Understanding the Big Five personality traits
If you have experience with psychometric assessments, you are likely familiar with the Big Five, also known as the Five Factor Model (FFM) or OCEAN. This framework is widely recognised in psychology for evaluating personality through five broad domains:
- Extraversion: The tendency to be talkative, assertive, and enthusiastic.
- Agreeableness: The degree to which an individual is cooperative, trusting, and compassionate.
- Conscientiousness: Reflects self-discipline, goal orientation, and organisation.
- Emotional Stability (Neuroticism): Measures emotional resilience and vulnerability to stress.
- Openness to Experience: Captures intellectual curiosity, creativity, and adaptability.
Derived through factor analysis (Costa & McCrae, 1992), the Big Five has been extensively validated and applied in various settings, particularly in employee selection and development. Research highlights its predictive power regarding job performance, leadership effectiveness, and organisational behaviour (Hurtz & Donovan, 2000; Judge & Bono, 2000).
Limitations of the Big Five in occupational contexts
Despite its robustness, the Big Five framework has certain limitations when applied in workplace assessments. One critique is that it can lack specificity in predicting workplace behaviors. Additionally, its broad dimensions can oversimplify personality nuances, potentially leading to stereotyping or missing critical individual differences (Troyer et al., 2024; Chen & Palmer, 2018). Organisations seeking a more precise, actionable measure for workplace assessments may find that the Big Five does not fully meet their needs.
How the CPQ enhances Big Five insights
Clevry’s Personality Questionnaire (CPQ) offers a more tailored approach to personality assessment within an occupational setting. Unlike the Big Five, which is derived through statistical factor analysis, the CPQ is developed through the rational method. This involves reviewing existing personality frameworks, job analyses, and expert input from occupational psychologists and HR professionals to identify traits most relevant to workplace performance.
To ensure validity and reliability, Clevry has conducted factor analyses on CPQ scales, revealing a structure that aligns with the Big Five while offering additional occupationally relevant insights. This means that while CPQ measures personality dimensions akin to the Big Five, it provides a more nuanced and workplace-specific perspective.
The strengths and flexibility of the CPQ
1. Occupational focus and predictive validity
CPQ prioritises workplace-relevant traits, enhancing its predictive power for job performance. For example, traits such as motivation, resilience, and cultural fit are measured, offering a deeper understanding of employee potential.
2. Customisation for organisational needs
Unlike standard Big Five assessments, CPQ allows companies to customise personality questionnaires. Organisations can select relevant scales from Clevry’s library to align with specific job roles and company culture. This adaptability ensures that assessments remain relevant to evolving business needs.
3. Granular insights for better talent management
While the Big Five provides broad personality dimensions, CPQ delves into specific aspects such as Emotional Stability, Thinking Style, Motivation, Culture Fit, and Interpersonal Style. This granularity allows businesses to:
- Improve hiring decisions by matching candidates to role-specific traits.
- Enhance team dynamics by understanding interpersonal tendencies.
- Develop personalised employee development plans based on individual strengths and areas for growth.
CPQ scales and their alignment with the Big Five
CPQ scales map onto the Big Five while offering additional depth in workplace applications. Below are examples of CPQ scales aligned with each Big Five trait:
| Big Five Trait | Recommended CPQ Scales | CPQ Scale Definition |
| Conscientiousness | Detail-Focused | The task style of an individual about where they prefer to focus their attention. |
| Rigorous | The extent to which an individual is thorough and conscientious and takes time to avoid short cuts. | |
| Tenacious | An individual’s tolerance of routine or monotony. | |
| Emotional Stability | Calm | The likelihood of an individual to become tense or flustered, even in difficult situations. |
| Self-esteem | An individual’s internal confidence, self-assuredness, and the extent to which they value their own worth. | |
| Resilient | The extent to which an individual is thick-skinned and tough, rather than emotionally sensitive. | |
| Stress Management | An individual’s typical response to working under time pressure with a focus on how they work under stress. | |
| Extraversion (Assertiveness) OR Low Agreeableness | Assertive | The amount of impact or presence that an individual demonstrates in groups and other interpersonal situations. |
| Influential | The degree to which an individual invests energy in trying to win other people around to their way of thinking. | |
| Extraversion (Sociability) | Gregarious | How affiliative the individual is at work; the degree to which the individual prefers working alone or with others. |
| Poised | Social confidence; feelings in new social encounters, degree of comfort with new people, and expressed confidence. | |
| Openness to Experience | Change | The individual’s values around organisational change. |
| Variety | How motivated the individual is by dealing with a variety of tasks and challenges at work. | |
| Strategic | The level at which an individual prefers to approach responsibilities and tasks. |
Why CPQ for workplace assessments?
CPQ’s ability to blend established psychological principles with practical workplace applications makes it an ideal tool for modern HR and recruitment needs. By incorporating:
- Scientifically validated personality measurement
- Flexible, tailored assessment options
- Insights beyond the Big Five into workplace-specific traits
organisations can ensure they make informed hiring and development decisions that drive business success.
For companies seeking a Big Five-inspired, yet more detailed and adaptable personality assessment, Clevry’s CPQ provides the ideal solution. If you need assistance in designing a customised personality questionnaire for your organisation, our team is ready to help, just reach out using the form below.
