2
Essay: McCrae and Costa
In today’s world, there is plenty of growth in regards to cultural diversity. As society
continues to expand within these differences, there has also been a plethora of expressed feelings
of being uncomfortable, and even not knowing how to best engage in certain situations with a
person of a different cultural background. In an attempt to counteract these negative feelings
towards cultural diversity and even promote an openness to it, Han and Pistole (2017) express
the importance of understanding one’s personality through the lens of the Big-Five personality
factors.
Agreeableness in Cultural Diversity
One of the five personality factors Han and Pistole (2017) mentioned in regards to having
an openness towards cultural diversity, was the factor of agreeableness. It is understood that there
is a high and low score on the Big-Five scale for each of the five factors (extraversion,
neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Scoring high on the scale means
scoring in the direction of having the traits specific to each factor, whereas, scoring low means
scoring in the opposite direction, or having the opposite traits of the specific factor (Feist et al.,
2021). In the textbook, Feist et al. (2021) list the traits or attributes of the factor of agreeableness
as being trustworthy, generous, softhearted, friendly, compassionate, good-natured, etc. Of
course, traits such as these can easily be related and applied to having a sense of openness
towards cultural diversity. Han and Pistole (2017) suggest that agreeableness aids in promoting
empathy within a person who scores high on this scale, leading to a shift or change of
perspective and a better understanding of those who are culturally different, as well as the
reduction of prejudice within culturally diverse groups.
3
The factor of agreeableness also helps those in the workplace get along and work with
their coworkers, bosses, HR representatives, etc. who are culturally different from themselves. Al
Doghan Mohammed et al. (2019) touch on the growing culturally diverse world of the workforce
and the challenges organizations must face in order to productively and efficiently achieve their
goals. Personality traits are a big part of the diverse cultural representation and in building and
encouraging teamwork across the board. Agreeableness is one of the most important factors to
help enhance and expand social interaction between people within the workforce (Al Dighan
Mohammed et al., 2019). Agreeableness directly relates to the open attitude towards the
everchanging and developing multicultural world in that people who have a higher sense, score,
or trait of agreeableness have an easier time getting along with and building interpersonal
relationships with others from different cultural backgrounds.
In Galatians 5, Christians are told to live by the calling of the Holy Spirit in order to avid
carrying out the selfish desires of the flesh (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Galatians 5:16).
Furthermore, in verses 22-23, it says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things”
(Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Galatians 5:22-23). The factor of agreeableness relates to these
fruit the Christian people should be producing—the result of walking with the Lord and
following His guidance and direction. Along with the understanding of personality strengths and
weaknesses and the basic understanding of differing cultures and cultural values, the fruit of the
Spirit are great assets in having an openness towards cultural diversity, and treating all people
with love, respect, loyalty, kindness, etc.
In my personal experience with people who come from a different cultural background
than the one I am familiar with, it sometimes is difficult to be open, vulnerable, and talkative.
4
Most of this has to do with the challenge of social anxiety, but also because I do not know how to
directly relate to someone who is different from me. I do not desire for it to remain this way, so I
understand that I need to put in the work to make and see the change for myself. I think another
challenge I face is relying on people too much when it comes to conversing with others, so
something that I can work on is building confidence to be able to carry social interactions. To
have a better attitude and openness towards diversity, I need to reflect on my own feelings and
understanding why I feel the way I do, as well as evaluating my own judgments and prejudices
of those who are culturally different from me. This multicultural world continues to
exponentially grow and expand, so having an openness and acceptance towards it is quite crucial,
especially going into the field of counseling and psychology.
5
References
Al Doghan Mohammed, A., Bhatti, M. A., & Juhari, A. S. (2019). Do Psychological Diversity
Climate, HRM Practices, and Personality Traits (Big Five) Influence Multicultural
Workforce Job Satisfaction and Performance? Current Scenario, Literature Gap, and
Future Research Directions.Sage Open,9(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019851578
Christian Standard Bible. (2017). Holman Bible Publishers.
Feist, G. J., Roberts, T. A., & Feist, J. (2021). Theories of Personality (10th ed.). McGraw Hill
Education.
Han, S., & Pistole, M. C. (2017). Big Five Personality Factors and Facets as Predictors of
Openness to Diversity. The Journal of Psychology, 151(8), 752-766.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2017.1393377
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
