server ratings (e.g., “She has a very active imagination”). Respondents
read each item and decide on a 1-to-5 scale if they strongly disagree ,
disagree , don’t know or are neutral ,agree ,o r strongly agree with the
statement. The responses are then summed to yield five basic domainscores for Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, andConscientiousness. When compared with data from normative sam -
ples that show how most people respond, these scores allow us to
characterize the respondent. For example, an individual who scoreshigher than three-quarters of the normative sample on Agreeablenessmight be described as compassionate ,good-natured , and eager to coop -
erate and avoid conflict . One who scored in the lower quarter of the
distribution could be described as hardheaded ,skeptical ,proud , and
competitive .
Table 1, in Chapter 1, listed some adjectives that describe low
and high scorers on the five domains. In general, Neuroticism repre-sents the proneness of the individual to experience unpleasant anddisturbing emotions and to have corresponding disturbances in thoughtsand actions (Vestre, 1984). Psychiatric patients who were traditionallydiagnosed as neurotics tend to score very high on this dimension, butmany individuals score high without having any psychiatric disorder:Neuroticism is a dimension of personality on which people vary onlyin degree. Extraversion is a more familiar term; it concerns differencesin preference for social interaction and lively activity . Openness in ourmodel should not be confused with self-disclosure (being willing totalk about one’s inner feelings); instead, it refers to a receptiveness tonew ideas, approaches, and experiences (McCrae & Costa, 1997a).People who are closed to experience are not necessarily defensive, norare they necessarily narrow minded in the sense of being judgmentaland intolerant. Instead, they are characterized by a preference for thefamiliar, practical, and concrete, and a lack of interest in experiencefor its own sake.
Agreeableness is seen in selfless concern for others and in trusting
and generous sentiments. Low Agreeableness (or Antagonism) is toughminded and hardheaded. Although agreeable people are nicer than an -
tagonistic people, antagonism, too, has its virtues. We want surgeons to
be ruthless in cutting out disease and lawyers to be aggressive in our de -
fense. Conscientiousness is a dimension of individual differences in or -
ganization and achievement. Highly conscientious people are dutiful
and self-disciplined, but also ambitious and hardworking, sometimes to46 PERSONALITY IN ADULTHOOD