It should, however, give you an idea of some of the facets making up each of the Five-Factor Model. Facets can be useful because they provide more specific descriptions of what a person is like.
Because different facets within a broad, global trait like extraversion tend to go together those who are gregarious are often but not always assertive , the broad trait often provides a useful summary of what a person is like.
But when we really want to know a person, facet scores add to our knowledge in important ways. Despite the popularity of the Five-Factor Model, it is certainly not the only model that exists. Some suggest that there are more than five major traits, or perhaps even fewer.
For example, in one of the first comprehensive models to be proposed, Hans Eysenck suggested that Extraversion and Neuroticism are most important. So for instance, a neurotic introvert would be shy and nervous, while a stable introvert might avoid social situations and prefer solitary activities, but he may do so with a calm, steady attitude and little anxiety or emotion. For instance, he suggested that introverts experienced too much sensory stimulation and arousal, which made them want to seek out quiet settings and less stimulating environments.
More recently, Jeffrey Gray suggested that these two broad traits are related to fundamental reward and avoidance systems in the brain—extraverts might be motivated to seek reward and thus exhibit assertive, reward-seeking behavior, whereas people high in neuroticism might be motivated to avoid punishment and thus may experience anxiety as a result of their heightened awareness of the threats in the world around them Gray, These early theories have led to a burgeoning interest in identifying the physiological underpinnings of the individual differences that we observe.
This model is similar to the Big Five, but it posits slightly different versions of some of the traits, and its proponents argue that one important class of individual differences was omitted from the Five-Factor Model. People high in this trait are sincere, fair, and modest, whereas those low in the trait are manipulative, narcissistic, and self-centered.
Thus, trait theorists are agreed that personality traits are important in understanding behavior, but there are still debates on the exact number and composition of the traits that are most important.
There are other important traits that are not included in comprehensive models like the Big Five. Although the five factors capture much that is important about personality, researchers have suggested other traits that capture interesting aspects of our behavior. In Figure 5 below we present just a few, out of hundreds, of the other traits that have been studied by personologists.
Not all of the above traits are currently popular with scientists, yet each of them has experienced popularity in the past. Although the Five-Factor Model has been the target of more rigorous research than some of the traits above, these additional personality characteristics give a good idea of the wide range of behaviors and attitudes that traits can cover.
The ideas described in this module should probably seem familiar, if not obvious to you. When asked to think about what our friends, enemies, family members, and colleagues are like, some of the first things that come to mind are their personality characteristics.
We might think about how warm and helpful our first teacher was, how irresponsible and careless our brother is, or how demanding and insulting our first boss was. But what if this idea were wrong? What if our belief in personality traits were an illusion and people are not consistent from one situation to the next?
This was a possibility that shook the foundation of personality psychology in the late s when Walter Mischel published a book called Personality and Assessment In other words, children who cheat on tests at school may steadfastly follow all rules when playing games and may never tell a lie to their parents.
In other words, he suggested, there may not be any general trait of honesty that links these seemingly related behaviors. Furthermore, Mischel suggested that observers may believe that broad personality traits like honesty exist, when in fact, this belief is an illusion. Because of the findings that Mischel emphasized, many psychologists focused on an alternative to the trait perspective.
For instance, although there may not be a broad and general trait of honesty, some children may be especially likely to cheat on a test when the risk of being caught is low and the rewards for cheating are high. Others might be motivated by the sense of risk involved in cheating and may do so even when the rewards are not very high. Because of this, the same child might act very differently in different situations. If so, then studying these broad traits might be more fruitful than cataloging and measuring narrow, context-free traits like Extraversion or Neuroticism.
And, as is often the case, it turns out that a more moderate middle ground than what the situationists proposed could be reached. Someone who is extremely talkative at one specific party may sometimes be reticent to speak up during class and may even act like a wallflower at a different party.
However, it is also true that if psychologists assess a broad range of behaviors across many different situations, there are general tendencies that emerge. Personality traits give an indication about how people will act on average, but frequently they are not so good at predicting how a person will act in a specific situation at a certain moment in time.
There are several websites that offer their own versions of the Big Five personality trait test. One popular option is called the Big Five inventory. This method uses your response to about 50 short statements or phrases. Based on your answers, your results will show you where you fall on a spectrum for each trait. For example, you might score high in conscientiousness and low in extraversion. You can take the Big Five inventory for yourself here. When looking at your results, remember that personality is incredibly complex.
There are no right or wrong traits, and each trait is linked to unique strengths. If you are a conscientious person, you might follow a regular schedule and have a knack for keeping track of details.
You likely deliberate over options and work hard to achieve your goals. Coworkers and friends might see you as a reliable, fair person. You may tend to micromanage situations or tasks. You might also be cautious or difficult to please. A low conscientiousness score might mean you prefer a setting without structure. You may prefer doing things at your own pace to working on a deadline. This might make you appear unreliable to others.
Your loved ones may often turn to you for help. People might see you as trustworthy. In some situations, you might a little too trusting or willing to compromise.
Try to balance your knack for pleasing others with self-advocacy. A low agreeableness score may mean you tend hold grudges. You might also be less sympathetic with others. But you are also likely avoid the pitfalls of comparing yourself to others or caring about what others think of you. If you score high on neuroticism, you may blame yourself when things go wrong.
You might also get frustrated with yourself easily, especially if you make a mistake. You may have more resilience and find it easy to keep calm under stress. Relaxation might also come more easily to you. Try to keep in mind that this might not be as easy for those around you, so be patient.
For example, in one of the first comprehensive models to be proposed, Hans Eysenck suggested that Extraversion and Neuroticism are most important. So for instance, a neurotic introvert would be shy and nervous, while a stable introvert might avoid social situations and prefer solitary activities, but he may do so with a calm, steady attitude and little anxiety or emotion.
For instance, he suggested that introverts experienced too much sensory stimulation and arousal, which made them want to seek out quiet settings and less stimulating environments. More recently, Jeffrey Gray suggested that these two broad traits are related to fundamental reward and avoidance systems in the brain—extraverts might be motivated to seek reward and thus exhibit assertive, reward-seeking behaviour, whereas people high in neuroticism might be motivated to avoid punishment and thus may experience anxiety as a result of their heightened awareness of the threats in the world around them Gray, These early theories have led to a burgeoning interest in identifying the physiological underpinnings of the individual differences that we observe.
This model is similar to the Big Five, but it posits slightly different versions of some of the traits, and its proponents argue that one important class of individual differences was omitted from the Five-Factor Model. People high in this trait are sincere, fair, and modest, whereas those low in the trait are manipulative, narcissistic, and self-centered.
Thus, trait theorists are agreed that personality traits are important in understanding behaviour, but there are still debates on the exact number and composition of the traits that are most important. There are other important traits that are not included in comprehensive models like the Big Five. Although the five factors capture much that is important about personality, researchers have suggested other traits that capture interesting aspects of our behaviour.
In Figure Not all of the above traits are currently popular with scientists, yet each of them has experienced popularity in the past. Although the Five-Factor Model has been the target of more rigorous research than some of the traits above, these additional personality characteristics give a good idea of the wide range of behaviours and attitudes that traits can cover.
The ideas described in this module should probably seem familiar, if not obvious to you. When asked to think about what our friends, enemies, family members, and colleagues are like, some of the first things that come to mind are their personality characteristics.
We might think about how warm and helpful our first teacher was, how irresponsible and careless our brother is, or how demanding and insulting our first boss was. But what if this idea were wrong? What if our belief in personality traits were an illusion and people are not consistent from one situation to the next? This was a possibility that shook the foundation of personality psychology in the late s when Walter Mischel published a book called Personality and Assessment In other words, children who cheat on tests at school may steadfastly follow all rules when playing games and may never tell a lie to their parents.
In other words, he suggested, there may not be any general trait of honesty that links these seemingly related behaviours. Furthermore, Mischel suggested that observers may believe that broad personality traits like honesty exist, when in fact, this belief is an illusion.
Because of the findings that Mischel emphasized, many psychologists focused on an alternative to the trait perspective. For instance, although there may not be a broad and general trait of honesty, some children may be especially likely to cheat on a test when the risk of being caught is low and the rewards for cheating are high. Others might be motivated by the sense of risk involved in cheating and may do so even when the rewards are not very high.
Because of this, the same child might act very differently in different situations. If so, then studying these broad traits might be more fruitful than cataloging and measuring narrow, context-free traits like Extraversion or Neuroticism. And, as is often the case, it turns out that a more moderate middle ground than what the situationists proposed could be reached.
Someone who is extremely talkative at one specific party may sometimes be reticent to speak up during class and may even act like a wallflower at a different party. However, it is also true that if psychologists assess a broad range of behaviours across many different situations, there are general tendencies that emerge.
Personality traits give an indication about how people will act on average, but frequently they are not so good at predicting how a person will act in a specific situation at a certain moment in time.
Thus, to best capture broad traits, one must assess aggregate behaviours, averaged over time and across many different types of situations. Most modern personality researchers agree that there is a place for broad personality traits and for the narrower units such as those studied by Walter Mischel. Please use the rating scale below to describe how accurately each statement describes you. Describe yourself as you generally are now, not as you wish to be in the future.
Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to other people you know of the same sex as you are, and roughly your same age. Please read each statement carefully, and put a number from 1 to 5 next to it to describe how accurately the statement describes you.
Scoring: The first thing you must do is to reverse the items that are worded in the opposite direction. In order to do this, subtract the number you put for that item from 6. So if you put a 4, for instance, it will become a 2. Cross out the score you put when you took the scale, and put the new number in representing your score subtracted from the number 6.
Next, you need to add up the scores for each of the five OCEAN scales including the reversed numbers where relevant. Place the sum next to each scale below. Compare your scores to the norms below to see where you stand on each scale. If you are low on a trait, it means you are the opposite of the trait label. For example, low on Extraversion is Introversion, low on Openness is Conventional, and low on Agreeableness is Assertive.
This is a student-made video which cleverly describes, through song, common behavioural characteristics of the Big 5 personality traits. This is a student-made video that looks at characteristics of the OCEAN traits through a series of funny vignettes. It also presents on the Person vs Situation Debate. Video 3: David M. This is a student-made video that makes a very important point about the relationship between personality traits and behaviour using a handy weather analogy.
Allport, G. Trait names: A psycholexical study.
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