Big Five personality traits
The Big Five personality traits, sometimes known as "the five-factor model of personality" or "OCEAN model", is a grouping of five unique characteristics used to study personality. It has been developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory.
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Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors and ten values. Each of the five factors may be further divided into two distinct values. These factors and values are as follows:
- conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)
- agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/judgmental)
- neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)
- openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
- extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
When factor analysis is applied to personality survey data, it reveals semantic associations: some words used to describe aspects of personality are often applied to the same person. For example, someone described as conscientious is more likely to be described as "always prepared" rather than "messy". These associations suggest five broad dimensions used in common language to describe the human personality, temperament, and psyche.
Those labels for the five factors may be remembered using the acronyms "OCEAN" or "CANOE". Beneath each proposed global factor, there are a number of correlated and more specific primary factors. For example, extraversion is typically associated with qualities such as gregariousness, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, warmth, activity, and positive emotions. These traits are not black and white, but rather placed on continua.