The Big 5 Personality Traits

How to understand yourself better (and others too)

May 03, 2025

🏷️ Categories: Behavior, Social Relationships.

Psychology has spent decades trying to understand who we are and why we act the way we do, but it wasn’t until the Big Five model that we had a reliable and universal framework (McCrae & Costa, 1999).

Just five traits are enough.

Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. These five explain our behavior, relationships, decisions… even our mental health and our luck. Understanding them gives you an internal navigation map to better know yourself and adapt intelligently to the world around you.

If you’ve ever wondered: Why do I react like this? Why can’t I connect with this person? Why is that person the way they are? It may not be a mystery...

Let’s go one by one.

1. Openness to Experience

Think of someone who signs up for pottery classes without ever having touched a wheel. Or the friend who travels solo to Vietnam with just a backpack. That’s openness to experience in action.

This trait measures how open you are to new things in the broadest sense.

New ideas, new emotions, new places. People high in openness tend to be imaginative, curious, artistic, and adventurous. Their minds are creative labs, and their lives are ongoing explorations in search of novelty.

Example: María has a stable job but feels something is missing. She starts painting at night. A year later, she exhibits her first collection in a local gallery. Then she explores ceramics, and later, sculpture.

People low in openness prefer the familiar. They are more practical, realistic, and routine-oriented. Their lives may seem less euphoric but are more stable.

2. Conscientiousness

Here we talk about that inner voice that says: do it, even if you don’t feel like it.

It’s the difference between someone who finishes what they start and someone who always leaves things halfway. Conscientiousness relates to self-discipline, organization, and long-term goal orientation (Roberts et al., 2009).

It’s the difference between acting on impulse or with intention.

A highly conscientious person is organized, methodical, persistent. The kind of person who schedules everything, anticipates problems, and follows through with no excuses. In one word: reliable. These individuals are more likely to achieve academic and professional goals and to maintain healthy habits (Bogg & Roberts, 2004).

Example: Carlos isn’t the brightest on his team, but he always delivers early. His bosses trust him. Not because he’s the best, but because he’s the most dependable.

Low conscientiousness can be linked to spontaneity and flexibility, but also to disorganization and procrastination. It’s a double-edged sword.

3. Extraversion

The key question is: Where do you get your energy? That’s the essence of extraversion.

Extroverts are enthusiastic, expressive, socially active. They like to lead, connect, talk. They’re the kind of person who chats with strangers. Their minds are outward-focused. They are the life of the party and actively seek social interaction (Depue & Collins, 1999).

Example: Sofía can have a rough day, but if she goes out for dinner with friends, she comes home recharged. Socializing lights her up.

And introverts? They get drained more quickly in noisy social environments. They prefer depth over quantity. They are more introspective, quiet, and observant.

4. Agreeableness

This trait measures how you manage human relationships. Do you care about others? Do you trust? Do you help without expecting something in return?

Agreeableness reflects your tendency toward cooperation, empathy, and consideration for others. Agreeable people are tolerant, helpful, humble. They prefer harmony over confrontation (Graziano & Eisenberg, 1997). Agreeableness is linked to more stable and fulfilling social relationships (Jensen-Campbell & Graziano, 2001).

They’re the kind of person who shows up when you need them most.

Example: Luis always stays behind to help clean up, even if no one asks. That earns him respect and appreciation from those around him.

People low in agreeableness may seem cold or self-centered. Sometimes they just prioritize logic or efficiency. They’re more competitive and skeptical.

5. Neuroticism

This trait determines how much emotions affect you.

It regulates how we experience and manage emotions, especially negative ones. People high in neuroticism are more sensitive. They worry easily, experience anxiety, sadness, and anger more frequently.

They don’t need major events to feel overwhelmed (Lahey, 2009).

Example: Ana receives a mild critique and feels useless all day. In her mind, it wasn’t “an opinion” but “a sentence.” She gets discouraged easily.

People low in neuroticism are emotionally stable. They don’t get easily shaken and face emotions with resilience. They are serene.

If you’ve ever wondered why you react the way you do, why certain people get under your skin, or why you can’t stick to a routine...

Now you have the answer.

The Big Five personality traits are not fixed boxes. They are dimensions. We all have a bit of each. No one is a type of person — we are all a unique mix in different proportions. Now you understand your behavior and that of others a little better — the bright sides and the not-so-bright.

Self-knowledge is not a mystical revelation. It’s a map with five clear directions.

✍️ Your turn: Which traits stand out the most in your personality? If you’re curious, you can take a simple and free version of the personality test [here].
💭 Quote of the day: "That child is sometimes difficult to understand. But I think she'll turn out all right. And one thing's for sure — no house will ever be dull that she’s in." — L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

See you next time! 👋

References 📚

Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2004). Conscientiousness and Health-Related Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis of the Leading Behavioral Contributors to Mortality. Psychological Bulletin, 130(6), 887-919. URL
Depue, R. A., & Collins, P. F. (1999). Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behavioral And Brain Sciences, 22(3), 491-517. URL
Graziano, W. G., & Eisenberg, N. (1997). Agreeableness. En Elsevier eBooks (pp. 795-824). URL
Roberts, B. W., Lejuez, C., Krueger, R. F., Richards, J. M., & Hill, P. L. (2012). What is conscientiousness and how can it be assessed? Developmental Psychology, 50(5), 1315-1330. URL
Lahey, B. B. (2009). Public health significance of neuroticism. American Psychologist, 64(4), 241-256. URL
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (1999). A Five-Factor theory of personality. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 139–153). Guilford Press. URL