The Five Factor Model (FFM) or the Big 5 Personality traits is a group of traits that were classified to broadly describe the differences in character of all humans. It was started by Sir Francis Galton in 1886 when he tried to create a sort of database of terms to describe human characteristics gathered from self description and reports by others. The collection was refined over the years by grouping them into categories describing similar aspects of the characteristics.
Over the span of many years the lexicon was whittled down to 5 broad categories which is now what we know as the FFM we know now.
The mnemonic OCEAN is commonly used to remember the FFM:
Openness to experience
People with high traits are usually described as creative people who are always curious and adventurous. The opposite spectrum is where people tend to prefer being conscious and consistent.
Conscientiousness
People who are highly consciencious are usually efficient and organized with the other end being impulsive or careless.
Extraversion
High traits are those who are outgoing and preferring company of others. The other end are those who are more reserved and prefer solitude
Agreeableness
People who have high traits are seen as compassionate and easily to get along with. As opposed to those who are highly critical and rigid.
Neuroticism
People with high traits are sensitive and easily anxious where those on the lower end are seen as resillient and adaptable
I’m sure after seeing that you think you can guess which end of the spectrum people with ADHD tend to be on. If I were to guess I would say that people with ADHD score high for openness and neuroticism and low for conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion. Boy, did we get the short end of the evolutionary stick or what!?
But as I have said, personal opinions and inferences count for nuts in science, especially medicine. Like every other thing in ADHD, some mad scientist has done a study on it.
Studies actually show that when taking into account ADHD as a whole, it is associated with lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism. When separated, impulsivity is associated with lower agreeableness and hyperactivity was associated with extraversion. Neither one of these was independently associated with neuroticism, even the inattentive subtypes.
So despite thinking I know everything about ADHD I assumed that I could attribute it to certain personality types, I was wrong. It’s because like many people, I have come to associate ADHD with the personality traits people share of themselves online and as mentioned, personality is influenced by external factors growing up. ADHD traits are not. So the “I do that too, so I must have ADHD” argument is often not a valid one.
Which is why self diagnosis should not be something so easily encouraged if a person has the access or options to proper assessment. Because you need a second person to help remove your personality from your temperament. Of course that is easier said and done but that is again, a topic for another day.
These Are the Contents of My Head 