What is the “Big Five” and How Can It Help You?

Understanding personality has helped my clients see their own strengths and weaknesses more clearly. They have been able to use this information to develop a more customized approach to their personal development.

Learning about personality can increase one's appreciation for the psychological diversity in the world. Knowing about the different traits can help you better relate to those who think or behave in ways that are completely different from you. You begin to notice that whenever you have encountered something you consider strange, off putting, or hard to deal with, it’s often because you don’t know enough about it. 

Personality frameworks - such as the Big Five outlined below - offer many new reference points for understanding other's behavior, attitudes, and ways of thinking. I have found personally and for my clients that this understanding drives the capacity to create better relationships, build confidence and set more targeted goals.

The Big Five Personality model is a framework used to describe and classify personality traits. It uses five primary traits, or dimensions, across which people vary.

It is the most well-researched personality framework and the most widely accepted among psychologists. That’s not to say there isn’t value in other frameworks, such as the Myers-Briggs, just that the Big Five has the most hard data behind it.

What’s unique about the Big Five is the level of nuance it is able to capture. It doesn’t set out to put you into a box. It measures each trait on a spectrum rather than a dichotomy. In other words, they are less like personality “types” and more like personality tendencies.

Because of this feature, there are no catchy names, numbers, or acronyms to describe your individual personality. Instead, you find out where you fall on the spectrum of each trait, as compared to other people. This unique mixture of traits describes your basic personality structure. Adding to this nuance is the fact that a given trait manifests differently depending on how you score on other traits.

Key traits:

This dimension measures traits such as creativity, intellectual curiosity, imagination, adventurousness, appreciation of the arts, abstract thinking, variety of experience, and sensitivity to emotions and beauty. The two primary aspects of this dimension are Intellect (interest in ideas) and Openness (creativity).

People high in this trait are more likely to go to museums, engage in philosophical discussions, create art, and explore new ideas than those who are lower in this trait. They enjoy reading, solving complex problems and creating new things. 

People high in this trait tend to choose careers as entrepreneurs, artists, actors, writers, and musicians. 

People very high in Openness to Experience can be perceived as flighty or eccentric, whereas people very low in Openness to Experience can be perceived as closed-minded or dogmatic.

This dimension measures traits such as dutifulness, attention to detail, discipline, consistency, cleanliness, efficiency, and adherence to rules. The two primary aspects of this dimension are: Orderliness and Industriousness.

People who are high in Conscientiousness are generally efficient, hard workers. They are better at following rules, sticking to schedules and resisting temptation than those who are lower in this trait. They often prefer order and like to keep things clean and organized. They are achievement oriented and tend to be more cautious than others.

Those high in Conscientiousness tend to choose more demanding careers such as lawyers, doctors, scientists, engineers, and CEOs. Those moderately high in Conscientiousness tend to be good managers.

People very high in Conscientiousness can be perceived as obsessive or stubborn, whereas people very low in Conscientiousness can be perceived as unreliable, lazy, or inconsistent.

This dimension measures traits such as enthusiasm, gregariousness, talkativeness, assertiveness, warmth, sociability, and level of activity. The two primary aspects of this dimension are: Enthusiasm and Assertiveness.

People high in Extraversion like to be around others. They enjoy external stimulation and are more likely to seek out social gatherings and events than those who are lower in Extraversion. They are also more likely to speak up and experience positive emotions than others.

People high in Extraversion tend to choose careers where they get to interact with people, such as sales, TV and radio, public speaking, and entertainment.

People very high in Extraversion can be perceived as attention-seeking or domineering, whereas people very low in Extraversion can be perceived self-absorbed or aloof.

This dimension measures traits such as kindness, cooperation, sympathy, politeness, trust, and compliance. The two primary aspects of this dimension are: Compassion and Politeness.

People high in agreeableness are easy to get along with, respectful, and pleasant to be around. They do not like confrontation and do their best not to offend others. They are more likely to give to charity and help those in need than people low in Agreeableness.

People high in Agreeableness tend to choose careers where they help others, such as nursing, hospice care, social work, and counseling. However, people low in agreeableness tend to be better negotiators and thrive in careers like law or politics.

People very high in Agreeableness can be perceived as naive, submissive, or ingratiating, whereas those very low in Agreeableness can be perceived as combative, argumentative, or rude.

This dimension measures tendency toward negative emotion, including traits such as anger, depression, fear, worry, anxiety, suspicion, and self-consciousness. Conversely, lower scores on this dimension indicate higher levels of emotional stability. The two primary aspects of Neuroticism are: Withdrawal and Volatility.

People high in Neuroticism are easily irritated and tend to lash out at others. They can experience long periods of feeling isolated and unsettled. They are more likely to overthink and question their success as compared with those lower in Neuroticism. They also report lower levels of happiness and psychological well-being.

Being high in Neuroticism is not necessarily all bad, particular when balanced with certain other traits. For example, when paired with Conscientiousness, it can drive people who are bothered or angry at something to change it. An example of someone like this might be Steve Jobs, a short-tempered man who leveraged his critical eye to design products he (and many others) considered superior to the competition.

When paired with high Openness to Experience, it is a recipe for wild creativity. This is the archetype of the tortured artist.

People very high in Neuroticism can be perceived as unstable, insecure, or depressed. People very low in Neuroticism can be perceived as unconcerned, oblivious, or uninspiring.

Extremes in any trait can be problematic. It’s useful to notice where you tend to get out of balance and take measures to counteract any traits that negatively affect you or others.

For example, being too high in Openness to Experience can paralyze you, particularly when paired with high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness. When you can be or do anything and everything is a construct but you also hate structure and feel anxious all the time, life is hard. To balance excessive Openness, you need structure. Plan your days ahead of time, prepare your meals in advance, and try extra hard to see the value in certain traditions and constructs.

Or, if you’r higher than average in Neuroticism, you might consider doing some self-work to temper your anxiety, anger, or depressive nature. This might involve seeing a therapist or practicing meditation.

If you are interested in the Big Five Personality Model and would like to undertake an assessment you can Book a free consultation below: