Big Five Personality Traits Essay
The world of psychology attracts the attention of many people across the globe. One of the most interesting topics is the issue of personality traits. As you are well aware, these personal traits always define an individual’s behavior in different situations. Hence, we can conclude that a person’s personal traits tend to influence an individual’s performance in modern society. According to Lewis Goldberg, a prominent American psychologist who studied the area personality psychology, the primary factors of personality involve agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and finally, neuroticism. A prolific American scientist developed this particular theory and called it ‘Big Personality Traits’. It is important to mention that each of these personality traits can make a significant contribution to an individual’s performance. In this case, the word-combination ‘a significant contribution to an individual’s performance’ refers to the improvement of people’s social skills. Generally speaking, a given model introduced by Goldberg helps an individual define themselves and answer the question ‘Who are you?’.
First Factor—Agreeableness
The notion of ‘agreeableness’ refers to one of the most important personality traits of an individual that involves many behavioral characteristics such as kindness, sympathy, warmth, amiability, generosity, cooperation, and consideration. In psychology, this trait has great importance since it is a key factor of Big Five Personality theory. Many psychologists claim that a person who has a strong attitude for being agreeable is a people-oriented individual. Besides, this trait is closely associated with the elements of trust and altruism. Those who have a high level of agreeableness tend to have amazing social skills, and as a result, they do not have any troubles with different group interactions as well as collaboration with other people. In turn, many people with low level of agreeableness have another experience. In most cases, they face certain challenges while interacting with other people (even with their peers). In addition, a person with a low level of agreeableness tends to have poor social skills, distrust other people, and stand aside from socializing. Some people, who have neither a high level of agreeableness nor a low level of agreeableness, may fall between these two alternatives. Every person can develop this particular trait in a gradual manner until their adulthood. In accordance with the numerous studies of the world psychologists, this factor – agreeableness – is usually low during the period of childhood and as well as teen period. However, they also claim that some kids and teenagers have a higher level of agreeableness than their peers who face great difficulties when they experience numerous stresses in their personal environment.
Second Factor—Extroversion
Another important factor introduced by Goldberg is known as ‘extroversion’, and it is no need to define this notion so as every alternative person can understand its meaning. When we hear the notion of ‘extroversion’, the opposite concept is known as ‘introversion’ comes to our minds. These two concepts are the key psychological dimensions that define the way people interact with one another as well as the manner people cooperate with the society where they live. It is impossible to mistake the concept of ‘extroversion’ for ‘introversion’ because they denote completely opposite things. The extroverts differ from the introverts in their ways of getting energy, processing their thoughts, connecting people, and introducing themselves to society. In simple words, an extrovert is always in the center of attention so as he/she experiences great content and full satisfaction being surrounded by different people. To the contrary, the introverted people have only a few friends or individuals they can trust, and these personal connections are extremely meaningful for them. Contrary to the extroverts, such people tend to get personal energy by controlling their thoughts and actions.
Below you can find an example of how this particular factor can influence an individual’s social behavior. For instance, whereas those who are high in extroversion use their opportunities for social interaction and search for the new ones, the introverted people are often called ‘people of few words’ because of their introspectiveness, quietness, reserve, modesty, and thoughtfulness.
Third Factor–Conscientiousness
The concept of ‘conscientiousness’ should be explained in details because of its complicated and at the same time profound meaning. The majority of psychologists define the psychological notion of ‘conscientiousness’ as a person’s trait related to the ability to control their bursts and dashes in the ways accepted in society. What is more, such individuals, who score high in ‘conscientiousness’ are able to ‘wrangle’ their behavior in an effort to achieve the determined goals. According to the modern scientists working in the field of personality psychology, these ‘eager beavers’ stand out for their abilities to delay their personal delights, work in compliance with the established rules and procedures, and organize their working process effectively. Among the most common traits associated with consciousness, one can find the following characteristic features – persistency, ambitiousness, self-discipline, predictability, consistency, reliability, and vigorousness. This trait is closely associated with the leadership skills of an individual, and that is why those who score high in consciousness tend to achieve great results in their careers.
Fourth Factor–Openness to Experience
Many psychologists provide different definitions of the fourth dimension of Big Five Traits theory, which is known as ‘openness to experience’. Even though there is a great number of psychological explanations of this particular concept, all of them are united by the same idea. This idea implies a very interesting hypothesis that people’s openness to experience greatly increases their chances to position themselves as true leaders and get the leadership role within their company.
A vivid example of how the openness to experience contribute to an individual’s career success is related to one’s inner strength and inner strength. In contrast to the other personality traits, the openness to experience can hardly be changed over time. However, some people attempt to take significant efforts in an effort to cultivate this particular trait
A given dimension involves various traits such as adventurousness, emotional sensitivity, aesthetic interest, imaginative thinking, and stores of learning as well.
Fifth Factor–Neuroticism
During this particular test, psychologists evaluate the neurotic patterns of a person to understand whether he/she feels comfortable in their own skin. The factor of neuroticism has more negative nature since it involves ‘bad’ character traits such as moodiness, pessimism, anxiety, jealousy, lack of confidence, self-criticism, and many others. This trait should be distinguished from other personality traits because of its strong relation to their emotional stability of a person. The element of emotional stability is important not only for people’s private life but also for their career opportunities.
Right or Not?
The issue of ‘rightness’ of Big Five Traits theory is frequently discussed in the society. Even though many psychologists continue using this theoretical framework up to the present day, it is difficult to say whether this theory is the right one or not. The concept of human personality is a complex and unique phenomenon that still attracts significant attention of the world’s researchers. Indeed, an individual’s personality is shaped by 200 different traits. That is why scientists cannot agree that Big Five theory is the right model. However, they claim that Goldberg has developed the main infrastructure of human personality.
