Big Five Personality Traits

D. W. Fiske developed the Big Five Personality Traits theory in 1949, and a number of studies helped to advance it. It is the most widely recognized personality theory, which is utilized by psychologists and clinicians in research and clinical work. According to this theory, the personality may be reduced to five essential components. In order to remember these personality traits, the acronyms OCEAN or CANOE can be utilized.

Ocean stands for openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

• Openness includes being receptive to new experiences, curious, imaginative, and having good abstract thinking.
• Conscientiousness involves organizational skills, productivity, responsibility, thoughtfulness, and diligence.
• Extraversion encompasses sociability, assertiveness, and being a good leader.
• Agreeableness involves trusting other people, caring for them, being receptive toward them, and being cooperative.
• Neuroticism includes features associated with sadness, worries, an unstable mood, and emotions. It also includes the level of resiliency and how well the person functions under stress.

The Big Five theory of personality states that five main personality dimensions make up all human temperament. People have a spectrum of these aforementioned traits, which can vary in their expression. For example, some personalities may include higher openness and less extraversion. At the same time, a person who scores high on neuroticism may be more susceptible to anxiety but not depression, and vice versa. This model helps determine the degree of personality features and is commonly used in research. The Big Five scores of people generally remain steady throughout most of their lives, with a few adjustments in adulthood. Even though personality traits stay more or less stable throughout one’s life, some changes are possible due to genetic and environmental factors. For example, a history of trauma may increase the neuroticism trait and make the person more depressed than they would be without traumatic events. Additionally, personality traits may differ due to gender differences.

The Big Five Personality Assessment helps people understand themselves better and identify why they may react or perceive things differently when compared to others. Understanding your personality may provide insight into how to optimize your physical and mental health, what career to choose, how to communicate with others, and, in general, how to build a comfortable life, taking into consideration your temperament. The Big Five Personality Test points to consistent correlations between a person’s traits and how they perform in different areas of their lives.