Key Insight: All of the mainstream personality tests are junk science. Specifically, tests that put people into “boxes” or “categories.” There is no such thing as a personality type. Don’t let a label define who you are.
Challenge:
–What would happen if you stop defining yourself by limiting labels?
I suppose without the “introvert” label, I would be able to people better? I do not know… this is not something I have given much thought to. Asia said something about having ADHD as a label. I wonder about that one – I did not know about it and yet I had all of the symptoms. I do not lean much on it but I have let it become an excuse in some cases, I guess. I let my learning disabilities be the reason why I do not do a lot – it is true.
-What is a label you could give yourself that would help you become your desired future self?
This Big Five assessment measures your scores on five major dimensions of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (sometimes abbreviated OCEAN). Check out your scores on each of the five dimensions in the graph below, then read on to discover what each score means.
Openness
Openness describes a person’s tendency to think in abstract, complex ways. High scorers tend to be creative, adventurous, and intellectual. They enjoy playing with ideas and discovering novel experiences. Low scorers tend to be practical, conventional and focused on the concrete. They tend to avoid the unknown and follow traditional ways.
Openness is strongly related to a person’s interest in art and culture. People who are high in openness tend to enjoy the arts and seek out unusual, complex forms of self-expression. People who are low in openness are often suspicious of the arts and prefer to focus on more practical pursuits.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness describes a person’s ability to exercise self-discipline and control in order to pursue their goals. High scorers are organized and determined and are able to forego immediate gratification for the sake of long-term achievement. Low scorers are impulsive and easily sidetracked.
The concept of Conscientiousness focuses on a dilemma we all face: shall I do what feels good now, or instead do what is less fun but will pay off in the future? Some people are more likely to choose fun at the moment, and thus are low in Conscientiousness. Others are more likely to work doggedly toward their goals, and thus are high in this trait.
Extraversion
Extraversion describes a person’s inclination to seek stimulation from the outside world, especially in the form of attention from other people. Extraverts engage actively with others to earn friendship, admiration, power, status, excitement, and romance. Introverts, on the other hand, conserve their energy and do not work as hard to earn these social rewards.
Extraversion seems to be related to the emotional payoff that a person gets from achieving a goal. While everyone experiences victories in life, it seems that extroverts are especially thrilled by these victories, especially when they earn the attention of others. Getting a promotion, finding a new romance, or winning an award are all likely to bring an extrovert great joy. In contrast, introverts do not experience as much of a “high” from social achievements. They tend to be more content with simple, quiet lives, and rarely seek attention from others.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness describes a person’s tendency to put others’ needs ahead of their own and to cooperate rather than compete with others. People who are high in Agreeableness experience a great deal of empathy and tend to get pleasure out of serving and taking care of others. They are usually trusting and forgiving.
People who are low in Agreeableness tend to experience less empathy and put their own concerns ahead of others. Low scorers are often described as hostile, competitive, and antagonistic. They tend to have more conflictual relationships and often fall out with people.
Neuroticism
Neuroticism describes a person’s tendency to experience negative emotions, including fear, sadness, anxiety, guilt, and shame. While everyone experiences these emotions from time to time, some people are more prone to them than others.
This trait can be thought of as an alarm system. People experience negative emotions as a sign that something is wrong in the world. You may be in danger, so you feel fear. Or you may have done something morally wrong, so you feel guilty. However, not everyone has the same reaction to a given situation. High Neuroticism scorers are more likely to react to a situation with fear, anger, sadness, and the like. Low Neuroticism scorers are more likely to brush off their misfortune and move on.
Your Traits in Depth
Now, we’ll take a detailed look at each of your scores and how they compare with average scores for the population. We’ll see what your scores mean for your individual experiences, and how the latest scientific research can help you to understand what your traits really mean.
Your Openness Score in Depth
Openness describes an individual’s tendency to think in complex, abstract ways. People who are high in Openness are abstract thinkers, while people who are low in Openness are concrete thinkers.
As a person high in Openness, you are more able than the average person to connect seemingly unrelated concepts. This makes you more creative and imaginative than average, and more likely to appreciate unusual ideas.
Because you are high in Openness, you are more likely to appreciate art, music, and various cultural activities. You may notice that you are more interested in such things than the average person. Your mind is better able to process loosely connected ideas, and so you are more apt to appreciate, say, a sculpture of an elephant built out of forks. While many people would find such a thing bizarre, you enjoy considering the meaning of things and working to understand how seemingly unrelated ideas might be connected.
Your Personality Patterns
Your personality traits interact to create unique patterns of thought and behaviour. In this section, you’ll learn how your traits work together to drive the way you interact with the world.
To describe your personality patterns, we use a circular graph called a circumplex. The circumplex is used by psychologists to illustrate how two traits intersect to create more complex patterns of thought and behaviour. Each circumplex has four sections, with each section describing a typical pattern. The area of each section shows how well that pattern describes you. A larger area indicates a better fit for that pattern.
Some circumplex graphs will show a clear preference for one pattern. Others will show a more even spread over two or even three patterns. Where you have nearly equal scores for two or more patterns, you can expect that both patterns may describe you equally well.
Core Pattern
This circumplex describes the essential role you take on in approaching the world. This role is a reflection of your core values and motivations, as well as the way you think about things.
Empathic Idealist
Uses insight and creativity to help others. Thinks about how the world could be a better and more beautiful place.
Practical Caretaker
Helps other people in practical, everyday ways. Uses established institutions to maintain stability and security.
Analytical Thinker
Solves logical problems with rational, complex analysis. Thinks about innovative ways to improve systems.
Analytical Thinker
Solves logical problems with rational, complex analysis. Thinks about innovative ways to improve systems.
How does your mind work?
You have a highly creative and imaginative way of thinking and you often see connections that others do not. You are uninterested in the dull facts of a situation, preferring instead to interpret its meaning and implications. You have unusual ideas and sometimes perceive things that other people are not aware of. You are easily absorbed by fantasy and enjoy envisioning alternate realities as well as possibilities for the future.
You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the needs and experiences of others. As a highly empathetic person, you feel others’ emotions almost as strongly as your own, and as such, the experiences of others occupy an important place in your mind. Your thoughts often revolve around how you might be more helpful to others, or how you can better understand what they are going through.
You are preoccupied with goal-setting and achievement and most of your thoughts revolve around planning and completing tasks. You are a structured, orderly thinker, and rarely waste time on unproductive daydreaming.
What do you value?
You are a highly sympathetic and altruistic person who values kindness and compassion above all else. You feel it is crucial to care for others and work to make the world a better place. You rarely do anything that does not have a payoff in kindness or caring. You are unconcerned with selfish goals, and instead, preoccupy yourself with the needs of others.
You have a genuine love of ideas, and value originality, creativity, and imagination. It is important for you to have consistent opportunities to learn new things and improve your mind. You value intellectual challenge, depth of thought, and insight. Because of your interest in enlightenment and novel ideas, you place great value on artistic and cultural endeavours. You believe that the improvement of the mind is an important and worthy goal.
