Big Five traits · the O in OCEAN
Openness to experience
Openness to experience is the Big Five trait that describes how curious, imaginative and open to new ideas, art and feelings you are. High scorers seek out novelty and complexity; low scorers prefer the familiar, the practical and the proven. A high or low score isn’t better or worse in itself: each fits different lives and jobs.
Also called openness, intellect or "openness/intellect". It is the O in OCEAN.
By the Personality Test editorial team · Updated · 4 sources
The six facets of openness
In the IPIP-NEO-120, the questionnaire this site uses, openness splits into six narrower facets of four statements each. Other Big Five questionnaires divide it in slightly different ways. Two people with the same openness score can differ a lot facet by facet.
O1Imagination
A rich inner world of daydreams and fantasy. High scorers often drift into "what if" scenarios; low scorers keep their attention on what is real and in front of them.
O2Artistic interests
How much art, music, writing and natural beauty move you. High scorers seek them out; low scorers can take them or leave them.
O3Emotionality
How aware you are of your own feelings and how much weight you give them. It is about noticing emotions, not about being upset more often (that is neuroticism).
O4Adventurousness
Eagerness to try new activities, places and food. High scorers get bored by routine; low scorers find comfort in it.
O5Intellect
Enjoyment of ideas, puzzles and abstract discussion for their own sake. It measures interest in thinking, not intelligence.
O6Liberalism
Readiness to question authority, tradition and convention. It is a psychological tendency, not a party label, though it does relate to political views.
High vs. low openness
Openness is a scale, not a type. Most people score somewhere in the middle, and both ends come with strengths and costs.
Low openness
Practical, grounded and comfortable with what works.
- Prefers clear instructions and concrete problems
- Sticks with familiar places, habits and tastes
- Values tradition and tested ways of doing things
- Can resist change even when the old way has stopped working
High openness
Curious, imaginative and quick to try something new.
- Enjoys ideas, theories and debates that go nowhere practical
- Is drawn to art, music, travel and unfamiliar food
- Gets restless with routine and repeats
- Can start more projects than they finish, and may undervalue proven methods
What openness is linked to
Openness is the Big Five trait most closely tied to creative work. In a meta-analysis of studies on scientists and artists, Feist (1998) found that more creative people scored higher on openness than their less creative peers, and openness was among the largest personality differences found.
Openness has weaker links to job performance than conscientiousness does (Barrick & Mount, 1991), but it matters in jobs that reward learning and change: research, design, writing, teaching and entrepreneurship. Low openness suits work where consistency and following a proven process count most.
People who score high on the liberalism facet tend to hold more progressive social views, and people who score low tend to be more traditional. The link is real but moderate, so the facet doesn’t tell you how someone votes.
Does openness change with age?
Yes, slowly. A meta-analysis of 92 longitudinal samples found that openness rises in adolescence and then falls in old age (Roberts et al., 2006). Your rank compared with people your age is more stable than your absolute level.
Openness at work and in relationships
At work, high scorers are usually happiest with variety and room to experiment: research, design, writing, strategy, or any role where the problem keeps changing. Put them in a fixed routine and their attention tends to drift. Low scorers often do best where the method is known and doing it well matters more than doing it differently, and they keep teams steady when everyone else is chasing the next idea.
Between partners, a big gap in openness tends to show up in everyday choices: where to travel, what to watch, how to spend a free weekend. It rarely breaks a relationship on its own. It goes more smoothly when the more open partner has room to explore and the less open one isn’t pushed to join every experiment.
How the test measures openness
The IPIP-NEO-120 measures openness with 24 statements, four for each facet, such as "I love to read challenging material" and "I prefer variety to routine" (Johnson, 2014). Your answers are compared with a large online sample to give a percentile from 1 to 99.
Find your openness score
The free Big Five test scores openness and the other four traits in about 12 minutes, with no sign-up. You get each score as a percentile right away; your six openness facet scores are in the optional full report. See a sample report
Questions about openness
Is high openness the same as high intelligence?
No. The intellect facet measures how much you enjoy ideas, not how well you solve problems. Openness and measured intelligence are modestly related, but plenty of very capable people score low on openness and the reverse.
Is low openness a bad thing?
No. Low scorers tend to be practical, consistent and loyal to what works. Those strengths pay off in many jobs and relationships. The cost is that change can feel uncomfortable even when it is needed.
How is openness different from extraversion?
Extraversion is about seeking people and stimulation; openness is about seeking new ideas and experiences. A quiet person who spends weekends reading philosophy is likely low on extraversion and high on openness.
Can I take an openness test on its own?
The free test on our homepage scores openness together with the other four traits, which takes about 12 minutes. Measuring all five gives a more useful picture, since traits combine: high openness reads differently with high or low conscientiousness.
Sources
Written by the Personality Test editorial team from published research. We don’t claim clinical credentials. This page is for education and self-reflection, not a medical or psychological diagnosis.
- Feist, G. J. (1998). A meta-analysis of personality in scientific and artistic creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(4), 290–309. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0204_5
- Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1–26. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x
- Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132(1), 1–25. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1
- Johnson, J. A. (2014). Measuring thirty facets of the Five Factor Model with a 120-item public domain inventory: Development of the IPIP-NEO-120. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78–89. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2014.05.003