Do our Big Five personality trait results define us?
What’s in a label? That which we call a test result/By any other situation would be as variable
Everyone loves personality tests. They’re the new craze: how else would you find out which Disney Princess you are, or what job you would have in the Harry Potter universe? Still, if you were to ask a random stranger about the Big Five personality traits, they probably wouldn’t know how to answer you. The five traits forming the framework that social psychologists have determined to be the most stably indicative of one’s personality over the lifespan are mostly unknown to the general public — except for one.
“I’m an introvert,” one of my friends told me, as if it explained everything. “Binge-watching shows on Netflix is for me what a party is for other university kids.”
People often use the trait of extraversion to describe themselves. Where one friend might be excited for a night out clubbing, another might be trying to convince the first to stay in for pizza and a movie; terms like ‘introvert’ and ‘extravert’ are simple to use to describe the difference. However, perhaps because of how accessible the concepts are, many people cling to the designation they were given upon completing their personality test without a second thought.
Though the Big Five have been validated as a framework that can explain one’s general tendencies, we must keep in mind that, like any other personality test, not even the Big Five are exempt from situational variability.
“I love to hang out with people, so I do. It’s because I’m extraverted,” explained a friend upon being asked why she was always out of the house.
Is this phenomenon only happening with the trait of extraversion because of how easily it can be understood and applied to our lives? There may be other instances where some people are more likely to cling to their test results as an indicator of who they are; for example, those who have a fixed mindset when it comes to learning will hold their grades on a school test to a much higher standard, using them as proof of how smart they are. This dismisses the fact that we’re constantly learning, and that each test we take can’t generalize to all situations. A failing grade on a math test does not necessarily mean that the person who obtained it is terrible at math — they could have been sick the day they took the test, or they could not have understood the particular material that they were being tested on.
Similarly, just because the Big Five are accepted as reliable doesn’t mean that, on a situational basis, they cannot vary. An introvert can still attend a huge party and have fun, and an extrovert might want to have a night in with their significant other instead of an exciting date. Using these traits as the be-all and end-all of your personality can be extremely limiting. Instead, understanding that the Big Five only gives you a general outlook on your personality can allow you to experience all sorts of situations without putting any labels on them.
