Big Five personality traits: domains & aspects & facets

The Big Five is the most widely used classification system for personality. This page has our summary of the Big Five personality domains, and aspects, and facets.

Contents:

• Big Five domains a.k.a. factors
• Big Five domains & aspects a.k.a. divisions
• Big Five domains & aspects & facets a.k.a. traits
• References

Big Five domains a.k.a. factors

The Big Five has five "domains" of personality; the domains are broad factors and are high-level.

• Openness/Intellect

• Conscientiousness

• Extraversion

• Agreeableness

• Neuroticism

Wikipedia describes them as:

• Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)

• Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless)

• Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)

• Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached)

• Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident)

Big Five domains & aspects a.k.a. divisions

The Big Five domains each have two "aspects" of personality; the aspects are cluster divisions and are mid-level.

• Openness/Intellect

  • Openness

  • Intellect

• Conscientiousness

  • Industriousness

  • Orderliness

• Extraversion

  • Enthusiasm

  • Assertiveness

• Agreeableness

  • Compassion

  • Politeness

• Neuroticism

  • Volatility

  • Withdrawal

Big Five domains & aspects & facets a.k.a. traits

The Big 5 domain aspects each have multiple "facets" of personality; the facets are specific traits and are low-level.

• Openness/Intellect

  • Intellect

    • Am quick to understand things.

    • Have difficulty understanding abstract ideas. (reverse)

    • Can handle a lot of information.

    • Like to solve complex problems.

    • Avoid philosophical discussions. (reverse)

    • Avoid difficult reading material. (reverse)

    • Have a rich vocabulary.

    • Think quickly.

    • Learn things slowly. (reverse)

    • Formulate ideas clearly.

  • Openness

    • Enjoy the beauty of nature.

    • Believe in the importance of art.

    • Love to reflect on things.

    • Get deeply immersed in music.

    • Do not like poetry. (reverse)

    • See beauty in things that others might not notice.

    • Need a creative outlet.

    • Seldom get lost in thought. (reverse)

    • Seldom daydream. (reverse)

    • Seldom notice the emotional aspects of paintings and pictures. (reverse)

• Conscientiousness

  • Industriousness

    • Carry out my plans.

    • Waste my time. (reverse)

    • Find it difficult to get down to work. (reverse)

    • Mess things up. (reverse)

    • Finish what I start.

    • Don’t put my mind on the task at hand. (reverse)

    • Get things done quickly.

    • Always know what I am doing.

    • Postpone decisions. (reverse)

    • Am easily distracted. (reverse)

  • Orderliness

    • Leave my belongings around. (reverse)

    • Like order.

    • Keep things tidy.

    • Follow a schedule.

    • Am not bothered by messy people. (reverse)

    • Want everything to be “just right.”

    • Am not bothered by disorder. (reverse)

    • Dislike routine. (reverse)

    • See that rules are observed.

    • Want every detail taken care of.

• Extraversion

  • Enthusiasm

    • Make friends easily.

    • Am hard to get to know. (reverse)

    • Keep others at a distance. (reverse)

    • Reveal little about myself. (reverse)

    • Warm up quickly to others.

    • Rarely get caught up in the excitement. (reverse)

    • Am not a very enthusiastic person.b (reverse)

    • Show my feelings when I’m happy.

    • Have a lot of fun.

    • Laugh a lot.

  • Assertiveness

    • Take charge.

    • Have a strong personality.

    • Lack the talent for influencing people. (reverse)

    • Know how to captivate people.

    • Wait for others to lead the way. (reverse)

    • See myself as a good leader.

    • Can talk others into doing things.

    • Hold back my opinions. (reverse)

    • Am the first to act.

    • Do not have an assertive personality. (reverse)

• Agreeableness

  • Compassion

    • Am not interested in other people’s problems. (reverse)

    • Feel others’ emotions.

    • Inquire about others’ well-being.

    • Can’t be bothered with other’s needs. (reverse)

    • Sympathize with others’ feelings.

    • Am indifferent to the feelings of others. (reverse)

    • Take no time for others. (reverse)

    • Take an interest in other people’s lives.

    • Don’t have a soft side. (reverse)

    • Like to do things for others.

  • Politeness

    • Respect authority.

    • Insult people. (reverse)

    • Hate to seem pushy.

    • Believe that I am better than others. (reverse)

    • Avoid imposing my will on others.

    • Rarely put people under pressure.

    • Take advantage of others. (reverse)

    • Seek conflict. (reverse)

    • Love a good fight. (reverse)

    • Am out for my own personal gain. (reverse)

• Neuroticism

  • Volatility

    • Get angry easily.

    • Rarely get irritated. (reverse)

    • Get upset easily.

    • Keep my emotions under control. (reverse)

    • Change my mood a lot.

    • Rarely lose my composure. (reverse)

    • Am a person whose moods go up and down easily.

    • Am not easily annoyed. (reverse)

    • Get easily agitated.

    • Can be stirred up easily.

  • Withdrawal

    • Seldom feel blue. (reverse)

    • Am filled with doubts about things. (reverse)

    • Feel comfortable with myself.

    • Feel threatened easily.

    • Rarely feel depressed. (reverse)

    • Worry about things.

    • Am easily discouraged.

    • Am not embarrassed easily. (reverse)

    • Become overwhelmed by events.

    • Am afraid of many things.

References

Wikipedia: Big Five personality traits

Source: Between Facets and Domains: 10 Aspects of the Big Five; by DeYoung, Quilty, Peterson

The Big Five is also known as the five-factor model.