I’ve recently set about collecting data that might give me a peek into the general personality of Brandeis students. For this study, I used the “Big Five personality traits” framework because it’s one of the most frequently used models of measuring personality. It observes all personalities as having varying levels of the same five traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These traits are defined by Mark Dziak in his article, “Big Five personality traits.” Openness is defined as “a person’s willingness to engage with novel ideas and experiences.” Extraversion is “marked by sociability and assertiveness.” Conscientiousness is one’s tendency to be “organized and goal-oriented.” Agreeableness is one’s tendency to be “kind and empathetic” towards others. Finally, neuroticism is “associated with emotional instability and anxiety.”

I conducted the study with 128 participants who were recruited at the campus library using a Google Form. 62.8% of participants identified as women, 32.6% identified as men and 4.6% identified as transgender, non-binary or preferred not to say. Additionally, 39.5% of participants identified as White, 33.3% identified as Asian, 7.8% identified as Black or African American, 7.8% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 7% identified as more than one race, while 4% preferred not to say. One student identified as Caucasian and one student identified as Jewish. The frequency of class year had greater variance, 33.3% were first-years, 20.9% were  sophomores, 25.6% were juniors, 16.3% were seniors and 3.1% were graduate students. 

The participants filled out the Mini-International Personality Item Pool (Mini-IPIP), a 20-item set that assessed their Big Five personality traits with four statements per trait. Item statements included; “I have a vivid imagination” (openness to experience), “I like order” (conscientiousness), “I feel others’ emotions” (agreeableness), “I am the life of the party” (extraversion), and “I get upset easily” (neuroticism) and were ranked on a five-point scale ranging from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree).

From this data, I was able to calculate how much of each trait Brandeis students had on average. Each trait level will be given as a percentage towards that trait or its opposite. It would be very unlikely that an individual, let alone a sample of a population, would have absolutely zero inclination towards a specific trait. Though, for this demonstration, 0% will be presented as perfectly centered between a trait and its opposite. From the sample of Brandeis students, the calculated average of those surveyed are 12.5% more open than they are conventional, 21% more conscientious than they are disinhibited, and 49% more agreeable than they are antagonistic. However, the calculated average taken from the sample of Brandeis students showed neither skew towards being extraverted or introverted, and neither neurotic or emotionally stable, as the participants varied equally on both sides of these two trait spectrums. From the data, one can gather that the average Brandeis student desires intellectual stimulation, is focused on achieving their ambitions and has an immense amount of compassion for others. The results with little skew suggest that Brandeis is made up of a similar amount of extroverts and introverts, and an equal distribution of neurotic and emotionally stable individuals. 

These results beckon an interesting question. Does Brandeis attract students of these types of personalities, or does going to Brandeis affect students in a way that causes their trait levels to shift accordingly? Higher levels of trait conscientiousness predict productivity, which means better performance in the classroom and the workplace. Additionally, higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of neuroticism predict better mental health outcomes. To truly know the answer, another study would have to be conducted with a survey containing more items and a larger sample size of students that are studied during their time at Brandeis. If the traits remain consistent throughout, then it would seem that Brandeis is attracting such personalities. If the trait levels are continuously shifting in a certain direction, then it would seem that attending Brandeis is affecting students’ personalities due to the culture of the University.