Transcript The Big Five: Are We Finished?

The Big Five Personality Traits
O.C.E.A.N.
Major Point
• There are compelling reasons to believe that
most, but not all, individual differences in
personality can be boiled down to
differences on 5 basic personality traits
What are the big five?
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Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
How it works:
• The idea is that each individual gets a
positive or negative score in each of the five
categories
• These positive or negative scores allow us
to label the personality traits that people
exhibit
Openness to Experience
• Appreciates experience for its own sake
• A “seeker”
• Toleration for and exploration of the
unfamiliar
Openness to Experience
High Scorers
• Curious
• Creative
• Original
• Imaginative
• Untraditional
• Broad interests
Low Scorers
• Conventional
• Narrow in interests
• Unartistic
• Unanalytical
Conscientiousness
• Relates to way in which individual performs
tasks
• Careful, hardworking, neat, organized, etc.
Conscientiousness
High Scorers
• Organized
• Reliable
• Hard-working
• Self-disciplined
• Punctual
• Persevering
Low Scorers
• Aimless
• Unreliable
• Careless
• Negligent
• Weak-willed
Extraversion
• Relates to interpersonal behavior
• Extent to which individuals prefer to be
alone or with others
• Ability to experience positive emotions
• Surgency: ability to be vigorous and
energetic
Extraversion
High Scorers
• Sociable
• Active
• Talkative
• Person-oriented
• Optimistic
• Fun-loving
Low Scorers
• Reserved
• Sober
• Unexuberant
• Aloof
• Task-oriented
• Quiet
Agreeableness
 Relates to interpersonal behavior
 Characteristic responses of other people to
an individual
 Liked by others, nice, warm, courteous
What are you
lookin’ at?
Agreeableness
High Scorers
• Soft-hearted
• Good-natured
• Trusting
• Helpful
• Forgiving
• Straightforward
Low Scorers
• Cynical
• Rude
• Suspicious
• Uncooperative
• Vengeful
• Irritable
• Manipulative
Neuroticism
• Relates to person’s emotional life
• Measures psychological adjustment and
emotional stability
• Prone to experience negative emotions
Neuroticism
High Scorers
• Worrying
• Nervous
• Emotional
• Insecure
• Inadequate
• Hypochondriacal
Low Scorers
• Calm
• Relaxed
• Unemotional
• Hardy
• Secure
• Self-satisfied
What is the evidence for the fivefactor model?
• Results have been extensively replicated
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Different researchers
Different samples
Different item formats
Different languages
Different points in time
What is the evidence?
(continued)
• Many other personality measures yield the
same five-factor structure
• There is substantial agreement between selfratings and ratings made by peers and/or
spouses
Is the model comprehensive?
• Some important individual differences are
not captured by the big five
– Beliefs
– Goals
– Values
To Sum Up
• Five-factor model describes some of the
most important differences between
individuals
• It provides a language to describe human
behaviour: why people do what they do
Mnemonic Device: OCEAN
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Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism