Modern Five Traits: Understanding the Big 5 Personality Traits

Running head: MODERN FIVE TRAITS
MODERN FIVE TRAITS
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Introduction:
According to various contemporary personality psychologists, there are five basic
dimensions of personality found in human behavior. These five basic dimensions are often
referred to “Big 5” personality trait (Eysenck, 2017 ). Based on these five traits human behavior
can be predicted and the type of personality an individual can be determined. Several
independent sets of researchers have defined and discovered the five broad traits on data-driven
and empirical research. The reason these five traits are considered vital in some professionals is
for these dimensions are considered to be the underlying factors that make up the overall
personality of an individual and choosing candidates for an organization based on this factors
help in the growth of the company. These five traits are used widely in several circumstances in
various fields such as human resource professionals, psychologists and many other behavior
professionals (Marek, Schaufeli & Maslach, 2017). The paper aims to discuss the modern five
traits and provide answers explaining the meaning of the five traits and the reasons they are
considered important in the contemporary era. The paper also answers the way these five traits
are applicable to my present life along with the way these concepts can be applied to our
everyday life.
The Big Five traits:
According to several researchers there are five core personality traits. As the evidences
argue the theory has been rising for numerous years that began from the research initiated by
D.W.Fiske (1949) and expanded later by several researchers including Smith (1967), Norman
(1949), Goldberg (1981) followed by McCrae & Costa (1987). The wide-ranging categories of
personality traits are called the big five. A significant body of literature that backs up this five-

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factor model of personality are present (Jingli, 2018). However, there are some researchers who
do not agree entirely on the particular labels for every dimension.
It is significant to consider that every trait of the five personality traits signifies a wide
range between two extremes. Considering an example, extraversion is used to signify a
continuum between extreme introversion and extraversion. In the real world, it has been noted
that in each dimension maximum people falls somewhere between the two polar ends. The five
categories are openness, conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (Choi
& Lee, 2014).
Openness is a feature that traits feature characteristics such as insights and imagination.
People with high score in these traits are prone to possess a wide ranging interest. These people
are inquisitive when it comes to discover new things, meet people and know about the world as
they highly enjoy new experiences (Jaarsveld & Lachmann, 2017). Conscientiousness involves
high level of thoughtfulness, goal-directed behavior and good impulse control. People having
high scores in this trait are likely to be organized as well as mindful of minute detail. They are
likely to make plans ahead while thinking about the ways their behavior can affect others. They
are conscious about deadlines and other’s need when it is associated with them. Extraversion is
characterized by sociability, excitability, assertiveness, talkativeness and high amounts of
emotional expressiveness. People who have high score in this trait are likely to be outgoing and
tend to gain energy in social situations. When these people are around other people they feel
excited and energized. Agreeableness is the personality dimension that includes attributes such
as altruism, trust, affection, kindness and other prosocial behaviors (Lorincová, Tomková &
Suhányi, 2018). People who have high score in agreeableness, they tend to be more cooperative
while people with low score tend to be more competitive. Often these people are manipulative as

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well. Neuroticism is the personality dimension that is likely to involve mood swings, irritability,
anxiety and sadness. People who have low score in this trait tend to be more emotionally resilient
and stable.
The reason the big five modern traits are significant are for it helps in understanding a
personality in better ways. Through the usage of big five personality trait tests one psychologist
understand the reasons for an individual’s behavior. It is considered significant for the fact that
they represent a spectrum between two polar ends. Human behavior is shaped depending on
many factors such as social, physical, environmental and psychological. Through the
experiences, over the years since the time human begins to make sense of the outer world, they
are impacted and their behavior are shaped (Rust & Golombok, 2014). Although it is not a theory
that gives the source of the behavior however it gives the idea of the person’s personality. In
many organizations, it provides an understanding the reasons people chose a certain career path
over others. Psychological researchers often make use of five factor models in order to evaluate
things that are held as the five core traits or features of an individual’s personality. It also plays
vital role in understanding and predicting relationship between personality traits and success in
academic, social and professional circumstances (Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015).
Several times the model has been criticized for its limitations. Considering the esteem to
the number of personality behaviors after evaluation and the fact that it is certainly a data-driven
model, it is not on the basis of a psychological theory.
The way these five traits are applicable to my present life:
In my life I have come across the many a time when I have experienced these big five
traits profoundly in action. As stated earlier, the five traits can tell a person’s personality.