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Conscientiousness

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Constraint; Control of impulses; Self-regulation

Definition

Conscientiousness falls under the taxonomy of the Big Five personality traits, a common framework representing relatively stable and broad individual differences in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make individuals unique, yet alike. Broadly, individuals scoring higher on measures of conscientiousness have a strong impulse control that enables them to engage in more goal-directed and responsible behaviors. In addition, those high in conscientiousness are able to delay gratification, plan for the future, and follow the norms/rules set by society. Thus, conscientious individuals are seen as efficient, organized, and dependable. Heritability estimates indicate that approximately half of conscientiousness development is attributable to genetic factors while the other half is largely determinant on the interactions one has with their environment (Krueger and Johnson 2008). Conscientiousness is measured with a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Nicholas A. Turiano

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  1. Nicholas A. Turiano
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Correspondence to Nicholas A. Turiano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Ashton Southard

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Turiano, N.A. (2020). Conscientiousness. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1220

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