Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 58

retaliate when treated unfairly and believe that people
are generally good. People low in agreeableness tend to
be more antagonistic, guarded, and cynical.
Neuroticism relates to one’s tolerance to stress. It
includes anxiety, self-consciousness, and depression.
People high in neuroticism become tense under pressure, easily discouraged, and worry a lot. People low
in neuroticism are calm, hopeful, and less likely to be
rattled. Some psychologists use the expression emotional
stability instead of neuroticism to avoid confusion with
Sigmund Freud’s concept of neurosis.
While the Big Five can provide valuable insights for
self-awareness, they also constitute a robust vehicle for
leader development based on extensive studies examining the consequences and implications of personality.
Here is a sampling of the research findings revealed in
the Big Five literature:
Studies using military samples show that successful leaders tend to exhibit low neuroticism, high
extraversion, and high conscientiousness.9
Openness is a significant predictor of strategic
thinking capability in senior leaders.10 Interestingly,
students at the Army War College tend to score lower
in openness than the general U.S. population. Those

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students selected for brigade command score even lower than the overall Army War College average.11
A high score in neuroticism tends to negate
the positive effects of all other traits on psychological
resiliency.12
Studies found that people with high extraversion
tend to be noticed and assert themselves, making them
highly likely to emerge as a leader.13
Some studies report that agreeable people, when
placed in leadership positions, are more effective leaders, possibly through their emphasis on creating a fair
environment.14
Teams with no members who are low in conscientiousness report less conflict, better communication,
and more workload sharing. A team will actively support a team member who is low in intelligence, but will
tend to ignore a low conscientiousness member.15

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The Army and the Big Five

With a formidable research foundation behind
it, the Big Five offers potentially significant benefits
for leader development in the Army. To establish a
baseline of self-awareness, Big Five assessments could
be integrated into the leadership curriculum in the
Advanced Leader Course for noncommissioned officers or the Basic
Officer Leadership Course for the
officer corps. Because as much as
50 percent of a person’s personality
could be inherited and personalities
are extremely difficult to change
once reaching adulthood, a Big Five
self-assessment would emphasize
identifying those aspects of leaders’
personalities that they should accentuate (or overcome) to develop
into more effective leaders in the
future.16 Increasing self-awareness,
not attempting personality change,
should be the focus. Additionally, it
is probably prudent to restrict the
use of the Big Five to self-awareness
(Photo by Sgt. James Avery, 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
as opposed to screening or selecSoldiers assigned to Team Eagle, Task Force 2-7 Infantry, consult the technical
tion since it is possible for a person
manual for their M1126 Stryker infantry carrier vehicle while performing preventive maintenance checks and services after a nearly 130-kilometer convoy
to manipulate the factor scores
from Rukla to Pabrade, Lithuania, 1 May 2015. There is a robust link between a
through disingenuous responses to
leader’s personality and leader effectiveness, especially in fast-paced, demanding
situations.
questions in the instrument.

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March-April 2016  MILITARY REVIEW