OCEAN

I agree with you. The big 5 are fascinating in that they describe the personalities of others and ourselves so well. Even when individuals feel that they are very agreeable and extraverted, the big 5 may prove to them otherwise. I find it particularly interesting how people with different strengths in the big 5 are able to mesh while other people aren't able to relate at all. It is a real eye opener to learning more about ourselves and others.

I thought that breaking down personality into 5 different aspects is helpful to understanding what my personality is made of. The thing that worries me is that I can't fit my personality into those sections even partially. I wish I knew a good method to calculate how much of each I have. This also made me question how the environment may affect how different characteristics are revealed at a certain moment and how your personality may be altered in different environments.

I agree that I will remember the big 5 well beyond psychology. Taking previous business courses, I have taken personality or behavior tests that help with job or group placement. In Carlson they use our strengthsfinder results to place us into groups that we do semester long projects with. Many companies use these tests and concepts like OCEAN to strengthen their work structure of ethic, so this could be another reason it will be prelevant in our futures.

I also find the concept of the BIG 5 interesting. What I find even more interesting is how it works in families. You would assume that a trait would trail from family member to family member due to the nature aspects--the genetics they share amongst one another--and the nurture commonality--sharing the same environment in which they are raised. However, we usually see a sibling high in one trait and another sibling on the far opposite end being portrayed in our movies and television shows. I wonder why that is. One of many examples would be siblings Bart and Lisa from show The Simpsons. Lisa Simpson is very Conscientious because she sets goals, she is attentive to details, and she is very reliable. Her brother, Bart, by contrast, is very unreliable. He breaks his promises, doesn't follow rules, and so on. Biological siblings, same father and mother, who show to be quite opposites and are literally on opposite ends in terms of the "conscientiousness" scale. They also seem to be examples that contradict the "nurture" aspect as well; both grew up and live in the exact same environment, yet are very different in regards to their personalities. So what makes a person the way they are? I also wonder if this difference is also factual in real life families. It would be a very interesting study!

Big five seems to be very true after we were grouped in the discussion . I was so happy to find out that I belong to the group that is the mostly like to excel in leadership. Looking back to my past years, other than school work, I did contribute my time vastly to team with others and serve in differenent underserved areas, like volunteer in dental clinic, set up field clinic in Costa Rica and Panama led by a non- profit organization, etc. Even though I'm usually a very quiet and shy person, I do have a passion to deliver interesting message embedded with some jokes when it comes to the time for talking with a group.