Big 5 Factors of

Personality

What do the five traits

mean
Keep in mind that the traits
fall on a continuum, and the following

descriptions delineate characteristics associated with each of the

traits. Looking at these characteristics we can formulate what each
of the traits mean. An easy way to remember them is by using
OCEAN
O - Openness means a person is imaginative, independent minded
and has divergent thinking
C - Conscientiousness means a person is responsible, orderly and
dependable
E - Extraversion means a person is, talkative, social and assertive
A - Agreeableness means a person is good natured, co-operative
and trusting
N - Neuroticism means a person is anxious, prone to depression
and worries a lot

Big 5 Personality Factors

Openness to experience (versus closed-mindedness) describes the
breadth, depth, originality, and complexity of an individuals mental
and experiential life.
Conscientiousness describes socially prescribed impulse control that
facilitates task and goal directed behaviour, such as thinking before
acting, delaying gratification, following norms and rules, and planning,
organizing, and prioritizing tasks.
Extraversion implies an energetic approach to the social and material
world and includes traits such as sociability, activity, assertiveness,
and positive emotionality.
Agreeableness contrasts a prosocial and communal orientation toward
others with antagonism and includes traits such as altruism, tendermindedness, trust, and modesty.
Neuroticism contrasts emotional stability and even-temperedness with
negative emotionality, such as feeling anxious, nervous, sad, and tense.

Traits
What do the five traits mean?
What do the Big Five predict about our behaviour? (Handbook of
Personality Psychology by Hogan, Johnson, and Briggs, 1997)
First, having a trait means reacting consistently to the same situation
overtime, for example, being agreeable or cooperative means
consistently going along with reasonable requests, but does not mean
always complying with others wishes.
Second, to respond consistently in the same situation people must have
a capacity to respond to situational cues, that is to have the trait to be
responsive to situations. For example, if someone purchases a house
in the woods, they might want that house because of its secluded
location.
Third, behaving differently in a given situation does not mean there is
inner inconsistency. For example, someone who likes to attend
parties might not often do so because of a stronger desire to work.

How might these factors relate to motivation?

Lets look quickly at each trait. Only one end of the continuum, for
example extraversion as opposed to introversion, is presented here.
Since these traits are on a continuum someone at the opposite
extreme would show very different types of motivation than those
at the extreme, talked about.
Extraversion has an interpersonal component and is strongly related
to positive affect such as being enthusiastic, energetic, interested
and friendly. Fremont and Means (1970) found that extraverts show
less anxiety over negative feedback. It has long been noted that
Extraversion is associated with leadership. So extraverts are highly
motivated to seek social situations and to be dominant in those
situations. Extraverts are motivated by change, variety in their
lives, challenge, and are easily bored. Extraverts have more
recently been seen as adaptive, ambitious and hardworking.

Agreeableness also has an interpersonal component. Agreeable

individuals tend toward conformity in groups, toward modesty,
toward not being demanding, and toward being sympathetic.
These individuals might be motivated toward helping others and
toward prosocial behavior in general. There may be a link
between the motivational processes operating within individuals
in regards to this trait, such that agreeable individuals strive for
intimacy and solidarity in groups they belong to, which provides
emotional rewards.
Conscientiousness is related to such things as achievement,
perseverance, organization and responsibility. Conscientious
individuals are motivated toward achievement through social
conformity. They are, in general, internally driven.

Neuroticism tends to be viewed negatively and is associated with

negative affect, being tense and nervous. Keep in mind that
neuroticism is only one trait that an individual has. A person
could be neurotic and conscientious which may have negative
health effects but may motivate an individual toward success in
school and work situations.
Openness is associated with tolerance of ambiguity (which means
when something is not clear), a capacity to absorb information,
being very focused and the ability to be aware of more feelings,
thoughts and impulses simultaneously. The result is deeper, more
intense experiences. Open individuals are motivated to seek out
the unfamiliar, and to look for complexity.