Who am I? Who will I be in the future? Can I change who I am? These are questions that bother most of us. We don’t have a way to predict the future. However, we can find out a bit more about ourselves and our behavioral tendencies if we know our personality type.
What are the personality types?
Clinicians frequently use an assessment called the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory to help people discover personality style. This questionnaire reveals the strength of each trait for that person. The five traits are below:
- Openness to experience (curiosity, creativity)
- Conscientiousness (organization, responsibility)
- Extroversion (sociability, assertiveness; opposite to introversion).
- Agreeableness (compassion, respectfulness)
- Neuroticism (anxious, depressed)”
We all have some amount of each trait. These traits can remain stable during periods of time in adulthood, yet they do change over a lifetime. Research also indicates that with hard work over time, people can learn to be more extroverted, conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable.
Big Five Personality Inventory
There are many versions of the Big Five Inventory. Every inventory presents 20 or more statements or situations and five options for rating yourself: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree.
The test results reveal how much of each trait an individual displays. Researchers conceptualize traits as continuums between strong and weak. The majority of people are in the middle somewhere.
Personality test results & their impact
People can use test results to observe general (not specific) connections between traits and life outcomes. The five-factor model helps people see how personality might affect:
- Physical health
- Success socially, academically, and professionally
- Life satisfaction
Personality types & characteristics
Please remember these are general descriptions and that traits are measured on a continuum. Traits are based on empirical data gathered over four decades. There is no way for science to pinpoint specific life outcomes for each personality type. Even researchers argue about how to determine or organize personality traits. They collect data to discover correlations between personality types and life outcomes tendencies.
Open Personality
An open personality seeks out novel experiences and feel comfortable in these situations. They attend to their emotions, are curious, and enjoy the unexpected.
Life Impact | A sense of well-being, contentment, positivity, and close relationships
Conscientious Personality
An conscientious personality is responsible, organized, possesses a high work-ethic, and likes to follow rules. They control their emotions and behaviors and are often successful in many areas of life.
Life Impact | Good health and longevity
Extroverted Personality
An extrovert is outgoing, has lots of energy, and/or talkative. Energized by socializing. Happy, successful, and often are leaders.
Life Impact | Struggle less with mental health concerns than those who are more introverted
Agreeable Personality
An agreeable personality is easy to get along with, polite, kind, friendly, trusting, affectionate, empathetic, and giving.
Life Impact | Happiness and overall satisfaction with life
Neurotic Personality
A neurotic personality is more anxious, depressed, self-doubting, and negative than other personality types.
Life Impact | Health issues and relationships dissatisfaction
the big 5 personality test
Online tests may not be as accurate as an in-person inventory, yet they are useful for indicating strengths and relative weaknesses. I took the free test on the website below. It seems accurate.
Enjoy the adventure of finding your personal identity. You can discover healthier ways to handle life issues no matter your personality type, with the help of a Sea Glass therapist. Contact Sea Glass today!
Meet The Author
PAM WAGNER
LMSW, LPC, CTS-1
Meet The Author
Pam is a Clinical Therapist at Sea Glass Mental Health. She works with adults, couples, and families. Pam specializes in female childhood trauma, chronic pain, PTSD, and EMDR.
