How to Develop Your Individual Personality Traits

The Big Five Personality traits are factors that describe personality. The first one is openness to experience which explains a person's inclination to adventure, curiosity, imagination, creativity, art and new or varied experiences. Those high in this trait prefer new lessons while those that are low like routine. Conscientiousness describes a person's need for efficiency, organization and their self-discipline in goal attainment (Cherry, 2018). Those that are high in this trait are highly organized and dependable while those that are low are spontaneous, relaxed and disorganized. Extraversion is the tendency to be outgoing and energetic where those that are high in it are friendly, assertive, and talkative. People with low extraversion are introverts, and they prefer solitude and activities that are quiet and reserved. Agreeable people are sensitive to other people's needs, and they cooperate well with others while the opposite is suspicious of others, look out for their interests, are rude, and stubborn. Neuroticism describes emotional stability and impulsivity where those high in this trait experience negative emotions more easily (Cherry, 2018). Those low in the attribute are calm and relaxed. 

Summarize Your Results 

After taking a personality test, I found that I was moderate in most factors as follows. In openness, I scored low at 37.5% which indicates that I am highly practical and more comfortable in familiar grounds. Conscientiousness scored moderately at 60% which suggests that I have usually plan on a long-term basis and experience success in attaining my goals, but I can also get sidetracked by an attractive distraction. I scored moderately in extraversion at 56% which indicates that I enjoy both being around people and keeping to myself. My score for agreeableness was also moderate at 60%, so I can balance both my interests and those of others. Finally, I scored moderately at neuroticism with 62.5%, and this indicates that I am neither too reactive to negative emotions nor resistant to stress. Research into personality traits suggests that most people score moderately on the Big five factors (Cooper, 2014). Such people cannot be described as one extreme or the other as they portray either trait depending on the situation. 

Solutions for Working with other Personality Types 

Traits are characteristics that determine a person's behavior and reactions to a particular situation. Although all humans are unique in their personalities, certain features are found in all people but differing degrees. The trait theory of personality proposes that this variation is what makes people different because everyone has different combinations of personality trait that affect their perceptions and actions (Cherry, 2018). Unlike other psychological theories which try to identify similarities in human behavior, the trait approach considers the differences between individuals that make them unique. 

Consequently, it is inevitable to have to deal with people who have different individual personality types. These differences can cause interpersonal conflict and make working with other people difficult. To navigate these differences, it is important first to identify the personality types to which that other people belong (Cooper, 2014). This helps one to predict how a person may respond to a particular situation. The Big Five personality model is one of the ways to categorize people by their traits as it is easy to identify and to remember. For instance, it is difficult for an extrovert to work in an enclosed space where they have no contact with people. Similarly, it is difficult for an introvert to take on roles that put them in crowds. Therefore, if you had to work with an introverted partner on a class project, it would be advisable to research the work from their room and for the more extroverted person to take on the role of presenting before the class. 

As per my results, I am moderate in all factors of the Big Five personality traits apart from openness to experience. This indicates that it would be reasonably easy to understand the motivations underlying most people's behavior. It is important to work together with people that complement my personality type so that our reactions balance out. It is also crucial to understand that most people do not have extreme personality traits and they fall in between a particular factor. This also means that a person may not react the same way to a situation depending on the circumstances surrounding it. 

Describe How Your Results Compare to the 16PF 

Raymond Cattell identified the 16 Personality Factors in an attempt to simplify the list of more than 4000 words that could be used to describe personality traits identified by Gordon Allport (Ferringher, 2004). Most of the words defined by Allport had overlapping meaning or were uncommon, so Cattell compounded them into the 16 key factors. According to Cattell, everyone possesses all 16 traits to a certain degree varying from low to high. A low and high extreme is also identified with each attribute as shown in the table below (Ferringher, 2004). 

The above-stated factors can be compounded into the Big Five personality traits. Abstractness, openness to change, and reasoning are related to openness. Due to my low score in this factor, in the 16PF I would identify as practical, attached to the familiar and concrete respectively. Liveliness, perfectionism, and rule-consciousness are related to conscientiousness, which means I would score moderately between the extremes of these traits. Privateness, Self-reliance, social boldness and warmth are connected to extraversion, and I would score moderately on these aspects as well. Agreeableness is linked to dominance, sensitivity and vigilance, on which I would also score moderately. Finally, apprehension, emotional stability, and tension are related to neuroticism, which means I would score moderately on these aspects as well. 

Explain how your results are relative to genetics 

The question of whether genetics or environmental factors shape personality traits has long been debated, and scientists have come to conclude that both these factors influence who we are. Most significant is the scientific research that has been provided that indicates genetic and neurological links between the Big Five personality factors (Nield, 2016). Some psychiatric disorders have been associated with having high scores in some of these traits. High openness to experience correlates with the occurrence of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia while high neuroticism is common in people who have anxiety disorders and depression (Nield, 2016). Neild (2016) also states that Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) can be associated with high extraversion. Scientists have also found that genes related to openness and neuroticism are found near those that cause mental health disorders. Although these are just correlations and not causal relationships, it could explain why some psychiatric disorders run within a family. 

Concerning my personality test results, there some traits which I believe are related to genetics while others seem to have been acquired through experience. For instance, my low score in openness appears to run in my family as no one is particularly drawn to art or creativity. My father is very practical while my mum has an aversion for new experiences. We have eaten the same flavor of ice cream and pizza for as long as I can remember. When it comes to agreeableness, I was brought up to be kind and considerate of other people. However, over the years I have learned that if you are nice, people take advantage of you, so I have grown to hold back my trust and kindness. The same applies to extraversion because my parents and other members of my family are very friendly. I have no issues being around people, but I like being on my own at times. I believe that my levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism are inherited, each part from each of my parents. 

Personality traits define human behavior, and most people can be identified by a limited set of factors such as those described by the Big Five Personality factors, the 16PF or other trait theories. People are unique because they exhibit different degrees of each trait but this does not mean that a person's personality is rigid; they may react contrary to their assigned attributes depending on a situation. Determining people's character is however still important when trying to determine how people can work together despite their differences. Both genetics and the environment also influence personality traits in different ways, but it is not yet clear how. 

References  

Cherry, K. (2018, May 4). Trait Theory of Personality and Leading Theorists. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/trait-theory-of-personality-2795955 

Cooper, B. B. (2014, June 16). How the "Big Five" personality traits can create a more effective team [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.bufferapp.com/how-the-big-five-personality-traits-can-help-you-build-a-more-effective-team 

Ferringher, H. (2004).  Contributions and limitations of Cattell's sixteen personality factor model . Retrieved from Rochester Institute of Technology website: http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/fehringer.html 

Nield, D. (2016, December 16). Scientists have found genetic links between personality traits and psychiatric diseases. Retrieved from https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-find-genetic-links-between-personality-traits-and-psychiatric-diseases