All About the Big 5 Personality Traits
Us humans love to talk about personality.
We often feel drawn to people because “he or she has a great personality.”
Or we avoid people because we don’t like their personality.
Hell, I even caught myself saying that my cat Sam has a “great personality” the other day (He’s such a little shit, but we love him for some reason).
While we discuss personality all the time, have you ever thought about what personality actually is and what it does?
I’m sure we have all looked at some of our coworkers, in both awe and disgust, and wondered: why do these people people the way they people?
The answer is personality.
What is Personality?
Personality is the set of all process in your brain that ultimately define how you behave.
We often refer to personality in terms of traits that represent certain aspects of behavior.
These traits are what we typically call personality: they are the patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions that make us all unique.
Personality traits are somewhat malleable and can change at various stages of maturity.
Although they can change, the level of “change” is relative.
Personality traits do not change as acutely as other individual characteristics and usually take many years to shift over a person’s lifetime.
Beware of Misinformation
Before we take a deep dive into personality traits, let’s get something out of the way: there is a ton of misinformation and pseudoscience out there on this subject.
Social media “psychologists” are everywhere, and while they may mean to genuinely help people, be skeptical of their credentials and double check things they tell you.
The concepts you will learn about in this article are accepted models of personality in the scientific community.
As a scholar and active researcher, I can assure you that there shall be no pseudoscience on my watch.
The Big 5 Traits
The most widely accepted framework of personality traits are the Big 5.
In the world of workplace behavior, the Big 5 were first brought about by Murray Barrick and Michael Mount in their 1991 seminal article entitled “The big five personality dimensions and job performance: a meta-analysis.
Since then, the Big 5 have gone on to become broadly researched and accepted by scientists in various disciplines.
The first five rows in the table below show each trait and its definition (more on row 6 in a second).
Notice how the first letter of each of the Big 5 spell out “OCEAN”. You will often see them referred to as the “OCEAN Model of Personality” or something of that sort.
Table 1: The Big 5 Traits (plus one)
| Trait | Definition |
|---|---|
| Openness to Experience | Reflects creativity, imagination, and a willingness to try new things or entertain unconventional ideas. |
| Conscientiousness | Represents organization, dependability, and self-discipline. |
| Extraversion | Indicates energy, sociability, and enthusiasm in interacting with others. |
| Agreeableness | Characterized by kindness, empathy, and a cooperative nature. |
| Neuroticism | Associated with emotional instability, anxiety, and moodiness. |
| Honesty-Humility (HEXACO) | Represents sincerity, fairness, and modesty, along with a lack of greed. |
Now you’re probably thinking, “Pump the brakes, Jacob! There are six traits in this table. Whiskey tango foxtrot?”
The sixth trait, honesty-humility, comes from another trait framework called the HEXACO personality traits.
Another widely-accepted personality trait model, the HEXACO traits extend the Big 5 to include honesty-humility.
Personality Traits are a Continuum
Have you noticed anything peculiar that you do not see in the table of traits above?
You’re likely wondering where “introversion” is. Many people who like to be by themselves (myself included) often refer to themselves as introverts.
But, that isn’t entirely accurate.
Each human being on the planet expresses the Big 5 and honesty-humility to some degree. (I’m pretty sure they still apply to humans in space, but I can’t be positive until Elon flies me up there to check it out.)
Thus, if you are an “introvert”, it just means you display a very low level of behavior associated with extraversion.
The same is true for the other traits. We all express these traits in some amount.
You may be very high in expression of openness behavior, but be low in agreeableness related behaviors.
This continuum of Big 5/HEXACO expression is true for all personality traits in all people.
The Big 5 in the Workplace
You’re now thinking, “Well, ok, this is cool, but how does it apply to my work and my workplace?”
In this section, we will dive into each trait and discuss just that.
Conscientiousness
I’m going out of order on the OCEAN acronym to start with conscientiousness.
Why? Because conscientiousness is the GOAT of predicting great job performance.
Highly conscientious individuals are your go-getters, the ones that seek to constantly achieve great things and be successful.
When I ask my students which jobs are suited to the highly conscientious, they typically refer to doctors, engineers, and other highly intellectual roles.
While it is true that one must work hard to obtain the skills and degrees necessary for these careers, conscientiousness is not reserved for them.
Conscientiousness is for everyone in every job!
Working hard, being organized, and being disciplined are high-performing workplace behaviors whether you’re an oncologist or the custodian at the hospital.
One caveat is that being overly conscientious can have negative effects, such as burnout and a lack of work-life balance.
Thus, it is important for managers to ensure that their superstars take time away from their duties to relax and recharge.
Extraversion
By and large, being highly extroverted is a good thing when it comes to your work life.
In any role in any business, it helps to be social and to enjoy getting to know people.
Of course, being outgoing and gregarious is very beneficial in roles that are required to talk to people.
You definitely want your sales team to be comfortable talking to strangers!
Someone that is low in extraversion may still succeed in a role that requires social interaction, but they are definitely on the back foot for doing so.
Too much extraversion can lead to diminished work performance since you’re yakking at the coffee pot all the time and not actually working.
There are also some “hold my beer” excitement-seeking qualities associated with extraversion that could lead to workplace injuries and being unproductive in general.
From a management perspective, understand who your highly extraverted individuals are and let them be themselves.
If being too social becomes a problem, then address it.
Otherwise, just enjoy their company and the brightness they bring to your team!
Openness to Experience
As with extraversion, being open to new ideas and intellectually curious is a fantastic quality for any worker in any job.
Whether you’re a cashier at Walmart or a Fortune 500 executive, being open to better, more efficient ways of doing things and coming up with creative solutions to problems is never a bad thing!
Some jobs may require one to be more open than others by the nature of the work (think creative director for a magazine publication vs. an assembly line worker).
However, expressing curiosity and a willingness to learn new things is an asset in any role.
Of course, too much openness can lead to things not actually getting accomplished if someone is constantly searching for creative new ways of doing things rather than actually doing them.
Good managers embrace new ideas and encourage their team to be curious.
You never know who will have a creative thought that could 10x the productivity of your team!
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is sometimes referenced as Emotional Stability.
While they are the same trait, neuroticism is worded to reflect a lack of stability while emotional stability is worded for the presence of stability.
Its just semantics, and they are the same trait and tell the same story.
All of us have worked with someone that we called a “worrywart” and someone who never worries about anything.
We have all worked with people that yell in anger and those that rarely seem bothered by anything.
While being on an even keel can be beneficial in any job, some roles require a ton of emotional stability.
Military personnel, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, emergency room medical personnel, and other first-responders must have proverbial “nerves of steel” to be successful in the life and death situations the face in their jobs.
Nerves of steel = high emotional stability
Emotional stability is delicate balance for managers.
Showing too much emotion as a manager can be off-putting and make people not want to interact with you.
Showing too little emotion as a manager can make you seem cold and heartless.
Emotion in the workplace is a beast of a topic and far too broad to be covered in this article.
I will discuss emotions in great detail in the future.
For now, just understand that some people are predisposed to experience more emotional swings than others.
Keep in mind that I am talking about personality here, not any clinical diagnoses of anxiety disorders or anything of the like.
I am not qualified to discuss these subjects as I am not a clinical psychologist or physician.
Agreeableness
Highly agreeable individuals are very good-natured, trusting, and altruistic.
They enjoy caring for others and always act with the best of intentions.
Again, this is largely a good quality to have in any role in any field.
Some jobs demand a high level of agreeableness to be successful.
For example, teachers must have a deep desire for their students learn and excel.
Counselors must care about their patients’ well-being to help them improve their lives.
In other roles, this may not be a necessity for success at a particular job.
The car a mechanic is working on does not have feelings and does not need to be treated like it does, especially if it is a Ford truck. #TeamChevy
Like with the other traits, being overly agreeable can have some drawbacks.
Highly agreeable people may not speak up about workplace issues because they are afraid of upsetting someone or “rocking the boat.”
An overly agreeable manager may also be taken advantage of easily because they are afraid to speak up and correct employee behaviors.
But overall, as a manager, you must show your employees that you care about them.
Without this, it is difficult to establish any trust and to be an effective leader (this is a topic all to itself that I will cover in detail later).
Honesty/Humility
I think it goes without saying that being honest and being humble is a good trait in both the workplace and in life in general.
Folks that are high in this trait are very sincere and fair.
They tend to not be greedy and appreciate modesty.
Employees that are high in this trait are not likely to use and abuse people to get ahead at work.
I believe that this is one of the most important traits for being a high-quality human.
Any manager or employee at any level in any industry will never lose in the long run for being honest and humble.
Management and Leadership Implications
So what does all of this mean to you as a manager?
How can you use this information as a leader?
For starters, it helps to know the Big5/HEXACO traits very well so you can recognize them in yourself.
If you can you can identify your own personality strengths, you can lead with the knowledge of who you are and who you are not.
Once you recognize your personality trait strengths, you can then start to recognize them in your team.
Then, once your recognize them in your team, you can delegate tasks based on their strengths accordingly.
Next, this framework is far more user friendly and easier to remember and apply than other personality frameworks.
For example, the Myers-Briggs personality test, which is common in the corporate world, has sixteen different personality type combinations as varying acronyms.
Can you really remember all of these? Do you actually remember the difference between an ISTJ and an ENFP?
The answer is that you likely cannot. But, I’m pretty sure you can remember the Big 5.
The validity of the Myers-Briggs personality test has also been questioned for a long time and the jury is still out on it in the scientific community.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, it is important for all leaders and managers to understand that you cannot expect to change someone’s personality traits!
Read that sentence again and let it sink it!
You cannot make someone more extraverted and you cannot make them more conscientious.
People are who their personality traits say they are and you have to accept that.
Personality traits can only change if an individual chooses to do so, and it takes work to make these changes happen.
The sooner you accept that, the more you can focus on what you can control.
You can control your leadership behaviors to be the gold standard of high-performing traits such as self-discipline.
You can be the example of whatever positive change you wish to influence.
I could (and plan to) write an entire book on this topic.
But for the purposes of this article, understand that people can only change their personality if they want to.
Conclusion
So that’s the Big 5 and HEXACO personality framework, ladies and gents.
If you read up to this point, you are now armed with the knowledge of the most widely accepted model of human personality.
Once you start to recognize them in yourself and others, you’re on your way to be an exponentially better manager and leader.
RESOURCES
If you want to take a Big 5 test, here is a link to a good free one that I have my students take:
https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test
Joe Diffie was definitely high in extraversion when he flagged down Bobby Jo Gentry, the homecoming queen, in 1994.
REFERENCES
Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and social psychology review, 11(2), 150-166.
Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: a meta‐analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1-26.
Hudson, N. W., & Fraley, R. C. (2015). Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits?. Journal of personality and social psychology, 109(3), 490.
Judge, T. A., Rodell, J. B., Klinger, R. L., Simon, L. S., & Crawford, E. R. (2013). Hierarchical representations of the five-factor model of personality in predicting job performance: integrating three organizing frameworks with two theoretical perspectives. Journal of applied psychology, 98(6), 875.
Randall, K., Isaacson, M., & Ciro, C. (2017). Validity and reliability of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity, 10(1), 1-27.
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological bulletin, 132(1), 1.
Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current directions in psychological science, 17(1), 31-35.
Smith, M. B., Hill, A. D., Wallace, J. C., Recendes, T., & Judge, T. A. (2018). Upsides to dark and downsides to bright personality: A multidomain review and future research agenda. Journal of Management, 44(1), 191-217.
Tasselli, S., Kilduff, M., & Landis, B. (2018). Personality change: Implications for organizational behavior. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 467-493.
