Costa and McCrae Big Five Theory
Costa and McCrae attempted to reduce Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors down to five universal dimensions.
Some theorists argue that the Big Five may be the best answer of all to the question: what is the essence of human personality. The Big Five are so called because there is quite a high level of agreement that these factors describe aspects of personality well, are well supported by long-term studies and are considered as universally relevant. The five-factor model has the benefit of long-term studies and cross-cultural support, and does not have the statistical limitations of Eysenck’s psychoticism dimension.
According to the Big Five, basic differences in personality can be ‘boiled down’ to the dimensions shown below.
Costa and McCrae’s NEO PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Inventory Personality Inventory-Revised) is one of the most widely used personality questionnaires used to assess the Big Five. The NEO PI-R is made up of 240 questions, 48 for each of the five dimensions. Responses are made to each question on a five-point scale from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. Each of the five dimensions is composed of six facets, which are assessed by eight questions each.
The five dimensions (followed by their six facets) are:
1. Neuroticism – anxiety, hostility, depression, self-conscientiousness, impulsiveness, vulnerability
2. Extroversion – warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, positive emotions
3. Openness to experience – fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, values
4. Agreeableness – trust, modesty, compliance, altruism, straightforwardness, tender-mindedness
5. Conscientiousness – competence, self-discipline, achievement-striving, dutifulness, order, deliberation
The NEO PI-R is designed for adults and is used to evaluate normal personality. It is used in areas such as counselling, clinical psychology, psychiatry, organisational psychology, career counselling and education and personality research. As with all true psychological assessment instruments, these questionnaires can only be administered by qualified psychologists.
The Big Five can be remembered as ‘OCEAN’:
According to Costa and McCrae’s research, our personality does not remain stable. As we age, we are less neurotic and extraverted and more agreeable and conscientious.