woogx006: April 2012 Archives

In five years, I think one aspect of psychology that I will utilize in my daily life is the Big Five. Ever since we learned about the Big Five earlier this semester, I have been using it to analyze several of my classmates from both first and second semester, and have made some very interesting observations.

One classmate has shown high extraversion, and low conscientiousness. He is consistently zipping around campus on high speeds without his bike helmet. This person, as it turns out, may want to be an entrepreneur, which may go along with high levels of thrill-seeking and risk-taking behavior.

Another student is studying to be a classical musician. This person is very intellectually curious and creative, signs of openness to experience. Combined with this is a high level of conscientiousness, shown by her willingness to practice 4 hours every day. I think this combination of personality traits will likely help her succeed in her chosen field.

A third classmate has shown high levels of agreeableness. She avoids controversy and conflict whenever possible, which goes along with her interest in a field such as politics, diplomacy, or human relations.

In conclusion, an analysis of the Big Five may provide helpful insights into individuals' career choices.

As a truly dynamic character in the Star Wars book and movie universe, Obi-Wan Kenobi exhibits all components of the Big Five. In regard to conscientiousness, Obi-wan was always very careful when on dangerous missions. He also took pains to hide Luke and Leia as infants from Anakin and the Emperor. Obi-Wan was usually agreeable with his friends, cooperating with other characters as long as he or others he was with were not in danger. He was calm and focused in tense situations, and his low neuroticism score correlates with leadership, as we learned in class. In terms of Openness to Experience, Obi-Wan was always intellectually curious and creative in finding solutions to problems that arose. He frequently took on challenges such as sneaking through the Death Star alone. The extraversion dimension of Obi-Wan's personality varies, fitting nicely into the Person/Situation debate. In the first half of the saga, Obi-Wan was fairly outgoing and talkative as a padawan and Jedi master. He conversed with many humans and alien species and hardly was hardly ever lacking in confidence. However, at the end of the third movie, Obi-Wan goes into hiding to watch over Luke, and we learn in the fourth movie that he had basically become a hermit, living by himself in the desert, probably never coming into contact with anyone. Looking back over the first four episodes, the claim can be made that Obi-Wan was only as extraverted as the situation demanded him to be.