Personality tests have become a popular trend throughout the past several decades. Although there are many types of tests, one of the most widely recognized is the big five personality test.
In addition to using personality quizzes for personal purposes, using personality tests for employees to get to know one another in the workplace has become fairly common.
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These five traits each exist on a spectrum and when assessing where we fall on each trait’s scale, we may gain a better understanding of our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
These five traits include:
- openness
- conscientiousness
- extraversion
- agreeableness
- neuroticism
The acronym for these traits is OCEAN. Here’s a look into what each trait measures. You can take each quiz to find out your score. Remember that you can score high or low for each trait.
Openness refers to a person’s level of curiosity about the world and their willingness to try new things. A high score on openness would describe someone who is:
- intellectually curious
- interested in learning and trying new things
- excited by a challenge
- creative
A lower openness score would describe a person who may be more averse to change and who likes routine and predictability.
Conscientiousness refers to a person who acts with thought, discipline, and control. A person with a high conscientiousness score may:
- be goal-oriented
- have high impulse control
- show attention to detail
- be organized
- have a strong work ethic
- be emotionally stable
Someone with a lower conscientiousness score may be less structured and focused and more impulsive and distracted.
Extraversion focuses on a person’s social behavior. A person who scores high on extraversion may:
- receive their energy from being around people
- feel comfortable speaking to new people and making new friends
- enjoy larger groups and events
- like sharing their opinions and thoughts
A person who scores lower on extraversion could be described as introverted. This means that they gain their energy from solitude and may feel emotionally exhausted by social events.
Agreeableness refers to how a person treats others and manages conflict. A person who scores high on agreeableness may:
- prioritize social harmony
- treat others kindly
- act altruistically
- behave compassionately
- tend to be conflict-averse
A person who scores lower on agreeableness may be more conflict-prone and suspicious. This person may also have a tendency to act more selfishly.
Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame. It refers to a person’s emotional stability. A person who scores high on neuroticism may have lower emotional stability, which includes:
- being easily stressed out
- being prone to mood swings
- feeling more insecure
- worrying and feeling anxious
A person who scores low on neuroticism may have more regulated moods and higher self-confidence. This helps with managing stressful situations and viewing circumstances more optimistically.
The big five personality quiz is for anyone interested in learning more about their personality and why they behave the way that they do.
It can be helpful to discuss your results with a loved one, or even a mental health professional if there’s a particular result you wish to dive into deeper.
The big five personality quiz is not a diagnosis. It’s a tool that can better understand your thought patterns and behaviors.
Scores on the quiz provide a sense of how low or high you may rate on a continuum for each trait. Scores aren’t designed to place you into neatly defined categories.
For example, if you score high on neuroticism, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an anxiety disorder.
Your quiz results can offer you the opportunity to reflect. Remember that traits aren’t fixed aspects of your identity and can be flexible with targeted work.
Consider speaking with a mental health professional to determine what the quiz results could mean for you.
These quizzes were adapted from this source: Soto C, et al. (2017). Short and extra-short forms of the Big Five Inventory–2: The BFI-2-S and BFI2-XS. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656616301325