Personality – 5 Factor Structure – Conscientiousness

Personality – 5 Factor Structure

Conscientiousness

A tendency to show self Discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement. Behaviour is planned rather than spontaneous.

Conscientiousness concerns the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses. Impulses are not inherently bad; occasionally time constraints require a snap decision, and acting on our first impulse can be an effective response and in times of play, acting spontaneously and impulsively can be fun. Impulsive individuals can be seen by others as colorful, fun-to-be-with, and zany. Conscientiousness includes the factor known as Need for achievement.

Nonetheless, acting on impulse can lead to trouble in a number of ways. Some impulses are antisocial. Uncontrolled antisocial acts not only harm other members of society but also can result in retribution toward the perpetrator of such impulsive acts. Another problem with impulsive acts is that they often produce immediate rewards but undesirable, long-term consequences. Examples include excessive socialising that leads to being fired from one’s job, hurling an insult that causes the break-up of an important relationship, or using pleasure-inducing drugs that eventually destroy one’s health.

Impulsive behaviour, even when not seriously destructive, diminishes a person’s effectiveness in significant ways. Acting impulsively disallows contemplating alternative courses of action, some of which would have been wiser than the impulsive choice. Impulsivity also sidetracks people during projects that require organised sequences of steps or stages. Accomplishments of an impulsive person are therefore small, scattered and inconsistent.

There are benefits of having a high level of conscientiousness. Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. They are positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable. On the negative there can be compulsive perfectionism and workaholism. Extremely conscientious individuals might be regarded as stuffy and boring. Unconscientious people may be criticized for their unreliability, lack of ambition, and failure to stay within the lines, but they will experience many short-lived pleasures. they are unlikely to be called dull, boring, or unimaginative.

A hallmark of intelligence is the ability to think about future consequences before acting on an impulse. Intelligent activity involves contemplation of long-range goals, organising and planning routes to these goals and persisting toward one’s goals in the face of short-lived impulses to the contrary. The idea that intelligence involves impulse control is nicely captured by the term prudence, an alternative label for the Conscientiousness domain. Prudent means both wise and cautious. Persons who score high on the Conscientiousness scale are, in fact, perceived by others as intelligent.

Facets of Conscientiousness

• Sense of competence: Competency describes an individuals confidence in their ability to accomplish things.
• Orderliness: People with high scores on conscientiousness are well organised, tidy and neat.
• Sense of Responsibility: This facet reflects the strength of a persons sense of duty and obligation.
• Achievement-Striving: Individuals who score high in this area strive hard to achieve excellence.  Their drive to be recognised as successful keeps them on track as they work hard to achieve their goals.
• Self-Discipline: Self-discipline, also called ‘will-power’ by many people, refers to the ability to persist at difficult or unpleasant tasks until they are completed.
• Deliberateness: Also known as cautiousness, deliberateness describes the disposition to think carefully through possibilities before acting.

Sample Conscientiousness items

High Conscientiousness

• Am always prepared.
• Pay attention to details.
• Get chores done right away.
• Carry out my plans.
• Make plans and stick to them.
• Complete tasks successfully.
• Do things according to a plan.
• Am exacting in my work.
• Finish what I start.
• Follow through with my plans.

Low Conscientiousness

• Waste my time.
• Find it difficult to get down to work.
• Do just enough work to get by.
• Don’t see things through.
• Shirk my duties.
• Mess things up.
• Leave things unfinished.
• Don’t put my mind on the task at hand.
• Make a mess of things.
• Need a push to get started.

Using the descriptors above rate yourself on your overall level of conscientiousness.

High___________________________________________Low