The Big Five personality traits refer to the basic human characteristics that make up a person’s personality, according to research done by various psychologists and scientists.
Personality is unique to each person and influences behaviors, actions, and preferences. The five main personality traits, based on research by scientists such as D. W. Fiske and Sir Francis Galton, include conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness.
Depending on whether they score high or low in these traits, people can understand more about themselves using personality tests.
This article explores the history of the Big Five personality traits, what they are, what makes a person’s personality, and how to take the test.
The Big Five personality traits consist of:
- openness, or how positive a person is to new ideas and experiences
- conscientiousness, or how thoughtful a person is
- extraversion, or how sociable a person is
- agreeableness, or how kind a person is
- neuroticism, or how much a person experiences negative emotions such as anxiety and depression
Many people use the acronym OCEAN to remember the traits.
OCEAN
- O: openness
- C: conscientiousness
- E: extraversion
- A: agreeableness
- N: neuroticism
Significant literature on the subject exists, with many psychologists, researchers, and scientists having various opinions. This builds a robust foundation behind the topic.
It’s important to note that the five personality traits refer to a scale, where a person may lie between two extremes, such as being extremely extroverted or extremely introverted.
Of course, categorizing personality neatly is impossible; people are incredibly complex and do not fit into each label exactly.
However, the categories lead to further subcategories of different traits. This can help understand a person understand how they engage in all aspects of life,
- relationships
- achievements
- careers
- parenthood
- likelihood of psychological illnesses
Learn more about personality types.
Conscientiousness
On the other end of the scale, a person with low conscientiousness may appear unreliable and unorganized and have difficulty following deadlines or structure.
| High conscientiousness | Low conscientiousness |
|---|---|
| reliable, responsible | Unreliable, irresponsible |
| misses deadlines, procrastinates a lot | “messy,” disorganized |
| Thoughtful | Unthoughtful, careless |
| Thrives on structure, deadlines, and planning | Misses deadlines, procrastinates a lot |
Openness
They also tend to be creative and interested in the arts and music. On the other end of the spectrum, a person low in openness may prefer familiar experiences, avoid new ideas and adventures, and have a smaller range of interests.
| High openness | Low openness |
|---|---|
| creativity | Practical |
| Openminded | Closed to new ideas, adventures, or experiences, closeminded |
| Inventive | Unimaginative |
| Intellectually curious | struggles with intellectual or abstract thought |
Extraversion
They also may display self-confidence and be very talkative.
| High extraversion | Low extraversion |
|---|---|
| extroverted, sociable, outgoing | Prefers solitude, introverted |
| Enjoys meeting new people | Less sociable, lower social battery when meeting others |
| Spends less time thinking, more time doing | Thinks before they speak |
| Assertive | nonconfrontational |
Agreeableness
They also tend to have more prosocial behaviors or behaviors that benefit others and society as a whole.
| High agreeableness | Low agreeableness |
|---|---|
| cooperative, works well with others | competitive, works better independently, uncooperative |
| tolerant, cares for others and is kind | low tolerance, more self-focused |
| trusting and trustworthy | has difficulties trusting others, suspicious |
| sympathetic | unfeeling, cares less about the emotions of others |
Neuroticism
A person low in neuroticism may be more emotionally balanced and stable and experience more positive emotions overall.
| High neuroticism | Low neuroticism |
|---|---|
| emotionally unstable, changes in mood | mentally stable, balanced, control over emotions |
| depressed, anxious, moody, and irritable | tends to experience more positive emotions |
| inability to manage stressful times | good coping skills when it comes to stressful times |
| excessive worrier | calm and relaxed |
There are many online spaces where a person can take this test. Some include:
The main benefit of knowing the Big Five is that it can help people understand their traits and personality. These qualities influence a person as they navigate daily life on a social, personal, and emotional level. These personality traits are the basic building blocks that make up each person.
Each trait is unique to each individual and can help a person understand why they may behave as they do or why they like or dislike the things they do. For example, an introverted person who scores low on the extraversion scale may understand their natural aversion to social interactions more clearly after taking the test.
Some benefits include:
- personal development
- understanding of oneself on a deeper level
- identification of strengths and weaknesses
- understanding of goals
A person can use the Big Five traits to see where they lie concerning secondary traits. Traits usually fall into either positive or negative categories; positive traits may make life easier for a person, whereas negative ones may make life harder.
| Positive traits | Negative traits |
|---|---|
| kind | inconsiderate |
| caring | selfish |
| empathetic | unfeeling |
| sociable | avoids others |
| compassionate | indifferent |
| organized | messy |
| stable | insecure |
| creative | unimaginative |
| trustworthy | suspicious |
Many factors influence how a person’s personality develops and manifests as they reach different stages in life, including:
- genetics, inheriting traits from family members
- nurture, the raising of a person
- environment
- biology, how each body processes the world around them, and the different internal processes happening
- the age a person is
More interestingly, many personality traits may stem from what a person’s immediate society deems important or valuable. For example, some cultures may value extraversion more than others.
The Big Five personality traits include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Depending on whether they score high or low in these traits, a person can know themselves on a deeper level by understanding these Big Five traits.