The Big Five
Personality Characteristics are a
synthesis of the
trait theories of personality developed by Cattell and
Eysenck. Trait theories of personality attempt to
describe a person with as few
adjectives as possible. They are often used in a
corporate setting or in
job interviews to determine if a prospective
employee will be able to work well in a company. Just what traits a person falls under are determined through
analysis of a
questionnaire that the person fills out.
The Big Five are commonly used because they combine the best of Cattell's comprehensive list of personality traits with the best of Eysenck's concise list, without resorting to redundancy. Listed with their corrolaries, they are:
Extroversion----Introversion
Neuroticism----Stability
Agreeableness----Antagonism
Conscientiousness----Undirectedness
Openness----Nonopenness < br>