Using the Big Five Assessment for You and Your Team’s Benefit
The BFI measures five core traits:
1. Openness to Experience – Creativity, curiosity, openness to new ideas
2. Conscientiousness – Organisation, reliability, attention to detail
3. Extraversion – Sociability, assertiveness, energy levels
4. Agreeableness – Compassion, cooperation, warmth
5. Neuroticism (sometimes called Emotional Stability, in reverse) – Sensitivity to stress, emotional reactivity
Each trait is measured on a continuum, so rather than being “one or the other,” you’ll see where someone leans and how strongly.
1. Understanding Yourself
The BFI helps you understand your natural tendencies, especially under pressure. This can be particularly helpful for identifying how your personality interacts with your emotional responses—such as when your amygdala (your internal alarm system) kicks in.
For example:
• High Neuroticism? You might be more emotionally reactive under stress.
• Low Agreeableness? You may challenge ideas more and prefer debate over harmony.
• High Conscientiousness? You’ll likely thrive on structure and planning—but may also struggle with ambiguity.
This awareness lets you anticipate challenges and make conscious adjustments.
2. Understanding Others
Where MBTI offers a language of preferences, the BFI offers insight into how people show up—especially across time and context. Understanding your team’s Big Five traits helps you to:
• Recognise different communication and conflict styles
• Understand varying comfort levels with risk, change, and structure
• Avoid misunderstandings and assumptions by appreciating diverse personalities
For instance, someone low in Extraversion might not speak up in meetings, but could be incredibly thoughtful and effective when given time to reflect. Someone low in Conscientiousness may resist micromanagement but excel in dynamic, reactive environments.
3. Team Application
Balanced Team Composition
• A team high in Openness might dream big but lack follow-through—balance this with high Conscientiousness.
• Too much Agreeableness might mean avoiding hard conversations; too little, and you risk friction or insensitivity.
• High Neuroticism across the board? This team might need better emotional regulation tools under stress.
Stress Management and Human Factors
This model aligns neatly with Human Factors principles. For example:
• High Neuroticism might make someone more susceptible to the emotional hijack triggered by the amygdala.
• Low Agreeableness may signal difficulty with feedback—key when learning from near-misses or implementing change.
• High Conscientiousness often correlates with low error rates, but can also lead to rigidity under pressure.
Understanding these traits can help identify who might need extra support in high-stakes environments or during periods of change.
Feedback and Development
The BFI can be used as a growth tool. Instead of saying “this is how I am,” teams can explore:
• Which traits serve the mission?
• Which may need balancing?
• What can we do to support one another’s development?
Final Thought
The Big Five gives you a scientific, flexible model of personality that supports individual growth and team performance. It helps build understanding not just of who we are, but of how we function—especially under pressure.
When paired with Human Factors training, it becomes even more powerful. It helps us predict behaviour, mitigate risk, and create environments where people are more likely to thrive, and less likely to fail.
