Flourishing Life Society
  • Flourishing Life Society
    • Human Flourishing
    • Addiction Recovery
    • Mindfulness Archive
    • Personal Development >
      • Personal Development Archive
    • Non-Profit Donation Links
  • Psychology of Wellness
    • Basic Emotions >
      • Emotional Data Base
      • Emotional Fitness
    • Psychology Article Archive
  • Flourishing Relationships
    • Intimate Relationship Articles >
      • Repair Attempts
    • Society and Others Archive >
      • Politics Archive
  • Health and Fitness
  • About Us
Home | Psychology of Wellness | Psychology Definitions | Openness to Experience
Psychology Definitions

Openness

A Big Five Personality Trait

T. Franklin Murphy | August 1, 2021 (edited February 28, 2022)

Openness to Experience:

Openness is one of the five personality traits of the Big Five personality theory. Openness scores refer to a person's openness to new experiences and ability to accommodate differences in other people. Openness to experience is comfort with exploring new ideas, driven by a hunger for knowledge and love of learning.

An open-minded (high scores in openness) person enjoys trying new things. They are imaginative, curious, and creative. Scoring low in openness is behaviorally expressed in strict routines, literalness, practicality, and fear of the unknown.
​People with high levels of openness are more likely to seek out a variety of experiences, be comfortable with the unfamiliar, and pay attention to their inner feelings more than those who are less open to novelty. They tend to exhibit high levels of curiosity and often enjoy being surprised.
Psychology Today

Openness and Emotions

​Openness also correlates with more attunement to feelings. Many studies have found a correlation between high openness and wellbeing and overall happiness. Perhaps, this is, in part, because of the healthy relationship with emotions. Also, well-being may be positively impacted by the benefits of high openness on intimate relationships.

The Big Five Personality Traits:

  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Openness
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism

Sub-Traits of Openness

​Within each of the Big Five personality traits is six sub-traits. The sub-traits of the openness domain are:
​
  • Imagination
  • Artistic interests
  • Emotionality
  • Adventurousness
  • Intellect
  • Liberalism
Take A Personality Test

Personality Characteristics of High Openness

  • Creative
  • Knowledgeable from love of learning
  • Imaginative
  • Interested in new things
  • Enjoys hearing new ideas
  • Explores abstract concepts
  • Open to diversity
  • Interested in art
  • Adventurous

Causes

Our individual mix of traits is a grand compilation of biological and environmental factors. The nature nurture debate bleeds into all behavioral expressions, especially personality. Many personality traits are resistant to change, but they do change with time.
Neuroticism
Personality
Research
Please support Flourishing Life Society with a share or by visiting a link:
Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
Link to an alphabetical listing of Flourishing Life Society article topics
Psychology of Wellness Banner link to Flourishing Life Society articles
Emotion article database

​Other Flourishing Life Society articles of interest on this topic:

Conscientiousness: A Personality Trait. A Flourishing Life Society article link
A Flourishing Life Society article image link. The Lure of Sameness
Experience burns into the networks of the brain, creating a map to quickly assess new experience
Emotions can be powerful--so powerful we may avoid them and the people expressing them. Empathy is gained through openness to experience, one on one contact with the feeling experience of others.
FLS Link: Dark Triad Personalities
FLS link. Context Dependent
We are engaged in a constant work of becoming, satisfying needs, entertaining wants, and creating meaning. We can do this purposely or haphazardly.
Compassionate gazes into our soul, and although we see imperfections, we don't harshly judge. With knowledge of strengths and weaknesses, we kindly begin to change
The narcissist presents a special challenge on relationships. The characteristics common for a narcissist typically are disastrous for relationships. Often escape is the best recourse.
Flourishing Life Society link. Adaptation Psychology. Effective Adapting to Life
Psychological Flexibility. A Flourishing Life Society article image link
Picture Link: Venturing into the Unknown-- Carefully moving forward in a complex world.
Quirky Personality Traits: Accepting the Oddness. A Flourishing Life Society article link
We live in an age of prescriptions and corrections. Every oddity is labeled as an illness. We are not ill, just sometimes incompatible. Instead of curing illnesses, we should work towards compatibility.
FLS link. Neuroplasticity and Learning. The Brain and new habits
Uncertainty Avoidance. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Picture
Flourishing Life Society
  • Human Flourishing
  • Psychology of Wellness
  • Flourishing Relationships
  • Psychology Definitions​
​Other Links
  • About US
  • Companion Site​
  • Most Popular Articles
  • Psychology Topics A-z
Articles:
  • New Articles​
  • Last year's Publications​
​Favorites:
  • Self-Actualization
  • Emotional Safety
  • Alexithymia
  • ​Emotional Detachment
  • Masochistic Personality
  • Reciprocal Deteminism ​
News Letter

    New Article Updates

Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Flourishing Life Society
    • Human Flourishing
    • Addiction Recovery
    • Mindfulness Archive
    • Personal Development >
      • Personal Development Archive
    • Non-Profit Donation Links
  • Psychology of Wellness
    • Basic Emotions >
      • Emotional Data Base
      • Emotional Fitness
    • Psychology Article Archive
  • Flourishing Relationships
    • Intimate Relationship Articles >
      • Repair Attempts
    • Society and Others Archive >
      • Politics Archive
  • Health and Fitness
  • About Us