Five Factor Model Of Personality Analysis

Aditi Mittal
Dr. William J. Chopik
Personality 236
12 February 2018 Assignment 1 - Your essential traits Personality refers to the variety in our pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving. It focuses on studying our unique traits, behavior and characteristics and what makes us different from everyone else. It focuses on two aspects: one is understanding individual differences in our attributes and the other is understanding how the various parts of a person come together as a whole. One of the most prominent models measuring personality is by Costa and McCrae, called the ‘Big Five’. It is also called the five-factor model (FFM) and uses the factor analysis method (a statistical technique). It relies on the association

Let’s look at these factors and the chief traits belonging to it. Openness to experience evaluates the underlying traits of inventive/curious versus consistent/cautious. It reflects the degree of a person’s imagination or independence and shows their personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine. Some traits that are measured through this factor include the person’s appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, vivid imagination, curiosity and the extent to which they prefer novelty to restricted patterns. One measuring high in openness is perceived as unpredictable and has a love for learning. They like meeting new people and engage in creative careers or hobbies and typically, intellectuals score higher than most like artists, writers and those in the field of performing and visual arts. An individual who scores low probably prefers to stick to a routine over variety, to things they are confident in and prefer less abstract

The Big Five model does assess personality correctly but only according to the most recent state of the individual’s personality. However, it is not hard to fall into the trap where you answer the questionnaire according to your ideal self, which I assume is why my results vary. I am constantly trying to better myself and become the person that I aspire to be leaving me as a person whose traits are muddled between the two. Therefore, I believe the model is not very reliable and inaccurate to an extent. Take for example, where it implies that I’m average on the friendliness scale signifying that I am perceived as distant and reserved which couldn’t be further from the truth. Most of the times, I’m told that I am very carefree and easy going which makes it very effortless to talk to me. An average score on friendliness wouldn’t provide justice to my traits as I can be the most arrogant person and make it really hard for the other to hold a conversation with me if I’m not happy with some situation or I can be very approachable. My observations through the years conclude that my mood affects my results for the model as I am highly sensitive to my environmental conditions. The model’s measurement of the traits is exceedingly cloudy and variable, causing it to be low on validity and