug-taking. Moreover, individuals with high openness are said to pursue self-actualization specifically by seeking out intense, euphoric experiences.
Conversely, those with low openness seek to gain fulfillment through perseverance and are characterized as pragmatic and data-driven – sometimes even perceived to be dogmatic and closed-minded. Some disagreement remains about how to interpret and contextualize the openness factor.
Conscientiousness: (efficient/organized vs. easy- going/careless).
A tendency to display self-discipline, act dutifully, and strive for achievement against measures or outside expectations. It is related to the way in which people control, regulate, and direct their impulses.
High conscientiousness is often perceived as being stubborn and focused.
Low conscientiousness is associated with flexibility and spontaneity, but can also appear as sloppiness and lack of reliability.
High scores on conscientiousness indicate a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
The average level of conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines among older adults.
Extroversion: (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/ reserved).
Extraversion is characterized by breadth of activities (as opposed to depth), surgency from external activity/situations, and energy creation from external means. The trait is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals. They possess high group visibility, like to talk, and assert themselves. Extraverted people may appear more dominant in social settings, as opposed to introverted people in this setting.
Introverts have lower social engagement and energy levels than extraverts. They tend to seem quiet, low-key, deliberate, and less involved in the social world. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression; instead they are more independent of their social world than extraverts. Introverts need less stimulation, and more time alone than extraverts. This does not mean that they are unfriendly or antisocial; rather, they are reserved in social situations.
Generally, people are a combination of extraversion and introversion, with personality psychologist Hans Eysenck suggesting a model by which individual neurological differences produce these traits.
Agreeableness: (friendly/compassionate vs. analytical/detached).
The agreeableness trait reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are generally considerate, kind, generous, trusting and trustworthy, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature.
Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others' well-being, and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their skepticism about others' motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative. Low agreeableness personalities are often competitive or challenging people, which can be seen as argumentative or untrustworthy.
Neuroticism: (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/ confident).
Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. According to Hans Eysenck's (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism is interlinked with low tolerance for stress or aversive stimuli.
Those who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening. They can perceive minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They also tend to be flippant in the way they express emotions. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. For instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach toward work, to certainty that work impedes personal relationships, and to higher levels of anxiety from the pressures at work.
Furthermore, those who score high on neuroticism may display more skin-conductance reactivity than those who score low on neuroticism. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. Lacking contentment in one's life achievements can correlate with high neuroticism scores and increase one's likelihood of falling into clinical depression.
Moreover, individuals high in neuroticism tend to experience more negative life events, but neuroticism also changes in response to positive and negative life experiences. Also, individuals with higher levels of neuroticism tend to have worse psychological well-being.
At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low-scorers experience a lot of positive feelings.
Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the Freudian sense (i.e., neurosis.) Some psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional instability to differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits
The Big Five Personality Traits
Many contemporary personality psychologists believe that there are five basic dimensions of personality, often referred to as the "Big 5" personality traits. The five broad personality traits described by the theory are extraversion (also often spelled extroversion), agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.
Trait theories of personality have long attempted to pin down exactly how many personality traits exist. Earlier theories have suggested a various number of possible traits, including Gordon Allport's list of 4,000 personality traits, Raymond Cattell's 16 personality factors, and Hans Eysenck's three-factor theory.
However, many researchers felt that Cattell's theory was too complicated and Eysenck's was too limited in scope. As a result, the five-factor theory emerged to describe the essential traits that serve as the building blocks of personality.
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What Are the Big Five Dimensions of Personality?
Today, many researchers believe that there are five core personality traits.1 Evidence of this theory has been growing for many years, beginning with the research of D. W. Fiske (1949) and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987).
The "big five" are broad categories of personality traits. While there is a significant body of literature supporting this five-factor model of personality, researchers don't always agree on the exact labels for each dimension.
You might find it helpful to use the acronym OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) when trying to remember the big five traits. CANOE (for conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion) is another commonly used acronym.
It is important to note that each of the five personality factors represents a range between two extremes. For example, extraversion represents a continuum between extreme extraversion and extreme introversion. In the real world, most people lie somewhere in between the two polar ends of each dimension.
These five categories are usually described as follows.
Openness
This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight.1 People who are high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests. They are curious about the world and other people and eager to learn new things and enjoy new experiences.
People who are high in this trait tend to be more adventurous and creative. People low in this trait are often much more traditional and may struggle with abstract thinking.
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Open to trying new things
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Focused on tackling new challenges
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Happy to think about abstract concepts
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Dislikes change
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Does not enjoy new things
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Resists new ideas
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Not very imaginative
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Dislikes abstract or theoretical concepts
Conscientiousness
Standard features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control, and goal-directed behaviors.1 Highly conscientious people tend to be organized and mindful of details. They plan ahead, think about how their behavior affects others, and are mindful of deadlines.
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Spends time preparing
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Finishes important tasks right away
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Pays attention to detail
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Enjoys having a set schedule
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Dislikes structure and schedules
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Makes messes and doesn't take care of things
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Fails to return things or put them back where they belong
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Procrastinates important tasks
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Fails to complete necessary or assigned tasks
Extraversion
Extraversion (or extroversion) is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.1 People who are high in extraversion are outgoing and tend to gain energy in social situations. Being around other people helps them feel energized and excited.
People who are low in extraversion (or introverted) tend to be more reserved and have less energy to expend in social settings. Social events can feel draining and introverts often require a period of solitude and quiet in order to "recharge."
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Enjoys being the center of attention
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Likes to start conversations
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Enjoys meeting new people
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Has a wide social circle of friends and acquaintances
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Finds it easy to make new friends
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Feels energized when around other people
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Say things before thinking about them
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Prefers solitude
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Feels exhausted when having to socialize a lot
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Finds it difficult to start conversations
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Dislikes making small talk
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Carefully thinks things through before speaking
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Dislikes being the center of attention
Agreeableness
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors.1 People who are high in agreeableness tend to be more cooperative while those low in this trait tend to be more competitive and sometimes even manipulative.
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Has a great deal of interest in other people
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Cares about others
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Feels empathy and concern for other people
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Enjoys helping and contributing to the happiness of other people
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Assists others who are in need of help
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Takes little interest in others
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Doesn't care about how other people feel
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Has little interest in other people's problems
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Insults and belittles others
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Manipulates others to get what they want
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability.1 Individuals who are high in this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and sadness. Those low in this trait tend to be more stable and emotionally resilient.
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Experiences a lot of stress
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Worries about many different things
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Gets upset easily
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Experiences dramatic shifts in mood
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Feels anxious
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Struggles to bounce back after stressful events
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Emotionally stable
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Deals well with stress
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Rarely feels sad or depressed
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Doesn't worry much
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Is very relaxed
Are the Big Five Traits Universal?
McCrae and his colleagues have also found that the big five traits are also remarkably universal. One study that looked at people from more than 50 different cultures found that the five dimensions could be accurately used to describe personality.
Based on this research, many psychologists now believe that the five personality dimensions are not only universal; they also have biological origins. Psychologist David Buss has proposed that an evolutionary explanation for these five core personality traits, suggesting that these personality traits represent the most important qualities that shape our social landscape.
What Factors Influence the Big Five Traits?
Research suggests that both biological and environmental influences play a role in shaping our personalities. Twin studies suggest that both nature and nurture play a role in the development of each of the five personality factors.2
One study of the genetic and environmental underpinnings of the five traits looked at 123 pairs of identical twins and 127 pairs of fraternal twins. The findings suggested that the heritability of each trait was 53 percent for extraversion, 41 percent for agreeableness, 44 percent for conscientiousness, 41 percent for neuroticism, and 61 for openness.
Longitudinal studies also suggest that these big five personality traits tend to be relatively stable over the course of adulthood. One study of working-age adults found that personality tended to be stable over a four-year period and displayed little change as a result of adverse life events.
Studies have shown that maturation may have an impact on the five traits. As people age, they tend to become less extraverted, less neurotic, and less open to the experience. Agreeableness and conscientiousness, on the other hand, tend to increase as people grow older.
A Word From Verywell
Always remember that behavior involves an interaction between a person's underlying personality and situational variables. The situation that a person finds himself or herself plays a major role in how the person reacts. However, in most cases, people offer responses that are consistent with their underlying personality traits.
These dimensions represent broad areas of personality. Research has demonstrated that these groupings of characteristics tend to occur together in many people. For example, individuals who are sociable tend to be talkative. However, these traits do not always occur together. Personality is complex and varied and each person may display behaviors across several of these dimensions.
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422
David M. Buss
University of Texas, Austin
ABSTRACT—Although evolutionary psychology has been successful in explaining some species-typical and sex- differentiated adaptations, a large question that has largely eluded the field is this: How can the field success- fully explain personality and individual differences? This article highlights some promising theoretical directions for tackling this question. These include life-history theory, costly signaling theory, environmental variability in fitness optima, frequency-dependent selection, mutation load, and flexibly contingent shifts in strategy according to envi- ronmental conditions. Tackling the explanatory question also requires progress on three fronts: (a) reframing some personality traits as forms of strategic individual differ- ences; (b) providing a nonarbitrary, evolutionary-based formulation of environments as distributions and salience profiles of adaptive problems; and (c) identifying which strategies thrive and which falter in these differing prob- lem-defined environments.
Buss Lab — Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Texas
Primary Emotional Systems and Personality: An Evolutionary Perspective
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00464/full
16.1 Personality Traits – Introduction to Psychology https://openpress.usask.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/personality-traits/
