If you ask someone how they might improve their sense of happiness and contentment with life – also known as their subjective wellbeing (SWB) –, most would cite tried and true methods such as exercise, creative pursuits, a lifestyle closer to nature. But few would probably note the linkage between happiness and organization or diligence.
But research shows that they should.
A study of more than 6,000 Americans concluded in 2019 that increased scores on the Big Five personality factor of Conscientiousness were positively correlated with improvements in SWB.
While that might be somewhat surprising to some, one explanation for this is that conscientiousness is known to be correlated with health-related behaviors and long-term physical health which are both conducive to elevated SWB.
This highlights the tremendous potential that personality assessments have for yielding insights that add value to people’s lives, both within and outside the workplace. Today, we’re faced with options when it comes to choosing a personality assessment. Two of the most widely used approaches are Big Five personality assessments (for example, the Workplace Big Five) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Understanding the differences and optimal uses of each is important when determining which assessment is right for you and your team.
How Big Five Tests and MBTI were developed
People have always recognized that personality impacts leadership and real-world outcomes. In fact, this can be traced back more than 2,500 years ago when Chinese scholar Confucius underlined the importance of selecting government officials based on inherent characteristics such as diligence and moral integrity.
Yet, the debate over which personality assessment tools can be successfully applied in the modern workplace continues.
One of the most well-known approaches to personality assessment is based on the Big Five Personality Traits. Another popular tool is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Although both are popular, these tools have very different origins and implications for their use in hiring and development.
Big Five – The Five-Factor Model of personality
Beginning in the mid-20th century, researchers undertook an extensive project aimed at earmarking universal personality characteristics that could reliably predict performance at work. Over several years, their efforts involved the following stages:
- Analyses of personality descriptions to identify characteristics commonly valued as contributors to workplace success.
- Factor analyses to reduce these descriptions to the most basic clusters of personality traits associated with performance at work; these analyses revealed 5 core dimensions — Openness (to Experience), Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (represented by the acronym ‘OCEAN’).
- Empirical studies across countries and cultures support the validity of the five-factor structure and its relationship to job performance.
In subsequent years, both academic and applied research have provided further support for the model. This makes a Big Five-based assessment such as the Paradigm Personality Labs’ WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ a highly reliable tool for recruiters who need to match candidates to specific job demands based on measurable traits, as well as leaders who want to develop members of their team.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
In contrast with the Big Five, the MBTI was developed informally. Created by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, the MBTI was founded on speculative discussions of Carl Jung’s psychological theories.
The MBTI took shape as a tool that categorizes individuals into 16 distinct personality types based on four dichotomies: (i) Extraversion vs Introversion, (ii) Sensing vs Intuition, (iii) Thinking vs Feeling, and (iv) Judging vs Perceiving.
Owing to its simplicity and ease of use, the MBTI has gained popularity in corporate training and self-help contexts as a quick assessment tool. However, its binary classification scheme oversimplifies the complexities of human personality, making it less than reliable for high-stakes recruitment decisions and internal professional development.
As the evidence summarized in the next section shows, scientific support for MBTI has been problematic, leading many researchers and scientists to completely disregard the MBTI as a meaningful personality assessment tool.
Scientific credibility and value of personality tests
The accuracy and utility of a personality assessment depend on several key factors, including:
- How well it captures the nuances of human behavior
- The robustness of the relationship between test results and relevant real life behaviors
- Its ability to predict long-term life trajectories
As a result, it is essential that an assessment tool goes beyond surface-level observations, delving deep into the underlying temperamental and motivational drivers of human behavior. It should yield a clear and measurable connection between the assessed traits and workplace outcomes.
Finally, and most importantly from a human resources perspective, a personality assessment should provide actionable insights for recruitment, as well as for the individual’s professional and personal development.
It’s important to see the difference in how Big Five personality assessments compare against the MBTI on each of the above dimensions in terms of real-life relevance and practical utility.
Personality traits vs types
Human personality is complex. Present-day scholars in the field typically model personality as a continuum of traits that capture the full range of human behavior.
That is why modern, trait-based models of personality like the Big Five conceptualize individual differences as existing along a spectrum, rather than mutually exclusive categories. For instance, within the Big Five approach, the personality dimension of ‘extraversion’ is treated as a continuum, with people falling on different points along the spectrum from completely introverted to extremely extraverted.
On the other hand, older, type-based approaches such as the MBTI adopt a more rigid classification that assigns individuals to mutually exclusive categories or ‘types’. In this view, individuals must fall into one of two binary categories. For example, the MBTI categorizes people as either introverts or extraverts.
Scientific evidence overwhelmingly favors the trait approach to personality. Studies show that people typically exhibit different intensities and combinations of personality characteristics at different times. These fluctuations are influenced by multiple factors, including temporary, situational demands as well as longer-term changes in outlook and behavior.
However, research on the human personality also supports the existence of core components or personality factors that remain fairly stable over long periods of time. With this in mind, we can explore how the stability of core personality factors forms the basis for the practical relevance of Big Five personality assessments.
How Big Five personality traits relate to workplace performance
Numerous scientific studies have examined whether the results of Big Five personality assessments actually relate to individuals’ behavior in the workplace, examining aspects such as productivity, teamwork, stress management, interpersonal skills, and leadership initiatives.
These studies have documented a significant positive relationship between workplace effectiveness and four of the Big Five personality dimensions. They have also revealed a clear, negative relationship between workplace performance and Neuroticism, the fifth Big Five dimension.
In 2008, a team of researchers led by Murray Barrick of Michigan State University combined the results of multiple previous meta-analyses to compute a global average for the relationship between Big Five test scores and work-related behavior. The study measured workplace effectiveness through a cumulative index based on on-the-job success metrics, supervisor and co-worker ratings, and performance in training programs.
Compiling data from over 48,000 employees across hundreds of organizations and job profiles, the mega meta-analysis by Barrick’s team showed that all five of the Big Five personality dimensions correlate significantly with people’s behavior at work, with the biggest contributor being Conscientiousness, followed by Extraversion.
The meta-analysis also showed both Agreeableness and Emotional Stability – the inverse of Neuroticism – to have similar levels of correlation, while Openness to Experience emerged as the smallest (but still significant) correlate of work-related behavior.
Differential impact of Big Five traits on diverse occupations
The 2008 mega-study not only calculated the combined correlations for each of the Big Five personality traits, but also explored how each trait was linked to success in different types of jobs. Barrick and his team organized past research into five job categories:
- Managerial profiles
- Professionals (highly skilled)
- Sales-related jobs
- Police personnel
- Skilled and semi-skilled workers
Their analysis found that while all five personality traits were generally linked to workplace behavior, the strength of these connections varied significantly across different types of jobs.
The breakdown revealed Conscientiousness to have a strong positive relationship with work across all occupations. On the other hand, Extraversion showed the highest correlation with managerial profiles, but had weaker relationships to on-the-job behaviors of other groups.
Emotional Stability and Agreeableness were both related most strongly to workplace effectiveness of police and managerial personnel. Openness to Experience was also found to matter most in the managerial cadre.
The results of the mega-study were reinforced by the findings of a more recent meta-analytic study by Zell and Lesick (2022), who further expanded the employee sample size to over 550,000.
Relationship of Big Five traits to long-term life outcomes
Beyond the office, it’s interesting to see how Big Five personality test scores relate to important life goals around areas such as health, well being and mental health, financial success, relationship quality, creative output, and spiritual experiences.
A large body of research has explored this connection, including a 2006 meta-analysis by UC Riverside researchers Daniel Ozer and Verónica Benet-Martinez. In this, they compiled the findings of all major studies on the relationship between Big Five scores and long-term results in life. It revealed consistent relationships between all Big Five personality factors and important life outcomes.
For example, Conscientiousness was found to be strongly positively connected to health and longevity. Both Conscientiousness and Extraversion were positively correlated with the quality of romantic, family, and social relationships.
The meta-analysis also found Agreeableness and Openness to Experience to be associated with better mental health outcomes, with the former being positively related to the experience of subjective or self-reported sense of well being. Not surprisingly, Neuroticism scores were again found to be linked to negative outcomes including a higher incidence of anxiety, depression, substance abuse and other mental health issues.
The right fit: organizational goals vs personality assessments
The first step in selecting personality assessment tool(s) is to clearly outline the objectives that your organization aims to fulfill through these assessments. Knowing whether the focus is on comprehensive employee evaluations, fostering team dynamics, or developing future leaders will allow you and your organization to hone in on the right assessment tools to fit those requirements.
Employee life cycle – value at each stage
For organizations seeking in-depth, reliable assessments that can add value throughout the entire employee life cycle, a Big Five-based assessment tool such as the Workplace Big Five offers a consistent, validated approach that supports long-term talent management.
The Big Five’s empirical foundation and focus on key personality traits like Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Emotional Stability provide a nuanced understanding of an individual’s potential. Providing invaluable insight during recruitment, the Workplace Big Five allows you to match candidates to roles well-aligned with their strengths.
As employees progress within the organization, the Workplace Big Five can guide targeted development initiatives, helping individuals grow in areas that will enhance their performance and contribute to organizational success. From risk assessment to leadership styles, the Workplace Big Five offers the kind of in-depth understanding required to groom individuals in managerial and leadership positions.
Ice-breaking and team-building
The MBTI is easy to use and offers a simple way to start conversations about personality, communication styles, and team dynamics. It can help team members understand each other’s preferences and work styles, improving how they interact and collaborate.
However, it’s important to recognize that serious limitations of its framework make it difficult for the assessment to accurately describe the nuances of a person’s personality. This makes it less suitable for important HR decisions or strategic planning.
Executive development and succession planning
Organizations must make sure their future leaders have the right traits to handle challenges and achieve strategic goals. The Big Five’s strong research backing and ability to predict long-term behavior make it the best option for both screening new talent and regularly tracking employees with leadership potential.
Next steps: personality assessment for organizational growth
Now that you have a deeper understanding of the strengths and limitations of the Big Five and MBTI personality assessment tools, you are more prepared to make informed decisions that align with your organizational goals.
Whether your focus is on recruitment, team building, or leadership development, choosing the right tool is key to unlocking the full potential of your workforce. As you plan your next steps, consider how a well-structured assessment program can drive organizational growth and success.
To learn more about how Paradigm Personality can help you design and implement an assessment strategy tailored to bring out the best in your organization, get in touch with us today.
