Domains
The five domains
Five broad traits sit at the top of the IPIP-NEO. Each is built from six facets, and each runs along a continuum with no good or bad end.
Openness Openness
Openness, in full Openness to Experience, describes curiosity about ideas, art, feelings and new experiences.
- Higher. A higher score means an imaginative, curious style, at ease with unusual ideas and with art for its own sake.
- Lower. A lower score means a preference for the familiar, the practical and the concrete.
The domain is sometimes called Intellect. In the IPIP-NEO, Intellect is one of its six facets, alongside Imagination, Artistic Interests, Emotionality, Adventurousness and Liberalism.
Its six facets: Imagination, Artistic Interests, Emotionality, Adventurousness, Intellect, Liberalism.
Conscientiousness Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness describes planning, organisation, persistence and reliability: how a person pursues goals and keeps commitments.
- Higher. A higher score means an organised, dependable, goal-driven style, with a taste for order and for finishing what was started.
- Lower. A lower score means a flexible, spontaneous style that holds plans loosely.
It covers self-control in the everyday sense of getting things done, which is different from restraint of emotions.
Its six facets: Self-Efficacy, Orderliness, Dutifulness, Achievement-Striving, Self-Discipline, Cautiousness.
Extraversion Extraversion
Extraversion describes how much a person seeks out and enjoys other people, activity and stimulation.
- Higher. A higher score means a sociable, energetic, outgoing style, quick to speak up and to take the lead.
- Lower. A lower score means a more reserved style: fewer people, a quieter pace, and satisfaction from time alone or in small groups.
A low score is not the same as being shy. Shyness is about worry over how others see you, which this model files under Neuroticism.
Its six facets: Friendliness, Gregariousness, Assertiveness, Activity Level, Excitement-Seeking, Cheerfulness.
Agreeableness Agreeableness
Agreeableness describes how a person treats others: trust, honesty, helpfulness, cooperation, humility and compassion.
- Higher. A higher score means a warm, trusting, accommodating style, quick to help and to give way.
- Lower. A lower score means a more sceptical, competitive and blunt style, ready to disagree openly.
Neither end is simply better. Which one helps depends on the setting; a negotiator and a nurse are asked different things of this domain.
Its six facets: Trust, Morality, Altruism, Cooperation, Modesty, Sympathy.
Neuroticism Neuroticism
Neuroticism describes how easily and how strongly a person feels distress: worry, anger, low mood, embarrassment, urges and the sense of being overwhelmed.
- Higher. A higher score means negative feelings arrive more readily and stay longer, and stress feels heavier.
- Lower. A lower score means a calmer, more even temperament that recovers quickly from setbacks.
The name is a label for a dimension, not a verdict. Some questionnaires flip the scale and call it emotional stability. Shyness sits here, in the Self-Consciousness facet, and not under Extraversion.
Its six facets: Anxiety, Anger, Depression, Self-Consciousness, Immoderation, Vulnerability.
Domains are separate scales
The five domains are scored independently, and a person can be high, low or in the middle on any combination. They are related to one another in modest ways; in large samples Conscientiousness and Extraversion both run somewhat opposite to Neuroticism, for example. Reading one domain tells you little about the others.