Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Openness to experience
open-in-new
<p>Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe <a href="/facts/Personality_psychology/AWhpI44I">human personality</a> in the <a href="/facts/Big_Five_personality_traits/tQfRewjk">Five Factor Model</a>. Openness involves six <a href="/facts/Facet_(psychology)/c5vUeBpI">facets</a>, or dimensions: active <a href="/facts/Imagination/FD85g9cD">imagination</a> (fantasy), <a href="/facts/Aesthetic/FSD8f7oF">aesthetic</a> sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety (adventurousness), intellectual <a href="/facts/Curiosity/Dwvwu4NV">curiosity</a>, and challenging authority (psychological liberalism). A great deal of <a href="/facts/Psychometric/56X26MDI">psychometric</a> research has demonstrated that these facets or qualities are significantly correlated. Thus, openness can be viewed as a global personality trait consisting of a set of specific traits, habits, and tendencies that cluster together. </p><p>Openness tends to be <a href="/facts/Normal_distribution/UapjjPyQ">normally distributed</a>, with a small number of people scoring extremely high or low on the trait and most people scoring moderately. People who score low on openness are considered to be <i>closed to experience</i>. They tend to be conventional and traditional in their outlook and behavior. They prefer familiar routines to new experiences, and generally have a narrower range of interests. </p><p>Openness has moderate positive relationships with creativity, intelligence, and knowledge. Openness is related to the psychological trait of <a href="/facts/Absorption_(psychology)/0wACNw1D">absorption</a>, and like absorption has a modest relationship[<i>specify</i>] to individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility. Openness has more modest relationships with aspects of <a href="/facts/Subjective_well-being/fLJAGQly">subjective well-being</a> than other <a href="/facts/Big_Five_personality_traits/tQfRewjk">Five Factor Model</a> personality traits. </p><p>On the whole, openness appears to be largely unrelated to symptoms of mental disorders. </p>