What Are the Big 5 Personality Traits?


The ‘big 5’ personality traits
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional stability
Recap
Personality can be described by five distinct traits, and together they are known as the Big Five.

Personalities contain the patterns of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make each person unique. Together, these aspects can play a role in every part of our lives, from friendships to careers, to hobbies.

Throughout history, researchers have tried to simplify complex personalities by suggesting that most people fit into specific categories. By focusing on an individual’s characteristics and patterns of behavior, researchers can try and predict or explain behavior.

Experts believe that there are five personality traits, known as the “Big Five” or the Five-Factor Model. Each trait reflects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. This model is one of the most widely used frameworks in personality research.


The ‘Big 5’ personality traits

According to a 2015 articleTrusted Source, the Big Five model is one of the most recognized approaches to describing and measuring individual differences in one’s personality. It’s used to help people better understand themselves and how they compare to others.

Companies use this model to predict how employees or potential candidates relate to others. Also, it can be used for understanding how employees might think and handle stress.

The Big Five personality traits consist of:

agreeableness
conscientiousness
extraversion
neuroticism
openness to experience
Each of the five personality factors is composed of a range between two extremes. Most people score in between the two ends of each dimension

Extraversion

Extraversion, sometimes called extroversion, reflects how you interact socially. It describes your emotional expression and how comfortable you are in your environment.

People who score high in extraversion may have tendencies to:

be more outgoing and talkative
thrive in social situations
have a wide social circle and find it easy to make friends
like to start conversations
feel comfortable arguing and debating your opinions
seek excitement
generally enjoy being around people
work in a supervisor position with others
If you score lower on extraversion in the Big Five model, you might:

be more introverted or reserved
feel tired after socializing
prefer solitude or need more periods of alone time
feel uncomfortable interacting with strangers
dislike small talk
tend to avoid large groups
be uncomfortable as the center of attention

Agreeableness

Agreeableness is a personality trait that describes how you treat your relationships with others. It’s how kind and helpful you are toward people. Overall, high agreeableness means you desire to keep things running smoothly and value social harmony.

If you score high in agreeableness, you may be:

altruistic
kind to others
empathetic
helpful
caring
compassionate
trustworthy
People with lower scores in this personality trait might be more:

selfish
less likely to help others
stubborn
competitive
manipulative
less compassionate
suspicious
Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is a trait that refers to how thoughtful and goal-oriented you are. It’s how in control you are over your impulses and your level of organization and work ethic.

If you score high in conscientiousness, you tend to be:

more optimistic
emotionally stable
unlikely to react in a stressful environment
well-organized
hardworking
detailed-oriented
good at planning
mindful of deadlines
goal-driven
Scoring low in conscientiousness means you may:

be more impulsive
have trouble focusing on your goals
be messy
be less structured
have more difficulty staying organized
prone to lateness
procrastinate
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Emotional stability or neuroticism

Neuroticism is a personality trait that refers to your emotional stability. As a personality dimension, neuroticism is characterized by unsettling thoughts and feelings of sadness or moodiness.

A high score in neuroticism means that you may:

often feels insecure
get stressed easily
appear irritable or moody to others
worry a lot
experience mood swings or feelings of sadness
People who score low in this personality trait might mean you:

are more optimistic
manage stress easily
don’t worry a lot
are emotionally stable and resilient
are unlikely to react in stressful situations
often feel relaxed

Intellect, imagination, and openness

Intellect, imagination, and openness describe your imagination and how creative you are. It refers to your sense of curiosity about the world and your willingness to try new things.

If you score high in this personality trait, you may:

enjoy learning and trying new things
have an active imagination
be more creative
be intellectually curious
think about abstract concepts
enjoy challenges
like to travel
have a wide range of interests
A lower score in openness means you might:

dislike change
be likely to stick to routines
not be imaginative or creative
have more traditional thinking
be more grounded

Let’s recap

Personality tests can shed light on the various aspects of your personality and help you get to know yourself better. Though a test can’t fully describe you or define who you are as a person, it can help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. The tests may even help you discover a new way to approach your problems.

If you’ve discovered that one of your character traits has a negative impact on your life or relationships, you could consider discussing this with a licensed therapist.

A therapist can help you understand your personality and suggest ways to make changes
Source: https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-big-five-personality-traits?slot_pos=article_2&utm_source=Sailthru%20Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=weekly&utm_content=2022-06-15&apid=40209828&rvid=f5d09a1246f90fe2df046423fb2995e2bc230d511428772dc6bd1d2c6121b4dd