Getting to Know Your Personality Even Better

The Big Five: An Overview

There are literally tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of blogs; thousands of scientific articles; and several hundred books on the Big Five personality model. Here the WW Personality Team curates some of these resources, though you can explore even more if you are willing to exercise your Openness/Curiosity. There is also a small, select list of academic references in a concluding section you might care to read if this topic truly interests you.

You can start with this excellent resource by the staff at Psychology Today, among the oldest media outlets with a focus on behavioral science, with contributors frequently experts in this field:

Big 5 Personality Traits | Psychology Today

Pretty much everything contained in this piece on the Big Five is entirely consistent with what we say in the report sent to you and elsewhere on the WW Personality site. This introductory blog to the Big Five covers definitions, alternative approaches, and gives you a flavor for its origins (for the record, one of the creators of the current instrument worked in Ray Christal’s lab, who basically founded the Big Five). The blog also makes a compelling case for the Big Five personality model over other approaches, such as given by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (as do other bloggers).

Psychology Today treats many topics associated with the state-of-the-science in personality very seriously. An entire recent special issue (September, 2022) explores the topic of personality change, suggesting this can be assumed as a given. There is also a post on Psychology Today explaining more on what these personality traits reveal about you, from political preferences, to your pursuit of happiness, to relationship satisfaction, and psychological well-being. This blog also contains an assortment of fun facts. Did you know, for example, men with strong handshakes are most likely to rank high in extraversion and least likely to be neurotic? However, the same does not hold true for women.

Below we provide further comments (with a variety of links to blogs and primary sources) that may help you understand each of the Big Five personality factors, some of the outcomes they predict, and other points that may be of interest to you as a user of the WW Personality Test. We will aim to update this metablog from time to time, so look for changes to the version (this one is Version 1) and/or the time stamp (this was written on December 2, 2022).

Openness / Curiosity

If you want to find out more about Openness — your receptivity to new ideas and new experiences — look no further than this blog. There are some rather meaningful outcomes that Openness is related to. For example:

1. High Openness is related to improved psychological well-being.
2. High Openness is related to enhanced creativity and innovation. This is probably not surprising. People high in Openness enjoy thinking about culture, the arts and sciences, and are, by definition, curious about how to make a difference in the things they are interested in.
3. High Openness tends to be associated with more liberal political orientation(s).
4. Rather controversially, it has been suggested that certain drugs can increase one’s Openness. Have a look at the blog to determine what types of drugs are thought to lead to this outcome, and links to primary sources contained therein to determine for yourself whether these claims appear credible.
5. Openness is generally associated with positive beliefs about other cultures.
6. High Openness is believed to be an important indicator of success in the digital workforce.
7. Fun fact: There is evidence to suggest that Openness predicts whether you will experience frisson episodes (i.e., pleasurable aesthetic chills) from listening to your favorite type of music.

Conscientiousness / Work Ethic

If you want to find out more about Conscientiousness — the tendency to be responsible, organized, hard-working, and goal-directed — this is a good resource. Science suggests that if you can get all the ingredients that go into making your Conscientiousness just right by societal standards, you will have major benefits at school, at work, in relationships, and everyday life in general. Consider a few of the findings related to Conscientiousness accumulated over the past decade, or so:

1. If you score high on Conscientiousness you will live longer — and healthier — than those who score lowly. The associated scientific article is well worth reading (if only for the abstract); the rest of it can get quite technical. It suggests an ultimate value to fostering high Conscientiousness: longevity.
2. Highly Conscientious people tend to be more engaged with the environment and environmental causes.
3. Fostering conscientiousness in early life may be an effective way to reduce unemployment throughout adulthood.
4. High Conscientiousness can help you to become a successful entrepreneur, and perhaps even a more successful entrepreneurial leader.
5. Personal attributes related to Conscientiousness are important for success across most jobs, spanning low to high levels of job complexity, training, and experience necessary to qualify for employment.
6. The previous findings are relevant to you as a parent. If your children can foster a strong work ethic, they will have a greater chance of being successful in their academic life. This translates later in life to a greater chance of success in the careers that your children will choose.
7. People high on Conscientiousness, assuming similar levels of cognitive ability, tend to practice safer behaviors in the workplace.
8. Fun fact: There tends to be a robust relationship between your diurnal preference (i.e., whether a morning or evening type) and this dimension of personality: Morning people tend to score higher on measures of Conscientiousness. There is a fascinating chicken and egg question associated with this finding, which scientists are still grappling with because of the known biological underpinnings of diurnal preference and genetic components of Conscientiousness. And given the way society is structured around the typical workday it seems perfectly reasonable to argue both that being a Morning person makes you Conscientious, and vice-versa.

Extraversion / Communication Style

This is the one Big Five personality dimension that has gathered near equal research on its two opposite dimensions: Introversion and Extraversion. There are multiple reasons for this happening with stolid researchers. For one, these two constructs remain the earliest personality dimensions consistently studied, dating back over a century, with the pioneering work of Jung. Secondly, neither personality dimension stands out as conferring consistently positive advantages to the individual. Indeed, it is likely context matters as to when Introversion or Extraversion really is important. Elsewhere, commentators have noted that the Extravert needs to know when to “shut up”, while the Introvert needs to sometimes speak up for themselves.

So how are these two dimensions defined? Extraversion (sometimes spelled Extroversion) is characterized by outgoingness, high energy, talkativeness, and social engagement. Some authors refer to it as a state of mind where someone draws energy from being with other people, wherein it is contrasted with its opposite—Introversion–a state of mind where someone draws energy from being alone.

Research points squarely to a variety of advantages associated with Introversion. For example:

1. Scientists know that, while introverts have no special advantage in intelligence, they do seem to process more information than others in most situations. To digest this information, they do their best in quiet environments, interacting one on one. Further, their brains are less dependent on external stimuli and rewards to feel good.
2. Because of their sensitivity and attunement to others it is suggested Introverts have a penchant for forging meaningful and lasting connections.
3. Fun fact: Research suggests – and this has been published, with a reasonable explanation – Introverts prefer living in mountains.

Research also points to advantages associated with Extraversion. For example:

1. Extraverts report greater levels of happiness and satisfaction with life. There is even an interesting series of studies that suggest acting more Extraverted for short periods of time can make you feel better about yourself.
2. Extraverts find making friendships far easier, though this excellent blog suggests some strategies for the Introvert to adopt to address this issue, if it is a cause for concern.
3. Fun fact: That same research suggesting Introverts prefer mountains, suggests Extraverts prefer living by the ocean.

But in both cases, there can be negative associations. For example:

1. Extraversion predicts heavy drinking in college students.
2. Extraverts tend be over-represented among juvenile traffic offenders (especially if male).
3. Introverts appear pre-disposed towards compulsive internet usage, in the process developing feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
4. Introverts generally find it difficult to be elevated towards leadership positions, though there is evidence to suggest if they can act more extraverted at work they can be promoted into these positions.

Agreeableness / Teamwork

As a blog on Agreeableness acknowledges: “Agreeableness is a personality trait that can be described as cooperative, polite, kind, and friendly. People high in agreeableness are more affectionate, trusting, altruistic, and generally displaying more prosocial behaviors than others”. Interestingly it delivers many advantages, though there are times when scoring high comes with a cost, as the examples below cumulatively attest:

1. Like Conscientiousness, high Agreeableness is integral to workplace success. Relatedly, this article highlights the great-eight benefits of being nice (i.e., highly Agreeable) in the workplace and beyond.
2. You may find this research rather fascinating. It turns out people high on Agreeableness are more likely to have their pain soothed by a placebo (i.e., sugar pill).
3. People high in Agreeableness tend to report greater marital satisfaction.
4. Men who score high on Agreeableness are often found to have lower salaries, all other things being equal. The effect is nowhere as pronounced for women.
5. Agreeableness is known to be closely associated with the processes and outcomes related to aggression. If you are known to have anger issues, it may well be you should try some of the strategies thought to enhance Agreeableness.
6. Fun fact: For a variety of reasons, Agreeableness saves individual investors from losing money via trading. The finding suggests the first question you might ask a financial advisor is how agreeable they believe themselves to be.

Emotional Stability / Stress Tolerance

You will find, basically because of historical precedent, that almost all of the research (and related blogs) on Emotional Stability refer to the low end of the spectrum, that is Neuroticism. Neuroticism is defined as a tendency towards anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and other negative feelings. Those individuals whose life appears more stress tolerant and on an even emotional keel, are thought to possess high Emotional Stability.

The literature is replete with many examples of the costs (and sometimes benefits) associated with low Emotional Stability. For example:

1. Low Emotional Stability is related to poor relationship satisfaction, both during marriage and in divorce.
2. Particularly low levels of Emotional Stability are associated with poorer mental and physical health. Don’t fret if you scored low on the present tool, you would need to be assessed by a clinician before falling into this category.
3. There is a series of interesting factors that suggest low Emotional Stability does confer some advantages all the same. Negative emotions do us a great favor: They save us from ourselves. They appear as signals urging us to change things that we may be doing that are causing us potential harm.
4. Another advantage of people scoring at the lower end of Emotional Stability, apparently, is that they end up being more cautious drivers. A study examining road traffic fatalities in a data set of 34 nations found Neuroticism correlated negatively with road fatalities per 100,000 vehicles.
5. Fun fact: People with low Emotional Stability seek acceptance by publishing an inordinately large number of pictures on Facebook. Studiesfind they are less likely to post comments or updates that could be seen as controversial, and much more likely to post a plethora of pictures.

Summary Thoughts

The WW Personality Team trust you find this megablog especially useful after completing the assessment and obtaining the score reports.

Please bear in mind the one thing that the current assessment cannot do, that is, protect against you completing the assessment dishonestly. There are assessments that can do this, but they require more administration time, greater professional oversight, and one-on-one evaluation. And, if you have answered honestly, and any of your scores are of concern, it would be best to contact a professional before making too much of the current results. These were given under low stakes conditions and were intended only to provide a fairly gross, high-level of self-insight. Assessments given under standard conditions, with a trained professional, provide a more fine-tuned evaluation of each of these Big Five constructs. At this point, we can circle back to a previous source. Psychology Today provides exemplary access to certified mental health professionals in a number of different countries should you have any concerns about your current score.

In conclusion, it needs to be emphasized that personality is no longer thought to determine destiny. You may want to practice time management exercises if low on Conscientiousness, mindfulness activities if low on Emotional Stability, or learn perspective-taking strategies if low on Agreeableness. Or not! Now that may depend entirely on the score you obtained on Openness/Curiosity. In any event, your destiny is proven to be in your own hands.

Further Readings

Gerber, A. S., Huber, G. A., Doherty, D., & Dowling, C. M. (2011). The big five personality traits in the political arena. Annual Review of Political Science, 14, 265-287.

John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 114–158). The Guilford Press.

Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322.

Sackett, P. R., & Walmsley, P. T. (2014). Which personality attributes are most important in the workplace? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(5), 538-551.

Schmitt, D. P., Allik, J., McCrae, R. R., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2007). The geographic distribution of Big Five personality traits: Patterns and profiles of human self-description across 56 nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38(2), 173-212.