Big Five !

The Big Five is a very important personality theory

http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/?o=93.00&c=97.00&e=93.00&a=94.00&n=2.00&o-raw=4.80&c-raw=4.89&e-raw=4.63&a-raw=4.78&n-raw=1.38 is the url which explains my scores on the Big 5 personality test . The Big Five personality test is the result of a lot of research and hence has been the base for the development of other significant personality assessment tests like Hogan Inventory test


The Big Five was originally derived in the 1970's by two independent research teams -- Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (at the National Institutes of Health), and Warren Norman (at the University of Michigan)/Lewis Goldberg (at the University of Oregon) -- who took slightly different routes at arriving at the same results: most human personality traits can be boiled down to five broad dimensions of personality, regardless of language or culture. These five dimensions were derived by asking thousands of people hundreds of questions and then analyzing the data with a statistical procedure known as factor analysis. It is important to realize that the researchers did not set out to find five dimensions, but that five dimensions emerged from their analyses of the data. These five dimensions are :
Openness to Experience - appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, and curiosity. Conscientiousness - a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. Extraversion - energy, positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation and the company of others. Agreeableness - a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. Neuroticism - a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability; sometimes called emotional instability.

Source: http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits


You can gauge your Big Five score through http://www.outofservice.com/ . The site has links to other interesting personality tests as well .