13.2: The Big Five Personality Traits and Personality Tests

big five personality model

one of the most prominent models of personality that evaluates where an individual scores on a spectrum of five traits

big five traits

openness

conscientiousness

extraversion

agreeableness

neuroticism

OCEAN

openness

measures a person’s willingness to try new and varied experiences 

conscientiousness

measures degree to which a person is focused, diligent, goal-oriented, and organized

extraversion

measures a person’s preference or tendency to be social, emotionally expressive, and excitable

agreeableness

measures how well people work with and get along with others

neuroticism 

measures degree to which people experience negative emotions, such as anxiety, fear, anger, and depressed moods 

honesty-humility

proposed addition to the Big Five personality model that measures degree to which a person is selfless, trustworthy, and humble

projective personality tests

tests such as rorschach inkblot test and thematic apperception test that can assess personalities by having people look at images and interpret what they see 

rorschach inkblot test 

projective personality test where an individual is shown a series of inkblot cards and asked, ‘what might this be?’ 

is a validated measure when someone well-trained is assessing responses to the cards 

pareidolia

tendency to see faces, shapes, and objects in things like clouds or a textured ceiling

thematic apperception test TAT

projective personality test where a person is shown a series of black and white illustrations of people within realistic but ambiguous situations

person viewing the card is asked to tell a story of what is happening in the scene