University of phoenix | Character Evaluation | Psychology 230 |
Brandon Loftis
6/17/2012
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This is a very interesting assignment, where we get to evaluate a character that we love and see how they match up with the Big Five. The character that I have chosen for this assignment is Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Sheldon) from the television series “The Big Bang Theory”. This show is my absolute favorite and I have found that I can relate to the characters in the show and have people in my life that fit the characters in this show perfectly. Sheldon is characterized as extremely intelligent, socially awkward and rigidly logical. His very high IQ often seems to have created a superiority complex, but he also possesses childlike qualities, of which he seems unaware, such as extreme stubbornness. Sheldon is a bit of an enigma, where he fits some traits perfectly and others miss completely, and seems to somehow fit only portions of some traits. The two traits that best descried Sheldon are introverted and Conscientiousness, where he falls short with Neuroticism and Openness, and is the polar opposite of Agreeableness.
Sheldon has an introverted personality but in a unique way, it is not a fear of interacting with others that causes him to be withdrawn but rather the way that he places himself on a higher level of existence and has no need to interact with “lesser” beings. Sheldon is a true introvert in that he has very few friends but those who he calls a friend are very close to him, also his work ethic reflects his introvert personality by always being vigilance in his pursuit for the Nobel Prize, his attentions to detail, and the way he favors the accuracy of his work rather than the speed in which it is accomplished. One aspect that Sheldon seems to fall outside the area of a tradition introvert is that way that he is most always in a positive mood and tends to look forward to the time of his next success. That trait that can sum up Sheldon almost perfectly is Conscientiousness (C), or rather a person who scores at the very high end of the C continuum. “At the high end of the C continuum, people may be described as well organized, efficient, and dependable. They approach tasks in a systematic and orderly fashion. They analyze problems logically. They provide concise answers to questions and perform according to exacting standards in their work and in their play.”(Goldberg, 1990) Sheldon boarders on obsessive compulsive in many aspects of his life, and there is an episode where Sheldon cannot get his hair cut because his barber is in the hospital and he is forced to go without his routine hair cut this leads to Sheldon giving up on his daily routine all because one aspect fell out of place. Of the remaining three traits Sheldon may fit into
