Identifying Openness to Experience

Is this personality trait a barrier to your success as a Christian leader?

Photo by redcharlie | @redcharlie1 on Unsplash

My daughter Megan was 13 years old when she and I traveled from Oregon to Kenya several years ago. We joined doctors, dentists, nurses, high school students, and other volunteers to provide medical and dental services to Maasai people in remote villages with the Maasai Development Project. We enjoyed 2 weeks of adventure delivering health care, safaris, and camping among the African wildlife on the Maasai Mara. My wife Tami and our son Matthew never considered joining us on this trip. Megan and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Tami and Matthew would be happy enough to stay home.

One of Five

Openness (or Openness to Experience) is one of the Big Five Personality Traits identified and studied by behavioral scientists. This trait, like all of the Big Five, is measured on a continuum.

A random population survey for Openness produces a bell curve. In their expression of this trait, most people are bunched near the center of the continuum.

Open or Closed?

At the ends of the bell curve are people who are extremely open or extremely closed to new experiences.

People like Megan and I, are on the side of the bell curve with other people who are more open than closed. People on the extreme end of openness are those who pursue professions or activities that take them to the edge of adventure. They are astronauts, mountain climbers, and missionaries to remote tribes. They sail across oceans and hitchhike across continents. They are unconventional painters, authors, sculptors, and musicians. They start new businesses, invent new gadgets, and make scientific breakthroughs. They’re likely to hold less traditional points of view.

We don’t hear much from people who are on the closed end of the Openness bell curve. Like Tami and Matthew, they are more likely to stay close to home, enjoy routines, and remain in the same job and same church for many years. They’re likely to hold more traditional points of view.

Facets of Openness

Researchers have identified 6 facets of openness:¹

1. Imagination (fantasy) - vs. oriented to factual information

2. Artistic Interests (aesthetics) - high interest in and appreciation for art

3. Emotionality (Feelings) - good access to their feelings, more expressive of their feelings

4. Adventurousness (Actions) - oriented to traveling and experiencing different things vs. preference for routines and schedules

5. Intellect (Ideas) - like intellectual challenges, puzzles, philosophy vs. preference for dealing with people

6. Liberalism (Values) - the tendency to rebel against authority and sympathize with those who do vs. preference for traditional values (weak correlation with political leanings)

Openness and Leadership?

Answer these questions about yourself and use the answers to improve your leadership:

1. Do you consider yourself more open or closed to experiences?

2. How does this trait affect your leadership?

3. How might it be a barrier to your effectiveness as a leader?

4. What roles on your team are a better fit for someone who is more open or more closed to experiences?

1. Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1992). NEO Personality Inventory Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.