Variable Details

Available Studies

ROS

Scaled? 

Not Scaled

Variable Type 

Cross-Sectional

Variable Name 

openness

Categories

Affect and Personality

Openness
Openness from NEO Five-Factor Inventory - Sum of 12 items (ROS only)

This variable is only available in ROS.

Openness to experience refers to intellectual curiosity and independence of judgment. The variable is measured using 12 items from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Participants rate agreement with each item on a 5-point Likert rating scale (see table below). Items for which higher valued responses are not demonstrative of openness are flipped so that higher scores across all items indicate more openness. The overall score ranges from 0 to 48 and is the sum of all individual item ratings, where higher scores indicate greater openness.

Participants are presented the following items:

Item no.ItemFlipped (f)
1I don't like to waste my time daydreaming.(f)
2Once I find the right way to do something, I stick to it.(f)
3I am intrigued by the patterns I find in art and nature.
4I believe letting students hear controversial speakers can only confuse and mislead them.(f)
5Poetry has little or no effect on me.(f)
6I often try new and foreign foods.
7I seldom notice the moods or feelings that different environments produce.(f)
8I believe we should look to our religious authorities for decisions on moral issues.(f)
9Sometimes when I am reading poetry or looking at a work of art, I feel a chill or wave of excitement.
10I have little interest in speculating on the nature of the universe or the human condition.(f)
11I have a lot of intellectual curiosity.
12I often enjoy playing with theories or abstract ideas.

Response choices for each item:

ResponseResponse codeValueFlipped value
Strongly disagree104
Disagree213
Neutral322
Agree431
Strongly agree540

Notes: In preliminary analysis, the Cronbach coefficient alpha, an indicator of internal consistency reliability was 0.68 for openness. These values are comparable to those reported in the normative cohort and indicate adequate levels of internal consistency.

Original reference for NEO: Costa PT, McCrae RR. NEO Personality Inventory - Revised. Professional Manual, Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992.


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