The more I learn about personality, the more I’m convinced that a good understanding of your own personality and that of others can significantly improve different aspects of your life.
As humans we all have unique aspects, however, look deeper and you can identify patterns in our traits and behaviours that can be used to systematically analyse our personality. In doing so, you will be able to assess on whether your personality driven behaviours are in conflict with some of the outcomes you want to achieve in life.
You may have done a popular personality test at work called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In this blog I will be using another approach known as the Big Five model of personality (or Five Factor model), which has a supporting consensus in the field of psychology. The main difference is that you will understand your personality based on a spectrum of five main traits (relative to the population) rather than being given a type or category. I’ve personally found this approach more intuitive and memorable which has allowed me to reflect more consistently.
Personality test
Let’s get started – complete this free Big Five personality test. You can ctrl + P and save the results as a PDF for future reference.
Why not get your partner to do it as well or do one for your children so you can discuss the results together…
My score was:
- Openess – 60
- Conscientiousness – 67
- Extravertism – 83
- Agreeableness – 79
- Nueroticism – 62
After reading more about each trait, think about how accurately your score reflects your personality and some of your typical behaviours.
The Big Five model – OCEAN
This model was developed through a data driven approach to identifying personality traits. Lots of people were asked a variety of personality questions and the data was then analysed to see whether there were patterns within the responses that cluster around different dimensions of personality – it turns out there are five.
These big five personality traits are:
| Low | High | |
| 1. Openess – having an openness to new experiences. These individuals have a broad rather than narrow range of interests, are sensitive rather than indifferent to art and beauty, and prefer novelty to routine. | – Dislikes change – Does not enjoy new things – Resists new ideas – Not very imaginative – Dislikes abstract or theoretical concepts | – Very creative – Open to trying new things – Focused on tackling new challenges – Happy to think about abstract concepts |
| 2. Conscientiousness – our degree of self-discipline and control. Individuals with high scores on this factor are determined, organised and plan for events in their lives. Individuals with low scores tend to be careless, easily distracted from their goals or the tasks that they are undertaking and undependable. | – Dislikes structure and schedules – Makes messes and doesn’t take care of things – Fails to return things back where they belong – Procrastinates on important tasks – Fails to complete necessary or assigned tasks | – Spends time preparing – Finishes important tasks right away – Pays attention to detail – Enjoys having a set schedule |
| 3. Extravertism – a measure of an individual’s willingness to talk and engage in activities with others i.e. their tendency to be sociable. Individuals who score highly on extraversion are very sociable, energetic, optimistic, friendly and assertive. Individuals with high scores are labelled extraverts. Individuals with low scores are labelled introverts. Introverts are described as being reserved and independent, rather than followers socially. | – Prefers solitude – Feels exhausted when having to socialise a lot – Finds it difficult to start conversations – Dislikes making small talk – Carefully thinks things through before speaking – Dislikes being the centre of attention | – Enjoys being the centre of attention – Likes to start conversations – Enjoys meeting new people – Has a wide social circle of friends and acquaintances – Finds it easy to make new friends – Feels energised when around other people – Say things before thinking about them |
| 4. Agreeableness – includes the characteristics of an individual that are relevant for social interaction. Individuals with high scores are trusting, helpful, soft-hearted and sympathetic. Those with low scores are suspicious, antagonistic, unhelpful, sceptical and uncooperative. | – Takes little interest in others – Doesn’t care about how other people feel – Has little interest in other people’s problems – Insults and belittles others – Manipulates others to get what they want | – Has a great deal of interest in other people – Cares about others – Feels empathy and concern for other people – Enjoys helping and contributing to the happiness of other people – Assists others who need help |
| 5. Neuroticism – an individual’s emotional stability. An individual who scores highly on neuroticism experiences wide swings in their mood and they are volatile in their emotions. Individuals with low scores on the neuroticism factor are calm, well-adjusted and not prone to extreme emotional states. This trait is similar has a big overlap with emotional intelligence which I’ve blogged about here. | – Emotionally stable – Deals well with stress – Rarely feels sad or depressed – Doesn’t worry much – Is very relaxed | – Experiences a lot of stress – Worries about many different things – Gets upset easily – Experiences dramatic shifts in mood – Feels anxious – Struggles to bounce back after stressful events |
These five factors are useful predictors of behaviours and life outcomes. This bibliography references all the relevant papers if you want to explore into things in more detail.
Practical applications
Research shows that personality traits are largely stable over our life as well as being determined to a large extent by our genetics and environment. However, the goal of understanding our personality is not to change it, but to reflect on how it influences our behaviours and whether these are aligned with outcomes we want to achieve in our life. If they aren’t, then we can take steps to implement behaviours that can get us back on track.
The following sections includes examples of how to think about the impact of your personality on different aspects of your life. Ultimately, I am not aiming to produce a prescriptive list of do’s and don’ts, but a way of encouraging you to think about your personality and life goals to assess whether action is needed to reach better alignment.
Careers
If you score highly on extravertism, then working in teams, engaging with lots of new people, having to network a lot etc will be better suited to your personality and more likely to be enjoyable compared to a role that is more isolated.
There is some evidence that extraverts are perceived as being worse listeners, so this is something you may want to get feedback on specifically or just prompt yourself to do more often.
Knowing about personality can also help with career progression. Identifying others personality can make you more proficient at adapting to work with them more effectively. For example, if a member of your team is high in neuroticism, then you might want to tailor how you give feedback to stress positives as well as points of development. Similarly, if you know they are going through a personal issue outside of work, then it may impact their emotional state (and performance) at work more than someone who has a lower score on this trait.
A quick google search on ‘effective manager behaviours’ suggests the following are examples of good practise (and I would agree):
- Recognise and appreciate individual achievements
- Invest in your team members’ success and genuinely care about their well-being
- Listen to feedback
- Have a clear vision and plan on how to get there
- Make effective decisions – that might not always be the most popular
Let’s say you score relatively low on conscientiousness (50), high on extravertism (80) and relatively high on agreeableness (60).
This might make you someone who thrives in your team environment and enjoys working with others. However, you may not be a particularly organised person and perhaps procrastinate on the most pressing issues which causes annoyance to others in the team and leads to team meetings being largely inefficient. You could easily establish a variety of habits to override some of these tendencies.
Relationships
Understanding personality could help to inform your decision about who you spend your life with – perhaps you have a preference to be with someone who is sociable (extravert), organised and productive (high on conscientiousness) and is able to handle stress and anxiety well (low on neuroticism).
Knowing your own personality and that of your partner can also help to understand how dynamics play out within a relationship and explain behaviours that you observe (and annoy you!).
Does it drive you crazy that your partner lacks organisation? Now you know this is a personality trait, perhaps creating ‘organising time’ where you can organise things together as a joint activity will make sure it happens.
Does your partner hate social gatherings but you love them? They might not always want to join you to group occasions if they have a much more introverted personality compared to you. Rather than this being a source of conflict, perhaps you can agree to limit the time spent at the occasion, or just agree for them to go to the most important ones.
It feels like understanding personality can go a long way in a relationship, so I’m looking forward to having a better understanding my wife’s personality now and adapting my behaviours to strengthen the relationship.
Wellbeing
If you score highly on neuroticism, then you will tend to be less emotionally stable. I personally score relatively high on anxiety, but much lower on depression – I am generally very happy, but do worry a lot about particular things.
Meditation, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), breathing exercises etc. are all very good practises to improve your wellbeing if it is being impacted by this personality trait.
You may not be able to fundamentally change this aspect of your personality, but you can improve your ability to overcome the negative aspects associated with them. For example, CBT is an effective evidence-based therapy that helps to reduce the impact of automatic negative thoughts and chronic anxiety.
Other areas where its worth reflecting on how your personality is impacting your behaviours and outcomes:
- Health
- Academic achievement
- Risky behaviours – smoking, taking drugs, gambling etc.
- Family satisfaction and wider relationships
- Social status
- Hobbies
- Political views
Further reading:
Personality: what makes you the way you are? (Nettle, 2009)
Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence (Maltby et al, 2017)