Development of the five factors of personality began in 1933 when Louis Thurston challenged a group of professionals to create a common language for describing personality. The goal of this challenge was to shrink the more than 18,000 words that described the individual differences in the English Dictionary. Since then, much research has been done on the vocabulary and the relationship between words and individuals to the the major categories used to describe personality. The five-factor model was shared in the corporate environment for the first time in the early 1990s.

The WorkPlace Big Five Profile uses these most widely accepted personality traits, the Five-Factor Model of Personality, which includes five personality supertraits and 23 subtraits. The basis of this is to simply and clearly explain the work-related behaviors that all working people encounter daily in coworkers, employees, managers, and colleagues. In other words, it’s a shorthand or vocabulary to help us better understand ourselves and others.

The WorkPlace Big Five answers these questions:

• How does the person approach tasks and responsibilities?
• How does the person express him/herself and interact with others?
• How important are others’ opinions and feelings to the person?
• How does the person respond to adversity or pressure?
• How open is the individual to various interests and ideas?

With the WorkPlace Big Five, all five factors of the Big Five are measured on a continuum, with clear end points. As you move away from either end of the continuum toward the middle, combinations of traits will be evident from both ends of the continuum. The closer a person scores toward the end points of the scale, the more the person will tend to demonstrate characteristics and behaviors that are associated with those ends.

Knowing and understanding your individual trait structure not only can help you communicate better, but it can also help you make better decisions. Take the WorkPlace Big Five Profile today to learning more about true nature.