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OCEAN: The Big 5 Personality Traits in IrelandAn Amárach Research Briefing

November 2017

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In August 2017, we asked 1,000 adults throughout Ireland to complete a short personality test designed to measure the extent of different traits in the population.

Research has found that personality tends to be fairly consistent throughout our lives and key aspects of personality are already in place when we are very young.

Amárach measured Irish personalities using the Big Five test of personality traits (abbreviated to ‘OCEAN’), generally acknowledged as the most stable measure of personality over time; the traits are:

Openness – the extent to which you are receptive to novel ideas, creative experiences and different valuesConscientiousness – the extent to which you are organised, strategic and forward-planningExtraversion – the extent to which you are inclined to experience positive emotions and how attracted you are to social, stimulating experiencesAgreeableness – the extent to which you are concerned about the feelings of others and how easily you form bonds with peopleNeuroticism – the extent to which you react to perceived threats and stressful situations

The Big Five: OCEAN

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits

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Each trait is measured on the basis of combined answers to a set of questions relating to each trait, usually on a five point scale, measuring the extent to which different statements, e.g.: ‘I am the life of the party’ accurately or inaccurately describe the type of person you are.

We used the mini-IPIP version to capture population traits:*

Measuring Personality: Types of Statements

* The mini-IPIP, 20-item measure of Big 5 personality: https://discovermyprofile.com/

How much do you agree with each statement about you as you generally are now,

not as you wish to be in the future? I…Am the life of the party

Sympathise with other’s feelings

Get chores done right away

Have frequent mood swings

Have a vivid imagination

Don’t talk a lot

Am not interested in other people’s problems

Often forget to put things back in their proper place

Am relaxed most of the time

I am not interested in abstract ideas

Talk to a lot of different people at parties

Feel others’ emotions

Like order

Get upset easily

I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas

Keep in the background

Am not really interested in others

Make a mess of things

Seldom feel blue

Do not have a good imagination

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Trait Conscientiousness and Trait Agreeableness score highly in the Irish adult population.

While large minoritiesscore low for TraitExtraversion and TraitNeuroticism.

Over 1 in 4 adults scores high for Trait Openness.

The Big 5 in Ireland

12% 7%

31%

6%

34%

60%57%

55%

49%

57%

28%36%

14%

45%

9%

OPENNESS CONSCIENTIOUSNESS EXTRAVERSION AGREEABLENESS NEUROTICISM

Incidence of Big 5 Personality Traits in Ireland

Low Medium High

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Trait: Openness

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Openness: to novel ideas, creative experiences and different values

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Trait Openness is highest among young age groups, and higher social class groups (and people living near the border for some reason!)

Trait Openness is lowest among over 55s in particular.

OpennessAll

AdultsMale Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Dublin

Rest of Leinster

MunsterConn/ Ulster

ABC1 C2DE

Low 12% 13% 12% 5% 14% 12% 6% 17% 15% 14% 10% 8% 11% 13%

Moderate 60% 58% 61% 57% 58% 59% 68% 60% 60% 59% 63% 56% 57% 62%

High 28% 29% 27% 38% 28% 30% 26% 23% 25% 27% 27% 36% 32% 25%

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Trait: Conscientiousness

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Conscientiousness: extent to which you are organised and forward-planning

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Women score higher than men on conscientiousness, while older age groups score higher than younger age groups.

Trait Conscientiousness is also higher among those in higher income groups (ABC1 social classes), but lower in Dublin than in other regions.

Conscient-iousness

All Adults

Male Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ DublinRest of

LeinsterMunster

Conn/ Ulster

ABC1 C2DE

Low 7% 6% 8% 7% 9% 5% 11% 6% 7% 8% 8% 5% 7% 8%

Moderate 57% 60% 54% 66% 64% 62% 51% 48% 59% 57% 55% 56% 54% 59%

High 36% 34% 38% 27% 27% 33% 38% 46% 34% 35% 37% 39% 39% 33%

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Trait: Extraversion

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Extraversion: extent to which you are attracted to social, stimulating experiences

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Women score slightly higher than men on extraversion, while under 25s score higher than other age groups.

Trait Extraversion doesn’t vary much by income or social class.

ExtraversionAll

AdultsMale Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Dublin

Rest of Leinster

MunsterConn/ Ulster

ABC1 C2DE

Low 31% 33% 30% 19% 35% 31% 33% 34% 31% 30% 33% 31% 34% 29%

Moderate 55% 55% 55% 59% 52% 60% 55% 54% 56% 61% 52% 51% 52% 59%

High 14% 12% 15% 22% 13% 9% 12% 12% 13% 9% 15% 18% 14% 12%

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Trait: Agreeableness

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Agreeableness: extent to which you are concerned about the feelings of others

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Women score significantly higher than men on agreeableness, while over 55s score higher than any other age group.

Trait Agreeableness varies significantly by region and by social class.

Agreeable-ness

All Adults

Male Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ DublinRest of

LeinsterMunster

Conn/ Ulster

ABC1 C2DE

Low 6% 7% 5% 8% 8% 6% 4% 4% 5% 9% 6% 3% 4% 7%

Moderate 49% 57% 41% 45% 51% 56% 54% 43% 55% 46% 47% 44% 46% 52%

High 45% 36% 54% 47% 41% 38% 42% 53% 40% 45% 47% 53% 50% 41%

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Trait: Neuroticism

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Neuroticism: extent to which you react to perceived threats and stressful situations

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Men score significantly lower than women on trait neuroticism, while younger groups tend to score higher than older groups.

Trait Neuroticism doesn’t vary significantly by region and but tends to be lower among higher social class groups.

NeuroticismAll

AdultsMale Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Dublin

Rest of Leinster

MunsterConn/ Ulster

ABC1 C2DE

Low 34% 39% 29% 20% 25% 29% 39% 47% 33% 35% 32% 37% 39% 30%

Moderate 57% 54% 60% 70% 64% 62% 52% 46% 61% 54% 59% 53% 51% 62%

High 9% 7% 11% 10% 11% 9% 9% 7% 6% 11% 9% 10% 10% 8%

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Applying Personality Traits

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The Politics of Personality

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

Personality traits are used for targeting messages to individuals on social media and more widely.

For example, Irish people who are lower in trait agreeableness or higher in trait neuroticism are less interested in politics:

OPENNESS CONSCIENTIOUS EXTRAVERSION AGREEABLENESS NEUROTICISM

All Adults

Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher

Interested in politics 70% 72% 69% 70% 70% 68% 70% 62% 70% 74% 68%

Not interested in politics

29% 26% 30% 29% 29% 31% 28% 38% 29% 26% 31%

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Voting and Personality

Source: Amárach Research, November 2017

There are also some differences in the political leanings (right/left) of people depending on their personality profile.

For example, Irish people who are lower in trait extraversion are more likely to lean left politically, while those lower in trait agreeableness are more likely to lean right (based on question asking people to place themselves on a 10-point scale where 1 isextreme left and 10 is extreme right):

OPENNESS CONSCIENTIOUS EXTRAVERSION AGREEABLENESS NEUROTICISM

All Adults

Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher Lower Higher

Left (1 to 3) 20% 20% 19% 22% 19% 23% 18% 17% 20% 19% 20%

Neutral (4 to 7) 54% 52% 55% 53% 54% 53% 55% 47% 55% 56% 53%

Right (8 to 10) 11% 16% 10% 7% 11% 9% 12% 15% 11% 12% 11%

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See how the UK’s population performs on the Big 5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/the-big-personality-test

Cambridge University has a great site with loads of different tests here: https://discovermyprofile.com/The short personality test (20 questions) maps your personality on the big 5 (OCEAN) personality traits.

Check your digital personality by logging in via you Facebook page or Twitter here:https://applymagicsauce.com/ to reveal your personality from your Likes and tweets!

Copy and paste text from an indepth or focus group transcript and profile the personality traits and psychological motivations of the respondent here: http://liwc.wpengine.com/

For a great example of how the Big 5 Personality Traits can be applied to write better communications copy see Nathalie Nahai’s presentation here: https://www.slideshare.net/nathalienahai/how-to-use-the-big-5-personality-traits-to-write-persuasive-copyand her other presentations on the psychology of communications and marketing here: https://www.slideshare.net/nathalienahai

Personality Test Resources

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Amárach regularly measures the impact of personality traits, behavioural biases and values-based segmentations on a variety of activities, including:

▪ Advertising Effectiveness▪ Media Planning▪ Customer Experience▪ Public Policy Design▪ New Product Development▪ Social Media Campaigns

If you would like to find out more about our work and how we can help you succeed and grow then do not hesitate to get in touch.

Personality Traits & Business

2020

We survey 1,000 adults every month to tracking dozens of data series relating to customer experience, spending levels, and switching intentions also as part of the same survey

You can view the full list (as well as a free dashboard with our latest data and forecasts) here:

Try out the free version for a one week trial period.

http://getPlanR.com/

PlanR: Intelligent Business

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