Big Five Personality Traits

Welcome back, everyone! Are you ready for another personality quiz? Let me introduce you to the Big Five personality test. Would you like to know how you score for those traits? If so, just read on and you will get to find out in no time. In the end, you will be able to take the quiz we prepared to get your personal score.

The Big Five, also called the Five Factor, is the model of personality that is the most commonly accepted personality theory in the scientific community. The model suggests that the human personality can be measured along five dimensions or traits, which are distinct and independent from each other.

The Big Five is a trait model instead of a type model. Other ways to categorize personalities, such as Myers & Briggs types, are not scientifically viable, because people don’t fit in such neat boxes. The Big Five describes people more broadly, in terms of traits on a spectrum. That is why it is a more valid way to understand personality.

The five traits are Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Their acronym can be OCEAN or CANOE, which is sometimes the name for this personality model.

Openness should not be equated with being open with your feelings, as it means something different. In this case, Openness means being open to new experiences and ideas. People who are open to experience are usually curious, imaginative, creative, sensitive to beauty, and willing to try new things. They tend to be more in touch with their emotions. Sometimes they can get distracted and lack focus, and be more prone to risky behavior. On the other side of the spectrum, people who are low in Openness tend to be practical, traditional, and not easy to change their ways.

Conscientiousness describes a person’s level of self-discipline and persistence. The people high in Conscientiousness are well-organized, goal-oriented, and determined. They find it easy to control their impulses and forgo immediate gratification for the benefit of a long-term investment. They like order, schedules, planning, and being prepared ahead of time. They can lack spontaneity. On the other side of the spectrum, those low in Conscientiousness are impulsive, easily sidetracked, and sometimes sloppy or unreliable.

Extraversion relates to a person’s desire to seek stimulation from the outside world, especially attention from other people. People who identify with Extraversion take pleasure in interacting with others. From their interactions, they earn friendship, admiration, romance, status, power, and excitement. They are seemingly full of energy, outgoing, enthusiastic, and action-oriented. On the other hand, Introverts prefer to conserve their energy and do not seek social interaction as much. They tend to be more quiet, low-key, and reserved in social situations.

Agreeableness describes the extent to which a person prioritizes the needs of others over their own needs. People who are high in Agreeableness are empathetic, kind, and friendly. Taking care of and helping other people is what makes them happy. They are trustworthy, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests for the sake of others. They also tend to have an optimistic view of human nature. People who are low in Agreeableness tend to experience less empathy and put their concerns ahead of others. They place their own benefit above getting along with other people.

Neuroticism describes a person’s tendency to respond to stressful things with negative emotions. These include fear, anxiety, sadness, guilt, and shame, amongst others. Fear can be a response to danger, while shame can be a response to doing something embarrassing. Those who score high in Neuroticism tend to respond strongly to stressors. They tend to be unstable emotionally, sensitive, anxious and moody. On the other side of the spectrum, those who score low tend to be calmer, and stable and do not react as strongly to upsetting situations.

The Big Five model has its origin in something called the lexical hypothesis. This theory proposes that personality traits that are the most important to a group of people will eventually become a part of this group’s language. It goes further to suggest that the most important concepts in personality become single descriptive words in a language. Early researchers took an inventory of words describing personality traits (like “friendly”, “creative”, “aggressive”, or “nervous”). They then attempted to organize these words into related clusters. For example, a person described as friendly will most likely be also described as outgoing, talkative, pleasant, or approachable. Researchers consistently found that trait-related adjectives tended to cluster into five groups, corresponding to the five traits in the Big Five.

I think you know a little bit about the Big Five model by now. Are you curious to find out which of the five traits fits your personality the best? No reason to wait – take the quiz and discover your answer!