We have been looking at the Big Five personality test, which is the most widely accepted personality test amongst the scientific community. It measures five niche parts of personality, which many of us found to be quite affective:
The first one is openness, the tendency to think in abstract ways. High scorers may be creative and adventurous, willing to try new things whilst low scorers may be more practical and conventional, avoiding the unknown.
Conscientiousness exercises a person’s self-control and discipline. High scorers are often organised and determined as well as more likely to do what is less fun now but will pay off in the future whilst people on the other side of the spectrum may be more easily distracted and impulsive, choosing what feels good now.
Extraversion is another part of the Big Five which describes a person’s inclination to seek stimulation from the outside world. Extroverts enjoy attention from other people and will engage actively with them, feeling energised when around lots of people however introverts do not find as much pleasure from this so are more likely to conserve their energy, getting their energy from being alone.
Agreeableness is the tendency to put other’s needs above your own and cooperate rather than compete. High scorers in this category are empathetic and get pleasure from caring for others. They are also noticeably more trustworthy and forgiving. People who score lower may be less empathetic and but their own needs ahead of others. People on this side of the spectrum are often quite competitive.
The last category is neuroticism, which is the tendency to experience negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame. People who score highly are more likely to react to a situation emotionally whilst others who are on the low-scoring side may be more likely to brush off misfortunes and carry on.
It is important to remember that each of these categories are on a spectrum so many people may be a bit of both sides but more inclined to one. There is also not necessarily a better or worse trait as neither are good or bad.
After learning about each trait, we took the test ourselves. Most of us found this test to be quite accurate and believed that the results were correct. The questions were based on a very specific area of personality and kept a small focus too which is why we think this test is so widely accepted by the scientific community. It is also a reliable test as research shows that it gives consistent results.
A few weeks back, we all wrote down personality traits we thought we had. When looking at them, many of us saw similarities between our list and the Big Five personality traits we had been given.
Aliza, Year 8
