5 Deep Personality Traits, beyond introverts/extroverts

Learning your personality type is probably the most basic way to conceptualize yourself. And, considering we are meaning & pattern-seeking creatures, understanding personality becomes a core human activity.

I’ll first do a brief overview of the most widely studied types and then get straight to the 5 extremely fundamental personality traits which I’ve clubbed together as the STANS model. Those, in my opinion, form the deepest layers of human behavior.

The most common personality types we use in everyday conversation are: Introversion (shy, quiet) Vs. Extroversion (outgoing, talkative). We use these types to make decisions about careers, relationships, and daily activities. Of course, these are casual ways of using personality types. But, if you want to dig deeper, you need more than these surface-level traits.

For those new to psychology, personality is understood as the relatively stable patterns in behavior, thinking, emotions, and how we interact with the environment and other people. These are often called “traits”. They influence our likes/dislikes, behaviors, emotional make-up, coping mechanisms, etc.

The Big 5 (OCEAN model)

The OCEAN model (also called the 5-factor model) is the most conventional way to look at personality because it describes 5 highly relatable patterns that bring out our individual uniqueness & differences. They describe a neat structure of well-adjusted and clinically relevant human behavior^[1].

The ocean model is a theory of 5 well-studied broad dimensions of personality^[2] that make predictions about relationship outcomes, healthy behaviors, academic performance, social standing, etc.

• Openness to experience: Openness to experience describes the tendency to seek novel experiences and enjoy them, including art, culture, music, food, travel, and world views. They are generally intellectually curious and appreciate new experiences readily.
• Conscientiousness: Conscientious people are generally disciplined and organized and prefer to think and plan before making decisions.
• Extroversion – Introversion: Extroversion is a tendency to prefer social events and talking to others for daily functioning. Extroverts are typically outgoing, talkative, and emotionally expressive people. Introversion is a tendency to prefer fewer social events and enjoy daily functioning without others. Introverts generally are not talkative and express little emotion when meeting people for the first time.
• Agreeableness: Agreeable people tend to get along with others and value social functioning. They are typically kind, compassionate, cooperative, easily trusted, and easily trusting. They are likely to put a group’s needs ahead of their own and compromise.
• Neuroticism (relabelled as emotional stability): Neuroticism describes a fundamental tendency to focus on negative details, have pronounced emotional reactions, emotional instability, frequently worry, and mismanage negative emotions. High neuroticism is labeled as low emotional stability, and low neuroticism is labeled as high emotional stability in a newer rework of this theory.

The Type A vs. Type B vs. Type C vs. Type D personality traits

Another nomenclature is the Type system, which describes different people as a “persona” – a typical character sketch.

Type A personality: Type A people are competitive, achievement-oriented, meticulous, and have a strong preference for order and discipline. They have a general vibe of being organized and proper yet under stress, irritable, and aggressive.

Type B personality: Type B people take a more comfortable approach to life and are laid back. They are likely to underachieve or struggle during education and lack the motivation to succeed in a competitive environment.

Type A & B emerged from research done by 2 cardiologists in the 1950s^[3] (Friedman & Rosenman) who investigated behavior for medical reasons – to evaluate who is at risk for heart disease. Type A people showed high risk. Type B people showed low risk.

Later on, Type C & D were added to fill in the gaps between A & B. Although, they are not as scientifically concrete as A & B.

Type C personality: Type C people tend to be more docile and submissive. They have difficulty confronting and don’t take a strong stance on a specific topic. They also tend to not express emotions strongly.

Type D personality: Type D overlaps with the Big 5’s neuroticism dimension. Type D people tend to worry and display higher-than-expected anxiety and negative emotions.

Since these are personas, it is easy to use them to understand oneself. But from the modern psychological research point of view, they are outdated.

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You’ll see most of the personality traits above describe behavior. They don’t say what causes those behaviors. E.g., extroversion doesn’t cause people to be talkative and outgoing. Extroversion is another word to describe people who are talkative and outgoing. See there is no explanation for behavior? In novel scenarios, these traits influence behavior. The model I propose (STANS) goes a little deeper into explaining the influences and causes of those behaviors.

Note: The STANS model is a novel framework that combines independently studied aspects of personality. I’ve combined these specifically because they capture the diversity we find today and offer a deeper explanation for why we make certain choices.

The deep 5 (STANS model)

The following set of personality traits are fundamental behavioral tendencies that emerge from all aspects of a creature (environment, genes, past learning, upbringing, etc.). These traits manifest uniquely as social preferences, stimulation needs, motivation, approach to learning, thought patterns, etc. These don’t bucket people. They also describe highly varied neurotypical & neurodivergent behaviors. These are independently studied stable traits that I’ve clubbed together because they seem to explain most human behavior, and each person can have varying levels of all of these simultaneously. Here’s my STANS on personality.

The STANS model is S (Sensation seeking), T (Tolerance for uncertainty), A (Autotelic personality), N (Needs for cognition), S (Sensory processing sensitivity).

I’ve written an independent article for each of these, but here’s the overview.

1. Sensation seeking

Sensation seeking: Sensation seekers seek high-intensity experiences + novelty. They typically want bold, complex, varied, and dramatic experiences instead of mild, simple, familiar, and calm ones. They are more inclined to watch dramatic or intense TV shows, and prefer adventure sports and heavier/stimulating music. But they also show risky behavior like speeding, eating unhealthy, and gambling. They seek stimulation. A common theory is that their baseline arousal is low, so more stimulation is needed to create a spike in their arousal – which then acts like a “reward” for engaging in that stimulation. Although this theory is not fully accepted, a more popular explanation is that sensation seekers have low reward sensitivity in the brain, so they need higher-intensity stimulation to get adequate stimulation. Another reason is that sensation seekers have high mental processing speed, so they crave excess stimulation to satisfy that higher processing.

What it explains:

1. Why people choose intense music & media
2. People who enjoy spicy food or extreme cold
3. People who like thrill-seeking adventures and intense partying without feeling tired
4. People who get bored by mild or simple things
5. Why people take physical risks to feel some sort of excitement
6. Why people insist on making plans and feel lonely when they don’t happen

2. Tolerance for uncertainty

Tolerance for uncertainty: It is a general tendency to be ok with uncertain scenarios. People vary in how they handle uncertainty and how much they are ok with uncertainty. For example, exploring a new cuisine without knowing anything about it is a sign of high tolerance for uncertainty. Not trying out new foods is a sign of low tolerance for uncertainty. People with a low tolerance for uncertainty try to gather as much information as possible before making decisions and sometimes lose out on the fun & exploration bit of everyday life. Fear of the unknown and anxiety are common for those with a low tolerance for uncertainty. One mechanism is that the brain prioritizes information that helps decision-making – a basic feature of the brain. But when it overprioritizes, a person reaches a state of discomfort when that information is not available. Then they proactively do things to reduce that discomfort.

What it explains:

1. Why people first google the menu of a restaurant and scan it thoroughly before dining in
2. Why people spend hours reading reviews and get stuck with indecision
3. Why people don’t want to try anything new and stick to their comfort zone
4. How people get anxious because they don’t know what the future holds
5. Why people want complete details about the people they are going to meet
6. Why people get restless when they don’t have answers or closure

3. Autotelic personality

Autotelic personality: Autotelic people are generally intrinsically motivated and driven to do a task regardless of what extrinsic rewards they get. That means they are very likely to do work/tasks even if there aren’t any direct incentives like money or appreciation. They do it for the pleasure of doing it. Autotelic means having a purpose in and not apart from itself. The action itself is rewarding. The purpose of doing something is itself. And as a result, they are more likely to experience flow – unyielding focus and zoning into a task without getting distracted.

What it explains:

1. How people can put in lots of effort because they want to even if there is no monetary benefit
2. People who manage to work on their own accord without the need for others assistance
3. Why people seek challenging work
4. People who get exploited because of their passion to work & explore because they don’t value money
5. Why people may neglect practical career choices in pursuit of passion that doesn’t bring sustenance

4. Need for cognition

Need for cognition: Need for cognition is an individual difference across people that describes the tendency to do mentally effortful activities. Those with high NFC love to engage in complex tasks and keep the brain engaged, they love to seek deeper explanations and learn more. Those with low NFC are ok with few details and low mental activity. NFC creates a desire to seek patterns, control, and explanations. A lot of the core behaviors of people high in NFC are about learning and exploring – which is, essentially, knowing more.

What it explains:

1. Why people keep themselves intellectually stimulated
2. Why people bring in deep or exhausting conversations in a light social hang
3. People who do leisure activities that feel like work to others
4. How people tend to explore a topic very deeply till they find answers that satisfy them
5. People who do well in thinking jobs but not in routine-dependent jobs

5. Sensory processing sensitivity

Sensory processing sensitivity (highly sensitive people): Also called Highly sensitive people or HSPs. Those with high sensory processing sensitivity have high emotional depth and are sensitive to stimuli. They tend to be empathetic and emotionally reactive (have strong emotional responses to other’s emotions and often get impacted by those). They also tend to think deeply about their experiences. Mild stimulation is enough to have rich experiences. Too much stimulation can overwhelm them so they seek solitude. Small changes to stimulation have a relatively large impact – like going from volume 50 to 52 is noticeable and sufficient while most others would need 60. In short, they process sensory information at a high resolution, so they are sensitive to minor changes. There is a strong biological basis for processing sensory information more deeply tied to differences in the nervous system and stronger neural activation, so learning to tolerate high-intensity stimulation isn’t particularly easy for them.

What it explains:

1. Why people often get overwhelmed in crowds & loudness
2. People who need downtime after a relatively normal social hang
3. People who get bothered by anything intense – music, movies, loudness
4. Why people tend to play safe and not take risks
5. Why people get emotionally burdened with empathy, anxiety, or sorry when something bad happens
6. Why people often don’t feel alone or lonely in the absence of others

Here’s a hypothetical person’s personality analysis using the STANS model.

Let’s compare these personality traits from the point of view of 2 young learners – both 22-year-old college students. One has high levels of each trait, and the other has low levels.

Personality traits	High	Low
Tolerance for uncertainty	Is ok to explore learning without having a roadmap	Needs to know what is happening next in class or what comes in the exam
	Open to last-minute changes and improvising	Effort goes into planning and seeking more information regularly
	Low stress	High curiosity, anxiety
Need for cognition	Likes effortful mental activity	Prefers to do something familiar without too much creative or novel thinking
	Seeks challenges	Does not seek challenges
	Takes new projects, reads on their own	Does the minimum requirement
Sensation seeking	Prefers strong stimulation like heavy music, bright colors, social excitement, and variety + novelty in the class/homework	Prefers mild stimulation and can be satisfied with lack of novelty and variety in school
	Prone to risk-taking	Plays safe
	Breaks rules, seeks excitement	Less disruptive behavior
Autotelic personality	Motivated to do things on their own	Needs external motivation like marks, rewards, and praise to stay motivated
	Finds joy in learning without marks as the end goal	Frequently questions the purpose of doing something if there are no rewards
	Enjoys many learning activities and challenges	Needs to find good reasons to learn and study
Sensory processing sensitivity	Strong experience of emotions and sensations	Not very sensitive to scolding or punishment
	Needs recovery time from heavy stimulation	can maintain high energy for a while
	Fatigue, feeling hurt, high compassion	Handles conflict without feeling bad

Human behavior is complex and layered, and it changes as per the context. The same person can behave in 2 opposing ways. The STANS approach describes how someone can show inconsistent behavior coming from consistent tendencies. The 5 dimensions exist in parallel to each other. So, a person can be a thrill-seeker (high sensation seeking) and yet get tired after a 3-hour social hang (high sensory processing sensitivity). The same person could feel anxiety about a trip they are planning (high tolerance for uncertainty) and learn as much as they can (high need for cognition) and yet work on their startup for weeks without fear (high autotelic personality).

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