What is your personality type? How does your personality affect the way you do things? Which test is best to help understand my personality traits?

Why we need to understand personality

Is personality important? Evidence suggests that the psychology of personality types is important as it aids our self-awareness. This, in turn, helps us to plan for and achieve goals in a way that makes the best of our strengths. We are also much more likely to be happy (as well as successful) if we understand our personalities, characters and preferences.

I am a great believer in self-discovery as foundational to fulfilment in life. And once again I am not alone in this. From Socrates to Stephen R. Covey, the history of personal development emphasises the importance of self-awareness.

“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom” – Socrates

It is somewhat tautological to say that self-improvement should start with self, but it is a point that is often overlooked. All too often, when setting goals, we choose to focus on other people. This might be in making unhealthy comparisons (a particular problem in the age of social media), blaming our situation on others, or endlessly seeking to fix everything around us, without doing any critique of self.

What is the difference between character and personality?

The terms character and personality are often used synonymously, but in psychology they tend to be used in slightly different ways.

Character

Character generally refers to the beliefs and moral values that we hold. In other words, why we do things or the ethical code that informs our actions. You can therefore see that it is no accident that The Right Questions Framework starts with the ‘Why’ question and an exploration of personal values. This knowledge of character and values is foundational to self-awareness, good decision-making and overall success.

Personality

Personality is usually more associated with how we do things. Our personality reflects how we think, act and feel as we navigate life. Here you can see the overlap with character, as both impact behaviour, but personality traits are often seen as innate qualities that we were born with (although the nature vs nurture debate still rages on this and many other issues).

Personality tests – Myers Briggs (MBTI) and the OCEAN (Big 5) Model

There are various ways to explore our personalities but perhaps the simplest way is with the use of personality tests. There are many personality tests of one sort or another and you might have heard or used some, such as the DISC personality test or the Clifton Strengths Finder. The best-known of all is probably the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®). This was the first such test I took.

Since then, I have utilised many psychometric tests in my work, and I now prefer using the Big 5 (OCEAN) model. The Big 5 is the preferred standard test of most psychologists and has been adopted by many employers (such as NASA). The OCEAN model emphasises personality traits rather than types.

Is personality more about traits or types?

The difference between traits and types reflects the distinction between analogue and digital. Traits are analogue as they measure aspects of character on a spectrum. For example, we might be more or less of a team player. The Big 5 (OCEAN) model uses this approach to understanding personality.

Personality type theory is more digital, saying that some either is or isn’t of a certain sort. For example, a test using the ‘type’ approach will say you are either extroverted or introverted. It does not illustrate to what degree you are either introverted, or extroverted, and the same with other traits. In other words, it is less nuanced. The Myers-Briggs test uses this more binary approach of typology.

Are some personality types good and others bad?

One downside with type theory is that you can start to identify as a fixed kind of character and, even worse, start to think of that type as either positive or negative. This is unhelpful. Personality traits are about preferences and these preferences are not necessarily good or bad, they are not ethical judgements. Also, personality, traits and preferences are not fixed. They can change situationally and over time. For example, I have grown more confident over the years; that element of my personality is not fixed.

Therefore, in my experience, there is no one ‘right’ personality type, but different people thrive in different situations. And the science backs me up on this. That is why the psychological study of personality and the science of identifying personality types has grown in scope and importance.

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What are the Big 5 personality types and what does OCEAN stand for?

The Big 5, which stands for five personality traits (also known by the acronym OCEAN) was developed by a series of researchers but is most closely associated with the work of Paul Costa and Robert McCrae. The 5 traits of the OCEAN model are:

O – Openness

C – Conscientiousness

E – Extroversion

A – Agreeableness

N – Neuroticism

The traits are generally measured with psychometric tests (questionnaires that indicate preferences) and the scores are expressed on a scale or spectrum. There are many tests available, some even for free. But, whether paid or not, make sure whatever test you use comes from a recognised provider with proven credentials if you want to trust the results.

The Big 5 (OCEAN) personality traits explained

Here is an explanation of each of the Big 5 traits:

Openness

Openness is the degree to which people are open to new experiences and ideas, being creative, having imagination and creativity. Less ‘open’ people prefer routine and deep, specialist knowledge.

Conscientiousness

The more conscientious a person is, the more organised, disciplined, and hardworking they tend to be. Less conscientious people tend to be more impulsive and disorganised.

Extroversion

Extroverts get more of their energy from external stimuli. They tend to be gregarious, outgoing, positive, enthusiastic, and assertive. Introverts get their energy more internally. They tend to think more before speaking, prefer fewer (but deeper) relationships and retreat from others to recharge.

Agreeableness

A more agreeable person is more likeable, cooperative, and trusting. They tend to be warm and good-natured. Less agreeable people are less trusting, more critical, and often prefer to work alone.

Neuroticism

The higher a person is on the neuroticism scale, the more they worry. They tend towards negativity and are more prone to depression and anxiety. Less neurotic people are calm, even-tempered, and more secure in themselves.

Free personality tests

If you want to discover your personality type, the easiest thing is to take a short test. There are many resources available online and many are free.

One free resource I often use is https://openpsychometrics.org where you can find a variety of tests including the Big 5 model.

Applying the Big 5 personality traits – an example

By way of an example (and to show any given trait is not good or bad) we can consider NASA astronaut selection for different missions. Let’s take one trait, that of agreeableness in this instance.

For a mission of a long duration, with people stuck in close confines such as a trip to Mars, you want people higher on the agreeableness spectrum. That is because they are more likely to work well as a team (and not rub each other up the wrong way!) This is similar to the type of person selected to serve for long durations in Antarctic research stations.

By contrast, someone completing a solo mission might be better off having a lower agreeableness rating as they will need to be happy working on their own, with no company, for long periods.

So here we can see it is not that agreeableness is good or bad. Where someone lands on the spectrum just indicates tasks or roles they are better suited to, but this is situational and just one factor to take into consideration.

How the Big 5 (and other personality tests) can help or hinder us

Taking a personality test, especially one using the preferred Big 5 (OCEAN) model, can be beneficial in aiding self-awareness. Traits show preferences and help us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. It can help inform us of roles that we might prefer and excel in (and others where we might struggle).

But personality is not fixed. Therefore, we must be careful not to identify too closely with personality types as this can get us into an unhealthy fixed mindset. This is why we focus on traits. Each trait sits on a spectrum that can change with circumstance and time. We also need to be careful not to think of our personality as good or bad. And, if we feel our personality has room for improvement, then the evidence shows that we can change.

The Right Questions ID CARD Tool: Understanding Self with Personality Tests

I very rarely go anywhere without some form of identification. Whether that is an ID card for work or a passport for travel, we often need a way to confirm who we are.

Within The Right Questions Framework, the ID CARD tool helps us think about who we are by assessing our personality traits. To do this we simply follow these steps:

• I – Itemise what you think your strengths, weaknesses, preferences and personality traits are. (N.B. Doing this first helps to avoid some of the unconscious bias that can creep in once you start speaking to other people or doing tests.)
• D – Discuss with other people and find out how they would describe your personality.

• C – Choose a suitable personality test. If you have not done one before then I recommend the OCEAN/Big 5 model.
• A – Answer the questions and complete the questionnaire.
• R – Review the results using your intuition (whether the results feel right) and the evidence of your behaviour (to confirm or deny a particular trait). In this way you can assess how closely you think the results reflect your actual personality.
• D – Do another test. After having done one personality test (such as the Big 5), then do another. You can also use different sorts of tests and compare the results. It is also helpful to do the same test but after a gap. That could be days, weeks, even years, but it is insightful to see what might have changed over time.

Do you really know who you are? Can you describe your character, your personality, your strengths and weaknesses? How good is your self-awareness really?

There is an old Greek aphorism ‘know thyself’ that has been quoted or paraphrased by many greats through the course of history, such as Socrates and Shakespeare.  It still rings true today as being self-aware is critical to how we relate to ourselves and others.

Therefore it is good to know your personality type, your strengths and weaknesses, your most effective learning methods, your preferred communication styles, your love languages.

We are also shaped by our values and beliefs.  Understanding this will go a long way to self-awareness.

Know yourself, and you will find it much easier to cope in every situation, establish meaningful relationships and develop yourself.

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Polonius (from Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

The currency of relationships and the need for emotional management

Relationships are similar to bank accounts.  We know that we have to invest in friendships for them to be fruitful and at times we rely on people and have to make withdrawals.  We have to invest quality time, act in ways that develop trust and bring positive emotions and energy to make down-payments.

You often hear the phrase ‘a needy person’ and in these terms, you could say that they are a person who is always overdrawn when it comes to relational accounts – they always need someone else to invest in them.

It is a useful metaphor to keep in mind. When you are interacting with someone, ask yourself, am I investing in this relationship or am I making a withdrawal?

No one wants to be continually in debt, be that financial or relational, so we need to keep an eye on our personal balance.  The best way we can keep our own social and emotional bank account out of the red and into credit starts with being self-aware.

We need to know how to manage our emotions, how to recover our energy and which people will feed into our own reserves when we need it.

Personal development is another way we serve ourselves, and in the end, also serve others. It is not just about improving skills. As we increase in self-awareness, and we develop good habits, we also increase our resilience and effectiveness; not just our professional abilities and productivity.

Our effectiveness as professionals, as people, is built on a foundation of character. The stronger the foundation the higher you can build and the more positive the impact you can have.

The importance of character and integrity

We have to be true to our character. We have to be genuine and authentic. In the end, you won’t make it if you continually fake it.

Think about the people you most look up to.  Are they perfect?  You can be sure that they are not!  What then makes them so attractive? What is it about them that makes people want to follow them?  If they are successful, ask why are they successful?  What makes them different from the average person?  If you read biographies of such people one generally finds that the person in question is both self-aware and purposeful.  They have great strengths but also genuine vulnerability. This gives them integrity that is magnetic.

It is important to remember that we have to accept our own vulnerability and weaknesses or they will catch us up, or catch us out in the end. This takes real courage, as Brene Brown explains in her excellent book Dare to Lead, but it is the best way to maximise our potential.

If you are being proactive by maximising your strengths and being honest about your weaknesses people are more likely to trust you.  You will be more confident and inspire the confidence of others.  If you have a firm grounding in where you are and have a vision for where you are going then you will naturally be a more attractive person.

If you are secure in who you are then others will feel secure around you.  Therefore, start with yourself; the one person who you can really change.

Change starts with me, myself and I

This holds true for working through any sort of relationship challenges.  When family or friends hurt us it is very easy to see the faults in others and how things could be better if the other person changed.  The hard part – but the most effective way forward – is to look at yourself and start the improvement there. This is the true importance of self-awareness.

But it is hard to work out how to change unless you know your starting point.

Tools for understanding self

There are numerous tools, exercises and tests you can do to help understand yourself better. Here are of the main ones that I have found useful:

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

The Myers-Briggs test is based on psychological research developed from the work of Carl Jung. You can conduct a free version of this test (called TypeFinder) at Truity.com or go to the Myers-Briggs Company for a fuller paid version.

Big 5 (OCEAN) Personality Test

The Big 5 (OCEAN) test is another popular personality model, used by many employers (including NASA). You can conduct a free version of this test at Truity and also at Finding Potential.

Strengths Finder

The Clifton Strengths Finder is another research-based test. This one is a paid service run by Gallup. You have to pay to do this test but you can find more information by clicking on CliftonStrengths.

Learning Styles

There has been a lot of work of different preferred learning styles. You can find a good summary of some of the key ones on MindTools.

Love Languages

For understanding relationships, the 5 Love Languages is a great resource. It is particularly good for partners in a relationship to work through together. You can get the book on Amazon.

Have you ever done any personality or character profile tests? What test did you use and did you find it useful? Do leave a comment and let me know; I would be really interested to hear your thoughts.

Do a personal SWOT analysis

One simple and quick way to improve your self-awareness, to think about your present situation, along with your strengths and weaknesses, is to conduct a SWOT analysis, which you can find out more about in How to do a personal SWOT analysis.

Other free tests

There is a range of other free tests and resources that you can find at https://openpsychometrics.org

Use an online course: The Quest of Self-Discovery

I have created a journey of self-discovery that uses some of the tools mentioned here along with many others. You can try out the first section for free by signing up using the link below:

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom”

Socrates

What is your personality type?

If you have ever done a specific personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) then you may even answer that question with a four-letter acronym such as ‘INTJ’, or ‘ESTP’.

The Myers-Briggs psychometric questionnaire, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (or MBTI®) was the first personality test that I came across in my career. It is a very popular tool (the Myers-Briggs Foundation claims that over 2 million people use the system every year), hence it is not uncommon for people in conversation to describe themselves according to their MBTI profile.

When I first used the MBTI tool, I found it informative, but upon repeat use (and further research) I started to discover issues with the system. But to understand these limitations we need to understand a little of this field of psychology and the approach used by Myers-Briggs.

What is personality in psychology?

Before we explore the idea of types, we first need to clarify what we mean by personality. It is a word that encompasses so much significance and yet we can often struggle to explain it. So let us turn to a couple of definitions.

The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of personality is:

“The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character.”

This is a common understanding of personality, but this definition is worth expanding upon when trying to quantify the psychological elements of character. For example, the American Psychological Society has a slightly fuller definition:

“Personality refers to the enduring characteristics and behaviour that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.”

As you can see from the later definition there is an emphasis on behaviour and personality traits. This reflects the current predominant psychological thinking in this field. Traits are aspects of our character, particular qualities, the makeup of which makes us unique.

The trait theory of personality – from Hippocrates to Jung

The idea of personality traits goes at least as far back as Hippocrates (c.460-377/359BC) who wrote about the Four Humours. The Four Humours or Temperaments can be translated as cheerful (sanguine), sombre(melancholic), enthusiastic (choleric) or calm (phlegmatic), and the idea of identifying these was to assist in the diagnosis of physical medical conditions.

This thinking on personality did not really change until the late 1800s and this four-element system informed the next person who revolutionised theories about personality, that person being Carl Jung (1875-1961).

Early in his career, Jung developed a friendship with neurologist Sigmund Freud (founder of psychoanalysis) and for a while, they collaborated in their work. However, these two heavyweights of psychology eventually parted ways as Jung’s theories of personality (and broader psychology) started to diverge from Freud’s. Key to the differences was Jung’s downplaying of the importance of libido (sex drive) on the subconscious, a cornerstone of Freudian psychology. Instead, he started to theorise about personality types and how they reflected the balance of conscious and unconscious thought in human behaviour.

The (slightly misunderstood) importance of extroversion and introversion

Jung approached the idea of personality from the perspective of types (or archetypes) rather than traits. As with Hippocrates, his motivation behind identifying types was from a medical perspective, but in Jung’s case (as with Freud) his was primarily concerned with psychological maladies rather than purely physical ones.

The most widely known concept that Jung introduced was the concept of extraversion (extroversion) and introversion. What many people don’t know is that these two types are primarily concerned with psychic energy (where people get their vitality from) rather than just a way of describing if someone is outgoing or shy. An introvert’s psychic energy is internally focused, whereas an extrovert’s psychic energy is externally directed.

Thus, an extroverted person gets energy from external stimulation, from being around other people and having a large social network. They tend to think out loud, enjoy variety and seek broad experience. They like being the centre of attention.

By contrast, an introverted person dislikes being the centre of attention. They get energy from having less external stimulation and will often withdraw from social interaction to reflect and recharge. They tend towards fewer, deeper relationships, think before speaking and tend towards developing deep knowledge rather than broader experience.

These two attitudes are foundational to the other personality types that Jung identified.

Jung’s Functional Personality Types

Jung divided his four functional types into the ‘rational’ aspects of thinking and feeling (reflecting preference as to how people make judgements), and the ‘irrational’ elements of sensation and intuition (regarding preferences in how people perceive the world).

By this typology, the thinker tends to be objective and analytic, whereas the feeler is more subjective and gives more weight to emotions. Those who predominantly rely on sensation tend to be practical and look to real-world solutions in the here and now. Someone who is more intuitive tends to use their imagination and speculate about the future.

By adding these four functions to the base personality types (introverted or extroverted), one can extrapolate eight personality types. For example, an introvert can be linked to thinking or feeling, sensation or intuition (creating eight types) and similarly again from extroverts. Thus, you might have an Extraverted Thinking Intuition ET(N) type or an Introverted Feeling Sensation IF(S) type.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Tool

The MBTI model was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers, alongside her mother Katherine Briggs, and sought to apply Jung’s theories to understanding behaviour, not just abnormal behaviour, or psychiatric disorders. Thus, the tool aims to identify and clarify individual behavioural preferences in everyday life.

They added two further personality aspects to Jung’s model, that of judging and perceiving. In this case, Someone who is high on the judgement scale is more decisive and likely to stick to their choice, whereas those with a higher perceiver score are more flexible and spontaneous. 

These functions were originally taken as implicit in Jung’s model but were made more explicit in the MBTI model. By adding these final two factors to the eight Jungian types, they then become the sixteen personality types of the Myers-Briggs profiles.

When I first used the tool, I found it helpful in this manner. It introduced me to the psychology of personality. It also helped me to better clarify my own preferences and better understand my strengths and weaknesses.

In my experience, anything that helps us understand ourselves and others better is a good thing. And to that degree, I think MBTI can be useful. However, I soon found some limitations with the methodology.

Can you have a specific personality type if the results differ?

The first problem I encountered was that when I did the test again, I got a different result. And then again, the next time. From further tests, and from analysing my results, I found that I sat on the cusp of four different personality types.

For example, I sit at the threshold between introverted and extroverted. I prefer to withdraw to quiet spaces to recharge my energy and I primarily process internally. But, much of my work is done in a social context and I enjoy variety. But this means that I often get seemingly contradictory results in MBTI tests.

Therefore, it was hard to say I was an exact type, as I did not sit neatly into one of the 16 categories. I found that it was hard to define exactly what my personality was, if hard boundaries were enforced between the profiles.

The problem with putting people into boxes

This leads to the second problem I have with MBTI: at a philosophical level, I don’t like the way it puts people into boxes.

At first, I didn’t like this on an intuitive level but as I researched more of the psychology of personality this was backed up by not liking this on an empirical level. The increasing evidence is that personality can (and does) change over time. Therefore, it is not helpful to think about ourselves as a fixed ‘type’.

This philosophical divergence is linked to my belief in one’s ability to change. My roles, both as a leader and as a coach revolve around change. Leaders seek to bring about change, a vision of a better future. Coaches help to facilitate change by helping individuals think more clearly, to achieve goals or change behaviours.

Bringing about individual evolution is about shifting behaviours and this is hard to do if people have a fixed idea about who they are. The ability to change, at an individual level, is fundamental to the idea of having a growth mindset. The same is true for building better habits. As James Clear highlights in his book Atomic Habits,

“It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behaviour. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.”

Therefore, it is important to avoid beliefs that fix us to the idea that we must behave in a certain way. It is a wrong assumption to believe we cannot change just because we are constrained by personality type. Personality is just one factor, and though it might evolve slowly, it is not static.

Do you have a personality type or just preferences depending upon certain traits?

Carl Jung changed the way we understand personality today, particularly with his introduction of the concepts of introversion and extroversion. But we must be careful not to see ourselves as fixed types. And therein lies the fundamental problem with the Myers-Briggs interpretation of Jung’s psychology. It is too easy to see ourselves defined by a specific personality type.

If we want to be better, to improve ourselves, then we should seek to understand our preferences but not be restricted by them. We should identify and play to our strengths, but not consider that we are fixed in our character and behaviour. Don’t put yourself in a box.

“Know thyself” – Socrates

So, the next time you do a personality test, don’t let that constrain your thinking of who you are. Use it as helpful data to better understand yourself, not a judgment to be constrained by.

And if you want to do a personality test then I recommend the Big 5 (OCEAN) model rather than MBTI (and no, I am not paid to say that or earn money from Big 5 psychometric tests!). I recommend the Big 5 as it is now the preferred standard test of most psychologists and has better scientific backing, as you can read about in How to work out your personality with the Big 5 (OCEAN) model.

The Quest

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What are your personality traits or preferences? Do you have the right personality type for the job you are doing? How can the Big 5 or OCEAN model help you?

This is a potentially controversial question. Popular culture tends to support the idea that we can do anything we want to if we put our minds to it. However, psychological research suggests that we can be better suited to specific roles. And this is an insight that many individuals and organisations put to good use.

For example, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) use the science of personality types to help select astronauts for specific missions.  NASA use questionnaires to understand the psychological profiles of potential team members and have done extensive research into which personality types are best suited to different sorts of assignment.

The questionnaires NASA employ use the Big 5 personality traits. The Big 5 (also known as the OCEAN model) includes measuring openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (more on these later).

Space age psychology for today’s challenges – why we need to understand personality

So, what about life and work beyond space exploration? Is personality important? We might not be aspiring astronauts, but the evidence suggests that the psychology of personality types is important no matter what we do.

I am a great believer in self-discovery as foundational to fulfilment in life. And once again I am not alone in this. From Socrates to Stephen R. Covey, the history of personal development emphasises the importance of self-awareness.

Whether you are an individual, trying to find your vocation, or a manager, wanting to find the right person for a role, this means that the subject of personality type is an important one.

Many people have taken personality tests of one sort or another and there are other popular tools out there. The best-known is probably the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) and this was the first such test I took. But, due to my experience with these tests – and the weight of scientific evidence – I don’t recommend MBTI. You can find out why in my article Much Too Jung (The Problem with Myers-Briggs Personality Tests).

I have utilised many psychometric tests in my work, and I now prefer using the Big 5 (OCEAN) model. The Big 5 is the preferred standard test of most psychologists and has been adopted by many employers (such as NASA). The OCEAN model emphasises personality traits rather than types.

Is personality more about traits or types?

The difference between traits and types reflects the distinction between analogue and digital. Traits are analogue as they measure aspects of character on a spectrum. For example, we might be more or less of a team player. The Big 5 (OCEAN) model uses this approach to understanding personality.

Personality type theory is more digital, saying that some either is or isn’t of a certain sort. For example, a test using the ‘type’ approach will say you are either extroverted or introverted. It does not illustrate to what degree you are either introverted, or extroverted, and the same with other traits. In other words, it is less nuanced. The Myers-Briggs test uses this more binary approach of typology.

One downside with type theory is that you can start to identify as a fixed kind of character and, even worse, start to think of that type as either positive or negative. This is unhelpful. Personality traits are about preferences and these preferences are not necessarily good or bad, they are not ethical judgements. Also, personality, traits and preferences are not fixed. They can change situationally and over time. For example, I have grown more confident over the years; that element of my personality is not fixed.

Therefore, in my experience, there is no one ‘right’ personality type, but different people thrive in different situations. And the science backs me up on this. That is why the psychological study of personality and the science of identifying personality types has grown in scope and importance.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

What is the right type of personality for your organisation?

Here it is also worth noting that businesses can fall into a trap, thinking they need to broadly recruit people with a specific personality type. This is harmful, at the macro level, as businesses (and society as a whole) benefit from having a healthy mix of personality types. Diverse personalities provide cognitive diversity and people who can thrive in the diverse roles that every team or tribe needs.

For example, NASA, at the organisational level, will employ a wide range of people, not dependent on personality type. Even astronauts are diverse in character. Personality is taken into account for specific missions but that is not the only selection criteria (by a long way!) And remember, the astronauts are not the only part of the operational team; it’s just that the larger part of the team is stuck on Earth.

So, be careful when using personality profiling to help pick a team. But to see how it can help us, let’s take a closer look at the psychological model that NASA uses.

What are the Big 5 personality types and what does OCEAN stand for?

The Big 5, which stands for five personality traits (also known by the acronym OCEAN) was developed by a series of researchers but is most closely associated with the work of Paul Costa and Robert McCrae. The 5 traits of the OCEAN model are:

O – Openness

C – Conscientiousness

E – Extroversion

A – Agreeableness

N – Neuroticism

The traits are generally measured by the use of psychometric tests (questionnaires that indicate preferences) and the scores are expressed on a scale or spectrum. There are many tests available, some even for free. But, whether paid or not, make sure whatever test you use comes from a recognised provider with proven credentials if you want to trust the results.

One free resource I often use is https://openpsychometrics.org where you can find a variety of tests including the Big 5 model.

The Big 5 (OCEAN) personality traits explained

Here is an explanation of each of the Big 5 traits:

Openness

Openness is the degree to which people are open to new experiences and ideas, being creative, having imagination and creativity. Less ‘open’ people prefer routine and deep, specialist knowledge.

Conscientiousness

The more conscientious a person is, the more organised, disciplined, and hardworking they tend to be. Less conscientious people tend to be more impulsive and disorganised.

Extroversion

Extroverts get more of their energy from external stimuli. They tend to be gregarious, outgoing, positive, enthusiastic, and assertive. Introverts get their energy more internally. They tend to think more before speaking, prefer fewer (but deeper) relationships and retreat from others to recharge.

Agreeableness

A more agreeable person is more likeable, cooperative, and trusting. They tend to be warm and good-natured. Less agreeable people are less trusting, more critical, and often prefer to work alone.

Neuroticism

The higher a person is on the neuroticism scale, the more they worry. They tend towards negativity and are more prone to depression and anxiety. Less neurotic people are calm, even-tempered, and more secure in themselves.

Applying the Big 5 personality traits – an example

By way of an example (and to show any given trait is not good or bad) we can once again consider NASA astronaut selection for different missions. Let’s take one trait, that of agreeableness in this instance.

For a mission of a long duration, with people stuck in close confines such as a trip to Mars, you want people higher on the agreeableness spectrum. That is because they are more likely to work well as a team (and not rub each other up the wrong way!) This is similar to the type of person selected to serve for long durations in Antarctic research stations.

By contrast, someone completing a solo mission might be better off having a lower agreeableness rating as they will need to be happy working on their own, with no company, for long periods.

So here we can see it is not that agreeableness is good or bad. Where someone lands on the spectrum just indicates tasks or roles they are better suited to, but this is situational and just one factor to take into consideration.

Example of the Big 5 Personality Traits for selecting team roles

I put this knowledge to good use when working with a team fulfilling a security contract there were two main roles that team members needed to play.

The first was surveillance. This was generally done by small teams who often had to stay together, in a confined space, doing monotonous work for extended times. Here the preference was for characters that showed high conscientiousness, as they tended to be more disciplined and enjoyed routine. They also had high levels of agreeableness, meaning that they were less likely to rub people up the wrong way when stuck together for long periods. The best operators tended to be slightly more introverted as well.

The second role was speaking to people to gather information. Here the preference was for more extroverted characters with high openness scores. These sorts of team members enjoyed the outgoing role and the new experiences created by meeting lots of people. By contrast to the surveillance specialists, these operatives had lower conscientiousness ratings – meaning they were more impulsive – and did not need to have the same high agreeableness scores.

How the Big 5 (and other personality tests) can help or hinder us

As we have seen, the study of personality types has become important for NASA, especially as they try to answer the tricky question: who are the right sorts of people to send on a mission to Mars? But how about us? Why should we bother trying to quantify our personality?

Taking a personality test, especially one using the preferred Big 5 (OCEAN) model, can be beneficial in aiding self-awareness. Traits show preferences and help us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. It can help inform us of roles that we might prefer and excel in (and others where we might struggle).

But personality is not fixed. Therefore, we must be careful not to identify too closely with personality types as this can get us into an unhealthy fixed mindset. This is why we focus on traits. Each trait sits on a spectrum that can change with circumstance and time. We also need to be careful not to think of our personality as good or bad. And, if we feel our personality has room for improvement, then the evidence shows that we can change.

People change and teams need to be diverse. Therefore, we need to be very careful when using personality tests to select people in an organisation. Most organisations require various personalities to thrive, and personality is just one factor – among many – to consider in individual and team performance. But you can use personality profiles, to work with individuals, to make sure they are in the best role for them – a place where they can thrive and contribute using all of their strengths.