The Big Five Personality Traits

More recently, a number of researchers have been using the latest in computer technology to redo the work that Eysenck and other earlier researchers did in far more laborious ways. This has led to what is known as the "big five" or the "five factor" theory.

The first dimension is, again, extraversion-introversion.

The second is usually called emotional stability, and is simply the reverse of Eysenck's neuroticism.

The third is called agreeableness. A high score means that you tend to be friendly and accommodating - a nice person. You don't need to be extraverted: I am an introvert, but I score high on agreeableness. If you score low, you are likely to be more idiosyncratic and have trouble getting along with people. This is not entirely negative: agreeable people often get their nice reputation by conforming and compromising on their principles, while non-agreeable people are more likely to stick to what they think is right even if it's unpopular. Then again, some are just plain disagreeable.

The fourth is conscientiousness. This parallels closely with Jung's judging-perceiving. People who score high on conscientiousness are orderly, get their work done, arrive on time, and care about doing things right. Score low on conscientiousness and that probably means you tend to slack off on your work, rarely worry about deadlines or neatness, and are more interested in taking it easy.

The fifth has come with several different labels, such as culture, openness to experience, or just openness. If you score high on openness, you are more likely to enjoy cultural pursuits such as art, music, and dance. You are more likely to go to museums, the symphony, and the ballet. You are more likely to want to travel to exotic countries and meet people different from yourself. You are more open to new experiences, such as trying foods you've never tried before or listening to music from all over the world. You are more likely to be interested in reading about philosophies and religions other than your own, and so on. If you score low, you are more likely to seek out the McDonalds, even when you are in Paris or Bangkok.

These five have stood up so well to research that I suspect most psychologists today accept them, at least until something even better comes along. It is also becoming clear that these are in fact strongly influenced by genetics. In other words, you are born with at least the general outline of your personality traits already laid out for you. That doesn't mean you can't change - it just means that it is less likely and more difficult.

All abovementioned personality traits theories are logically correlated to some extent. Each of them cover some part of the other theory, dividing them into psychological, or rather perceptual dimensions and complement the theory suggested by the rest. The thing is that newer ones, e.g. Big Five Personality Traits theory, are more complete and better structured. They explain and cover more dimensions of personality.