Many psychologists use what’s known as the ‘Big Five’ personality model to help understand their patients and their life satisfaction. Previous studies have established a correlation between the two, but new research has looked for the first time at whether the link holds up at all ages of life.
The results, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest that link does hold up, and perhaps even strengthens as we age.
What is the Big Five?
First developed by pyschologists in the 1980s, the Big Five concept identifies and labels five personality traits, with the model used to understand links between personality and academic behaviour.
Though phrasing can vary, the Big Five are generally classified via the acronym ‘OCEAN’ as follows:
- openness to experience (inventive/curious vs consistent/cautious)
- conscientiousness (efficient/organised vs extravagant/careless)
- extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs solitary/reserved)
- agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs critical/rational)
- neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs resilient/confident).
Psychologists use a series of items to establish where patients fall on each category’s spectrum. For example, with regard to openness to experience, a person may be asked how strongly they agree with statements, ‘I have excellent ideas’, ‘I am quick to understand things’ and ‘I use difficult words’.
For the new study, the researchers analysed de-identified data collected for the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel survey from 2008 to 2019. The survey’s 9110 participants were a nationally representative sample of people living in the Netherlands and aged 16 to 95.
Environment vs genes
The study said the analysis showed the associations between personality traits and life satisfaction remained mostly stable across the adult lifespan.
Clinical psychologist Dr Alisa Ruby Bash says: “This study was the first one to tell us that certain personality traits are more linked with satisfaction across the lifespan. Although other studies have explored the connection between personality traits, and life satisfaction, this one looks at it long term.”
Dr Bash was not involved in the Big Five study.
However, other experts have suggested a cautious approach to analysing the results. One such expert is psychologist Dr Adam Feltz. In particular, he noted the difficulty in identifying how much of a role heredity plays in the development of our personalities.
“Right now, the best estimates are about 50 per cent,” he says. “There is a lot of controversy around these estimates because it is very difficult to identify how much of the variation in personality is a result of shared environments versus shared genes.”
Dr Feltz also cautioned that finding causal links between emotional stability and satisfaction is difficult. As with all statistical analyses, the old ‘correlation does not necessarily imply causation’ disclaimer applies here.
What the results of this study mean for improving mental health and life satisfaction remains to be seen, but it at least provides another tool for clinical scientists to help us achieve those goals, even later in life.
Have you heard of the Big Five personality traits? Would you be interested in having yours assessed? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
Also read: What’s your retirement personality type?
I have encountered various personality type scales in both defence and management with varying utility. They are often used only in a particular environment such as a work situation rather than ‘whole of life’ where it’s difficult to see how they can be applied. Take the first pair, open to experience/cautious. A scientist for example could encompass all of those characteristics, openness to experience (inventive/curious, consistent in recording results but cautious in jumping to conclusions about experimental results). I know an engineer who is meticulous in his professional work detail but hopeless and disinterested in finance so his personal life is a mess. I know of people who risk traveling to the far reaches of the earth but after meticulous planning.
Where would you put astronauts on this scale; where would you put Sir John Monash?
We have a psychological industry which is dependent on inventing new conditions and labels, it’s just a pity we don’t have a resilience industry as a matching pair!