WE ALL KNOW people who we describe as having ‘lots of personality’, and others who we describe as having ‘no personality’. But what exactly do we mean when we say that? Are we really able to evaluate it?
What actually is a personality?
Psychologists describe it as a relatively enduring predisposition to behave in a characteristic manner that is situationally dependent.
Take anger, for example; some people are very prone to getting angry, some are not and others are fairly average. The person who is very prone to getting angry is liable to ‘fly off the handle’ at the slightest provocation – yet not all the time. The person who is not prone to anger nevertheless can get angry on occasion. In fact, we all have an innate predisposition to getting angry but the occurrence varies widely among people and across situations. We all know those among our acquaintances who are more prone to anger than most, and in that sense we have some crude knowledge of what personality is.
Psychologists have found that a person’s personality has five dimensions and these dimensions can be measured. The five dimensions, or personality traits, are commonly referred to as ‘the Big Five’.
They are:
1. Openness
This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.
2. Conscientiousness
Common features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviours. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.
3. Extraversion
This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.
4. Agreeableness
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviours.
5. Neuroticism
Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.
It is important to bear in mind that all of us have the five dimensions to our personality but the amount of each dimension that we possess varies widely. For instance, a person can be very low in Neuroticism, very high on Agreeableness, average on Conscientiousness, and high on Openness. It is this wide variation in individuals in the five dimensions that makes humans so different from each other.
Shedding more light on an individual’s personality
To get a sense of where you stand on the five dimensions just go to and complete the on-line questionnaire. You will get from this an indication of what your standing on the Big Five.
For a more accurate break-down you would need to undergo a detailed assessment by a qualified psychologist, because each of the broad dimensions has a number of sub-dimensions or facets which shed more light on an individual’s personality.
The Big Five affect outcomes in the different domains of life. Research has shown that people who are low in openness prefer an environment that is stable and predictable. Those who are low in conscientiousness live for the moment and seldom plan ahead. People who are high in neuroticism are more prone than others to stress and anxiety. Extraverts are more stimulated by the external environment, while introverts are more stimulated by their mental internal world. Although the ‘Big Five’ represented a significant advance in understanding personality, it is not the full picture.
Think about it this way: if you know that someone is moderately high on extraversion, moderately low on neuroticism, moderately high on agreeableness, high on conscientiousness, and high on openness, do you really know the person? Not fully, because of the role of situational effects.
For example, you might be very annoyed at your boss over something or other, but you are very unlikely to act out the emotional experience of your anger because of the possible negative consequences. You are more likely to vent your anger elsewhere and to someone else. Yet in a different situation you might vent your anger if the same level of situational constraint is not present.
Although very helpful, the behavioural manifestations of our underlying personalities are more complex than a superficial examination of our trait profile might suggest because of the effect of the context provided by different situations.
A specific case
As an example of the value of understanding an individual’s personality, the case of Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers in the US, is informative. A total of 245 practising psychologists rated Bundy’s Big Five profile and the average of individual psychologists’ assessments showed that he was extremely low on the dimension of agreeableness; he was very extroverted, so he was well able to charm most people, including many of his victims, and win their trust; he was judged to be above average on conscientiousness, meaning he was well able to plan his killings and cover his tracks; he was just above average on openness and below average on neuroticism – so he didn’t get stressed easily and he didn’t panic when things were not going to plan.
An examination of the facets of each of the Big Five showed that Bundy was a very angry person, full of hostility in general, as well as a highly organised thrill-seeker. Most insightful was the finding that he was very, very low in empathy – to such an extent that he simply saw other people as objects to be used rather than as human beings. These Big Five characteristics of his personality better inform our understanding of Bundy’s behaviour.
Understanding ‘personality’
As the Bundy example shows, the Big Five dimensions have been shown to be of value in understanding personality, and in recent years have provided a far better understanding of human behaviour in relationships, the workplace, and in helping people better deal with unpleasant events in their lives.
If you score high on neuroticism then you should avoid jobs that are highly stressful. If you score high on agreeableness, you would be better suited to work that involves one of the ‘caring’ professions where getting along with people, rather than getting ahead, is important – compared to those that require a more adversarial approach such as the legal professions. High openness would be a prerequisite in jobs requiring creativity, such as the world of advertising. The work of a research scientist would require someone who is high on conscientiousness because of the need for attention to detail. Obviously, jobs that involve dealing with the general public require some degree of extraversion.
With respect to romantic relationships, two people who are both low on agreeableness would not make for a conflict-free romantic relationship, but high openness can be good. Interestingly, successful outcomes in psychotherapy are related to conscientiousness to some extent because of the need to actually apply what is learned in therapy to one’s life.
Gerry Fahey is an occupational psychologist and a graduate of TCD and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
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