The Big Five Personality Traits Course Selection
The Big Five Personality Traits
Course Selection: PSY191
Course: Foundation of Psychology
Location: Seneca College – Seneca at York
Program: Liberal Arts
Instructor: Jill Cumby
Student: Yobie SaravanabavanStudent #: 112-523-170
In testing the personality, psychology researchers commonly use the five-factor method which is known as the “Big Five” dimensions of personality. The Big Five dimensions of personality are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. People often use the acronym, OCEAN to represent each personality (“The Big Five Personality Traits,” 2016). In definition, personality means characteristics or traits that are different from other people. The Big Five dimensions of personality help identify the personality of the person as whom we are that separates us from other people based on characteristics, thoughts, behaviours, and traits. Personality is important for our lives and for our environment in which we live in.
The first Big Five dimensions of personality are openness. Openness means the need to open to new ideas. People who are high on openness had an enjoyment for learning and had creative abilities in the future, are willing to try new things, and be able to tackle new challenges. People who are low on openness have common interests, does not like change, and oppose new ideas.
The second Big Five dimensions of personality are conscientiousness. Conscientiousness means the ability to achieve well and succeed in life. People who are high on conscientiousness tend to do well in school and their careers, pay attention in class and finish their tasks on time. If people who are low on conscientiousness tend to be irresponsible and careless, to make messes on their own and have a lack of concentration and focus.
The third Big Five dimensions of personality are extraversion. Extraversion means how sociable and excited a person is. People who are on the high level of extraversion tend to be the centre of attention and enjoy meeting new people. They feel more comfortable socializing with other people. People who are on the low in extraversion does not like being the centre of attention and found it difficult to start a conversation as they are quiet and introspective.
The fourth Big Five dimensions of personality are agreeableness. Agreeableness means trust and kindness. People who are on the high level of agreeableness are respected and well-liked, tends to care about others and have a great deal of interest in others while people who are on the low level of agreeableness are less trusted by others, tends to take little interest in others and doesn’t care about how other people feel.
The fifth Big Five dimensions of personality are neuroticism. Neuroticism means sadness and irritability. People who are on the high level of neuroticism tend to experience a lot of stress, expressed sadness, worry, and low self-esteem, and worry about many different things. People who had a low level of neuroticism express the feeling of confidence, tend to be emotionally stable and tend to deal with stress well.
These Big Five personality traits are in fact universal. However, evidence showed that the Big Five doesn’t seem to be universal at all. But they also have biological origins (Gans & MD, n.d.). The results were due to the evidence that originated from the research team in Bolivia studying the Tsimane people for over two years. The researchers had studied the Tsimane people living in central Bolivia. The researchers created the steps to find the Big Five personality trait solution of the Tsimane people. The first step was researchers presented a translated Tsimane questionnaire that questions the Big Five personality trait of the Tsimane people. The second step was researchers ask the Tsimane people to analyze the spouse’s personality of the Tsimane people. The results show that the spouse’s personality does not fit with the Big Five in accordance to the subject personality while the results were true when they analyzed the education level, age, gender, and fluency of Spanish (Gannon, January 3, & ET, n.d.). There was no evidence that linked the Big Five personality traits to the uneducated Tsimane people.
The first evidence was the background of the Tsimane people. The Tsimane are farmers who lived in villages in central Bolivia. Tsimane people make a living by agriculture. Mobility and fertility rates for the Tsimane people are high and few Tsimane is educated and illiterate due to a low rate in literacy, poverty, and education (Gannon, January 3, & ET, n.d.). Their native language is Tsimane and 40% of the Tsimane people speak Spanish. In addition to family life, they live in an extended family lifestyle that shares food and labour and had limited contact with the outside world. The Tsimane lifestyle may explain the reason why Tsimane people were not related to the Big Five personality trait.
Another evidence revealed that the results conclude that the personality trait from the Tsimane people can be considered as the “Big Two”. The first trait is prosociality which means symbolizing a positive and helpful behaviour that represents acceptance and friendship which is designed to help another. Examples of prosociality are donating money to help the poor, volunteering at a charity event, and helping a student with homework help. The second trait is industriousness meaning a person who is hard-working and skillful. Examples of industriousness are a student working hard to get an A on an assignment and a worker working hard in a factory without breaks. The research team said that the results do not support the Big Five since the Tsimane way of socialization can result in a structure that was different from the Big Five.
In conclusion, the Big Five dimension of personality was used to identify the personality of the person. The Big Five dimension of personality is the acronym, OCEAN which means openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. However, the Big Five dimension of personality was not universal due to the evidence that showed that after the study of the Tsimane people, the Tsimane people lack the Big Five dimensions of personality due to the poverty, literacy and mobility rate, and the way of living of the Tsimane people (DNews, 2013). Because of the research on the Tsimane people, the Big Two: social beneficial behaviour and industriousness were introduced (DNews, 2013). The Big Five dimension of personality was a positive factor for identifying the personality of the person but was not universal at all.
Bibliography
DNews. (2013, January 8). Five Universal Personality Traits? Not Always. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from https://www.seeker.com/five-universal-personality-traits-not-always-1766354762.htmlWaude, A. (2017, May 8). Five-Factor Model Of Personality. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personalityGurven, M., von Rueden, C., Massenkoff, M., Kaplan, H., & Lero Vie, M. (2012). How Universal Is the Big Five? Testing the Five-Factor Model of Personality Variation Among Forager–Farmers in the Bolivian Amazon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030841Lebowitz, S. (n.d.). Scientists say your personality can be deconstructed into 5 basic traits. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/big-five-personality-traits-2016-12Gannon, M., January 3, L. S. C. |, & ET, 2013 04:29pm. (n.d.). “Universal” Personality Traits Are Not, Study Finds. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from https://www.livescience.com/25968-big-five-universal-personality-traits.htmlGans, S., & MD. (n.d.). What Are the Big 5 Personality Traits? Retrieved March 31, 2018, from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422The Big Five Personality Traits. (2016, April 17). Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://thebrainflux.com/big-five-personality-traits/Personality Traits. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://nobaproject.com/modules/personality-traitsBerman, R. (2017, April 12). The Big Five Personality Traits and What They Mean to Psychologists. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/the-5-personality-types-and-why-you-care
