Your character can be a relatively vague term. In such a way, trying to define one’s personality may be a daunting task. Where does one even begin? What traits do they take into account, and which do they ignore when trying to describe what essentially make them, them. Well, such ambiguity is needed no longer, as beginning with studies starting all the way back in 1949 with psychologist D.W. Fiske, scientists have been largely able to agree and group all personality traits into five major categories, known as the “big five.” These five categories take the form of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These terms can be remembered with the acronym O.C.E.A.N. (get it?), and if you do not quite understand the traits of each yet, do not worry, because we are about to go for a swim. . . THROUGH YOUR MIND!

The first of the five categories, as previously mentioned, is openness. Essentially, openness describes one’s tendency to be imaginative, adventurous, and curious. People with a high level of openness will be seen trying new things and have a broad range of interests. Those who do not have high openness experience quite the opposite, with a skepticism towards change and maybe less creativity.

The next grouping on the personality trait list is conscientiousness. If you find yourself constantly getting distracted from doing work, chances are you may be on the lower-side of the spectrum in this area. That is because conscientiousness describes a person’s ability to prepare, stay on task, and not procrastinate. To many, having a high amount of conscientiousness is a beneficial thing. However, do not be discouraged if you do not believe you are high in this category, as being too much so can actually lead to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and you may have trouble reacting to spontaneous incidents.

Third on the list of the “big five” is extraversion. If you have ever been referred to as an introvert or extrovert, this is where those two descriptions fit into. Overall, extraversion deals with how social, outgoing, assertive, and energetic someone is. The higher they are on the scale, the more likely a person is to express these traits. On the other hand, people low on the spectrum are less inclined to be in the center of attention and prefer to be in less social settings.

Fourth we have agreeableness, which is fairly self explanatory. A person with high agreeableness tends to be very kind, trustworthy, etc. Therefore, a person with extremely low agreeableness may be unempathetic, manipulative, and mean (you probably do not know too many people who very low in agreeableness).

Finally, neuroticism is the last personality category of the “big five,” and is also (in my opinion) the most interesting. Neuroticism, in essence, has to do with all the less-than-ideal emotions. People with high neuroticism can experience high anxiety, depression, irritation, and worry. However, although much of the factors that come with high neuroticism are negative, high neuroticism can also lead to one having deeper thought or insight than others, which can be viewed as a positive.