Have you ever wondered why some people find the perfect partner while others can’t find their match? Some people successfully reach the top of their careers while others jump from job to job to make a living? Have you ever pondered why things align so perfectly for some while life seems so unfair for others? You may find it surreal to believe but apart from luck or fate, it is your personality.

What is a personality trait?

Personality traits not only set individuals apart but also determine the course of our life. According to the APA dictionary of psychology, personality trait is a relatively stable, enduring, and consistent internal characteristics inferred from a pattern of behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and habits in the individual.

Five-Factor theory of personality

Five-factor theory (big five personality traits) is the most widely and commonly discussed and researched theory among various personality theories. This theory describes the significant characteristics that are considered building blocks of the personality. These personality traits include openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Personality traits: A continuum, not distinct personality types

According to psychologists, these personality traits are on a continuum rather than distinct personality types. Thus, a person can be low, medium, or high on a specific attribute. If we talk about extroversion and introversion, for example, the person cannot be entirely highly extroverted or highly introverted. Instead, it lies somewhere on the continuum, where his personality inclined more towards extroversion and less towards introversion.

Big five personality traits

Five dimensions of personality almost cover every characteristic of human temperament. This continuous distribution of the personality traits is described below.

1. Openness to experience

This trait entails the degree of intellectual inquisitiveness, creativity and novelty-seeking and admiration. This trait lies on the spectrum from curious to cautious. People high in this trait tend to be imaginative, curious and adventurous. They have a broad range of interests, eager to learn and experience new things, and like to take challenges.

On the contrary, a person having a closedness to experience trait like consistency, are traditional and considered practical. They are less creative and abstract. Instead, they like predictability.

• Conscientiousness

This is the tendency to be organised and dependable. This trait is assessed on the spectrum from organised to careless. Conscientious individuals are thoughtful, organised, detail-oriented, and plan ahead. They have good impulse control and engage in goal-directed behaviors.

On the other hand, people with low conscientiousness tend to be easygoing. They don’t like structure, tend to engage in impulsive behaviour and procrastinate. They can be disorganised and find it difficult to carefully and competently work on a task with discipline.

• Extraversion

This trait is characterised by the tendency to seek the company of others and interact. It is assessed on the continuum from energetic to reserved. People high in extraversion are social, talkative, assertive, emotionally expressive and outgoing. They feel good, excited, and energised when in the company of others.

On the other continuum, people low on extroversion also referred to as introverts, are more reserved and don’t like to initiate conversations or make small talk. Social situations and companies drain their energy, and they need their comfort zone to feel relaxed and charged.

• Agreeableness

This trait depicts the trusting and helpful nature of a person. It is assessed on the continuum from compassionate to challenging. Highly agreeable people are kind, affectionate, altruistic, and cooperative. They are trustful and frequently engage in prosocial behavior.

Less agreeable people are considered the antagonist. They are skeptical, demanding, and stubborn. People find them hurtful and unsympathetic.  

• Neuroticism

Neuroticism suggests a predisposition to psychological distress. It is measured on the spectrum from neurosis to emotional stability. Highly neurotic people tend to be moody, sad, and emotionally vulnerable. These people quickly get stressed, worry a lot, and feel anxious almost all the time.

On the other end of the continuum, people with low neuroticism scores are confident and relaxed. They can handle stress effectively and are emotionally stable.

Thus, if you like to have a consistent routine and hate change, you are low on openness to experience. If you hate messes and procrastination, you are on the high continuum of conscientiousness. Personality traits clearly define our behaviors and thoughts. Likewise, these also influence our life outcomes.

Big five personality traits and life outcomes

Do personality traits actually lead to a successful or difficult life, including relationships and career? Although the extent of the impact is difficult to assess, these traits definitely impact essential life domains. And this is suggested and established by various research studies. Research study has proved that highly extrovert and conscientious people tend to be happier while neurotic people have lower well-being (Anglim et al., 2020).

Moreover, personality traits also predict our life expectancy, as Jokela and colleagues (2019) proposed. It was suggested that highly neurotic and less conscientious individuals experience poor health outcomes and reduced healthy life expectancy.

Personality traits also influence our relationship choices and course, social interactions, and workplace behaviors. Thus, it is not wrong to say that personality traits determine our life. Therefore, knowing our own personality can help us make wise choices and prudent decisions that can make our lives fuller and happier.

But wait!

What to do when the involuntary stage of falling in love takes us over?

Stay tuned for another psycho-education blog! In the meantime take this test to find your personality traits here: https://bigfive-test.com/

References

Anglim, J., Horwood, S., Smillie, L. D., Marrero, R. J., & Wood, J. K. (2020). Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(4), 279.

Jokela, M., Airaksinen, J., Virtanen, M., Batty, G. D., Kivimäki, M., & Hakulinen, C. (2020). Personality, disability‐free life years, and life expectancy: Individual participant meta‐analysis of 131,195 individuals from 10 cohort studies. Journal of personality, 88(3), 596-605.

Have you ever wondered why you just don’t fit in certain social situations? Or why you never seem to find the perfect job that you are longing for. Or that compatible romantic partner. Perhaps it’s time to take a good look at the strengths you poses and what character traits define you.

Before we dive into valuable information on strengths and traits let’s take a look at some interesting points:

Our character traits define who we are, what we do, and how others perceive us. 

Did you know there are twenty-four character strengths that denote character? 

Your well-being is enhanced when you know your core strengths.

When you are not living up to your potential, you may feel like a square peg in a round hole.

What Are Character Strengths

Whether you are looking for love, friendship, employees, or business partners, everyone looks for character traits in individuals. 

Character traits are positive traits that show the strength of the person. 

People express their character traits through behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Traits help define who you are as a person. Some traits are more dominant than others.

Some of the strengths you may have are:

• Wisdom
• Humor
• Bravery
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Teamwork

Why You Need to Know Your Character Strengths

Your positive relationships, emotions, and accomplishments link to your character strengths. 

For example, you may feel that you are not accomplishing anything in life. Most likely, you are not using dominant traits to fulfill a goal.

Some of the most prominent research done on the topic by Seligman and Petersen shows that:

• You can learn faster by using a character trait
• Confidence in what you do when using a strength
• Pride in accomplishing tasks when using a strength
• Increased happiness at work and home

Understanding your top character traits can help you live a more fulfilling life and be open to new possibilities!

As an example, approximately 80 percent of people in America hate their jobs.  Since the average person spends more time at work than at home, they can experience a lot of unhappy hours!

When you know your strengths, you start putting the puzzle pieces together.  The things you need to do to have a satisfying life become clearer!

Imagine that your strengths are creativity and ingenuity.  You may work at a job where you complete repetitive tasks every day.  You are unhappy because you cannot be creative or utilize ingenious ideas at work.  You won’t have any job satisfaction.

When you know your top traits you can find a satisfying life path.

Relationships are more fulfilling as well when you know your top strengths. You may find yourself surrounded by judgemental friends when in reality you need open-minded people like yourself that fit in with your values.

Knowing you have the strength of open-mindedness can help you find friends and partners more aligned with your goals.

Character strengths affect every aspect of our life. 

A New Level of Happiness

Once you start using your top strengths, you reach a new level of happiness. Changing your mindset helps you explore new experiences that you never thought were possible. 

Little by little you start opening up to new experiences whether that is satisfying curiosity by learning new things or volunteering for an organisation that aligns with your strength of authenticity. 

Using your strengths to guide you will open up your world to many new possibilities. 

There must be a balance to using your strengths to reach a new level of happiness.  Overuse or underuse of strengths can cause burnout, depression, or anxiety.

Using your strengths in a balanced way will help you increase happiness.

Each of the twenty-four strengths can help you reach your potential. The easiest to use are your five signature strengths but, you can also develop your lesser strengths through different exercises. 

If you have ever wondered about your uniqueness and your potential for life optimisation the first step is to complete this FREE Strengths Survey here http://PauletteGee.pro.viasurvey.org. Once you have your personalised report you will hold a powerful tool in your hands, but don’t just file it and forget about it.   

We have developed a series of steps that will help you enhance your strengths and reach the levels of fulfillment you desire.  Be sure to make contact for your FREE copy.

Remember, because change is inevitable, your survey results will change during your lifespan. Take the Strength Survey from time to time to help keep you on track with your goals. 

Learn your signature strengths and start living a more fulfilling life!

Reference

Peterson, Christopher & Seligman, Martin (2004).  Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification.  New York: Oxford University Press; Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.