The big five (OCEAN)

Revision as of 13:00, 12 February 2021

in progress

Summary / abstract

This article aims to provide a deeper insight into the OCEAN/CANOE model, also known as the Big Five or the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The model described in this article is a suggested taxonomy for personality traits used in the psychological field. The basis for the whole methodology relies on the suggestion of five broad domains used to describe the human psyche, personality and temperament. Being the first letters of those five components the acronym for OCEAN, where O stands for openness to experience, C for conscientiousness, E for extraversion, A for agreeableness and N for neuroticism. These domains are measured by using a personality inventory called the NEO-PI, which was developed by Costa and McCrae in 1985 based on the data from the Baltimore study.

The model is commonly applied in workplaces in order to predict a person’s performance and social behaviors through the personality traits. With the use of this technique it is intended to acquire a deeper understanding of all five traits and as a consequence to develop better workplace cultures, improve relationships and to build trust. Research indicates that cognitive ability is more correlated with task performance than any of the five factors are correlated with task performance. This means that the five traits are strongly related to cooperation and enjoying the overall workplace experience, which are key components of long-term job success. This model has much less impact in larger companies as there is an impersonal relation between employee and employer, so that a non-favorable personality will not have such a huge impact. Contrary to this, smaller companies tend to present a closer relation between employee and employer. In this case a non-favorable personality could have a very large effect on a person's job performance, meaning that this situations are favorable to apply the OCEAN model.

Big idea

describe the tool, concept or theory and explain its purpose. The section should reflect the current state of the art on the topic

theory:

• when and who developed the theory?
• have the theory been changed over the time?
• in which psychologic area can you locate the OCEAN model
• is there something that influences the Big 5?

tool:

• longer explanation of the OCEAN model
• OCEAN tests and personality tests

purpose:

• how to analyze and read the OCEAN model outcomes
• usage of the OCEAN model in business cases

Application:

provide guidance on how to use the tool, concept or theory and when it is applicable

Limitations:

critically reflect on the tool/concept/theory and its application context. What can it do, what can it not do? Under what circumstances should it be used, and when not? How does it compare to the “status quo” of the standards – is it part of it, or does it extent them? Discuss your article in the context of key readings / resources provided in class. Substantiate your claims with literature

Annotated bibliography:

Provide key references (3-10), where a reader can find additional information on the subject. The article MUST make appropriate references to the and reference material provided in class – either incorporating it as a source, or critically discussing aspects that are missing from it but covered by this article. Summarize and outline the relevance of each reference to the topic (around 100 words per reference). The bibliography is not counted in the suggested 3000 word target length of the article.