Course: MDE 154 Psycholofy

Senior Lecturer: Yelnura N. Autalipova

Lecture 11. Personality

4.4 Theories of Personality

McCrae and Costa’s Big-five Factor Theory

Robert McCrae Paul Costa

American psychologists founders of the Five-Factor Model

Robert McCrae, and Paul Costa believed that all human personality traits can be reduced to
five factors: openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and
Neuroticism. 
Openness to experience: such people love novelty and creativity. They have a curious mind
and have an art appreciation. They are an independent thinker and prefer to do various things instead
of routine activities. 
Conscientiousness: these people are more goal-directed, self-disciplined, hardworking, honest
and competent. They prefer planned activity instead of spontaneous behaviour. 
Extraversion:  such people are relatively more outgoing and openly expressive, impulsive,
optimistic, active, sociable, outgoing and talkative.
Agreeableness:  people who score high on agreeableness tend to be cooperative and
compassionate. Such people are generally helpful and trustworthy. 
Neuroticism: these are worried, insecure and self-pitying people. In comparison, people who
score low on neuroticism are self-satisfied and secure.
The Big Five personality test is available online: https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-
personality-test
 Eysenck’s Trait Theory

Hans Eysenck (1916-1997)

was a German-born British psychologist,  his work the best known on intelligence and personality

Hans Eysenck developed a very influential trait theory of personality, which has successfully
infiltrated the public mindset regarding how we think about personality in day-to-day life.
Hans Eysenck identified three factors of personality: extroversion, neuroticism and
psychoticism. Each of the Eysenck Theory factors is a bipolar dimension, meaning that each has a
direct opposite:
• Extroversion vs. Introversion
• Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability
• Psychoticism vs. Self-Control

Eysenck’s Trait Theory

Extroversion - this trait orientated
one’s interests and energies toward the
outer world of people and things rather
than the inner world of subjective
experience. Extroverts are relatively
more sociable, openly expressive,
impulsive, optimistic, active, sociable,
outgoing and talkative.
Introversion  - this trait is orientated
toward the internal private world of
oneself, and one’s inner thoughts and
feelings rather than toward the outer
world of people and things. Introverts
are relatively more withdrawn, retiring,
reserved, quiet, and deliberate; they
may tend to mute or guard expressions
of positive affect, adopt more skeptical
views or positions, and prefer to work
independently. Introversion are
reserved, reclusive, quiet, passive,
careful, thoughtful and peaceful.
PEN (Psychoticism, Extroversion, Neuroticism) Personality Test is available online: https://
www.idrlabs.com/pen-personality/test.php
Neuroticism (unstable) -
is characterized by a
chronic level of
emotional instability and
proneness to
psychological distress.
Neuroticism are anxious,
moody, touchy, restless
and aggressive..
Emotionally Stable  - is
characterized by
‘predictability and
consistency in emotional
reactions, with the
absence of rapid mood
changes. Emotional
stability include reliable,
even-tempered, calm,
leadership and carefree.
Psychoticism -    is characterized
by aggression, impulsivity,
aloofness, and anti-social
behavior, indicating
susceptibility to psychosis and
psychopathic disorders.
Psychoticism are impulsive,
aggressive, anti-social and aloof.
Self Control - is the ability to
command one’s behavior (overt,
covert, emotional, or physical)
and to restrain or inhibit one’s
impulses. Self-control include:
restrained, calm, thoughtful and
considerate.
References:
1. 1. Mayers, G. D. (2013). Psychology - 10th Edition. Worth Publishers, USA, 908 p. ISBN-13:
978-1-4292-6178-4, Chapter 2, 13
2. Spielman, Rose M. Psychology (2014). OpenStax resource. First Edition Textbook by XanEdu
Publishing. Chapter 11
3. Lerner, M. J., Millon, T., & Weiner, I. B. (2003). Handbook of Psychology, Volume 5: personality
and social psychology.
5. Revelle, W., Wilt, J., & Condon, D. M. (2011). Individual differences and differential psychology.
The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences, 1-38.
6. Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2016). Personality and Individual Differences.
7. John Wiley & Sons. Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. (2015). Personality and Individual Differences.
Chichester: Wiley.
8. Ciccarelli, S. K, and White, J. N. (2015). Psychology. New York: Pearson Education Limited.
9. Parmeswaran, E. G and Beena, C. (2004). An Invitation to Psychology. Delhi: Neelkamal
Publications Pvt. Ltd.
8. Rathus, S. (2008). Psychology: Concepts and Connections. United States: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
9. PEN (Psychoticism, Extroversion, Neuroticism) Personality Test is available online: https://
www.idrlabs.com/pen-personality/test.php
10. Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors Questionnaire is available online: https://openpsychometrics.org/
tests/16PF.php
11. The Big Five personality test is available online: https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-
test