Running head: FIVE FACTOR THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Five Factor Theory of Personality

Gurpreet Pabla
Friday November 29th, 2013
PSYC 001
Professor: Ann Wainwright

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The five factor theory of personality is a test which estimates an individuals
level on five wide-ranging personality domains. (IPIP-NEO report, 2013) These five
personality traits are; extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism,
and openness to experience. Each major domain also has six subdomains. These
subdomains provide a more detailed description of ones personality to further
understand who they are and why they do the things they do. Extraversion is a
personality trait which is marked by ones engagement with the external world.
(IPIP-NEO report, 2013) The subdomains of being an extraversion are friendliness,
gregariousness, assertiveness, activity level, excitement-seeking, and cheerfulness.
Agreeableness is the second major domain which looks at an individuals differences
in concern with cooperation. (IPIP-NEO report, 2013) Its subdomains are trust,
morality, altruism, cooperation, modesty, and sympathy. The third trait is
Conscientiousness, which looks at the way people control, regulate, and direct their
impulses. The subdomains affiliated are self-efficacy, orderliness, dutifulness,
achievement-striving, self-disciplining, and cautiousness. The fourth domain is
Neuroticism, this looks at ones mental distress and emotional suffering. The
subdomains of neuroticism are anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness,
immoderation, and vulnerability. The last domain is openness to experience; this is
described as a cognitive style that distinguishes imaginative, creative people from
down to earth, conventional people. (IPIP-NEO report, 2013) The subdomains of
openness to experience are imagination, artistic interest, emotionality,
adventurousness, intellect, and liberalism. The report classifies an individual as low,
average, or high in each domain. The reason an individual is rated as low, average
or high is because most people are usually on a particular level of a trait, meaning
two people can be extraverts but one person will be higher or lower than the other.

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The numerical scores are reported as percentile estimates. Meaning if someone
scores 40 for friendliness, it means they scored 40%.
After completing the five factor theory of personality test, my score for the
Extraversion domain was a 30%. Which means the computer rated my personality
low for extraversion. For extraversion my highest scored subdomain was friendliness
which I scored a 55 and my lowest scored subdomain was cheerfulness which I
scored a 17. For the domain of agreeableness I scored a 33% which again means I
scored low. The subdomains I scored high on was modesty which I received a 94
and my lowest score was a 7 for morality. The third domain was conscientiousness
which I scored a 6% again that means I scored low. The subdomain which I scored
the highest was orderliness which I received a 4 and the lowest was self-efficiency
which I received a 2. The fourth domain is neuroticism, which I scored a 95%
meaning I scored high. The subdomain which I scored the highest was anxiety which
I got a 95 and the lowest was self-consciousness which I scored a 58 for. The last
domain is openness to experience and I scored a 49% for, which means I have an
average score. The highest subdomain score was 75 which was for imagination and
the lowest was 29 for adventurous.
Reading the results of my NEO-PI-R personality profile I would say I can agree
to most of the trait percentiles. For example for Extraversion I scored a 30%, which
means that my score for extraversion is low. That means I am somewhat of an
extrovert but not fully, so it does not dominate my personality. So I would have to
agree with that score. I would agree to that score because I am a shy, timid person
most of the time, and in most of the situations. For example when meeting new
people whether that is at work, or school; I am more reserved when I first get to
know the person, but once I know them well enough, the rest of my extraversion

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comes out. Just because my score for extraversion was low doesnt mean I am not
an outgoing person, for example one of the subdivisions of extraversion is
friendliness, and I actually scored the highest for that, scoring 55. That means I am
great at making and maintaining friendships, just not at initial contact. One score I
would have to disagree with is my score for agreeableness which I scored a 33%.
Agreeableness reflects and individuals differences in concern with cooperation and
social harmony, which pretty much means these type of individuals are considerate,
friendly, generous, and helpful. I would have to disagree with this score because I
would like to consider myself as considerate and helpful person. For example at
work I have seniority over some of the new hires and anytime they need help with
anything I am they person they come to get help, and the reason they come to me
rather than any other manager is because I actually take the time to train and help
them. Also one of its subdivisions is cooperation and I received a score of 19 for it
which I do not agree with for that same reason. I feel that the personality profile
does confirm my personality for the most part because I agree with most of the
scores I received on the facets. For example I scored a 36 for trust under the
agreeable domain and this is accurate because I am a trustworthy person. For
example when any close friends and family of mine have a problem or an issue I am
usually the one they come to for advice because they trust what I have to say. I do
not think that the Five- factor theory provides an accurate view of my personality
because I feel as though my score for certain facets can differentiate depending on
the situation I come across. For example for the facet cheerfulness under the
domain of extraversion, I scored a 17. I can agree with this score because most of
the time I am the type of person who is down in the dumps and does not care for

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much, but then if I am in a happy and exciting environment then the level of
cheerfulness increases.

References
Johnson, A. J. (2013). IPIP-NEO Narrative Report. Gurpreets narrative report.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/cgi-bin/users/j/5/j5j/IPIP/shortipipneo3.cgi