Assessing the big five personality model as a tool for the analysis of literary/filmic characters

Abstract

En el presente ensayo estudio la viabilidad del modelo psicológico de los cinco grandes como instrumento para el análisis de la caracterización de personajes ficticios, en particular, del personaje de televisión Walter White. Con este fin realizo un experimento en el que seis sujetos divididos en dos condiciones visualizan el capítulo “Ozymandias” de la serie Breaking Bad y, posteriormente, contestan un cuestionario basado en el Inventario de Personalidad NEO. Los participantes deben completar el cuestionario tal y como creen que Walter White se describiría a sí mismo. Finalmente, concluimos que el inventario de personalidad de los cinco grandes es una herramienta fiable y útil para la exploración de personajes ficticios, además de un modelo altamente intuitivo pudiendo ser utilizado con igual eficacia por sujetos con o sin conocimiento previo de las cinco dimensiones que lo componen.

In the present essay, I study the feasibility of the big five personality inventory as a tool for the analysis and discussion of fictional characters. In this case, this personality inventory is applied to analyse the television character Walter White. To achieve this goal, I carry out an experiment in which six subjects (divided into two different conditions) watch the episode “Ozymandias” of the television series Breaking Bad and answer a questionnaire. The questionnaire is based on the NEO Personality Inventory, and participants have to fill in the questionnaire as they think Walter White would describe himself. Eventually, the study concludes that the big five personality inventory is a reliable and useful tool for the exploration of fictional characters’ qualities, as well as a greatly intuitive model which can be used with the same effectiveness by subjects with or without prior knowledge of its five dimensions.