Personality – Big Five ********************** Big Five (Adults) ================= **Summary** The Big Five concept makes it possible to describe human personality traits in terms of individually differing behaviors and experiences. At the heart of this approach lies the assumption that there exist five broad, non-overlapping dimensions of personality that can be used to describe human personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The scale consists of 15 items measuring the “Big Five” and was used in the SOEP in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2017. From 2009 on the scale was extended by one additional item measuring openness. In 2019 the concept was used ahead of its regular interval because both, sample P (“Top Shareholder Sample”) and sample Q (Sample P “LGB*”) started in that year. The next replication is in 2023. **Theoretical Background** The Big Five Model of personality traits, or the “Five-Factor Model,” is a psychological approach aimed at comprehensively describing the human personality. According to this model, intra-individual personality differences can be measured in five broad dimensions – the so-called “Big Five.” Personality traits are coherent and constant structures of feelings, thoughts, and forms of behavior that influence psychological conditions and individual actions (Costa & McCrae, 1985). The Five-Factor Model assumes that values in these different dimensions vary from one individual to the next, but that the basic structure of the personality, at least for individuals from Western cultures, remains constant. The five personality dimensions are: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Individuals with high openness to experience describe themselves as having a lively imagination, being original and creative, and appreciating artistic and aesthetic experiences. Individuals with high conscientiousness describe themselves as highly motivated, success-oriented, thorough in their work, and as completing their tasks effectively and efficiently. Individuals with high extroversion see themselves as communicative, talkative, open, and outgoing. In contrast, introverted individuals describe themselves as reserved or shy. Individuals with high values for neuroticism describe themselves as nervous, often worried, and as having difficulties dealing with stress. The antithesis of neuroticism is emotional stability. Finally, individuals with high agreeableness describe themselves as considerate and friendly, willing to forgive, and as not being unkind to others. The Big Five approach has its origins in two distinct traditions in psychology: first, in the psycho- lexical tradition of Allport (1937) and Cattell (1946), and second, in the differential diagnosis or clinical tradition of personality research pioneered by Stern (1911) and Eysenck (1947). Both lines of research were ultimately brought together into a single model and formalized by Costa and McCrae (1985). Since then, the validity of this approach has been confirmed in a number of studies of different groups of individuals from different countries including the USA, England, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and China. **Scale Development** For reasons of space and time, the SOEP required a short and efficient scale that is nevertheless capable of reflecting the basic structure of the Five-Factor Model in a robust and reliable way. The choice of items was made based on five criteria: (1) the conditions and limitations that result from the SOEP questionnaire, (2) the aim of achieving balanced coverage of the basic personality dimensions, (3) the internal consistency of the scale, (4) the dimensionality of the items, and (5) the correspondence with other, established measurement instruments. The guideline in developing the short scale was to use at least three items per latent construct. The development and validation of the scale took place in the framework of a SOEP pretest, which represents an independent representative survey of the resident population of Germany. The items were taken from the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI; Gosling et al., 2003) and the BFI-25. The BFI-25 was developed based on a principal component analysis carried out with the entire inventory by John et al. (1991): the five items for each personality dimension with the highest factor loadings were included. Further information can be found in Gerlitz und Schupp (2005) and in Lang et al. (2011). **References** *Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: Henry Holt.* *Cattell, R. B. (1946). Description and measurement of personality. Oxford, England: World Book Company.* *Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO personality inventory: Manual, form S and form R. Psychological Assessment Resources.* *Eysenck, H. J. (1947). Dimensions of personality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.* *Gerlitz, J.-Y., & Schupp, J. (2005). Zur Erhebung der Big-Five-basierten Persönlichkeitsmerkmale im SOEP (The measurement of the Big Five personality traits in the SOEP). Berlin: DIW Berlin.* *Gosling, S. D. Rentfrow, P. J. & Swann, W. B. (2003). A very brief Measure of the Big-Five Personality Domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504-528.* *John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The “Big Five” Inventory – Versions 4a and 54. Berkeley, University of California: Institute of Personality and Social Research.* *John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five Trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2. ed., pp. 102-138). New York: Guilford Press.* *Lang, F. R., John, D., Lüdtke, O., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2011). Short assessment of the Big Five: Robust across survey methods except telephone interviewing. Behavior Research Methods, 43, 548-567.* *Stern, W. (1911). Die differentielle Psychologie in ihren methodischen Grundlagen. Leipzig: Barth.* **Items** I see myself as someone who (Ich bin jemand, der): Openness 1. is original, comes up with new ideas (originell ist, neue Ideen einbringt). 2. values artistic, aesthetic experiences (künstlerische, ästhetische Erfahrungen schätzt). 3. has an active imagination (eine lebhafte Phantasie, Vorstellungen hat). 4. is eager for knowledge (wissbegierig ist). Scale: 1 (Not at all / Trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 7 (Absolutely / Trifft voll zu) **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/19a_openness.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Conscientiousness 1. does a thorough job (gründlich arbeitet). 2. tends to be lazy (R) (eher faul ist). 3. does things effectively and efficiently (Aufgaben wirksam und effizient erledigt). Scale: 1 (Not at all / Trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 7 (Absolutely / Trifft voll zu) **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/19b_conscientiousness.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Extraversion 1. is communicative, talkative (kommunikativ, gesprächig ist). 2. is outgoing, sociable (aus sich herausgehen kann, gesellig ist). 3. is reserved (R) (zurückhaltend ist). Scale: 1 (Not at all / Trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 7 (Absolutely / Trifft voll zu) **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/19c_extraversion.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Agreeableness 1. is sometimes somewhat rude to others (R) (manchmal etwas grob zu anderen ist). 2. has a forgiving nature (verzeihen kann). 3. is considerate and kind to others (rücksichtsvoll und freundlich mit anderen umgeht). Scale: 1 (Not at all / Trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 7 (Absolutely / Trifft voll zu) **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/19d_agreeableness.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Neuroticism 1. worries a lot (sich oft Sorgen macht). 2. gets nervous easily (leicht nervös wird). 3. is relaxed, handles stress well (R) (entspannt ist, mit Stress gut umgehen kann). Scale: 1 (Does not apply to me at all / Trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 7 (Applies to me perfectly / Trifft voll zu) **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/19e_neuroticism.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 **Test-Retest Correlations** The Big Five inventory was included in retests taken by subsamples in 2005 and 2009 within 30 to 49 days after the initial test. Pooled across both occasions, test-retest correlations were .64 for the 3-item version of openness (N = 325) and .66 for the 4-item version (N = 167); .53 for conscientiousness; .64 for extraversion; .57 for agreeableness; and .62 for neuroticism. Big Five (Youth) ================ **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20a_bigfive_youth.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Big Five (13-14 year olds, self-report) ======================================= **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20b_bigfive_pupil14.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Big Five (11-12 year olds, self-report) ======================================= **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20c_bigfive_pupil12.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 Big Five (9-10 year olds & 5-6 year olds, parent reports) ========================================================= **References** *Asendorpf, J. B., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2003). Validity of Big Five personality judgments in childhood: A 9 year longitudinal study. European Journal of Personality, 17, 1-17.* *Weinert, S., Asendorpf, J. B., Beelmann, A., Doil, H., Frevert, S., Lohaus, A., & Hasselhorn, M. (2007). Expertise zur Erfassung von psychologischen Personmerkmalen bei Kindern im Alter von fünf Jahren im Rahmen des SOEP. Berlin: DIW Berlin.* **Items** How would you rank your child in comparison to other children of the same age (Wie würden Sie Ihr Kind im Vergleich zu anderen Kindern gleichen Alters beurteilen): Openness/Intellect 1. Child is not that interested – hungry for knowledge (ist wenig interessiert – ist wissensdurstig). 2. Child understands quickly – needs more time (begreift schnell – braucht mehr Zeit). Scale: 0 to 10 Conscientiousness 1. Child is tidy – untidy (ist unordentlich – ist ordentlich). 2. Child is focused – easy to distract (ist konzentriert – ist leicht ablenkbar). Scale: 0 to 10 Extraversion 1. Child is talkative – quiet (ist gesprächig – ist still). 2. Child is withdrawn – sociable (ist zurückgezogen– ist kontaktfreudig). Scale: 0 to 10 Agreeableness 1. Child is good-natured – irritable (ist gutmütig – ist reizbar). 2. Child is obstinate – compliant (ist trotzig – ist fügsam). Scale: 0 to 10 Neuroticism 1. Child is self-confident – insecure (hat Selbstvertrauen – ist unsicher). 2. Child is fearful – fearless (ist ängstlich – ist unängstlich). Scale: 0 to 10 **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20d_bigfive_bioage10.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20e_bigfive_bioage06.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1 Big Five (2-3 year olds, parent reports) ======================================== **References** *Asendorpf, J. B., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2003). Validity of Big Five personality judgments in childhood: A 9 year longitudinal study. European Journal of Personality, 17, 1-17.* *Weinert, S., Asendorpf, J. B., Beelmann, A., Doil, H., Frevert, S., Lohaus, A., & Hasselhorn, M. (2007). Expertise zur Erfassung von psychologischen Personmerkmalen bei Kindern im Alter von fünf Jahren im Rahmen des SOEP. Berlin: DIW Berlin.* **Items** How would you rank your child in comparison to other children of the same age (Wie würden Sie Ihr Kind im Vergleich zu anderen Kindern gleichen Alters beurteilen): Openness/Intellect 1. Quick at learning new things – needs more time (begreift eher schnell – braucht mehr Zeit). Scale: 0 to 10 Conscientiousness 1. Focused – easily distracted (ist konzentriert – ist leicht ablenkbar). Scale: 0 to 10 Extraversion 1. Shy – outgoing (ist eher schüchtern– ist eher kontaktfreudig). Scale: 0 to 10 Agreeableness 1. Obstinate – obedient (ist eher trotzig – ist eher fügsam/folgsam). Scale: 0 to 10 **Items and Scale Statistics** .. csv-table:: :file: csv/20f_bigfive_bioage03.csv :header-rows: 1 :class: longtable :widths: 2 2 2 1 1