personality theories, types and tests8

the big five factors including behavioural elements

Other commonly used factor names (notably OCEAN) for the Big Five Factors are shown in Green.

the combinations of factors define the personality - not single scales

When using this model, as with many other personality concepts, it is the combination of scores from all of the scales that shows us how people operate and identifies their underlying preferences.

Looking at a single scale in isolation tells us hardly anything, and can be very misleading.

For example:

Although a creative (non-conformist) has the intellectual ability to be creative, if their non-conformity is combined with introversionand low confidence, they may not express their creative thoughts and ideas. 

A creative (non-conformist) who is also extravert, confidentand unstructured (low detail-conscious), will not only express their ideas but may also propose quite impractical suggestions.

usage of the big five factor model

The Big Five is a very useful model for assessing non-managerial staff, but it lacks some of the rigour required for assessing people in or destined for managerial and executive roles. The Big Five model gives us an accurate and fast way of assessing the main drivers of someone's personality. But the model by itself is not able to drill down into complex management capabilities or competencies. For this we must refer more to work-related behaviours rather than 'pure' personality.

Management performance depends more on the subtle use of discretionary elements of the job, which the Big Five will not measure. The Big Five is a 'broad brush' personality methodology. A different approach is required for management assessment, to gauge the'components' of people's behaviour and the detailed combinations of working style.

Each of the Big Five factors consists of 'sub-traits', for example, 'Agreeable' (at the opposite end of the 'Tough-minded' scale) consists of sub-traits (behavioural elements) such as 'Tactful', 'Diplomatic', 'Team-centred', 'Submissive', 'Warm', 'Friendly','Tolerant' and 'Democratic'. In typical use of the Big Five model and tests, a person's score on the 'Agreeable' scale will be an average of how they match the sub-traits. Showing the detail and variance of the sub-traits scores would entail a vastly more complex and time-consuming analysis.

The strengths of the Big Five Factor model lie in its speed and ease of use and this makes it a very useful tool for gaining a rapid overview of a person's key drivers.

The Big Five Factor model has been very well validated, and while it has shown correlations with performance in jobs, studies indicate that the correlation with particular jobs does not exceed 0.30, which accounts for no more than 15% of the variables. There is a big difference between measuring job suitability, style, etc., and measuring personality per se.

The Big Five model is a modern, widely replicated and validated methodology for understanding, explaining and measuring personality.

Various Big Five tests have been developed. The first to be launched in the UK, and one of the most popular, is the RPQ (Rapid Personality Questionnaire), which is available from various suppliers.

Here is a free Big Five mini-test (5 mins max) on the excellent website of Professor George Boeree (pronounced boo-RAY). This test gives a very quick Big Five profile and is more for understanding the model thank for serious personality assessment, although as a quick simple guide it works well.

Bear in mind that the Big Five factor headings Professor Boeree's mini-test vary slightly compared to factor names mentioned above, and correlate as follows (precise correlations in bold). Aside from 'Stability' Boeree uses the OCEAN headings:

the big five - some notable combinations

The 'personality-based sub-types' in column one are broad generic profiles and do not relate to any particular model's definitions. Be careful not to read too much into these single-word descriptions - they provide a rough guide, not a detailed scientific correlation.

'the big five' correlations with other personality models

Here are correlations between the Big Five factors and respectively the models of 16PF, OPQ and the Belbin 'team role' types.

Below first are the Big Five correlations with Cattell's 16PF model. Understanding these correlations is aided by knowing the 16PF scale definitions. As ever, single word descriptions are open to different interpretations, hence inclusion of the 16PF letter codes. An explanation of the 16PF model will appear on this page in due course.

The word 'negatively' below means that the correlation is with the opposite end of the Big Five scale concerned, for example, below, the 16PF description 'Shrewd' correlates to the opposite of the Big Five 'Extraversion', ie., 'Introversion'

big five and 16pf

the big five and opq (occupational personality questionnaire)

Below are the Big Five correlations with the OPQ model (Occupational Personality Questionnaire). Understanding these correlations is aided by knowing the OPQ scale definitions. As ever, single word descriptions are open to different interpretations, hence inclusion of the OPQ letter codes. Again, an explanation of the OPQ model will appear on this page in due course.

And again, the word 'negatively' signifies that the correlation is to the opposite end of the Big Five factor concerned, eg., OPQ description 'Modest' correlates to the opposite of the Big Five 'Extraversion', ie., 'Introversion'.

the big five and belbin 'team role' types

Below are the Big Five correlations with the Belbin team role types. Given the overlap of Big Five factors across the Belbin team role types, the correlations are shown between the Belbin types and the corresponding dominant Big Five factors. See the Belbin section above.

paul sinclair biography

Paul Sinclair is the founder and managing partner of Sinclair Associates and has spent fifteen years at the leading edge of psychological profiling and performance development.  He works with companies to assess individual and team potential and develops plans to improve personal competencies.

Paul co-launched the UK's first 'Big Five' personality profiler in 1990 and published a paper on 'Personality and Performance' in the British Psychological Society's journal - Selection and Development Review, and also presented a validation of the Big Five against the OPQ and the 16PF, at the BPS conference in 1992. 

Paul has been interviewed on BBC Radio 4 and consulted on the BBC2 TV series, 'Mind of the Millionaire'.

Paul now focuses on business coaching and team building. A member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, Paul is based near Bath and works across the UK & Europe.

Paul's website is: www.cloudtalent.com and his email issinclairp@tiscali.co.uk.

Paul's contribution of this explanation of the Big Five Factor model is gratefully acknowledged.