Responsibility as a personality trait is undoubtedly an extremely useful trait to enjoy a functional, organized life without unforeseen events. It is related to having a long life and enjoying great work success.
Below we will delve into this personality trait, in addition to going into detail about the facets that make it up and seeing how it develops throughout the lives of individuals.
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What is responsibility as a personality trait?
Responsibility is one of the Big Five personality traits of the model of the five factors or Big Five, by Paul Costa and Robert McCrae . This dimension refers to the ability to control aspects such as impulses, have self-discipline and great capacity for organization. It also includes all behavior related to reaching a goal, in addition to thinking in the short and long term, following the rules or establishing priorities.
People who have high scores in this dimension tend to be hard-working, reliable and punctual, in addition to having a great tendency towards order . They also have a great sense of duty and do not tend to break the rules.
However, very high scores in this dimension can be something that borders on psychopathology. The person can have serious problems to not worry about certain aspects, in addition to seeking perfectionism or reaching obsessions. They can be seen as extremely rigid and not very tolerant of the unexpected. They are not allowed to go an inch out of the preset script by themselves.
At the other end of this same dimension, people with low scores in responsibility tend to be impulsive and spontaneous , with a lower degree of concern towards the achievement or achievement of objectives, in addition to being more relaxed. They have trouble motivating themselves to focus on accomplishing a certain goal. They are less likely to delay gratification, meaning they need to be immediately rewarded for something they have done.
Facets of this trait
As with the rest of the dimensions proposed within the model of the five great personality traits, the dimension of responsibility has six facets, which are the following:
- Competition
It is the belief to be considered self-effective, that is, to be able to adequately meet the objectives set or the skills to be carried out .
- Order
It refers to being able to organize oneself, both in terms of physical space and in terms of one’s own personal agenda (eg, organizing studies, having a clean room …)
- Sense of duty
It is the importance that the person gives to comply with moral obligations and follow the rules .
- Need for success
It is the need to have a high result reaching the goals and to give life direction and purpose .
- Self-discipline
It refers to the ability to start a task, carry it out to the end without abandoning it halfway through , either because of boredom or because of the distractions that one may encounter in the process.
- Deliberation
It is the facet of the personality that would be the most responsible for avoiding acting on impulse . It is the ability to think about things carefully before carrying them out and see what consequences can be associated with them.
Responsibility throughout development
People, whether due to genetic or environmental factors, have different degrees of personality. This, like the rest of personality traits, is due to the fact that human beings present individual differences. No two people are the same in terms of personality.
But, in addition to this, there are also no people who are equally responsible throughout their lives. That is, there are significant intrapersonal differences in this dimension. It has been seen that as it grows, how meticulous and hardworking it is changes. Although personality traits are relatively stable throughout an individual’s life, responsibility is the least stable of them all.
Responsibility is a fairly marked characteristic in adults when compared with younger people who, as a general rule, have a low degree of self-control and tend to seek immediate gratification. People are becoming progressively more responsible as we grow, with 60 years being the end point of this increase.
It should be said that these increases vary depending on the age of the subject. The earliest adulthood is the most critical point in the development of the personality and it is surely the moment in which there are more changes in the way of being of the person.
During late childhood and adolescence, it seems that people are less responsible , and even, during these ages, they become a little less responsible than they were before. This is easily understandable if you look at the academic performance of many adolescents in high school and compare it with their grades in school. There is often a slump, which is usually due to their becoming more carefree. It has also been seen that from the age of 60 there is a slight decrease in this dimension.
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Responsibility and professional success
It has been seen that responsibility is the dimension that could solidly explain professional success, as well as being related to having good academic performance, regardless of whether or not one has good cognitive abilities.
Responsibility is the dimension most related to being successful in any profession . This stands out compared to the other dimensions. For example, having high extroversion and friendliness can be useful in professions where social skills are required, such as being a receptionist in a hotel, while in others, such as in the military, this is not an advantage. What both professions do have in common is that having high responsibility contributes to keeping them.
People with high scores in the responsibility dimension tend to be more organized and hard-working, which are highly useful aspects in any work context. Also, as they are more reliable, their bosses tend to give them a higher priority when it comes to performing tasks, in addition to allowing them to show their maximum effort and be potentially worthy of raises and promotions.
On the other hand, people who present low scores in this dimension run the risk of postponing work , in addition to presenting a lower performance. They also tend to be less motivated to do tasks. They are people who, being more spontaneous and carefree, can end up doing their obligations later than they should. They tend to neglect things, which puts their job at risk.
How does it relate to health?
It is not only responsibility that predicts good job performance. This dimension has been associated with greater longevity. This can be explained by the very way of being of the responsible people, who tend to have little tendency towards self-destructive behaviors.
Having high scores in this trait is usually related to maintaining good health habits , such as playing sports, going to sleep at an appropriate time, not using drugs, avoiding tobacco and alcohol, in addition to having an organized lifestyle . Thus, by being organized and orderly, last minute unforeseen events are avoided, which can be a source of much stress and problems to deal with them.
As they are respectful people, as a general rule, with the rules and laws, they tend to be little involved in situations of violence and do not commit crimes. In this way, potentially dangerous situations are avoided, such as being attacked by other criminals or having a tense situation with the police. They also avoid unnecessary risks, such as unprotected sex.
