Extraversion

This trait reflects how much one is oriented towards things outside themselves and includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness (Personality-testing.info 2015; Cherry 2015b). High scorers are said to be extroverts who are energized by socialization, value stimulation, and are usually good at social interaction due to experience (Personality-testing.info 2015). Conversely, low scorers are said to be introverts who tend to be tired out by socialization, value down time, and tend towards the socially awkward (Personality-testing.info 2015). The facets and associated trait adjectives for extraversion are shown in Table 6.

Facet Trait adjective

Gregariousness Sociable

Assertiveness Forceful

Activity Level Energetic

Excitement-Seeking Adventurous

Cheerfulness Enthusiastic

Friendliness Outgoing

Table 6 – Extraversion facets along with associated trait adjective (John & Srivastava, 1999)

3.2.2 Agreeableness

This trait reflects how much one likes to trying to please others and includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviours (Personality-testing.info 2015; Cherry 2015b). High scorers tend to believe that other people are honest, decent, and trustworthy while low scorers are characterized by scepticism about other people's motives that results in suspicion and unfriendliness (Personality-testing.info 2015). Those very low on agreeableness have a tendency to be manipulative in their social relationships and are more likely to compete than cooperate (Personality-testing.info 2015). The facets and associated trait adjectives for extraversion are shown in Table 7.

Methodology Components of the Five Factor Model

48 Facet Trait adjective

Trust Forgiving

Morality Not demanding

Altruism Warm

Cooperation Not stubborn

Modesty Not show-off

Sympathy Sympathetic

Table 7 – Agreeableness facets along with associated trait adjectives (John & Srivastava, 1999)

3.2.3 Conscientiousness

This trait reflects how careful and orderly an individual is and is characterized by high levels of thoughtfulness with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviours (Personality- testing.info 2015; Cherry 2015b). High scorers are generally hard working and reliable and at the extreme end may be considered workaholics, perfectionists, and compulsive in their behaviour (Personality-testing.info 2015). Low scorers tend to be more laid back, less goal oriented, less driven by success and are more likely to engage in antisocial and criminal behaviour (Personality-testing.info 2015). The facets and associated trait adjectives for extraversion are shown in Table 8.

Facet Trait adjective

Self-Efficacy Efficient

Orderliness Organized

Dutifulness Not careless

Achievement Striving Thorough

Self-Discipline Not lazy

Cautiousness Not impulsive

Table 8 – Conscientiousness facets along with associated trait adjectives (John & Srivastava, 1999)

3.2.4 Neuroticism

This trait is the tendency to experience negative emotions and is associated with emotional (in)stability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness (Personality-testing.info 2015; Cherry 2015b). High scorers are more susceptible to feelings like anger, envy, guilt, depression and respond poorly to stressors, interpreting ordinary situations as threatening, and minor

Methodology Components of the Five Factor Model

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frustrations as hopelessly difficult (Personality-testing.info 2015). Neuroticism is a risk factor for the internalizing mental disorders such as phobia, depression, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders traditionally called neuroses (Personality-testing.info 2015). The facets and associated trait adjectives for extraversion are shown in Table 9.

Facet Trait adjective

Anxiety Tense

Anger Irritable

Depression Not contented

Self-Consciousness Shy

Immoderation Moody

Vulnerability Not self-confident

Table 9 – Neuroticism facets along with associated trait adjectives (John & Srivastava 1999)

3.2.5 Openness

This trait reflects how much an individual seeks out new experiences and is characterized by features such as imagination and insight (Cherry 2015b; Personality-testing.info 2015). High scorers tend to have a broad range of interests (Cherry 2015b). The facets and associated trait adjectives for extraversion are shown in Table 10.

Facet Trait adjective

Intellect Curious

Imagination Imaginative

Artistic Interests Artistic

Adventurousness Wide interests

Emotionality Excitable

Liberalism Unconventional

Methodology Questionnaire Selection

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3.2.6 Summary of the FFM

Figure 14 – Summary of Facet breakdowns of each Factor of the FFM

In summary each trait is itself made up of facets and represents a spectrum of human behaviour. Individuals will score anywhere along that spectrum with potentially different scores in each facet which are then combined to provide the Factor score. The facets of each Factor is presented in summary in Figure 14. The general and widespread use of this model (especially in academic research) is why the FFM is chosen as the model to use for this project.

3.3

Questionnaire Selection

Although questionnaires have been shown to have weaknesses in terms of data elicitation, they still serve as the primary method for data collection and acts as the measuring post to which all other methods are compared to. The previous sections described the process of selecting a model of personality as well as gave a brief overview on the components of that model. This section will discuss the selection of a questionnaire from that model to be used as the base for informing decisions in the video game tool's design. This selection is done based

Methodology Questionnaire Selection

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on two criteria: how often a questionnaire is used, cost of obtaining said questionnaire, and

how suitable it is for the purposes of the project.

Figure 15 – Frequency of FFM questionnaire occurring in literature reviews

Figure 15 describes the frequency that the most popular questionnaires appeared in the literature review described in Section 2.2.1. The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) (Costa & McCrae 1985) was used in 32 studies, the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) (Goldberg 1999) in 16 studies, and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) (John et al. 1991) in 20 studies. The following sections describe those three questionnaires in more detail as well as how those questionnaires meet the criterion identified above.