emotional competency - personality traits

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Personality TraitsIntrinsic differences that remain stable throughout most of our life

Personality traits are intrinsic differences that remain stable throughout most of our life. They

are the constant aspects of our individuality.

Personality Theories

Personalities are distinctive. Each individual behaves according to certain distinctive patterns throughout a

variety of situations. Humans are finely tuned to observe these behavior patterns of acquaintances and to

notice behavior differences among people.

You might use words such as talkative, cheerful, cold, disorganized, compulsive, intellectual, shrewd,

shortsighted, flirtatious, or ruthless to describe various people you know. Also, you have probably observed

that these various behaviors stay with the person consistently over time and throughout a variety of

circumstances. These persistent behavior patterns, calledpersonality traits, are stable over time, consistent

in a variety of situations, and differ from one individual to the next. Personality can be defined as the

psychological qualities that bring continuity to an individuals behavior in different situations and at different

times. [z imbardo]

Over the years several efforts have helped to understand and develop a common vocabulary to describe

personality traits. The most fruitful begin with the simple idea that humans introduce words into theirlanguageto describe interesting aspects of the world around them. This idea forms the basis for the lexical

hypothesis, which states: [DeRaad]

Those individual differences that are of most significance in the daily transactions of persons with

each other will eventually become encoded into their language. The more important is such a

difference, the more people will notice it and wish to talk of it, with the result that eventually they

will invent a word for it.

Beginning with a list of more than 18,000 descriptive terms extracted from unabridged dictionaries,

researchers first selected then extensively studied a list of adjectives describing stable personality traits.

Subjects were asked to rate each term according to how well it described the behavior of particular people

they knew well. Common factors were extracted from this data and the result is the The Big FivePersonality Factors which is very similar to the Five Factor Model of Personality.

The American-English form of the structure identifies these five personality factors:

Factor Trait Characteristics Inverse Trait Characteristics

I Extraversion/Surgency Talkative, extrovertedAggressive, verbal

Sociable, bold

Assertive, social

Unrestrained, confident

Shy, quiet

Introverted, silent

Untalkative, bashful

Reserved, withdrawn

Timid, unaggressive

II Agreeableness Sympathetic, kindWarm, understanding

Soft-hearted, helpful

Cold, unsympathetic

Unkind, rude

Harsh, inconsiderate

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,

Trustful, affectionate

,

Hard, uncharitable

III Conscientiousness Organized, neatOrderly, systematic

Efficient, responsible

Precise, thorough

Practical, dependable

Disorganized, disorderly

Careless, unsystematic

Inefficient, sloppy

Haphazard, inconsistent

Impractical, negligent

IV Emotional Stability Unenvious, relaxedUnexcitable, patient

Undemanding,

imperturbable

Unselfconscious, uncritical

Masculine, optimistic

Moody, temperamental

Jealous, touchy

Envious, irritable

Fretful, emotional

Self-pitying, nervous

V Intellect Creative, intellectualImaginative, philosophical

Artistic, complexInventive, intelligent

Innovative, deep

Uncreative, unimaginative

Unintellectual, unintelligent

Simple, unreflectiveShallow, imperceptive

Unsophisticated, uniquisitive.

These five factors can be further understood by looking at the following two tables ofsingle pole markers

for each trait. The table of trait markers lists the top 10 adjectives that correlate most positively with each

factor. The table of inverse trait markers lists the top 10 adjectives that correlate most negatively with each

factor.

Trait Markers:

Surgency Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional

stability

Intellect

Extraverted

Talkative

Assertive

Verbal

Energetic

Bold

Active

Daring

Vigorous

Unrestrained

Kind

Cooperative

Sympathetic

Warm

Trustful

Conscientious

Pleasant

Agreeable

Helpful

Generous

Organized

Systematic

Thorough

Practical

Neat

Efficient

Careful

Steady

Conscientious

Prompt

Unenvious

Unemotional

Relaxed

Imperturbable

Unexcitable

Undemanding

Intellectual

Creative

Complex

Imaginative

Bright

Philosophical

Artistic

Deep

Innovative

Introspective

Inverse Trait Markers:

Surgency Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional

stability

Intellect

Introverted

Shy

Cold

Unkind

Disorganized

Careless

Emotional

Irritable

Unintellectual

Unintelligent


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Reserved

Untalkative

Inhibited

Withdrawn

Timid

Bashful

Unadventurous

Distrustful

Harsh

Demanding

Rude

Selfish

Uncooperative

Uncharitable

Inefficient

Undependable

Impractical

Negligent

Inconsistent

Haphazard

Sloppy

Jealous

Touchy

Nervous

Insecure

Fearful

Self-pitying

High-strung

Uncreative

Simple

Unsophisticated

Unreflective

Imperceptive

Uninquisitive

Shallow

Anyones personality can be measured along these five dimensions using a variety of questionnaires and

assessment instruments designed for this. The result can be displayed in a chart showing where your

personality falls between the extreme poles for each trait. The following chart is an example, where each

triangle marker represents the degree each of the five factors is present for a particular individual. The

factor numbers are in the first column, followed by the factor names. In this chart the names have been

chosen so that their first letters (E, A, C, N, O) can be rearranged to spell OCEAN, which provides a useful

mnemonic for remembering the factor names. Factor IV is listed with reverse polarity to enable this

mnemonic. The last column names each inverse trait.

Your Personality Profile

I Extraverted Introverted

II Agreeable Antagonistic

III Conscientious Disorganized

IV Neurotic Emotionally

Stable

V Open Closed

In this example the person is more extroverted than introverted, but not extremely so. Note that the factor

I marker is not all the way to the left. People vary in the strength with which their personalities exhibit each

trait. Most people fall somewhere between the extremes of each pole, and are neither pure extrovert nor

pure introvert, for example. This person is somewhat antagonistic (not agreeable), quite conscientious,

rather emotionally stable and somewhat more open to experience (high intellect) than closed to experience.

Personality is stable over very long periods of time; personality traits do not change. They form the stable

second layer in the architecture for interaction model. Understanding, accepting, and applying your

personality traits is an important part ofknowing yourself.

Another study focused on descriptive nouns. [Saucier] An analysis of the results extracted eight factors.

Their names, along with the five nouns having the highest correlation for each factor are shown in the

following table.

Factor 1

Social Unacceptability

Factor 2

Intellect

Factor 3

Egocentrism

Factor 4

Ruggedness

Trash

DumbbellDummy

Twit

Moron

Philosopher

NonconformistPioneer

Poet

Artist

Snob

GossipEavesdropper

Critic

Materialist

Tough

JockSportsman

Machine

Aggressor
http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/nouns.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/authenticself.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/arch4interaction.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/change.htmhttp://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/


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Factor 5

Delinquency

Factor 6

Attractiveness

Factor 7

Liveliness

Factor 8

Disorientation

Lawbreaker

Pothead

DrunkAlcoholic

Rebel

Babe

Darling

SweetieHoney

Beauty

Joker

Clown

Goof

Comedian

Comic

Klutz

Worrywart

Sleepyhead

Daydreamer

Speculator

These factors may relate directly to the primal concerns of people as follows:

Factor 1: Social Unacceptability, relates to inclusion or exclusion from a social group. This is a basic decision

humans make as social animals. The poles, or underlying primal decision, can be though of as: Exclude

Include

Factor 2: Intellect, relates to human intelligence and higher levels of cognition. Smart is sexy and it has

been said that the brain is the most important sex organ. Many believe that intelligence distinguishes us ashumans, and it may be interpreted as an indicator of evolutionary advancement. Intelligence is an important

indicator ofstature. The poles can be described as: Bright Dull

Factor 3:Egocentrism, relates to a lack ofempathy and respect for others. It may be related to an

overzealous display ofstatus, a generous or false self-image, failure to counterbalance the first-person

viewpoint, or a counterfeit display of stature. Its poles can be labeled: Arrogant Humble or Narcissistic

Empathetic.

Factor 4: Ruggedness, relates to dominance, aggression, and power. Its poles can be labeled: Dominant

Submissive

Factor 5: Delinquency, relates to cheating. The theory of reciprocal altruism describes the importance andeffectiveness of cheater detectors for the social interaction of humans. The poles can be labeled: Cheater

Plays fair

Factor 6: Attractiveness, relates directly to sex and procreation. The poles can be labeled as: Sexy

Repulsive, ugly, disgusting.

Factor 7: Liveliness, relates to attracting attention, perhaps as a strategy for attracting a mate. The terms

seem to describe a real party animal. Possible labels for the poles are: Loud Quiet, reserved

Factor 8: Disorientation, relates to competence and reliability. Poles can be labeled: Incompetent

Competent.

Quotations:

Men do not change, they unmask themselves. ~ Madame de Stael

You cannot change the stripes on a tiger. ~ Folk wisdom

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

References:

Five Factor Constellations and Popular Personality Types, Leland R. Beaumont

The International Personality Item Pool , a web site maintained by Dr. Lewis R. Goldberg

Measuring the Big Five Personality Factors , by Sanjay Srivastava's

[zimbardo] Psychology: Core Concepts, by Phillip G. Zimbardo, Ann L. Weber, Robert L. Johnson

Srivastava, S., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2003). Development of personality in early and

middle adulthood: Set like plaster or persistent change?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84,

1041-1053. abstract df
http://www.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/pubs/b5development.pdfhttp://www.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/abstracts.html#b5devthttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205356605?ie=UTF8&tag=flushotfiasco-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0205356605http://www.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/bigfive.htmlhttp://ipip.ori.org/http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/papers/FiveFactorConstellationsandPopularpersonalitytypes.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_de_Staelhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/change.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/self.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/disgust.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/reciprocity.htm#cheatinghttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/power.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/dominance.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/self.htm#firsthttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/pride.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/stature.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/respect.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/empathy.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/pride.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/stature.htmhttp://www.emotionalcompetency.com/primal%20messaging.htm


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International Personality Item Pool Representation of the NEO PI-R

The Personality Project , a web site by William Revelle, Director Graduate Program in Personality,

Department of Psychology, Northwestern University

Personality Theories , by Dr. C. George Boeree, Psychology Department Shippensburg University

[DeRaad] The Big Five Personality Factors, by Boele De Raad

[Saucier] Factor Structure of English-Language Personality Type-Nouns, Gerard Saucier, Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 2003 Oct;85(4):695-708.

The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World, by Marti Olsen Laney

Fear, Sadness, A nger, Joy, Surprise, Disgus t, Contempt, Anger, Envy, Jealousy, Fright, Anxiety, Guilt, Shame, Relief, Hope, Sadness, Depres sion, Happines s, Pride, Love,

Gratitude, Compass ion, Aestheti c E xperience, Joy, Distress , Happy- for, Sorry-for, Rese ntment, Gloating, Pride, Shame, A dmiration, Reproach, Love, Hate, Hope, Fear,

Satis faction, Relief, Fears-c onfirmed, Dis appointment, Gratification, Gratitude, Anger, Remorse, power, dominance, stature, relationships

Use of these WebPages acknowledges acceptance of our Terms of Use.

Contact us at [email protected]

The content of these web pages is copyright 2005-2009 by Leland R. BeaumontAll rights reserved.

EmotionalCompetency.com 2005-2009 by Leland R. Beaumont
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