Glossary
//: Indicates the trait that is second furthest from 50% in a SLOAN code. Not a standard or necessary aspect of SLOAN.
||: Indicates the trait that is furthest from 50% in a SLOAN code. Not a standard or necessary aspect of SLOAN.
16P: A website that offers a free big 5 test but that represents the scores with MBTI types. The test itself is not identical to the big 5 and is actually a bit closer to the MBTI than any standard version of the big 5, e.g. none of the items for Thinking are standard indicators of Low Agreeableness and most of them have more in common with descriptions of Thinking types.
300: 300 item tests are not necessarily more accurate than 120 item tests. Shorter tests will use the most reliable test items. Longer tests will include lower quality items.
A/Accommodating: A SLOAN term that indicates an above average score for the trait Agreeableness. It is not a synonym for Agreeableness as it indicates a position on the spectrum, not the trait spectrum in its entirety.
Agreeableness: A big 5 trait, primarily associated with cooperativeness. Sometimes just called A for short, e.g. high A.
Aspect: A term from the BFAS, which subdivides each trait into 2 aspects.
Average: There's nothing wrong with being average.
Average (2): If you doubt a test result or get conflicting results from different tests, record all your results and work out the average for each trait. This should lead to a fairly stable and reliable set of scores.
Barnum Statement: A statement (often positive in nature) that can be used to describe most people and which is therefore a poor way of identifying differences between individuals. Example: "I talk a lot" only describes people who talk more than average. "Makes predictions about the future based on past experiences" is an extremely vague statement that applies to virtually everyone.
Behaviour: Misconceived as being the only element that the big 5 measures. Big 5 items for neuroticism ask more questions about how the subject feels than how they behave.
Better/best type: A taboo concept in most typology systems but not so much in the big 5. Much data exists to show disparate outcomes in relationship success, career success, health etc. Certain types, on average, do appear to be better off than others.
Best version: NEO, BFAS and HEXACO are all valid. BFAS and HEXACO are more modern and resolve some of the known issues with the NEO.
BFAS: A more modern version of the NEO which divides each trait into just 2 aspects.
BigFive-Test: A website that offers a free NEO test. Results are presented as scores out of 120, where 24 is the minimum possible score and 72 is the mid-point (neither high nor low).
C/Calm: A SLOAN term that indicates a below average score for the trait Neuroticism.
Change: SLOAN types and big 5 scores can change over time. A 10% increase in a trait like agreeableness, over the course of a lifetime is the most common kind of change. Sudden and extreme changes are unlikely.
Cognitive Functions: These do not correlate neatly with big 5 traits, as they combine Barnum statements, false dichotomies and unmeasurable traits.
Conscientiousness: A big 5 trait, primarily associated with orderliness and self-discipline. Sometimes just called C for short, e.g. high C.
Correlation: The basis of big 5 theory. The degree to which certain test items correlate, determines how they should be grouped as traits and facets.
Costa & McCrae: Co-authors of the NEO.
Easy: Commonly regarded as the easiest system to use on PDB. Due to the convoluted nature and the conflicting resources of the Enneagram and the MBTI, there's a fair chance that this is true.
E/Egocentric: A SLOAN term that indicates a below average score for the trait Agreeableness.
Extraversion: A big 5 trait, primarily associated with friendliness, assertiveness and cheerfulness. Sometimes just called E for short, e.g. high E.
Facet: A term from the NEO, which subdivides each big 5 trait into 6 facets.
Five Factor Model: Basically, a synonym for the Big 5.
Good/bad: It is not unreasonable to suggest that some SLOAN types are typically more or less moral than others. Agreeableness includes many items that would typically be regarded as indicators of good/bad people.
Global 5: An obscure version of the big 5, created by Tim Flynn, owner of SimilarMinds.com. This is not a synonym for the big 5. This system has never been comprehensively explained. For example, it is not clear whether the system scores the traits as facets or whether it simply measures the traits as a whole.
HEXACO: A more modern version of the big 5 that splits agreeableness into two separate traits. The new trait is called Honesty-Humility. Neuroticism is relabelled as Emotionality.
Introversion/Extraversion: An MBTI trait that has a .74 correlation with Extraversion.
Intuition/Sensing: An MBTI trait that has a .72 correlation with Openness.
I/Inquisitive: A SLOAN term that indicates an above average score for the trait Openness.
IQ: The best available metric of general intelligence. Correlates fairly highly with Openness.
Item: The name for individual big 5 test "questions". You agree or disagree with an item (e.g. "I am friendly") and your answer contributes to the overall score for the appropriate facet and trait.
Judging/Perceiving: An MBTI trait that has a .49 correlation with Conscientiousness.
IPIP: An organisation that offers free, public domain versions of test item inventories (the questions that you answer in a test), like the NEO and BFAS. If you have taken a free big 5 test online, it was most likely based on an IPIP inventory. For example, if an organisation copywrites "I often feel depressed" for use as a big 5 test item, that cannot be freely distributed in someone else's test inventory, but "I often feel blue" can be. The original, proprietary versions of tests are not necessarily better or more reliable than the IPIP versions.
Lexical Hypothesis: The origins of big 5 theory. All the words that describe personality seem to naturally fall into roughly 5 groups. It would be incorrect to assume that this is the primary basis for big 5 theory, as correlational data has superseded the Lexical Hypothesis as the underlying theoretical framework.
L/Limbic: A SLOAN term that indicates an above average score for the trait Neuroticism.
Low, High, Moderate, High, Low, Low: A popular method (on PDB) of calculating your big 5 type. This is much less accurate than simply taking a test.
Lower case SLOAN letter: Indicates a slight score, i.e. fairly low or fairly high.
NEO: One of the oldest and most widely used versions of the big 5, which divides each trait into 6 facets. NEO tests score all 6 facets equally, but it does not necessarily follow that all 30 facets are equally valid indicators of their respective traits.
NEO Domains: A simpler version of the NEO, without facets.
Neuroticism: A big 5 trait, primarily associated with negative emotions like anxiety. Sometimes just called N for short, e.g. high N.
N/Non-curious: A SLOAN term that indicates a below average score for the trait openness.
OCEAN: Just an acronym for the 5 traits. It does not refer to a specific version of the big 5.
Openness: A big 5 trait, primarily associated with artistic interests and intellectualism. Sometimes just called O for short, e.g. high O.
O/Organised: A SLOAN term that indicates an above average score for the trait Conscientiousness.
Percentage: The most common format for scoring big 5 traits. Calculating someone's exact percentage can be quite quick and easy if you know the person well and have a spreadsheet set up for the task.
Percentile: Some tests divide scores into percentiles. They score you as a position in a population of test respondents. This makes sense but the validity of this approach depends entirely on the sample and the equations used to calculate percentile scores. Raw scores are less useful than percentile scores but also much less likely to return strange and misleading results.
Peterson, Jordan: Arguably the world's most famous proponent of the Big 5. Co-author of the BFAS.
Primary: A SLOAN term that indicates the score that is furthest from 50%. For example, if someone scores in the 40-60% range for 4/5 traits but has scored 80% for Agreeableness, they would be "Primary Accommodating".
Questionnaire: A method of calculating personality types. This method has low validity for the big 5 due to the fact that big 5 tests are accurate, and a questionnaire is essentially a greatly simplified personality test. With so many free big 5 tests to choose from, there isn't much need for big 5 questionnaires.
R/Reserved: A SLOAN term that indicates a below average score for the trait extraversion. Reserved is not a synonym for Extraversion as it indicates a position on the spectrum, not the trait spectrum in its entirety. R is a category. It is not correct to say, "high R" or "low R".
RLUEN: Typically regarded as the "worst" SLOAN type. This should not be taken too literally.
Sakinorva: Offers a 240 item NEO test. The scores range from 0-192 with 96 as the mid-point.
Scientific: A term used to describe the big 5, which essentially means that the system usually has evidence-based answers to the question of "how do you know that?" For example, many studies show that people become more agreeable, more conscientious and less neurotic with age. By contrast, there is no evidence to support the claim that MBTI types cannot change.
SCOAI: Typically regarded as the "best" SLOAN type. This should not be taken too literally.
Shyness: Arguably the most commonly miscategorised personality trait. This trait correlates more with high Neuroticism than with Low Extraversion.
Sex: Differing trait scores across sex have been identified. On average, women score higher in Neuroticism, Extraversion and Agreeableness.
SimilarMinds: The website that originated SLOAN codes and the Global 5 variant of the big 5. As a resource the site is highly dubious, due to the fact that it relies on a non-standard version of the big 5 and presents the system in a misleading, typological manner. The site also promotes an original system (MOTIVES), which represents a conflict of interests.
SLOAN: A coding system for representing big 5 scores with letters. It is not a distinct version of the big 5 but a notation system that can be used to represent the scores of any version of the big 5. SLOAN codes may falsely suggest to PDB users that there are two distinct categories for each trait, a high and a low category. This is a misrepresentation of standard big 5 theory.
SLOAN+: An expanded version of SLOAN that can add lower case letters, the letter X, slashes and brackets to give a more detailed summary of the scores that have been simplified by converting to SLOAN code.
Thinking/Feeling: An MBTI trait that has a .44 correlation with Agreeableness.
Truity Type Finder: An MBTI test that bears strong similarities to the big 5.
Type: The big 5 is not a typology system. SLOAN types are arbitrary divisions. They do not represent distinct personality types that exist in a meaningful way. In other words, most people are moderately extraverted. Extraverts and introverts are not two separate and clearly defined categories in the manner of Male and Female. The difference between RLUEI and SLUEI is just extraversion. They are not two completely different types. Big 5 type descriptions will ultimately create misconceptions about how this system works.
Type combo: The transparency and accuracy of the big 5 makes it useful for type combo calculations.
U/Unorganised: A SLOAN term that indicates a below average score for the trait Conscientiousness.
Version: There are a few different versions of the big 5. The most famous ones are probably NEO, BFAS and HEXACO. Each system will yield slightly different scores, but the systems are similar enough that the scores should not vary wildly between tests.
Why: A common criticism is that the big 5 merely describes traits and does not explain them. This is only partially true. The system itself is designed as a tool for measuring personality only, but much research exists that expands upon the theory; heritability, predictors of life outcomes, brain activity etc. If the big 5 does not appear to explain as much as other systems, that is because it is evidence based. Claims that are not supported by evidence do not become a standard aspect of the theory. Other personality systems (e.g. MBTI) simply do not share the same reservations about promoting claims that are completely unsupported by evidence.
X: A Sloan letter that indicates a moderate score for any big 5 trait. A person with test results that all fall in the 45-55% range would be most accurately represented by a SLOAN type of XXXXX. X (and scores close to 50%) should be regarded as a normal, average result, not as an inconclusive result.
No Comments