Five Factor Model of Costa and McCrae Essay

Guilford (1959) defines personality traits as being ‘any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another’. Subsequently, trait theory can be identified as an approach to the study of human personality. The aim of psychologists, specifically trait theorists, is to explain similarities and differences between individuals based on traits. Although numerous psychologists differ on the amount of traits that are significant, each theorist categorizes personality traits along several broad type spectrums. This assignment will focus on comparing and contrasting Eysenck’s Hierarchical Theory of Personality and Costa and McRae’s Five Factor Model (FFM), two different trait theories of personality.

The five-factor model (FFM) is a contemporary construct describing personality. It incorporates five traits – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism also referred to as OCEAN. Within each dimension, there are specific personality attributes, for example, openness includes subcategories of feelings and actions. The FFM was influenced by Cattell’s 16-factor model (1957) and shares traits with many other personality theories such as Eysenck’s PEN model. There has been an ongoing debate discussing how many factors appropriately represent the brain structure of personality, suggestions have varied from 2-7, recently Almagor et al. (1995) advocated that a 7-factor model unfolds when evaluative traits are involved. Costa & Mcrae (1992) claim that the FFM is the best theory of personality, however, the model has received much criticism. Through examining different aspects of the model its credibility can be explored.

in order to analyze the patterns that determine personality, certain issues need to be addressed

Well, my personality preference is INFJ which means Counselor Mystic. I tried many questions to test my personality. Some of them were like: In a discussion, truth should be more important than people’s sensitivities, you are often envious of others, you rarely worry about how your actions affect other people and many more. I gave my own opinion and I was surprised by the result because the result was true and it matched my personality. According to the test, I belong to that personality which is very rare among people. There was even mentioned my strengths, weaknesses, romantic relationship, friendships and so on. Some of my strengths were creative, insightful, inspiring and

The purpose of this paper is to discuss characteristics of my personality. The main focus of this paper will be how my personality has developed over time. As I age and encounter new and different experiences, my personality has adapted and developed further. This paper will give an in-depth exploration into the people and events that have influenced my personality.

Among the numerous psychological models of personality studied in this chapter, I believe the most useful model of personality is the five-factor model. Rather than focusing on character traits, the unconscious, or learning principles, this model describes personality as being derived from five higher-order traits known as the “Big Five” (Weiten, McCann, 2016). The Big Five, developed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa, consists of extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Thesis (?): This model is most compelling to me as I can easily identify fundamental aspects of my personality with it.

Other core personality variables that are present at birth and innate to human beings. To better understand the biological and genetic factors that affect personality one must consider how prominent researchers define personality. According to Joshua Wilt and William Revelle (2015), personality is “the coherent pattern of affect, cognition, and desires (goals) as they lead to behavior” (p. 479). Correspondingly, the most prevalent personality framework is the “Big Five,” or the five-factor model of personality developed by McCrae and Costa who specifically assume that traits are biologically based, inherent tendencies that persistently influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors throughout life (Broderick, & Blewitt, 2015). The five traits are as follows: (1) Extraversion which has the characteristics of being outgoing, enthusiastic, active, talkative, and assertive. (2) Agreeableness which has the characteristics of being warm, forgiving, sympathetic, kind, affectionate, generous, and compliant. (3) Conscientiousness which has the characteristics of being organized, reliable, careful, responsible, self-controlled, and efficient. (4) Neuroticism which has the characteristics of being tense, sensitive, moody, anxious, self-pitying, and self-conscious. (5) Openness to Experience which has the characteristics of being insightful, imaginative, artistic, curious, having wide-ranging interests, and a positive orientation to learning.

Both Costa and McCrae’s Five Factor theory of personality and Eysenck’s PEN theory have been the subject of significant research in an effort to better understand human personality. This paper focuses on two opposing theories: Costa and McCrae’s Five Factor model, a lexically-based theory with five factors, and Eysenck’s PEN model, a biologically-based theory with three core traits of personality.

The big five factors of personality are five broad domains or dimensions of personality which have been scientifically discovered to define human personality at the highest level of the organization. These five over-arching domains have been found to contain and subsume more or less all known personality traits within their five domains and to represent the basic structure behind all personality traits. They have brought order to the often-bewildering array of specific lower level personality concepts that are constantly being proposed by psychologists, which are often found to be overlapping and confusing. These five factors provide a rich conceptual frame work for integrating all the research findings and theory in personality psychology.

The Big Five model is broken down into five dimensions, including; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Openness includes those who are open to experience and are intellectually curious, they may also be open to emotion, and willing to try new things. Conscientiousness individuals display self-discipline, act loyally, and aim for achievement against measures or outside expectations. Additionally, it is related to the way in which individuals control, regulate and direct their impulses. Extraversion is related with ones engagement with the external world, introverts on the other hand have lower social engagement and energy levels. Agreeableness reflects individual differences in

Life can sometimes become unpredictable, when it comes to personality it can vary between individuals to the point some people may be viewed as abnormal. Personality can be defined as the

Each and every one of us is different in a unique way; in today’s time a person’s personality is seen as their own unique code or pattern that tends to define who they are in terms of emotions and behavior. With the help of the Big Five Personality Traits Theory we can actually determin a person’s personality.

In testing the personality, psychology researchers commonly use the five-factor method which is known as the “Big Five” dimensions of personality. The Big Five dimensions of personality are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. People often use the acronym, OCEAN to represent each personality (“The Big Five Personality Traits,” 2016). In definition, personality means characteristics or traits that are different from other people. The Big Five dimensions of personality help identify the personality of the person as whom we are that separates us from other people based on characteristics, thoughts, behaviours, and traits. Personality is important for our lives and for our environment in which we live in.

"Individuals are often confronted with situations in which they only have very little information about the persons they have to interact with; to handle such situations, have been shown to spontaneously form first impressions in an extremely fast manner" (Walker & Vetter, 2016, p. 609). Personality allows an individual to obtain a specific amount of information about the person as a whole. Within this paper, one will discuss each trait originated under the five factor model, extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. One will also discuss the traits that are possessed when scores from a personality test are revealed.

To understand personality there are three main aspects that must be looked at: LArsen and Buss Definition of personality, The Six Domains of knowledge of personality, and Costa and McCrae's Five Factor Theory. In this essay I will first break down larsen and Buss definition and connect it to the domains, then connect the domains to the five factor thoery (FFT).