Self-Report Measure

Overview

What it measures: Openness to experience—willingness to engage with novel ideas, appreciation for diverse perspectives, curiosity about the world, and comfort with exploration beyond familiar boundaries.

Source: Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504-528.

When to use: Pre/post assessment when activities emphasize exploration, creativity, encountering unfamiliar concepts, or engaging with diverse perspectives. Can also be used as a covariate when measuring other skills (e.g., to understand whether personality moderates learning outcomes).

Completion time: 1 minute

Items & Response Scale

Instructions to participants:

Here are a number of personality traits that may or may not apply to you. Please rate the extent to which each pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies more strongly than the other.

Response scale: 1 = Disagree strongly … 7 = Agree strongly

Openness Items (1-7 scale)

Item 5: I see myself as open to new experiences, complex.

Item 10: I see myself as conventional, uncreative. (reverse-key)

Scoring Instructions

Step 1: Reverse-code Item 10

For Item 10 ("conventional, uncreative"), reverse the score:

• 1 becomes 7
• 2 becomes 6