The Big Five and Socio- Emotional Constructs

(1)

The Big Five and

Socio-Emotional Constructs

Oliver P. John

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Ability to quickly acquire and apply new knowledge

Curiosity Grace Motivation Self-esteem

Abnegation Dealing with ambiguity Gratitude Negotiation Self-kindness Abstract problem solving Decency Grit Observation Self-reflection

Acceptance Decisiveness Growth Oneness Self-respect

Accountability Decorum Happiness Open-mindedness Selflessness Adaptability Delegation Helpfulness Optimism Sensibility

Altruism Dependability Heroism Organization Sharing

Applying technology Determination Honesty Passion Social awareness

Appreciation Devotion Honor Patience Social intelligence

Appreciating beauty in the world

Diligence Humaneness Perseverance Social perspective

Appreciating others Discipline Humbleness / humility Persistence Socialization

Appreciating what I have Diversity Humor Playfulness Speaking out, taking a stand Assertiveness Efficiency Inclusiveness Precision Spirituality

Authenticity Effort Initiative Presence Spontaneity

Balance Empathy Innovation Problem solving Sportsmanship

Belonging Energy Inquisitiveness Productivity Spunk

Benevolence Engagement Insight Professionalism Stability

Bravery Enthusiasm Inspiration Project management Tackling tough problems

Camaraderie Equanimity Integrity Prudence Teamwork

Care Equity Interconnectedness Public speaking Tenacity

Charisma Ethics Interdependency Receptivity Timeliness

Charity Excitement of creating something new

Justice Reliability Tinkering / inventing

Cheerfulness Executing plans, follow through

Kindness Resilience Tolerance

Citizenship Existentiality Leadership Resourcefulness Toughness Civic-mindedness Exploration Leading by example Respect for others Tranquility Commitment Fairness Learning from mistakes and

failures

Responsibility Trustworthiness

Common humanity Feedback Listening to others Results orientation Truthfulness Compassion Feeling awe Living in harmony with nature Reverence Verve Confidence Flexibility Living in harmony with others Risk taking Vigor Conscientiousness Focus Load management Self-actualization Virtue Consciousness Followership Love Self-awareness Vision

Consideration Following Loyalty Self-care Willingness to try new ideas Consistency Forgiveness Mental flexibility Self-compassion Wonder

Cooperation Fortitude Mentorship Self-control at school Work ethic Courage Generosity Mercy Self-control in relationships Zeal Critical thinking Genuineness Mindfulness Self-direction Zest Cross-cultural awareness Goal orientation Modesty Self-discipline

(6)

OECD (2014): Fostering Non-Cognitive

Skills to Promote Lifetime Success

Lex Borghans (NL), Ron Diris (B), James Heckman

(USA), Tim Kautz (USA), & Bas ter Weel (NL) (2014)

• Although non-cognitive skills are overlooked in most

contemporary policy discussions and in economic models of

choice behavior,

personality psychologists have studied these

skills for the

past century

.

• Psychologists primarily measure non-cognitive skills by using

self-reported surveys or observer reports.

• They have arrived at a relatively well-accepted taxonomy of

non-cognitive skills called the Big Five, with the acronym

• OCEAN

, which stands for: Openness to Experience,

(7)

What School Boards, Teachers and

Parents Want in Kids

• Explore

• Innovate

• Be kind

• Be a leader

• Be creative

• Cooperate

• Engagement

• Take risks

• Too much!

• Create some order!

• Simplify!

• Take responsibility

• Confidence

• Work as a team

• Stay cool under pressure

• Have empathy

• Persist after failure

• Try something new

• Respect rules

• Factor analysis:

• Find largest number of

(8)

What School Boards, Teachers and

Parents Want in Kids

• Explore

• Innovate

• Be kind

• Be a leader

• Be creative

• Cooperate

• Engagement

• Take risks

• Take responsibility

• Confidence

• Work as a team

• Stay cool under pressure

• Have empathy

• Persist after failure

• Try something new

• Respect rules

(9)

California Child Q-Sort Items

Parent and teacher ratings of children for

Openness:

Is curious and exploring; likes to learn new things

Has a vivid imagination

Is creative in the way s/he thinks, plays, or works

Daydreams; often lost in thoughts, fantasy world

(10)

Subjective Ratings of Openness

Original, curious, imaginative, complex

Correlate with:

Better performance on creativity tests

Interest and success ($$) in investigative

and artistic careers

Unconventional attitudes (and hair)

Intense interest/curiosity

Bored is worse than poor

(11)

Openness:

Exploration

System

• Interest, imagination, aesthetic appreciation

• Mental states, experiential life (oops, cognitive)

• Manifestions in kids:

• curiosity,

“

pretend

”

play, imaginary friends

• Functions:

very “21

st

century”

–

Flexible adaptation to changing environments

–

Innovation through learning

(12)

What School Boards, Teachers and

Parents Want in Kids

• Explore

• Innovate

• Be kind

• Be a leader

• Be creative

• Cooperate

• Engagement

• Take risks

• Take responsibility

• Confidence

• Work as a team

• Stay cool under pressure

• Have empathy

• Persist after failure

• Try something new

• Respect rules

(13)

Conscientiousness

Self-regulation system:

Meeting standards

Functions:

“

executive control

”

Initiate, coordinate, monitor, and complete

complex, long-term, and goal-directed behavior

California Child Q-sort items:

Has high standards for him/herself.

Plans things ahead.

Does not give up easily; persistent. [Grit]

Makes things happen; gets things done.

(14)

Conscien-

tiousness

Openness

(15)

Correlations with School Performance:

C

and

O

(16)

Conscien-

tiousness

Agreeableness

(17)

What School Boards, Teachers and

Parents Want in Kids

• Explore

• Innovate

• Be kind

• Be a leader

• Be creative

• Cooperate

• Engagement

• Take risks

• Take responsibility

• Confidence

• Work as a team

• Stay cool under pressure

• Have empathy

• Persist after failure

• Try something new

• Respect rules

(18)

Taxonomy: Five Psychosocial

Systems and Skills for Living

• O

_penness

_:

_Exploration

–

Interests

• C

_{onscientiousness}

_:

_{Self-regulation}

–

Standards

• E

_xtraversion

_:

_Approach

–

Rewards/gains

• A

_greeableness

_:

_Belonging

–

Close bonds/social support

• N

_{egative Affect vs Emotional stability}

_:

_Coping

(19)

The Big Five Personality Domains:

First-Letter Abbreviations, Traditional but now Outdated

Verbal Labels, and Conceptual Definitions

E: Extraversion, Energy, Enthusiasm, Engagement with external world

• Involves an energetic approach toward the social and material world.

A: Agreeableness, Altruism, Affection

• Contrasts a pro-social and communal orientation towards others with antagonistic ,

aggressive, or even antisocial tendencies.

C: Conscientiousness, Constraint, Control of Impulse

• Describes socially prescribed, effortful impulse control that facilitates task- and goal-directed

behavior (think before act, delay gratification, follow rules, plan/organize/prioritize tasks).

N: Negative Affect, Nervousness, Neuroticism

• Contrasts emotional stability, confidence, even-temper with the tendency to experience

negative emotions, such as feeling nervous/anxious, sad/depressed, or angry/frustrated.

O: Openness, Originality, Open-mindedness

(20)

Big Five Are New: Paradigm shift in

publications only since 1995

(John & Naumann, 2010)

(21)

Five Reasons Why the Big 5 “Stick”

1. Relatively

uncorrelated with IQ

2. Found by many

independent

investigators

3. Universal?

Surprise

: Same five domains

across cultures and language communities

4. Replicate

: Hallmark of good science

5. They work:

Predict

important outcomes

Big Five as a general framework:

(22)

The Hierarchical Model

• Are there only FIVE constructs?

• Why are they called

“

BIG

”

?

• “

Big" because they are so broad, at the

superordinate or highest level of abstraction

or generality in a hierarchical model

• They include 5,000 concepts



that is, about

1,000 individual concepts for each factor

(23)

Openness

is as broad as

Mammal

:

Hierarchies in Animals and Traits

Mammal

Cat

Siamese cat

Giraffe

Whale

Birds

Eagle

American eagle

Pigeon

Hummingbird

(24)

Bandwidth

–

Fidelity Trade-Off:

Parsimony vs. Precision in Prediction

Openness

Innovation/creativity

Intellectual curiosity

Aesthetic interests

Conscien-

Organization/Orderliness

tiousness

Self-discipline

Reliability

(25)

Minimal Set of Three Facets for Each Big Five Domain

Based on Review of Previous Facet Models

Facets chosen as

minimally necessary

to

represent each Big Five

NEO PI-R

A B5 C

Lexical subcomponents

Big Five aspects

Extraversion

Sociability

Gregariousness

Sociability

Enthusiasm

Assertiveness

Activity

—

Activity-Adventurousness

Enthusiasm

Agreeableness

Compassion

Altruism

Understanding

Warmth-Affection

Compassion

Politeness/respect

Compliance

Cooperation

Gentleness

Politeness

Trust

Pleasantness

—

Conscientiousness

Orderliness

Order

Orderliness

Industriousness

Self-Discipline

Efficiency

Industriousness

Reliability

Dutifulness

Reliability

—

Neuroticism

Anxiety

Toughness (R)

Emotionality

Withdrawal

Depression

Happiness (R)

Insecurity

Withdrawal

Volatility

Angry Hostility

Stability (R)

Irritability

Volatility

Openness to Experience

Aesthetic awareness

Aesthetics

Reflection

—

Openness

Intellectual interests

Ideas

Intellect

(26)

The Big Five Personality Domains:

First-Letter Abbreviations, Traditional but now Outdated Verbal Labels,

Conceptual Definitions, and Three More-Specific Facet Traits in Each Domain

E: Extraversion, Energy, Enthusiasm, Engagement with external world

• The characteristics in this domain involve an energetic approach toward the social and material world and

include more specific facet traits such as

sociability, assertiveness, and positive activity

.

A: Agreeableness, Altruism, Affection

• These characteristics contrast a pro-social and communal orientation towards others with antagonistic or

antisocial tendencies, and include facet traits like

compassion, politeness/respect, and trust

.

C: Conscientiousness, Constraint, Control of Impulse

• The attributes in this domain describe socially prescribed, effortful impulse control that facilitates task-

and goal-directed behavior, such as thinking before acting, delaying gratification, following rules and

norms, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing complex and long-term tasks. Facet traits include

Self-discipline, Orderliness, and Reliability

.

N: Negative Affect, Nervousness, Neuroticism

• These characteristics contrast emotional stability, confidence, and even-temperedness with the tendency

to experience negative emotions, such as feeling

Anxious/nervous, Sad/depressed, or Angry/frustrated

.

O: Openness, Originality, Open-mindedness

•The attributes in this domain describe the breadth, depth, originality, and complexity of an individual’s

(27)

Links to 21

st

Century Skills List

• Pilot study to explore whether 21C skills

systematically relate to expected Big Five

domains

• Use self-reports from verbally skilled and more

mature sample (Berkeley college students)

• Participants rated themselves on the skills and on

the Big Five Inventory (2 months earlier)

• Elaborating the socio-emotional content of the

(28)

Ability to quickly acquire and apply new knowledge

Curiosity Grace Motivation Self-esteem

Abnegation Dealing with ambiguity Gratitude Negotiation Self-kindness Abstract problem solving Decency Grit Observation Self-reflection

Acceptance Decisiveness Growth Oneness Self-respect

Accountability Decorum Happiness Open-mindedness Selflessness Adaptability Delegation Helpfulness Optimism Sensibility

Altruism Dependability Heroism Organization Sharing

Applying technology Determination Honesty Passion Social awareness

Appreciation Devotion Honor Patience Social intelligence

Appreciating beauty in the world

Diligence Humaneness Perseverance Social perspective

Appreciating others Discipline Humbleness / humility Persistence Socialization

Appreciating what I have Diversity Humor Playfulness Speaking out, taking a stand Assertiveness Efficiency Inclusiveness Precision Spirituality

Authenticity Effort Initiative Presence Spontaneity

Balance Empathy Innovation Problem solving Sportsmanship

Belonging Energy Inquisitiveness Productivity Spunk

Benevolence Engagement Insight Professionalism Stability

Bravery Enthusiasm Inspiration Project management Tackling tough problems

Camaraderie Equanimity Integrity Prudence Teamwork

Care Equity Interconnectedness Public speaking Tenacity

Charisma Ethics Interdependency Receptivity Timeliness

Charity Excitement of creating something new

Justice Reliability Tinkering / inventing

Cheerfulness Executing plans, follow through

Kindness Resilience Tolerance

Citizenship Existentiality Leadership Resourcefulness Toughness Civic-mindedness Exploration Leading by example Respect for others Tranquility Commitment Fairness Learning from mistakes and

failures

Responsibility Trustworthiness

Common humanity Feedback Listening to others Results orientation Truthfulness Compassion Feeling awe Living in harmony with nature Reverence Verve Confidence Flexibility Living in harmony with others Risk taking Vigor Conscientiousness Focus Load management Self-actualization Virtue Consciousness Followership Love Self-awareness Vision

Consideration Following Loyalty Self-care Willingness to try new ideas Consistency Forgiveness Mental flexibility Self-compassion Wonder

Cooperation Fortitude Mentorship Self-control at school Work ethic Courage Generosity Mercy Self-control in relationships Zeal Critical thinking Genuineness Mindfulness Self-direction Zest Cross-cultural awareness Goal orientation Modesty Self-discipline

(29)

Socio-Emotional Elaboration of the Big Five: Examples of Self-reported 21st Century Skills Items with

the Strongest Correlations with the Big Five Inventory, Organized into Lower-Level Conceptual Facets

Factor I: Amity/Affection/Agreeableness (A)

• 1 Compassion, care, cooperation, kindness

• 2 Respect for others, empathy, tolerance, fairness

• 3 Trust, forgiveness, gratitude, appreciation of others

• 4 Living in harmony with others, interconnectedness, inclusiveness

Factor II: Conscientiousness/Self-Control (C)

• 1 Self-discipline, focus, perseverance, self-control at school, grit

• 2 Organization, diligence, precision

• 3 Dependability, reliability, consistency, trustworthiness

• 4 Goal orientation, motivation, work ethic, effort, productivity

Factor III: Emotional Stability/Emotion Regulation/Coping

• 1 Self-confidence, self-esteem, decisiveness, tackling tough problems

• 2 Cheerfulness, happiness, optimism

• 3 Tranquility, balance, stability, equanimity (composure and even temper in difficult situations)

• 4 Self-compassion, self-kindness (being positive and understanding towards yourself when you suffer, fail, or feel inadequate)

Factor IV: Engagement/Enthusiasm/Extraversion

• 1 Social connection, teamwork, social awareness, public speaking

• 2 Assertiveness, leadership, courage, speaking out/taking a stand, bravery, risk-taking

• 3 Passion, zest, inspiration, spunk, spontaneity, playfulness, humor

Factor V: Openness (O)

• 1 Curiosity, inquisitiveness, open-mindedness, willingness to try new ideas, receptivity

• 2 Innovation, vision, insight, tinkering (inventing), learning from mistakes and failures, excitement of creating something new

• 3 Appreciating beauty in the world, living in harmony with nature, spirituality, mindfulness, existentiality, awe, wonder, reverence