Psych 101 – Chapter 2
Fall 2007
Big 5 Personality Traits
1. Openness to experience
resistance to new experiences
Curiosity
imaginative
Creative
Complex
Conforming
predictable
Conventional
Uncreative
2. Conscientiousness
Responsible,
persevering
self-disciplined
Dependable
Deliberate (think carefully before acting)
Impulsiveness
Quick to give up
fickle
careless
Disorganized
laid back
Not goal oriented
3. Extroversion
Outgoing
talkative
sociable
adventurous
enthusiastic
Introversion
Shy
silent
reclusive
cautious
reserved
quiet
4. Agreeableness
Good-natured
cooperative,
secure
sympathetic
warm
Antagonistic
Irritable
abrasive
suspicious
jealous
critical
quarrelsome
5. Neuroticism
anxious
impulsive
worrier
easily upset
emotionally negative
Emotionally Stable
only has those feelings when
the circumstances dictate
calm
emotionally stable
Psych 101 – Chapter 2
Fall 2007
Biological Influences:
Genetics – heredity
- You can look at the similarity in these traits between yourself and your biological
parents and siblings, unfortunately, there could still be environmental factors
influencing them and it is hard to tease that apart.
- Psychologists look at other species, temperament in children and heredity to study bio
influences
Environmental Influences:
Situational (societal) – rewards and punishments, your views, beliefs and thoughts about
behaviors or traits, how do the situations you find yourself in influence your personality traits
and how does your personality influence the situations you find yourself in (reciprocal
determinism), non-shared environment
Parental –Parents can influence religious beliefs and values, intellectual and occupational
interests, skills, feelings of self-esteem or inadequacy, degree of helpfulness – do any of these
influence where you fall on the spectrum of the Big 5 traits?
Social (peer pressure) – do you have similar levels of these traits to the peer groups you
find yourself in, did you select a particular peer group b/c of your personality traits
e.g. Are you extroverted b/c you were on the debate team or a cheerleader? Or are you
antagonistic (low on agreeableness) b/c you hung out with a group of friends that were more
concerned with themselves than others?
Cultural Influence:
Does your ethnic identity or acculturation level influence these traits? Are there cultural
reasons why you have a certain characteristic trait?
e.g. America is an individualistic culture, does that make you score lower on
agreeableness? America is a schedule-oriented society, does that make you more conscientious?