The Relationship of Big 5 Personality Traits and Self-Esteem of Selected Maritime Cadets: A Basis for a Holistic Training Program

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between the Big 5 personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) and the self-esteem of selected maritime students as a basis for the recommendation for the inclusion to the existing holistic training program of Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP). Survey questionnaires including their demographic profile, Big 5 personality traits, and the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale. After the survey (N=150), revealed that the Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness is moderately correlated to Self-esteem, which suggests that the higher the self-esteem, the higher the personality traits. Also, Low Correlation was noted between Extraversion and self-confidence, this small relationship to low extent suggests that the more a person is extrovert, the higher the self-esteem and vice versa, it also found out that negative correlation between Neuroticism and Self-esteem, this negative correlation suggest positive result considering having low score in neuroticism indicates emotional stability. There are three key findings showed on this study, findings revealed that among the Big 5 personality Traits, Conscientiousness obtained the highest score which suggests that the respondents are precise in terms of planning, they are cautious to avoid trouble which is likely related to their future profession as a marine officer. Furthermore, another finding revealed that the respondents scored low in extraversion, which is more likely related to their regimental like training. Implications and future works are discussed.