Openness
Openness is the final personality trait of the Big Five personality theory (to read the others, please click the respective link: Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, Extraversion). Openness explores to what degree does an individual yearn for inner experiences, essentially, emotional experiences that occur within ourselves. These sorts of experiences can be created within ourselves through our own imagination, as well as a need for variation in our lives.
An individual who achieves a high score in the Openness scale can be described as intellectual, curious and open to trying new ideas. They are likely to have a rich inner life, filled with different experiences, largely due to the fact that they are open to trying new things and are curious to learn more through trial and error. A person who has achieved a high score will also have a high level of imagination and creativity, therefore enjoying presenting new ideas to friends and colleagues alike.
Those who achieve a low score in Openness are far more likely to be consistent in their behaviors, rarely moving away from the path they know, often sticking to the tried and tested. They tend to be cautious, pragmatic and data driven people. Making a new choice or taking a new direction will be taken through data persuasion where possible.
As with the previous 4 scales, Openness is also broken down into 5 key subscales.
The five subscales are as follows:
Imagination
The imagination subscale reflects the extent to which one has an active imagination or is more “down to earth” and focused on practical every day matters.
Aesthetics
The Aesthetics subscale explores the interest in artistic and aesthetic expression, often through creativity and imagination. An interest in culture and art is usually derived from a need for inner stimulation, as well as a desire to understand a new way of interpreting emotions or experiences. This of course encompasses poetry, music, writing, colour, film and form.
Emotional Sensitivity
Emotional Sensitivity showcases how well an individual is not only able to interpret their own emotions, but also how receptive and observant they are of those around them. This also reflects the extent to which one perceives variations in the strength and richness of one’s emotional life, as well as how important one considers an emotional life to be.
Experiences
The experiences subscale reflects on how well an individual is prepared to try new activities and be emotionally stimulated by the world and their surroundings. Those who strive for inner experiences are more open to all new possible experiences, whilst those who score low on the scale will remain true to their habits and do not need as much emotional stimulation through experiences.
Mindset
The Mindset subscale can really be seen as the subscale that most depicts an individual’s intellectual curiosity. Intellectual Curiosity defines how receptive an individual is to new and unconventional ideas, and their readiness to consider them. These are often ideas that are completely untested, or have mixed results. Those with a high level of intellectual curiosity will consider how these ideas can be applied to a particular context.
Why is Openness Important?
As mentioned above, people who score highly across a variety of the subscales and therefore are considered a highly open person, are likely to be adventurous and keen to try out new things.
Openness is a brilliant trait to assess for in job roles. As previously mentioned, someone who tests highly in Openness is likely to be creative, imaginative and experimental in their approach and therefore could be well suited for a role that requires these traits. A role in design, the music industry, marketing and advertising could be a great fit for a highly open individual. On the other hand, a person who scores low in Openness is likely to be analytical and data driven. These types of people are well suited to roles where little deviation from the path is allowed, such as accounting and finance.
Assessment
Openness can be partially assessed through competency based questioning. However, paired with appropriate and validated psychometric testing will result in a far more accurate reading of an individual’s degree of openness.
At Inpsyght Consultancy we believe that the best way to test for Openness is through the use of a personality assessment. We provide our clients access to MAP, our personality assessment based on the Five Factor Model. We find when combined with a structured interview we can target and observe the various sub-scales among candidates and existing employees. The insight could be used for decision-making in recruitment but also in existing personnel to shape a suitable coaching program if necessary. With this insight our clients use this information not only for decision-making when recruiting, but also among existing personnel to shape a suitable development program.
To learn more about the psychometric tests we provide, use the following link: https://www.inpsyght.co.uk/solutions/
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