Can We Train Ourselves to Succeed in Relationships?

A theory emerged to describe the basic traits that serve as the building blocks of personality. The "Big Five" Personality Traits, as they are often referred to, are broad categories of personality traits that can be broken down into:

1. Extraversion: characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.
2. Agreeableness: includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviors.
3. Conscientiousness: include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.
4. Neuroticism: Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.
5. Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.

The "Big Five" Personality Traits examines the individual differences in people. We can use these differences to identify how someone might perform in certain work environments or tasks.