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If you’re a family caregiver to someone with a debilitating disease or other aging-related care needs, let’s talk about The Big Five Personality Traits.
Use them to analyze your own behavior - maybe some patterns you wish you could change. Let’s become more self-aware and improve our quality of life.
Life has given us caregiving responsibilities. We have resilient personalities to carry forward and keep our heads held high.
The Big Five Personality Traits represent a spectrum of personality with 5 Big Traits, and a scale to determine how a person scores for each trait.
Citation: “The Big Five Personality Factors and Personal Values.” by Roccas, Schwartz, and Knafo (2002) [1].
As I see it, a caregiver can get the most value by exploring the big five
In many cases - these are one and the same. When your actual behavior aligns with your desired behavior, then you’re in a very good place!
In other cases - you might feel more divided. When your actual feelings don’t match the feelings you wish you had, then you’ve got some room to grow.
Inventive and Curious
vs.
Consistent and Cautious
An Inventive/Curious Caregiver would be interested in finding new solutions to caregiving challenges.
A Consistent/Cautious Caregiver is naturally well-equipped to - for example - keep a consistent medication schedule.
A balanced level of Openness to Experience will handles the mundane recurring caregiver duties, and also keep an eye out for a better way to do things around the home.
Efficient and Organized
vs.
Extravagant and Careless
An Efficient/Organized Caregiver is my go-to for juggling all the demands of caregiving for someone with a debilitating disease. But this type of person can easily overwork themselves.
An Extravagant/Careless Caregiver might keep the home environment upbeat and engaging. But this type of person is apt to neglect important responsibilities.
Balancing the two can keep things in order, and make the home inviting to people available for informal compassionate support (friends and visitors).
Outgoing and Energetic
Vs.
Solitary and Reserved
An Outgoing/Energetic Caregiver is the perfect personality type to keep close ties with family, friends, neighbors, and community members.
A Solitary/Reserved Caregiver is at higher risk of isolation and overwhelm.
Enough said. If you know an introverted caregiver who’s been going it alone for weeks, months, or years - please be a friend to check in on them just to say hi.
Friendly and Compassionate
vs.
Critical and Rational
A Friendly/Compassionate Caregiver is the archetype of the strong and selfless matriarch who nurtures others up.
A Critical/Rational Caregiver may be abrasive during conflicts, but they’re good at making decisions and finding areas to promote the sustainability of quality in-home care.
A balance of the two becomes necessary as an aging family member’s needs grow more demanding, and you have to make decisions about how much you as one person can give.
Sensitive and Nervous
vs.
Resilient and Confident
A Sensitive/Nervous Caregiver will naturally read others’ physical and emotional needs, and pay close attention to have them met for fear of certain consequence.
A Resilient/Confident Caregiver will take definitive action from their gut, so to keep a more stable positive attitude, yet often overlook subtle warning signs until they’re too late.
Finding hope and sustainable positive emotion while assuming the role of family caregiver. That is to say, avoiding the woes of consuming negativity and neuroticism. It becomes more challenging the older your family member becomes - the worse their condition becomes. Skills to “Sensitively” meet your family member’s needs while also “Resiliently” maintaining quality of life despite the challenges aging has dealt you. Having both these skill sets is hard to come by in one person, so we’re asking an impossible job of everyday caregivers - don’t you think?
By understanding how The Big Five Personality Traits apply to your situation as a caregiver, you’re better equipped to navigate the challenges of caregiving. That includes taking care of your own needs.
Take this food for thought. Family caregivers don’t necessarily expect to take on the role of caregiving for a family member.
All people have a personality, so each caregiver brings their unique personality to the job of caregiving.
Reflecting on the one’s own Big Five Personality Traits empowers a caregiver to understand how they might react to the stresses of caregiving.
We also demonstrate - caregivers come in all shapes and sizes, with particular strengths and weaknesses. We can learn to lean on each other, and come closer asking for help in a constructive manner.
