How Does Transgenderism Relate to the Big Five Personality Theory

Big Five Personality Dimensions and Transgenderism

The Big Five of Five-Factor personality theory which classifies the human character according to dimensions of openness, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism is one of the most popular personality theories still in circulation today. Of course, the question immediately arises -- why these five? Why are these characteristics considered particularly important and of interest? The five factors have been determined to be cross-cultural in nature, at least according to its advocates, and relatively stable over the duration of an individual's lifespan (Acton 2006). They have a partly but not exclusively genetic dimension and have been useful in various ways to the survival of the species for many, many centuries.

The factors are conceived of along a continuum, "with most people falling in between the extremes ... and knowing one's placement on the factors is useful for insight and improvement through therapy" (Acton 2006). Along with these characteristics, according to the 2014 Time magazine article entitled "The transgender tipping point," many people experience gender as an extremely important part of their character as well and some people have a sense that they have been born in the wrong body. A critical component of the concept of transgenderism is the distinction between sex and gender. Sex is the physical body someone is born with; gender is the social construction of maleness or femaleness and dependent upon characteristics beyond the purely physical. This paper will explore how transgendered individuals might be affected by Big Five personality traits.

Openness

The definition of the characteristics of openness "would include adventurousness, imagination, curiosity, and emotionality" (Scutti 2007). It also refers to "how willing people are to make adjustments in notions and activities in accordance with new ideas or situations" (Popkins 1998). A number of the subjects in the Time article indicated that greater personal openness or the willingness to explore other options outside of the gendered determinants of accepted society would have helped them realize who they were at an earlier stage of life. "If the Internet had any meaningful sense when I was 21 I would have figured it out," notes one of the subjects in the article (Steinmetz, 2014, p.40). It should be added, however, that openness to experience is not associated in any study with a tendency to manifest transgenderism, but rather the characteristic might be presumed to make it easier for the individual to accept this characteristic about him or herself. Openness to experience in general is associated with greater emotional hardiness and resiliency to adversity.

Extroversion

Extroversion, like openness, is another characteristic associated with positive mental health, the ability to adapt to new circumstances and "a trait characterized by a keen interest in other people and external events, and venturing forth with confidence into the unknown" (Popkins 1998). The ability to seek out other individuals who have gone through similar circumstances may also help transgendered people find a more positive sense of self and in the Time magazine article the transgendered individuals who have found outside, formal social support seem to be the most successful in dealing with social marginalization. Some communities, especially for teens, lack this type of support which can be particularly frustrating for individuals who wish to have social interactions with other people (i.e. most of the population). A perceived mismatch between physical sex and psychological gender can act as a barrier to normal social interactions.

Agreeableness

According to the Five Factor model, "Agreeableness measures how compatible people are with other people, or basically how able they are to get along with others" (Popkins 1998). Transgenderism raises some interesting implications regarding this issue because even if someone is able to get along well with others, he or she may still face social rejection when revealing his or her inner perceived gender or when transitioning (Popkins 1998). Transgenderism is a reminder that individual mental health should be assessed based upon the individual, not upon social perceptions.

Conscientiousness

This is another positive trait and measures "how much a person considers others when making decisions" (Popkins 1998). Once again, the article underlines how transgenderism does not meant that a person cannot be extremely functional in society and conscientious in the workplace. Transgender people work as software engineers, professors, have succeeded in the military, and attained a high level of status in many professions (Steinmetz 2014).

Neuroticism