Dimensions of personality
Many contemporary psychologists have made five dimensions regarding personality also called five big personality traits. The five broad personality traits described by the theory are
extraversion (also often spelled extroversion), agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.
The Big Five Model, also known as the Five-Factor Model, is the most widely accepted personality theory held by psychologists today. The theory states that personality can be boiled down to five core factors, known as the acronym CANOE or OCEAN. Each of the Big Five personality traits represents extremely broad categories that cover many personality-related terms. Each trait encompasses a multitude of other facets. For example, the trait of Extraversion is a category that contains labels such as Gregariousness (sociable), Assertiveness (forceful), Activity (energetic), Excitement-seeking (adventurous), Positive emotions (enthusiastic), and Warmth (outgoing) (John & Srivastava, 1999).
In the Big Five model, people are understood to have varying levels of key personality factors which drive our thoughts and behavior. Although personality traits cannot specifically predict behavior, differences in the Big Five factors help us to understand why people may react differently, behave differently, and see things differently from others in the same situation.
Conscientiousness:
Conscientiousness describes a person’s ability to regulate their impulse control in order to engage in goal-directed behaviors (Grohol, 2019). It measures elements such as control, inhibition, and persistency of behavior.
Agreeableness:
Agreeableness refers to how people tend to treat relationships with others. Unlike extraversion which consists of the pursuit of relationships, agreeableness focuses on people’s orientation and interactions with others (Ackerman, 2017).
Extraversion:
Extraversion reflects the tendency and intensity to which someone seeks interaction with their environment, particularly socially. It encompasses the comfort and assertiveness levels of people in social situations.
Openness to experience:
Openness to experience refers to one’s willingness to try new things as well as engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. It includes the ability to “think outside of the box.”
Neuroticism:
Neuroticism describes the overall emotional stability of an individual through how they perceive the world. It takes into account how likely a person is to interpret events as threatening or difficult.
