Question

Using each of the Big Five personality traits, describe a person that you think would be a successful University professor(i.e.,indicate whether a successful professor would be high, medium, or low on each trait, briefly describe what being high, medium, or low on that trait would look like, and explain why the level of the trait would be useful for successful professor). Be sure to identify each of the Big Five traits by name and remember that some point trait.)

Answer 1

The Big Five personality traits are:

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

or OCEAN:

• Openness - People who like to learn new things and enjoy new experiences usually score high in openness. Openness includes traits like being insightful and imaginative and having a wide variety of interests. A good professor should score HIGH on openess, in order to engage harmoniously with wide diversity of students and in order to maintain intellectual curiousity that is needed to carry out research in depth.
• Conscientiousness - People that have a high degree of conscientiousness are methodical, organised, reliable, thorough and detail oriented. A good professor should thus score HIGH on Conscientiousness.
• Extraversion - Extraverts get their energy from interacting with others, while introverts get their energy from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits of energetic, talkative, and assertive. A good professor should score either MEDIUM or HIGH. Although low scores could also potentially work, since classrooms are social enviroments, an extrovert or ambivert might be more conducive.
• Agreeableness - These individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate. People with low agreeableness may be more distant. Traits include being kind, affectionate, and sympathetic. An ideal professor should thus score HIGH on agreeabless.
• Neuroticism - Neuroticism is also sometimes called Emotional Stability. This dimension relates to one’s emotional stability and degree of negative emotions. People that score high on neuroticism often experience emotional instability and negative emotions. Traits include being moody and tense. A good professor should score LOW on neuroticism.

These personality dimensions can be measured by Big-Five Factor Personality Test.