Big Five Personality Theory Essay

Psychology refers to study of human mind and behavior. The main aim of psychology is to gain an intricate understanding of all and why individuals behave the way they do and what are the causes of their behavior. The ultimate aim is to understand a man in order to benefit society at large. There are many theories that discuss and try to explore different aspects of human behavior. The big five personality theory has been revolutionary and is currently the most accepted model in the scientific community. It consists of five traits – Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, and openness and can be remembered by acronym – Ocean. One of the best ways to access a trait is to directly ask a person about the trait ( self report ) and then get an observer to confirm the trait ( observer report ). Me and my husband scored me on various traits as detailed above separately. We scored the answers, the scores and details of each trait are as below: Extroversion: My extroversion scores were (41- 41). This suggests I am talkative, outgoing, seek adventure, and excitement. Introverted people are quiet and reserved, though some researchers have shown that introverts can be as gregarious in social situations as extroverts but the key is in the source of energy. Extroverts gain energy from social interactions where as introverts from solitude. This is so true in my case. I have never been comfortable being alone. Openness: I scored (78-65) in openness, which is characterized by imagination, broadmindedness, originality. People low in this trait traditional, stick to familiarity, follow tested paths. It’s true in my case. I love challenges, trying new things adds new dimension and meaning to my life. In fact I would go ahead and say not doing different things disappoints me. It is this trait that got me my boyfriend who is now my husband. I guess this need comes because I lived 22years of ritualistic and traditional life. Thanks to a strict father. Conscientious : I scored (33-36) on conscientious which is characterized by dependability, efficiency and persistence. I love order in anything. Be it my wardrobe, gym routine, doing my laundry on Saturday or cleanliness of the house. Being on time to appointments, keeping order in life, I believe speaks volumes about a person and I intend to have a positive one. Guess, I get that trait from my father. He was always prompt with bills, early for appointments even informal ones. I did not know one could live any other way. Agreeableness: I scored 30(me)-43(husband) in agreeableness. It is characterized by less negative emotions, like jealousy, revenge and more empathy. People low in this trait look to win arguments not people, lean more towards excitement and dominance. I guess my husband sees me as being as agreeable because he himself is a agreeable person and sees positive in others always whereas I am more critical of myself. I am supportive of friends and family and empathize a lot with people to an extent that I feel angry if my close ones are insulted. But at the same time if someone does something wrong even if it is my mother I will not stop myself from confronting her. So, I must say I agree with my score of 30. Emotional stability: I Scored 16(me)-29(husband) in Emotional stability. It is characterized by stability in emotions in various situations in life and they are calm, free from persistent negative feelings. People rating low on this trait show negative emotions like anger, anxiety, depression, low tolerance to stress, mood swings and pessimism, Both me and my husband have scored me low on this scale. The reason is I do get stressed easily. Exams, major decisions in life get me on my nerves. At those times I am a different person – angry, not approachable and irritable. But once I find solution to the problem in my mind, I immediately get back to being myself. I guess, I need to work on being more stable. The big 5 theory helps shed light towards formation of human personalities and why different individuals exhibit different emotions and reactions when dealing with different social situations. Human behavior just like psychology itself is a broad specialty and having all the answers is virtually i mpossible. However having different theories give innumerable details that helps form a bigger picture of causes and variables that shape a human. Anju Priyadarshini