One of the five broad traits
Conscientiousness
How much you regulate yourself toward goals — planning, persisting, honouring commitments, thinking before acting.
Why it is measured
One of the five broad dimensions, and the best single personality predictor of long-run outcomes in work, health and education.
What a high or low score looks like
High scorers are disciplined, reliable and deliberate. Low scorers are more spontaneous and flexible, and less inclined to subordinate the present to a plan.
Why it matters
The overall score conflates two rather different things: keeping your environment orderly, and keeping yourself directed. Plenty of people are highly effective and thoroughly untidy, and the parts show that where the total does not.
The six narrower traits inside it
This is where the interesting information lives. The broad score above is the mean of these six — so when they disagree with each other, that average describes nobody, and we flag it rather than printing it.
- Self-EfficacyHow capable you believe you are of handling what comes.
- OrderlinessHow much you keep things organised, tidy and structured.
- DutifulnessHow strongly you feel bound by obligations and commitments.
- Achievement-StrivingHow hard you push toward goals and standards you set yourself.
- Self-DisciplineHow reliably you start and finish things without external pressure.
- CautiousnessHow much you think before you act.