Note: It’s important to remember that for most people, it’s never as clear-cut as being in either category A or category B i.e. introvert or extrovert.
It’s more like a spectrum. Not only can we have qualities from both categories, we adjust those qualities to our situations.
The Big Five Personality Traits are:
• Conscientiousness: How orderly, organised and careful you are.
• Agreeableness: How pleasant, cooperative and friendly you are.
• Neuroticism: Your sensitivity to negative cues in the environment.
• Openness to experience: Your receptiveness to new ideas, interactions and environments.
• Extraversion: How much/often you seek high levels of arousal.
Here’s a short quiz to discover where you stand in each of the Big Five personality traits.
The higher you are on the scale, the more conscientious/agreeable/neurotic/open to experience/extroverted you are.
Bear in mind however, that these are merely clues to your personality, not a diagnosis.
Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)
Write a number next to the statement to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement.
• 1 – Strongly disagree
• 2 – Disagree moderately
• 3 – Disagree a little
• 4 – Neither
• 5 – Agree a little
• 6 – Agree moderately
• 7 – Agree strongly
Statements: “I see myself as”:
• Extroverted, enthusiastic
• Critical, quarrelsome
• Dependable, self-disciplined
• Anxious, easily upset
• Open to new experiences, complex
• Reserved, quiet
• Sympathetic, warm
• Disorganised, careless
• Calm, emotionally stable
• Conventional, uncreative
Did you score high in any particular trait? Are you right smack in the middle for some traits? It’s fun to find out before you move on to the next section.
On conscientiousness
• High points on dependability, self-discipline
• Low points on being disorganised, careless
Those who scored high on conscientiousness find it easier to turn messy finances into something more organised.
They track their bill cycles and expenses. They make notes and plan for their future investment. They have systems in place to keep track of financial records.
For couples, it’s probably a good idea to have at least one person who is conscientious by nature. If not, your financial records will be all over the place.
On agreeableness
• High points on being sympathetic, warm
• Low points on being critical, quarrelsome
If you scored high on this trait, people tend to like you. Your natural personality is empathetic and supportive. It’s a highly desirable trait.
In terms of finances, this trait can be used to predict long-term success. In the short-term, people might like you, but they might also walk all over you (you struggle with being assertive).
But in the long-term, people prefer you as business allies because they trust you.
On the flip side, you might find it hard to refuse requests from people, maybe even financial requests. So don’t go signing loans on behalf of someone or something like that. Not good for you.
On neuroticism
• High points on being anxious, easily upset
• Low points on being calm, emotionally stable
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but “those who score on the neurotic end of the dimension also score low on many different facets of positive functioning: they have lower subjective well-being, more negative than positive emotions, difficulties in marriage and interpersonal relations, less job satisfaction, and compromised physical health.”
If you consider yourself a neurotic individual, you might want to prioritise things that can help you with costs associated to those problems, like insurance, contracts (including prenups) and an emergency savings plan.
On openness to experience
• High points on open to new experiences, complex
• Low points on conventional, uncreative
You like new things and experiences rather than routine, so it’s easy to see the financial link here: you’ll spend more money in the process of trying them out.
It does give you a lot of joy, so you don’t mind it. Be careful though – some people like experiencing life too much that they don’t save up for their future.
On extraversion
• High points on being extraverted, enthusiastic
• Low points on being reserved, quiet
Instead of looking at extraversion from a human relations angle, look at it more from a working environment angle.
People who score higher on this scale are energised by a complex team dynamics. On the flip side, introverts find energetic work environments overwhelming.
Neither is “better” when it comes to money management style. It’s more of a reflection point on what kind of environment would suit you best and make you as productive as possible. Pick the right fit and you’ll likely thrive in your work (and earn more money).
What if you have personality traits that are ‘not good’ for money management?
All of the above personality traits have their own upsides and downsides. Even being conscientiousness has a downside – people who plan well tend to struggle with creative processes, because you can’t plan what comes out of it.
Improv is challenging, but that’s the thing that brings out out-of-the-box ideas, like new solutions to problems. We all know how profitable that can be.
Humans are fluid in character, we can and have adapted for thousands of years.
The book points out the science behind “out-of-character” behaviour, and it turns out that we do change our behaviour (despite it not being our “core” personality) when it’s the social norm, or if we do it for the sake of professionalism and love.
That energetic lecturer could be an introvert who learned how to command a room to teach more effectively. That inheritance money might come from a late uncle who you thought hated your guts.
So there you go. You now know more or less where you lie on the personality scale.
Now that you understand yourself a little better, you can use your tool – money – a little better too.
This article first appeared in ringgitohringgit.com
Suraya is a corporate writer-for-hire and the blogger behind personal finance website Ringgit Oh Ringgit. She is more of a minimalist, less of a consumerist, a konon DIY enthusiast, a let’s-support-small-businesses-over-big-corporations kinda girl. Prior to her current role, she worked in various capacities within the non-profit industry.