The concept of personality is one that gathers much attention from both the scientific community and the general public alike. Yet, despite decades of research and study, there is still no consensual definition of what it means or entails as the concept of personality is so broad and vague that each researcher has their own way of describing it.1
Nevertheless, the theory of the Big Five is the one that gathers more consensus within the scientific community since it was established in the 80s2 and remains the most used to date to explain the structure of personality.3
The theory breaks down 5 big personality traits that are intended to explain the behavior and attitude of the individual in different contexts. The factors identified by this personality model are: openness to experience (creative/curious vs. conventional/cautious), conscientiousness (hard worker/organized vs. uninterested/careless), extraversion (people-oriented/outgoing vs. goal-oriented/reserved), agreeableness (altruistic/compassionate vs. egocentric/critical), and neuroticism (anxious/insecure vs. relaxed/self-assured).4
This personality test is based on the Big Five model and it was created by our lead researcher, Dr. Rosa Isabel Rodrigues, as part of her Ph.D. thesis in Management, with a specialization in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior.5
This online personality test contains 23 questions in total. For each question, please indicate how often you exhibit the described behavior by choosing one of the following options: Never, Very rarely, Rarely, 50% of the time, Occasionally, Very frequently, Always.
You can only select one option per question.
There are no right or wrong answers. Time is not a constraint. Take as long as you want. The accuracy of the results depends on how honest you are when answering the questions.
This test is designed with the intent of being an insightful and educational tool. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the results as they depend on the precision and fidelity of the test-takers’ self-evaluation and the honesty of their answers. As such, they should not be used as an indicator of the capacities of the individual for a specific purpose nor do they constitute a psychological or psychiatric evaluation of any kind.
We do not collect personally identifiable information of the test-takers but responses may be recorded and used for research purposes or to be otherwise distributed. All responses are recorded anonymously.
A personality test based on the Big Five model is designed to assess the scores of an individual in each of the personality dimensions. These tests normally take the form of questionnaires, in which the test taker is asked to evaluate how much they agree or disagree with certain statements.
The statements are directly related to a dimension, although the link may not always be obvious to the test taker. A different score will be assigned depending on the answer - if it is positive or negative and the degree of agreement or disagreement - to ensure more precision in determining where the test-taker falls within the spectrum.
The Big Five is currently one of the most widely used and accepted models of personality. Although many scientists recognize that it still has some flaws, it is, nevertheless, the personality test that better expresses the dimensions of personality and their variations within a spectrum.
Unlike other popular personality tests that gather less scientific consensus, according to the Big Five, a person's assessment cannot be dichotomic. . The personality of an individual is instead formed by different degrees within the dimension and those values are what make each person unique.
The Big Five model has also been proved to be easily adjustable to different cultures and contexts (clinical, personal curiosity, etc.) while maintaining a consistent, replicable, and objective description of the five personality dimensions.6
The Big Five identifies 5 personality dimensions to which certain personality traits are associated depending on how high or low the individual scores in each one.
Openness to experience: a high score indicates someone who is creative and curious, while a low one expresses a preference for a more cautious and conservative approach to problem-solving.
Extraversion: as the name suggests, a high score in this dimension reflects an extroverted, energetic, talkative, and outgoing person. On the contrary, a low score is linked to introversion and it indicates someone who is likely to have fewer but more intense relationships, who enjoys solitude and is goal-oriented instead of people-oriented.
Conscientiousness: a conscientious person denotes someone who is hardworking and very meticulous and organized in everything they do. Lower scores indicate someone who prefers a more flexible and spontaneous approach to any problem, and that tends to perform better in situations of crisis or emergency.
Agreeableness: this dimension is related to the way a person interacts with others. High agreeableness indicates someone who is prosocial, altruistic, and compassionate while low agreeableness reflects a more egocentric and competitive person.
Neuroticism: a person with high neuroticism values tends to be very insecure, more prone to negative feelings, and have low self-esteem. Low values in this dimension indicate someone who is confident, optimistic, and emotionally stable.
References:
1 Kernberg, O. (2016). What is Personality? Journal of Personality Disorders, 30(2), 145-156. doi: 10.1521/pedi.2106.30.2.145
2 Gomes, C., & Golino, H. (2012). Relações Hierárquicas entre os Traços Amplos do Big Five. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 25(3), 445-456; John, O., Naumann, L., & Soto, C. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big-Five trait taxonomy: history, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. John, R. Robins, & L. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: theory and research (pp. 114-158). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
3 Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: the NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 5-13. doi: 10.1037/1040- 3590.4.1.5
4 Beus, J., Dhanani, L., & McCord, M. (2014). A meta-analysis of personality and workplace safety: addressing unanswered questions. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(2), 481-498. doi:10.1037/a0037916
5 Rodrigues, Rosa Isabel da Costa Vicente (2017), Talent searcher: construção e validação de uma bateria integrada para a seleção de pessoas. Lisbon: ISCTE-IUL. Ph.D. final thesis. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/15349
6 Notfle, E., & Fleeson, W. (2010). Age differences in big five behavior averages and variabilities across the adult life span: moving beyond retrospective, global summary accounts of personality. Psychology and Aging, 25(1), 95-107.; Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: the NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 5-13. doi: 10.1037/1040- 3590.4.1.5