About the Big 5
The Big 5 personality model identifies five aspects of personality that have consistently been found through research.
The Big 5 consists of: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability (also called neuroticism).
In an earlier article, I defined the Big 5. Check it out for more background.
These five factors have become a standard for personality research. Some researchers look at all five together, and others focus on one or two.
Three TED talks about the Big 5
These three TED talks provide additional insight into the Big 5 personality model.
Dan Gilbert: “The psychology of your future self”
In 2014 Harvard researcher Dan Gilbert spoke about how bad we are at predicting how we will change over a ten year period.
He includes personality changes as part of this. People do change over time and personality can change as well.
Susan Cain: “The Power of Introverts”
In 2012, Susan Cain started an important conversation about introversion. As she states, a third to a half of the people in the world are introverts. Even so, the world seems to be designed for extraverts in the 20th century culture of personality.
After watching her talk, consider the question: What do you carry in your suitcase?
Brian Little: “Who are you really?”
Brian Little covered all of the Big 5 personality factors in 2016. He uses the term OCEAN (acronym for the five) and focuses on extraverts.
