Do you know your way to your OLA?

The big five personality traits 

Researchers generally agree that the diverse ways that humans differ in personality can be reduced to five major factors, which are summarized by the acronym CANOE or OCEAN:

• Conscientiousness 
• Agreeableness 
• Neuroticism 
• Openness 
• Extraversion

“The big five traits are dimensions along which all people can be placed, with most falling in the middle regions and others spread out along the full range,” writes Brian R. Little in Me, Myself and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being.

According to Little, within each of us, the big-five traits are formed through a combination of three natures. 

1. Biogenic nature (our genetics)  
2. Sociogenic nature (what our culture teaches us) 
3. Idiogenic nature (something that’s particular to the individual) 

When people are assessed for their “CANOE score,” the genetic component of each of these dimensions accounts for roughly 50 per cent of their score. 

If you’d like to see where you land with respect to these traits, the gold standard assessment tool for the big five is the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) developed by Paul Costa and Robert R. McCrae, Little writes.

Extroversion vs introversion 

The terms extroversion and introversion were introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in 1921. Jung described these traits in terms of energy expenditure and recovery.

Introversion and extroversion exist on a continuum, and a person’s place on the continuum is variable.

“It’s helpful to think in terms of preferences or tendencies rather than absolute labels,” writes David Posen in his book Authenticity: A Guide To Living In Harmony With Your True Self.

Some resources spell it extraversion. 

That’s because most people have a mix of introverted and extroverted traits and behave differently in different situations.

Many experts in the field of personality psychology subscribe to the neocortical arousal model, which posits that humans naturally strive for an optimum level of arousal (OLA), a state of balance within the neocortex part of the brain that allows us to function effectively. 

According to this model, brain activity in extroverts is typically under the OLA needed to perform their tasks, so they seek stimulation from their environment in the form of action, busyness, louder sounds and brighter lights to get to a level where they can effectively engage in work and other activities. 

Introverts, on the other hand, are chronically overstimulated, so they seek solitude, quiet and less busyness to lower their brain activity to a point where they can function effectively.

In betweener

Sitting in the middle of the spectrum between extreme introversion and extroversion is the ambivert, someone whose energy level naturally sits at the optimum level. These people sometimes seek out solitude to recharge and sometimes contact with others to increase stimulation.

Shannon Dube considers herself an ambivert. As a numeracy co-ordinator for the Fort McMurray Public School Division, Dube’s job involves a blend of school visits and solitary work. On the flip side, she’s a local president, which involves many meetings and interactions with others. The combination of solitary and group work is a good mix for her.

“Sometimes I’m in the mood for people,” she says, “and other times I’m like, get me away.”