The Formation of Affectivity: A Christian Approach

By Francisco Insa

The need and desire for the integral development of the person in his or her somatic, psychological and spiritual dimensions is growing faster than it can be answered. Ancient and classical wisdom gives us much to ponder and apply, but there is still much more to be given human life in the joy and integrity offered by Christianity. When one speaks of the meaningfulness and fruitfulness of life, there is an apostolic quality that makes of the beauty of a single individual a cause of fruitfulness in others as well. Yet many who are entrusted with the formation and care of souls have little at their disposal to foster or explain this.

The present book aims to respond to this need by addressing the consonance and individuality in human nature, and the ways in which ordering in personality and psychology are
not inhibiting, but potentially liberating and influential. Francisco Insa draws from his medical and theological background, which includes both clinical and pastoral experience, to address all those responsible for the formation of others––including parents, teachers, priests, spiritual directors––and enables them to confront their roles as formators with greater insight and confidence. Insa's guidance through the human personality and its various expressions, the education of the character, growth in maturity, the particularity of each stage of the life cycle, sexuality and celibacy, chastity in the context of post-modern life, and mental illnesses is a landmark presentation of scientific rigor matched with practical application. As often as one says, "My situation is unique,"; the author here responds: "Yes, but special even more than you can express"; Insa is forthright about what can never be lost in human beings, but only recovered when the head and heart are aligned and formed properly.

For as much as this book may help the reader understand himself, it will also render him better understood by others. The Christian approach to the formation of affectivity, as Insa shows, is indispensable to deep and enduring human development, and it is often the only way to identify and mediate interior dissonance and confusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: St. Augustines Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781587312496

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

1. Teacher, What Should I Do to Achieve Eternal Life?

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself (Lk 10:27). Jesus refers to two texts of the Pentateuch in his dialogue with a doctor of the Law (cf. Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18). The two commandments summarize what we should do to gain eternal life: love God and love our neighbor. Matthew and Mark narrate the story in a way that differs slightly from Luke (cf. Mt 22:37–39; Mk 12:30–31). In their versions, the answer is in response to the question, What is the first commandment? In all three gospels, we see Jesus challenging us to live a radical, complete love, because that sort of love not only fulfills all that God asks of us, but opens the door for us to live a happy life and enjoy him for all eternity.

This kind of relationship with God contrasted with some proposals offered by Judaism and especially with those offered by pagan religions, which tended to emphasize adoration, submission, and obedience, attitudes born from consideration of God’s absolute transcendence. Before God, man could only prostrate himself and recognize his nothingness.

Jesus Christ opens a new perspective that touches the most intimate aspects of man—but without excluding the previous idea. God calls man to enter a loving relationship that includes several dimensions: heart, soul, strength and mind. Jesus stresses that dealing with God involves all aspects of man: his intellect, his will, his sentiments and his passions. The same should happen in his dealings with his fellow men. Indeed,

we do not have one heart to love God with and another with which to love men. This poor heart of ours, made of flesh, loves with an affection which is human and which, if it is united to Christ’s love, is also supernatural.¹

The twofold precept (loving God and neighbor) is based on a basic tenet: God is a loving Father who cares for us. He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19), he firsted us, to use the words of Pope Francis. We respond only partially to the love of God, who created us, gave us a family, abilities, talents . . . and prepared a dwelling in heaven that is waiting for us (cf. Jn 14:2–3). It is the same thought behind the lines we sing at Christmas, "sic nos amantem, quis non redamaret" from the hymn Adeste fideles: who would not love back one who loves us thus?

The love that all human beings give and receive from God fully satisfies our deepest longings. The first commandment is not forced upon us. It is the proclamation of what makes man happy: You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.² God is not a tyrant who is unhappy with our submission, who forces us to love him, but a Father who loves us, cares for us and watches over us, and only he can fulfill an unavoidable need: What can make us feel happy if not the experience of giving and receiving love?³

2. The Formation of Affectivity

The past few decades have increasingly made clear the need to form others in affectivity. This is especially true for young people. The idea would be to enable them to develop their own interiority in a healthy and serene manner, and so achieve a cheerful, comprehensive, meaningful and apostolically fruitful Christian life. However, those in charge of their formation often state that they have few tools to carry out their task, presumably because the intellectual and spiritual dimensions of formation have been over-emphasized for many centuries. Many excellent works have been written that deal with those areas, but little attention has been given to the formation of affectivity.

Some dimensions have been stressed to excess at times, to the exclusion of others. The resulting imbalance has created distortions like intellectualism, voluntarism, or sentimentalism. All these dimensions need to be combined within the unity of the person.

Affectivity could initially be defined as the set of emotions, affections, feelings and passions within man that make him feel comfortable or unhappy in his various real-life situations. The result is pleasure or discomfort, which points to what should be sought or avoided. Pleasure or discomfort could be in the sensitive sphere (enjoying a meal) or in the intellectual sphere (a pleasant conversation or a good read).

Having said that, the goods or the evils identified by affectivity are only partial and may contradict each other. For example, short term discomfort (tiredness) pitted against a long-term greater joy (winning a race). We all have a hierarchy of values with which we figure out which goods are worth sacrificing for the sake of greater goods. This hierarchy of values is usually not overt. That is not to say that some affects are bad or mistaken, but that they sometimes claim undeserved priority, and other goods, more important for the whole person, could be jeopardized.

The formation of affectivity seeks to help the intellect and the will achieve a right order: finding out what is good, wanting to reach it, and using the appropriate means to get there. It is not just about controlling or repressing particular human trends, nor rationalizing instincts, but to reach such a deep rapport with the good—in the head and in the heart—as to give all the things that call for our attention the right level of importance almost instinctively (rather, by connaturality). This allows us to enjoy both the good achieved and forego those others which need to be sacrificed for the sake of greater ones. The latter point is important because it is less evident. St. Augustine summarized it as follows: in the case of what is loved, either there is no labor, or the labor also is loved (in eo quod amatur, aut non laboratur aut labor amatur).⁴ Thus we return to the gospel quotation from the beginning of this introduction: everything begins with what we genuinely love. Everything else falls into place.

Aspiring to achieve a perfect balance would be wishful thinking. Formation is a process and there is always room for improvement. It will lead to delving deeper into the meaning of one’s vocation, to achieve self-dominion and make it a serene and cheerful reality on a day-to-day basis.

3. Psychology and Formation

St. Paul shows a Hebrew approach in his exhortation to the Thessalonians: "May your spirit (pneuma) and soul (psyche) and body (soma) be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess 5:23).⁵ This triple distinction is unique in St. Paul’s letters. Many early Fathers of the Church, especially in the East, used the same approach.

We are probably more familiar with the twofold distinction of body and soul that arises from Aristotle’s hylomorphic theory (matter and form), which became generally accepted in medieval scholasticism. St. Paul also used this distinction several times (cf. 1 Cor 5:3; 7:34; 2 Cor 7:1). Both approaches have their advantages and limitations in explaining human nature, that always remains unfathomable. In any case, both approaches uphold the unity of the person at all times: the unity of the person is not simply about adding two principles that ultimately remain distinct, like water and oil.

In my opinion, however, the three-fold division makes it easier to understand the person’s affective dimension. Indeed, the split between body and soul makes it difficult to fit in feelings, passions and emotions. They have a physical foundation (in the brain’s activity), but they are also part of the non-material, transcendent reality of man, made in the image of God. Clinical depression would be a good example of this: it is not an illness of the body, but we cannot say that it is a spiritual illness either. The three-fold division better defines the domain of affectivity: it belongs in the psyche (soul, mind), and is the subject matter of psychology. When deranged, it is the domain of psychiatry.

If we are to help others as formators, we need to take into account all three dimensions: everybody has a spirit called to enjoy God for all eternity. It is nourished by prayer, sacraments and relationships, especially when charity is their foundation. Everyone has a body that needs sleep, food and exercise. And everyone has a psyche subject to mood swings, defined by thinking and feeling in a particular way, conditioned by life experiences, etc. The three dimensions are in constant interplay: no matter how good one’s dispositions may be, poor sleep will make it harder to pray, and will make one short tempered, irritable, etc. Likewise, low moods are often associated with physical discomfort (headaches, loss of appetite, tiredness), and it makes it harder to connect with God in prayer.

Some knowledge of psychology is very helpful in the task of formation. For example, knowing the main features of the various life stages will help to address matters in the best way for each age range, and to set goals in accordance with the individual’s abilities. Similarly, knowing the different types of personalities will help to provide specific advice to each individual person on what traits to improve, or how they can use their strong points in the task of formation.

On the other hand, psychological problems may be confused with a lack of virtue or with sins. For example, narcissism and pride are two different concepts, just as egocentrism and selfishness, shyness and lack of interest in other people, obsession and thinking about oneself, poorly integrated sexuality and impurity, conflict with the authority figure and disobedience, impulsiveness and anger, perfectionism and lack of abandonment, attention deficit and lack of disorganization, inactivity secondary to depression and laziness.⁶ The first term of each pair mentioned above may contain a pathological element, a personality disorder, previous traumatic experiences, cognitive errors, poor social skills, etc., and not just poor interior life.

In these cases it would not be enough to provide advice of an ascetical nature (to grow in fortitude, toughness, temperance) or to foster the interior life (prayer, mortification, a sense of divine filiation), because it would not hit the target. It could even be harmful, because it would be a distraction from the real problem, foster guilt or a sense of worthlessness, or encourage an overextension of the will. In the end it would probably be ineffective and exhausting.

Yet, it is not a matter of pretending to be a psychologist in the task of formation. It is rather a matter of realizing that a crucial aspect of this task is the human dimension, which remains within the boundaries of psychology and has its own dynamics and laws. We should be familiar with these dynamics and laws to be able to help adequately. Similarly, it is not necessary to be a physician to recommend paracetamol to someone with a headache, some extra rest to someone who is not sleeping well, or to suggest an urgent medical consultation to someone with chest pain. St. Josemaría Escrivá would explain this responsiveness by saying that a formator should have the psychology of a mother, who can sense the state of mind of her son, recognize that he had problems at school when he comes home, notice that he had a fight with his girlfriend, etc.

To a certain extent this knowledge comes from intuition, and some people may have it more developed than others. But it also requires specific training, because it is part of the professional skills expected of a formator. This book aims to assist the formation of formators in the psychological aspects of the person and how to apply that knowledge in their task.

4. About This Book

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to teach formators, parents, teachers, priests, seminarians, etc., about the development of affectivity. I was struck by the fact that there was almost no need to adapt the contents to the needs of the different cohorts. They all had the same basic concerns and the feeling that knowledge of psychological dynamics was useful for their task. Many acknowledged that it helped them to know themselves better, and this enhanced the task of formation.

In preparing these classes I have drawn upon my professional background as a psychiatrist, a theologian, and a priest. I have also drawn from my experiences in giving Christian formation to people of all ages, especially the young, which is something I have done both as a layman and as a priest.

The contents of this book are courses I have taught, expanded upon and committed to writing. Therefore, the style is didactic, interrogatory, direct and practical, with many anecdotes drawn from real life to illustrate various points. I refer to several psychological schools without offering systematic descriptions, because they can be found elsewhere.⁷ Each chapter of the book corresponds to a one-hour lecture. For this reason I had to make a selection of the various arguments: I have picked those I consider to be important for a formator and cannot be found elsewhere. On the other hand I have not emphasized other basic and more important topics—though neither have I neglected them—because the reader will probably be familiar with them: the priority of grace, some doctrinal points, the dynamic between human and supernatural virtues, etc. There is an ample bibliography at the end of the book for those interested in further reading on these and other topics.

Since I am a priest, my starting point will be Christian anthropology, which acknowledges man’s supernatural end, his tendency towards the good, and the difficulty of recognizing it and putting it into practice, due to man’s wounded nature. Man must correspond to God’s grace to reach sanctity, and the interaction between these two realities is expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas in two phrases: grace presupposes nature,⁸ and grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.⁹

This book offers suggestions to help develop a healthy and focused personality. We can think of plants that need rain to grow strong. In the same way, God’s ordinary grace may act as rain upon the soul. But if a plant is crooked, a different kind of technique is required to straighten it up. God can certainly do that spontaneously, just as he can cure a physical illness. But it would be something out of the ordinary, even a miracle, and we cannot demand it of God; usually he counts on the person to go to the doctor to return to health.

The book is divided into four sections. The first contains a general description of personality and affectivity, a definition of both concepts and some ideas to foster a mature development. The second describes the various stages of the life cycle, from the cradle to old age. An attempt is made to illustrate how the acquisitions and defects of each stage have an impact on future development. The third focuses on a specific aspect of affectivity, the sexual dimension. It will propose some strategies to contribute effectively to the holistic good of the person. It will highlight the difficulties of living chastely in 21st century life. The section ends with some thoughts on the vocation to apostolic celibacy and its consequences from a psychological point of view. The fourth and final section covers several psychiatric conditions, and suggests various prevention strategies and ways to support those who have these conditions. A final chapter—in fact an epilogue—has been included in response to the requests of a number of people who attended my courses. It describes the psychological capabilities required for someone involved in formation.

At this stage I would like to thank the many people who have helped me in the writing of this book. First, Juan Ignacio Peláez, who was in the very first course I gave. His patient insistence encouraged me to sit down and write this book. Fr. Alfredo Ruiz de Gámiz has reviewed every single chapter and provided excellent suggestions based on his ample priestly experience. I am twice in debt to Dr. Marisol Salcedo, clinical psychologist, who was involved in my initial training in psychiatry many years ago, and who later reminded me of many forgotten concepts, and corrected some inaccuracies that had made their way into the book. Finally, the contributors to the book Loving and Teaching Others to Love¹⁰ will find many of their own ideas somewhere in this book: Bishop Jose Maria Yanguas (theological aspects of affectivity), Fr. Paul O’Callaghan (the dynamics of delayed gratification), Fr. Wenceslao Vial (psychopathology), Dr. Carlos Chiclana (comprehensive approach to out-of-control sexual behavior), Fr. Maurizio Faggioni (friendship) and Bishop Massimo Camisasca (the spiritual paternity of celibate people). I strongly recommend reading their work to understand their respective topics better.

Holy Mary, Mother of Fair Love, pray for us!

---

1 St. Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, Scepter, New York (NY) 2002², n. 229.

2 St. Augustine, Confessions, I, 1, 1.

3 Francis, General Audience, July 14, 2017.

4 St. Augustine, On the goodness of widowhood, XXI, 26.

5 Cf. P. Iovino, La prima lettera ai Tessalonicesi, Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna, Bologna 1992, pp. 284–287.

6 Cf. C. Chiclana Actis, Formación y evaluación psicológica del candidato a sacerdocio, Scripta Theologica 51 (2019) 467–504.

7 Cf. among others, M.A. Monge Sánchez (ed). Medicina pastoral. Cuestiones de biología, antropología, medicina, sexología, psicología y psiquiatría, Eunsa, Pamplona 2004; J. Cabanyes, M.A. Monge (eds.), La salud mental y sus cuidados, Eunsa, Pamplona 2011; W. Vial, Madurez humana y espiritual, Palabra, Madrid 2019.

8 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, q. 2, art. 2, ad. 1.

9 Ibidem, I, q. 1, a. 8, ad. 2.

10 F. Insa, D. Parker (eds.), Loving and Teaching Others to Love. The formation of affectivity in priestly life, Independently published 2021.

I. PERSONALITY AND AFFECTIVITY

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?

1. The Concept of Personality

It is often difficult to give an adequate definition to concepts that are part of our daily vocabulary. They are usually very rich or complex ideas that resist definitions, because these tend to omit an important element and render the definition invalid. We know what something is, but we cannot define it in a few words.

The concept of personality is one of them. It is part of our daily life, and we use it in a variety of contexts: he/she has a strong personality, he/she is developing his/her personality, he has no personality at all . . . but, what is personality? It is easy to understand but hard to define.

I have occasionally asked my students for a definition. They have managed to identify many features of personality: it is something specific to each person, it is stable, it covers all aspects of a person (internal and external perceptions, thoughts, behaviors and relationships), it can be seen and assessed from the outside . . . but my students were also unable to come up with a definition that everyone was happy with.

Psychologists are specialists in this area and have come up with many definitions, but they have not reached unanimity (nor in many other areas of this particular science). Moreover, the different options proposed are often contradictory.

I have not been able to find a satisfactory definition either. But I find the following to be workable, albeit with some slight changes. It’s the one I have adopted for this book: Personality is a stable way to relate to oneself, to others and to the world. The idea comes from George Kelly (1905–1967),¹ an American psychologist. It is an incomplete and limited definition, like all others. We could even state that it is not really a definition of personality at all because it simply states how it manifests itself. Having said that, two of its features make it useful for the purposes of this book.

First, it stresses the importance of relationships. The word relationship appears almost three hundred times throughout this book. I do not think that it is excessive, and regardless of how we conceptualize it, there are several reasons for insisting so much upon it: personality basically reveals itself in one’s dealings with other people, and it would be difficult to identify it in a person who lived in isolation. In addition, a healthy development of one’s personality requires mixing with others: friction makes sparks fly, but it also knocks off the edges, shows examples to be emulated and awakens the desire to improve in order to correspond to the affection we receive. A wide range of relationships is crucial for a healthy and harmonious development of one’s personality.

Secondly, God is someone we have a relationship with. Each one’s personality predetermines how we connect with him, because the idea of God implies paternity, love, care, authority, dependence, forgiveness, reward, punishment . . . all these concepts generate an affective resonance within the individual. This will determine whether the approach will be based on trust, apprehension, fear, apathy, etc.

Personality reveals itself in three basic ways: emotions, thoughts and behaviors. They usually appear in this order: events awaken emotions. When we become conscious of our emotions they lead us to think about what has happened and possible reactions. Action follows. This process may not be entirely conscious; however, it does not mean that it is purely automatic or instinctive. It is often determined by one’s upbringing or by previous experiences. This would be the case of those who were raised with prejudices against people of a different racial background, or who have developed a phobia after a bad experience in the past.

An example can make it easier to understand. I am in a movie theater and someone shouts, FIRE! I get a massive, instantaneous adrenaline rush and feel many different things (fear, insecurity); I look for the nearest exit and plan my escape. But I also may realize that other people need help escaping. Lastly I execute my exit strategy, or take a risk trying to save others. But we should not deceive ourselves. Our first reaction may be every man for himself. But if someone shouts, women and children first, the individual must have developed an approach to life—regarding his own and other people’s—that allows him to make a potentially heroic decision.

We all react differently in given situations. If we are insulted, some of us will react immediately and go on the offensive; others may be cowed and may not know how to respond, or dare not react: they crumble because they are not loved, they think they deserve to be despised, but in their mind they murder the offender, and swear everlasting hatred. People react differently (internally and externally) because they have different personalities. I want to mention an idea that will be developed later: we need to listen to emotions, because they often account for our thoughts, and in turn our thoughts account for our behavior. When I feel humiliated, upset, despised, I think that the other person has been unfair. Or on the contrary, I think I deserve such treatment because I made a big mistake, and therefore I act by either facing up to him or by resigning myself to accept the attack more or less peacefully. In the task of formation the emphasis is often to focus on action alone (do this or do not do it), without encouraging the learner to look within and discover the emotions and thoughts that have led to his actions.

These examples reveal the two triads we have observed so far: our relationship with ourselves, with other people and with the world; our reaction appears in the shape of affections, thoughts and behaviors. Our idea of personality may fall short (and it may well be beyond reach), but that is a topic for the experts. After all, in our dealings with others we do not assess their personality, but their external behavior and also their internal behavior if we pay greater attention, or if they tell us to.

We will end this section by looking at three more features of personality.

Firstly, it is a dynamic structure. We have stated that it is a stable mode of response (we often hear about behavior patterns). This does not mean that it is something rigid or stereotyped, like the concrete shell of a building that cannot be altered. It is more like a solid tree that grows and changes its shape between the roots and the branches. It can always change, for better or worse. Moreover, it is obliged to change, because new events always demand new strategies, and also because we have our own concerns, a longing for novelty, a desire for new challenges. This leads to the idea of adjustability, the ability to adjust to new sets of circumstances (in emotions, thoughts and actions) that life brings with it. For many mental health professionals, adjustability is the best gauge of maturity and mental health.

Secondly, personality makes a person predictable. An irascible person will jump to a perceived aggression, whereas an introverted person will endure the grievance in silence, but may brood within. Likewise, we are all familiar with people who are responsible, orderly and trustworthy; when given a task we know it will be carried out. But there are others that need constant supervision if we are to avoid disappointment. Being predictable is not contrary to freedom: we are not machines that react the same way every time. It means that our initial impulse is to react in a particular manner, but we are always able—with more or less effort—to resist the initial impulse as long as we have enough self-control. We will look at all this later on.

Finally, personality evolves over time. It is whimsical in children, it hardens during the teenage years, and when we enter adulthood it is usually stable, though this stability comes at the cost of the ability to adjust, because changes become increasingly difficult. We will return to this topic when we look at the life cycle.

In summary, personality predetermines behavior (both internal and external). Therefore it will have considerable bearing on our potential to be happy, on our ability to be comfortable with our own thoughts and feelings, with the thoughts and feelings of others, with what happens in our lives. It will also help us to have a good rapport with our friends, with our spouse and with God.

2. Temperament, Character and Personality

The experts usually single out two dimensions of personality: temperament and character.

Temperament is a set of biological, hereditary, genetic, or hormonal features, among others. It consists in our base level of activity (like the idling of a car, which can involve higher or lower engine revolutions), and manifests itself in a greater or lesser degree of anxiety, reactivity, action, intro- or extroversion, etc. It is the least malleable component of personality. We will carry it to the grave, although we can make it smoother with time, effort and patience. We are not born with it in a complete sense: it develops and settles over the first two years of life. During this period, all these factors interact with the environment. This explains why twins are not totally identical in their modus vivendi.

On the other hand, character encompasses the features acquired through family, education, culture, values assimilated, personal relationships, decisions made, personal struggles, etc. It is a dynamic feedback process. When I face new situations, I discover new strategies, either by chance or by imitating others. Thus I set up mechanisms that become increasingly more refined, more confident, and which lead me to fine tune them to make them more efficient, or mechanisms that fail and make a healthy development problematic. Character is more amenable to change, but this does not mean that it is easy to do so.

3. Personality Traits

Entomologists dissect insects in order to study them. Personality can be studied in a similar fashion. When we do this, we encounter traits. These could be defined as relatively stable dispositions to react in a particular manner. Just like when we study the organs of a living being, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We cannot think of personality as a simple aggregate of traits, but as their orderly interaction.

Some traits tend to go together, as is shown in statistical studies. Others remain independent. For instance, a perfectionist is usually insecure, anxious, and rigid, but could be more or less extroverted. Within this association, some of the traits might be called nuclear or primary, whereas others are derived or secondary. In the above example, insecurity would be a nuclear trait, whereas perfectionism, eagerness to control, order, etc., would be derived traits. Some people feel that when we study personality we should proceed as if we were dealing with the layers of an onion and begin with the more superficial traits until we reach the nuclear traits, which allow us to understand the deepest aspects of the subject (both positive and negative). There are important practical repercussions. If we want to help perfectionists, we need to help them to manage their insecurities.

Many traits emerge as the extremes of a continuum: introvert/extrovert, active/passive, intuitive/reflexive, autonomous/dependent, flexible/rigid, conservative/open to novelty, etc. It is normal to feel closer to either of the components of these pairs; however, anyone at the extremes of the spectrum will find it difficult to be comfortable in society. These are the personality disorders, which will be dealt with in the last chapter of the book.

Studying the traits of personality allows for a deeper understanding of people and helps us to figure out how to help them so as to improve their way of being and of relating.

4. OCEAN: The Big Five of Personality

Many authors have carried out statistical studies (experts call them factorial analysis). The purpose is to narrow personality to some basic dimensions which they call orthogonal, meaning that they are independent of each other. A high score in one trait of these dimensions would not influence the score of a trait in another dimension.

The research of several researchers working in a number of centers independently has identified five groups of mutually independent traits. They are known as the Big Five, or OCEAN. The main proponents of the Big Five are the American psychologists Robert McCrae and Paul Costa.² The scores in these five groups would determine the personality of a given individual, even at an early age. This would suggest that there is a genetic component (temperament), which is particularly relevant to the traits of extraversion and neuroticism.

Table 1 displays the five traits, the two extreme ranges, and some of the secondary, derived, traits for each one of them.

Table 1. The Big Five of personality.

We will study the main features of the extremes of each one of the Big Five, and highlight the advantages and drawbacks they have with regard to the three types of relationships (with oneself, with the world, and with others).

a) Openness

The main features of the creative type are an active imagination, creativity, a sense of the aesthetic (often a liking for the arts), and a spirit of initiative. They enjoy variety, adventure, and novelty, to the point of seeking odd novelties that may shock others. Typically, intellectual curiosity of both the internal and external world leads them to become more sensitive to their own feelings as well as the feelings of other people. They are prone to making up their own minds, being idealistic, upholding unconventional values, and being more tolerant of different ways of life. They are not swayed by prejudices, and tend to be less authoritarian and dominant.

They are good at working with people and carrying out new projects.

On the other hand, they struggle with monotonous tasks. Given their sensitivity, they are prone to suffering. They are unpredictable, and have greater chances to engage in dangerous practices, including drug use.

A cautious individual prefers familiar routine over variety, simple tasks as opposed to complex or subtle issues. They are usually down to earth, stick to what they know. Conservative in manner and external appearance, they resist change and novelty. As a result their range of interests can be rather limited. They may be suspicious of art and unconventional practices, which they think useless and impractical.

They are ideal for working with things, following up on projects already started, and persevering in the same task for long periods.

However, they may show little empathy, especially when others are more whimsical. They can become rigid and dogmatic, adapt poorly, and respond in the same way when facing different scenarios.

b) Conscientiousness

People high in conscientiousness have a heightened sense of duty and doggedly pursue their goals with determination and forethought. They are orderly and possess high levels of self-control and discipline in planning, execution, and completion of tasks and goals.

Therefore, they excel at problem solving and are likely to be successful in school and in their careers and highly valued by others as intelligent and trustworthy. They tend to be stable in their social, professional and family life.

On the other hand, they can become perfectionists, dependent on success, workaholics, and run a greater risk of burnout.

At the other end of the spectrum, people low in conscientiousness (careless) are more flexible, spontaneous, and informal. They are likely to procrastinate and not stress out. They care more about their own needs and desires than external duties.

Their main asset is that they organize their life in terms of their own aspirations, rather than duties imposed from outside. As things are not rigidly organized, they are better at improvising.

The downside is that they tend to neglect their duties, they can be deemed untrustworthy, and they will find it harder to be socially accepted. They are more prone to having problems at work, and their independent nature can lead them to risk-prone behavior.

c) Extroversion

People high in extroversion tend to seek out opportunities for social interaction, where they are often the life of the party. They have good social skills, which they practice with all kinds of people. They are assertive, talkative and daring in social encounters. They are comfortable with others, gregarious, and are prone to action rather than contemplation. Others see them as full of energy, because they can easily experience—and help others to experience—positive emotions, like happiness, enthusiasm, satisfaction, excitement, etc. They enjoy teamwork and show leadership qualities. They are involved in many activities but are not deep; they avoid loneliness, which makes them feel bored and unmotivated. They are very dependent on external