What are the Big 5 personality types?

Research in Psychology has established many traits that are reliable and able to predict a variety of behaviors. However, there have been 5 found to be the most reliable over time and predicting behavior across many different situations: There are 5 personality types (also called dimensions or factors or domains) many researchers have agreed upon:

Openness: Tendency to be intellectually curious and use imagination
Conscientiousness: Tendency toward organization and caution
Extraversion: Tendency to be more content in social situation
Agreeableness: Tendency to be friendly and trusting of others
Neuroticism: Tendency to experience negative emotions such as depression and anxiety.

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The acronym “O.C.E.A.N” is a frequently used mnemonic to summarize these 5 traits. Over time, these traits have emerged across many samples using scales with good psychometric properties (i.e. good reliability and validity) and research including samples with variety of age groups, backgrounds and professions. There are several specific personality scales that measure these 5 traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992; DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007; Goldberg, 1993). Because of the prevalence of these traits in the psychological literature, these particular 5 have been most investigated with respect to artistic preferences and creativity.

While these 5 seem to be agreed upon by most researchers, the facets (or subdomains) are often disputed. For example, Costa and McCrae (1992) advanced 6 facets, or subdomains per personality dimensions, whereas Goldberg (1993) advanced 9 facets. DeYoung et. al. (2007) provided strong evidence that each facet can be broken down into 2 aspects with several facets underneath each aspect. Because this approach has been well-substantiated by DeYoung and colleagues and because it has been a particularly useful approach to the study of creativity and art, we will use DeYoung’s structure of the Big 5 traits. Here is an example of how DeYoung et. al. (2007) breaks down the 5 personality dimensions:

Take a minute to take some notes: Distinguish between a personality dimension (factor) versus an aspect versus a facet. Which is the broadest, the second broadest and the most specific?

How is personality related to art?

It is probably not surprising that Openness is the trait most commonly associated with creativity and art. What is probably less well known is that different aspects of the Openness trait have been associated with different kinds of creativity. According to Costa and McRae (1992), each personality trait has 6 facets, or sub-domains. Openness has the following 6 facts:

Fantasy: receptivity to imagination
Aesthetics: appreciation of art and beauty
Action: openness to new experiences
Feeling: openness to inner feelings and emotions
Ideas: intellectual curiosity
Values: readiness to re-examine own value system and authority

Recently, DeYoung and colleagues have proposed the openness as well as the other personality factors can have 2 subdomains each. For openness, this can be broken down into openness to experience and intellect (DeYoung, Carey, Krueger, & Ross, 2016; DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007; Kaufman, 2013; Kaufman, Quilty, Grazioplene, Hirsh, & DeYoung, 2016) Openness to experience includes the facets of fantasy, aesthetics, action, and feeling whereas the intellect subdomain includes opens to ideas.

Openness to experience has been shown to be most related to appreciation and success in the arts whereas intellect has been more related to creative achievement in the sciences.

So a better model may be

Facet: Openness to Experience

Aspect 1: Openness

Fantasy

Aesthetics

Action

Feeling

Values

Aspect 2: Intellect

Intellectual curiosity

Mental Quickness

Ingenuity

Competence

Take a minute to take some notes: What is the difference between a factor, aspect and facet – giving examples for the trait of Openness?

How is openness related to preference for style and creativity?

Pablo Picasso, Massacre in Korea, 1951

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Generally people high in openness to experience prefer complexity in art, have positive attitudes towards the arts and engage in the arts significantly more. Overall, people who are open to experience like most varieties art more other personality types but this is especially true for abstract art (Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015; Furnham & Walker, 2001). People high in openness tend to approach complexity rather than reject it so they have a higher liking for complex art (Chamorro-Premuzic, Burke, Hsu, & Swami, 2010). In music, they like music that is sophisticated, intense, and/or mellow; they have shown to rate both heavy metal and classical music as likable (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014; Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015) but tend to dislike listening to pop music and tend to avoid Impressionism (BBC Study; Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015). This may be because those genres are too familiar and are not challenging enough.

Openness is a big predictor of aesthetic attitude, as noted above there is a negative correlation with anti-art attitude; positive with aesthetic relativity (McManus & Furnham, 2006). People high in openness also engage in a large variety of aesthetic activities: there is a positive relationship with listening to classical music, going to art museums, reading novels, reading poetry, playing instrument, drawing and painting. Also, there is a negative relationship with opened and watching TV (McManus & Furnham, 2006).

Interestingly, Gridley (2004) found that 70% of his sample of Art collectors was Intuition “N” types, which is positively associated with openness to experience. Similarly, Van Rooij (1997) found that “S” types preferred realistic art over abstract whereas “N” generally liked both realistic and abstract pieces, but did prefer abstract significantly more that “S” types.

Most subdomains of sensation seeking are associated with openness to experience, and correlations between sensation seeking and art preferences tend to follow the same pattern found with openness to experience. Furnham et. al. (1997) found that sensation seeking is positively correlated with surreal art and is negatively correlated with representational art. Also, Furnham et. al, (1988) found that sensation seeking is also positively correlated with Abstract Art (Furham & Avison, 1997).

Take a minute to take some notes: The personality factor openness to experience is related to like what kind of visual art? Also, what kind of music?

Openness is the personality trait most clearly related to artisitc preference and creativity. But there are correlations with the other 4 traits. Let's looks at some of these associations.

Conscientiousness, represented by “C”: High scorers tend to be well organized and careful vs. disorganized and careless. The 6 facets of the Conscientiousness subscale are:

Industriousness

Competence: belief in own self-efficacy

Dutifulness: emphasis placed on fulfilling moral obligations

Achievement-Striving: need for personal achievement and sense of direction

Self-discipline: competence to take on tasks and follow through

Deliberation: tendency to think things through before acting or speaking

Orderliness

Orderliness: personal organization

Perfectionism

How is conscientiousness related to artistic preference?

Generally those high in conscientiousness tend to dislike complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. Conscientiousness is highly related with conservatism, so the research on the relationship between conscientiousness and conservatism can be said to go back a number of years. For example,

Wilson, Ausman, and Mathews (1973) highly conservative types show a negative correlation with complex art. In this study, participants were presented with 4 categories of images and asked to rate how much they liked each image according to their personal preference:

Simple Representational
Simple Abstract
Complex Representational
Complex Abstract

The findings showed that those scoring higher in conservatism disliked images that were more complex and abstract.

Correlations with Conservatism:
- Complexity (r = -.56)
- Abstractness (r = -.14)

This research echoed what was discovered by Barron in 1952, who found that conservatives gravitated toward simple and symmetrical designs. In constrast, those who were “dissident, cynical, somewhat eccentric, and deviant” gravitated toward the more complex and asymmetric designs. I just like that description. :-)

Modern research has substantiated these findings. For example Furnham and Walker found that conscientiousness was related to a preference for representational paintings (Furnham & Walker, 2001) and a negative relationship with complex paintings (Chamorro-Premuzic, Burke, Hsu, & Swami, 2010).

Other research has shown conscientiousness to be associated with a preference for religious paintings (Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015). In the domain of music, a negative relationship with intense music, such as Led Zeppelin or The Who, has been established (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014).

Behaviorally, those high in conscientiousness are less likely to play an instrument, go to concerts, listen to classical music, draw or paint, or read poetry (McManus & Furnham, 2006). And the aspect of orderliness has been negatively linked to getting chills and to aesthetic absorption (Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011).

Take a minute to take some notes: The personality factor conscientiousness is related to like what kind of visual art? Also, what kind of music?

Extraversion, represented by “E”: High scorers are sociable and affectionate versus retiring and reserved. The 6 facets of the Extraversion subscale are divided into two broader categories: Interpersonal and temperamental traits

Enthusiasm

Warmth: interest in others

Gregariousness: preference for the company of others

Positive Emotions: tendency to experience positive emotions

Assertiveness

Assertiveness: forcefulness of expression

Activity: pace of living

Excitement-seeking: environmental stimulation

How is extraversion related to artistic preference?

Extraverts tend to have positive attitudes about art; for example, in the McManus et al study they had a negative relationship to anti-art attitude and a positive relationship with overall aesthetic attitude (McManus & Furnham, 2006). Like those high in openness to experience, Extraverts preferred Abstract and Cubist art relative to more representational forms like Impressionism and Japanese art (Chamorro-Premuzic, Reimers, Hsu, & Ahmetoglu, 2009). In one study, extraverts had preference for Classical Art characterized by correctness of style, such as The Voyage of Life: Youth by Thomas Cole over Romantic art characterized by freedom of subject matter and style such as Wheatfield with Cyprus by van Gogh [IMAGES BELOW](Rosenbluh, Owens, & Pohler, 1972).

Thomas Cole

The Voyage of Life, T. Cole

Wheatfield with Cypress, van Gogh

Extraverts seem to use music a lot in daily activities to promote positive mood. For example, extraverts tend to rate pop music favorably (Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015) and tend to use happy music in the background (Chamorro-Premuzic, Fagan, & Furnham, 2010). Also, extraverts are more likely to go out dancing (McManus & Furnham, 2006).

Take a minute to take some notes: The personality factor extraversion is related to like what kind of visual art? Also, what kind of music?

Agreeableness, represented by “A”: High scorers tend to be trusting and helpful, good natured, cooperative, vs. suspicious and uncooperative. The 6 facets of the Agreeableness subscale are:

Compassion

Trust: belief in the sincerity and good intentions of others

Altruism: concern for the welfare of others

Tender-Mindedness: sympathy toward others

Politeness

Compliance: response to interpersonal conflict

Modesty: capacity to be humble

Straightforwardness: frankness in expression

How is agreeableness related to artistic preference?

Though agreeableness rarely has correlations with art preferences (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014), some correlations have been established. Those high in agreeableness have been found to prefer representational art to abstract art (Furham & Avison, 1997). Negative correlations have been established between agreeableness and art about diverse cultures / world art as well as depictions of violence; but positive correlations were found with religious art and landscapes (Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015). In music high scorers in agreeableness tend to dislike heavy metal but enjoy jazz/world and popular music (Ercegovic, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015).

Behaviorally, those high in agreeableness are less likely to act in a play or go dancing (McManus & Furnham, 2006). In addition, the compassion aspect of agreeableness is linked to feeling touched by art and music (Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011).

Take a minute to take some notes: The personality factor agreeableness is related to like what kind of visual art? Also, what kind of music?

Neuroticism, represented by “N”: High scorers are more maladjusted, worry a lot, insecure, depressive vs. calm, secure and well adjusted. The 6 facets of the Neuroticism sub-scale are:

Volatility

Impulsiveness: Give in to temptation and desires

Hostility: Anger

Withdrawal

Self-consciousness: Shame; sensitivity to criticism; feelings of inferiority

Depression: Sorrow; sadness & hopelessness

Vulnerability: Lowered ability to effectively deal with stress

Anxiety: Fretfulness and fear

How is neuroticism related to artistic preference?

Like agreeableness, there are fewer findings for Neuroticism than for Openness to experience, but some relationships have been established between neuroticism and artistic preference. Rosenbluh et. al (1972) found that Neuroticism was correlated with a preference for romantic art over classical art.

There were negative relationships with intense and unpretentious styles of art in the (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014) study. This was particularly true for intense or unpretentious architectural styles. Neuroticism has also been positively associated with preferences for sad paintings and have been found to be drawn to dark and cold colors versus warm and intense colors (Chamorro-Premuzic, Burke, Hsu, & Swami, 2010).

Take a minute to take some notes: The personality factor neuroticism is related to like what kind of visual art? Also, what kind of music?

What Factors influence Personality and how does Personality influence behavior?

Psychologists generally agree that personality is a combination of genes, physiology and environment. For example, Gregory Feist (2010, 2017) discusses a model of personality that proposes that personality variations are affected by genes and brain structure, which influence creativity. His model suggests that our physiological makeup is the foundation of many individual differences – how social we tend to be, whether we need a lot of external stimulation, and whether we tend to be motivated by internal pleasure or external reward. We know that our genes directly influence the development of our nervous systems and individual variations in brain structure (particularly the frontal lobe and right hemisphere) and neural complexity influence the way we view and respond to the world. Specifically, Feist talks about differences in Cognition (way of thinking about the world), Social (response to pressure to conform, authority, tradition), Motivation, and Clinical considerations (degree of psychoticism/schizotypy). A combination of these may lower your threshold for creative thought – for example, if you are open to new ideas, tend to resist conformity and question authority and traditions, are motivated by internal rather than external rewards and have reduced latent inhibition (associated with schizotypy, discussed in Lesson 4), you are more likely to behave creatively.

This constellation of individual attributes changes the threshold for certain behaviors. Generally, the underlying physiology of an individual generates a constellation of traits lowers the threshold for certain behavioral responses.

For example, take the behavior of Skydiving. If you are a person who craves a lot of stimulation to be happy and loves excitement and adventure, your threshold for that behavior may just be that someone asked if you wanted to go. If you aren’t your threshold for that behavior may be much higher – say an external reward of a million dollars.

Feist also notes that this flow can be bidirectional. In other words, acting in creative or adventurous ways may influence the way you think and respond, influencing brain structures and processes and even genes.

Take a minute to take some notes: What are the components of Gregory Feist's model? How do these components work together to produce behaviors - specifically creative thoughts and behaviors.

As you can see, considerations of the nature of personality and how it affects, and is affected by, attitudes and behavior are complex. Likewise, the nature of our very perceptions are more complex than 'meets the eye' (haha) ... and there is no place this complexity becomes more obvious than art. So, next we explore whether the experience of art is on the canvas, in our brains or in our minds. Don't forget to test yourself.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Lesson 6 Matching: Personality

Lesson and What does your Art say about You? Three Minute Quiz

"Fragments of personality" Bekim Hasaj (Italy)

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