Question

Can the five factor model describe someones personality? What are some of the strengths of the five factors model? What are some of its limitations or weaknesses?

Answer 1

The Five factor model of Personality (Big Five) is a set of 5 broad character domains:

1. Extraversion :- This includes positive emotions, assertiveness, sociability and the ability to seek stimulation in the company of others. They love to talk more. Attention seeking and dominance are the result of high extraversion. Low extraversion leads to reflective personality.
2. Agreeableness :- It is the tendency to be compassionate. It measures one’s trustworthiness. High agreeableness leads to submissive character, whereas low agreeableness leads to untrustworthiness.
3. Conscientiousness :- Such personality shows self discipline. They are organised and dependable. High degree of this personality trait leads to stubbornness, whereas its low level leads to lack of reliability and sloppiness.
4. Neuroticism :- It is the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily. It also refers to emotional stability. High level of this trait leads to stable and calm personality, and its low level leads to reactive and excitable personality.
5. Openness to Experience :- It is the appreciation for emotion and variety of experience. It is the degree of intellectual creativity. High level of this characteristic leads to engagement in risky behaviour and drugs intake. Its low level is characterised as pragmatic and close minded.

Strengths of Big Five model
Five factor model is said to play a vital role in the prediction of many personality disorders. It can also explain the nature of relationship between personality and mental illness.

Weaknesses of Big five model
Big five factor model cannot accurately predict any single specific behaviour as the human behaviour is based on many factors other than personality. It fails to explain personality based on culture, age, gender and perspective.

As per the above mentioned strengths and weaknesses of this model, it can be used in the prediction of mental disorders and illness. But its role in explaining one’s complete personality is limited to some extent as it fails to cover many other aspects of personality such as honesty, egotism, sense of humour, ability to manipulate, religiosity, thrill seeking and so on.