Psychology delves into human:
- behaviour;
- thoughts; and
- emotions.
It grounds personal well-being and social support. Experiences can be examined through psychology.
Aspects are:
- cognitive;
- behavioural; and
- social.
Personality shows strengths and weaknesses. Then approaches can be tailored.
That's for these settings:
- therapy;
- education; and
- workplace.
They can be structured into theory.
I studied business and education. Both of which include understanding the human mind. And I’ve taken personality tests.
Big Five personality traits
Personality trait analysis relies on verbal self-report questionnaires. They can be influenced by biases like social desirability. In high-stakes situations, test subjects may fake their responses to appear favourable.
The Big Five is a widely accepted scientific model of human personality traits.
Factors influencing its validity are:
- cultural;
- linguistic;
- educational; and
- socioeconomic.
These limitations should be considered when testing diverse populations. Then to mitigate these limitations, appropriate adaptation or cultural considerations should be incorporated.
The five factors are:
- openness;
- conscientiousness;
- extraversion;
- agreeableness; and
- neuroticism.
Researchers have also identified a sixth factor (honesty-humility). That adds to our understanding of personality traits.
I have taken the Big Five personality test. The following histogram shows my scores. These are highest in conscientiousness, decreasing to lowest for extraversion.
Low agreeableness corresponds to independence and directness. I'm honesty and authentic.
Recognising one's personality traits fosters understanding.