Big Five Taxonomy Analysis

People on this planet have distinct personalities that differentiate them from everyone else. Personality refers to the “structures and propensities inside people that explain their characteristics patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 278). Personality has the ability to shape the way people perceive who we are, telling them how we behave in a social environment. Being that there are more than 1,000 adjectives used to describe the types of personalities, the Big Five Taxonomy is used to summarize all those adjectives. In this paper, I intend to discuss the Big Five Taxonomy Dimensions in the workplace.
I. Conscientiousness
In the workplace, a manager will greatly benefit from hiring a person who displays

the conscientiousness dimension. People whom demonstrate this are “dependable, organized, reliable, ambitious, hardworking, and persevering” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 282). These traits are quite valuable to the workplace because an employee who is organized and hardworking will complete the task efficiently and do it in a systematic manner. These types of employees have the ability to prioritize accomplishment striving. Accomplishment striving can be defined as people who “have a built- in desire to finish work tasks, channel a high proportion of their efforts towards those tasks, and work harder and longer on task assignments” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 282).
The Business Insider article “This Personality Trait Predicts Success” agrees with the textbook that hiring people with this dimension will be more beneficial to the workplace, making it more successful in the long run. In comparison to the book, the article explains to us that these employees embody excellent qualities, such as being organized, responsible, and have the ability to work hard even in challenging situations. For example, when speaking of accomplishment striving, the article goes hand in hand with the book, telling us that these type of people are “better at goals: setting them, working toward them, and persisting amid setbacks. If a super ambitious goal can't be realized, they'll switch to a more attainable one rather than getting discouraged and giving up” (Baer).
The textbook provides us with results of a research theory that was conducted on children that lived during the 1920’s and 30’s. The findings were that it pays off to be conscientious; the kids who displayed this trait lived longer and had better health than those who did not. Other research showed that these types of people are less likely to abuse things such as drugs and alcohol, and take more precautious steps to remain healthy. In agreement with the textbook, an article published by University of California, Riverside has the same view as the book. The article talks about how a psychology professor, Howard S. Friedman, analyzed data and came up with the conclusion: “Not only do conscientious individuals have better health habits and less risk-taking, but they also travel life pathways toward healthier psychosocial environments – such as more stable jobs and marriages – and may even have a biological predisposition toward good health.”
II. Agreeableness

People who tend to be agreeable are the ones who get along with their peers in the workplace. The textbook explains that people of this nature are “warm, kind, cooperative, sympathetic, helpful, and courteous” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 283). A good example of an employee who demonstrates agreeableness is as follows: Say the boss assigns two coworkers to complete a project together. Even though one of the employees has been there longer and can complete the task on his own, he is more focused on providing his fellow employer with helpful insight so they can accomplish the project together. These types of people mainly prioritize communion striving, which is a “strong desire to obtain acceptance in personal relationships as a means of expressing personality” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 283).
The textbook explains that there are some jobs that heavily benefit from having employees who demonstrate agreeableness. The example the book provides is the idea that people who excel at working in the customer service sector of the company have this dimension. This can be easily interpreted by the idea that customer service agents spend their days talking on the phone with customers to make sure they are satisfied with a specific product.
On page 283, a unique study done on agreeableness explains to us that if random participants had a portion of their daily routines recorded, the outcome would be:
“Agreeable participants were significantly less likely to be at home in their apartment during recordings; instead, they spent more time in public places… They were also less likely to use swear words and more likely to use words that conveyed personal rapport during conversations.” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 283).
In agreement with the study, the article “The Science of Swearing” explains that Swearing is negatively correlated with agreeableness, and positively correlated with the extraversion trait.
Although the textbook emphasizes more on the benefits of hiring an employee who demonstrates agreeableness, it also touches on the fact that some workers need to be “disagreeable in the face of unreasonable request or demands” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 283).

In agreement with the way the book views negative effects of demonstrating an excessive amount of agreeableness, the article “The Dark Side of Agreeableness: Why Pleasing Isn’t Always Pleasant” encompasses the same idea. It elucidates on the fact that managers who hire employees who display too much agreeableness are easily the ones who are taken advantage of and are unlikely to enforce standards set forth by the

company.
III. Extraversion
A person can easily be classified as either an extrovert or an introvert in as easy as five minutes. For example: two complete strangers who are next to each other in line to use the bathroom engage in a full force conversation about the weather outside. Both people can be categorized as extraverts because they are both talkative. If the two people were to have stood next to each other and not spoken a word, then they would have been categorized as introverts.
People who are extraverts seem to prioritize the term status striving. Status striving can be defined as “reflecting a strong desire to obtain power and influence within a social structure as a means of expressing personality” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 284). These types of people place heavy importance on the ability to move up in the company by getting promoted.
In the research study explained on page 285 of the textbook, it suggests that extraverts tend to be happier with their jobs. In comparison with the textbook, the article “People with these personality types are happiest at work” encompasses the same view, clarifying the point that “People with an ESFJ-type personality — which stands for Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging — are the most satisfied” with their jobs (Smith).
Another research study, found on page 285, explains to us that extraversion is associated with “more positive events, such as joining a club or athletic team, going on vacation with friends, getting a raise at work, receiving an award for nonacademic reasons, and getting married or engaged”. The article “Keep Everyone Happy by Making Your Office Extrovert-Friendly” gives advice to a manager that is comparable to the results of the “life event checklist” experiment. The advice given includes assigned group work so people can work in teams, provide praise for the employees, have social events in the workplace, etc.
IV. Neuroticism
People who demonstrate this dimension tend to be “nervous, moody, emotional, insecure and jealous” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 286). A good example of a neurotic employee would be one who gets jealous when a manager praises another employee. The textbook explains that companies benefit most from having employees who are calm, steady, and secure, which are the opposite qualities of what a neurotic person exhibits. In contrast with the textbook, the article “Why Your Neurotic Employees Might Also Be Your Most Creative” takes a different view on the dimension, explaining that these types of people are better at generating ideas because they tend to think back at worrisome events that affected them in the past. This article takes on the fact that having these employees around may not be as detrimental to the workplace as many of us may think it will be.
V. Openness to Exposure
The final dimension dealing with the Big Five Taxonomy is openness to experience. People who have this dimension are “curious, imaginative, creative, complex, refined, and sophisticated” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 287). Out of all the dimensions discussed above, this one has the most alternative labels. For example, openness to exposure is sometimes referred to as “Inquisitiveness” or “Intellectualness” or even “Culture” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 287).
An employee who demonstrates openness to experience works extremely well in an environment that constantly changes in job demands. When dealing with employees in the workplace, the book tells us “Together with cognitive ability, openness to experience is a key driver of creative thought, as smart and open people excel at the style of thinking demanded by creativity” (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 289). In agreement with the textbook view, the article “Openness to experience and the workplace”, explains that the best types of hires in the workplace would be the ones that have this dimension. This is due to the fact that the hired staff would be open to more experiences, and the manager will have more confidence in the growth of the business.
VI.

Reflection
After conducting my research, it was very clear that the research studies explained in the textbook, and the articles found using the Internet went mostly hand in hand. Some examples include: when talking about the contentiousness dimension, the study discussed in the book explained to us that people who have this trait are more beneficial to the workplace, because they are organized, ambitious, etc. The article “This Personality Trait Predicts Success” has the same view as the textbook, conveying the idea that the workplace has a high chance of growing with employees of this nature.
On the contrary, when dealing with the neurotic dimension, the book and research I conducted were not parallel. The book does not directly deal with possible positive effects of hiring a neurotic employee. The article “Why Your Neurotic Employees Might Also Be Your Most Creative” explains that some companies benefit from having employees with this trait because they generate better

ideas.
VII. Conclusion
The Big Five Taxonomy takes away the worry and stress when dealing with categorizing the factors used to summarize personalities. Conscientiousness people are ones who are dependable, organized, ambitious, and persevering. These are the types of employees who set goals, and work hard to achieve them. Agreeable personalities are the ones that strive to obtain acceptance when it comes to personal relationships. This quality may be able to damage the workplace, being that these types of people are easy to take advantage of. The extraversion dimension deals with people interacting with other people. These types of people tend to be happier with their jobs, and create healthy relationships with coworkers. Exemplifying qualities such as jealousy, nervousness, anxiousness, etc. can see neurotic people. Lastly, openness to exposure can be seen as a person’s ability to adapt to new situations in the workplace. Companies may greatly benefit from having these types of employees in their workforce. These five different dimensions all bring something different to the table, summing up the various adjectives used to describe different personalities.