Will Smith returns to cinemas in the latest instalment of the buddy cop action franchise
Bad Boys For Life, along with Martin Lawrence to form iconic cop duo that first hit the
big screen back in 1995.
What particularly interests me is that Will Smith has endured as one of Hollywood's biggest
and most popular stars for close to 30 years, with his popularity today remaining as high
as ever.
It made me wonder how he's managed to keep such a positive profile in his public image,
especially in an industry notorious for many actors being exposed in scandals and negative
press.
It's on looking into this question that I've come to realise that he holds some fundamental
qualities as a person that makes him so likeable, with some lessons we can all learn to apply
in our own lives.
So in this video, I'm exploring why Will Smith is so likeable as an individual and how he
has maintained his success in Hollywood for such a prolonged period.
Now, it's pretty obvious certain facets such as his wealth, status and position and good
looks are all going to play a role, so I won't go into these, but rather personality traits
that can help specify some of his charm.
Before we delve deep, I have previously done a video on Will Smith's storytelling skills
which are highly admirable.
If you think that might be of interest, I will link in in the description.
1.
The Big 5 Now before we break down Will Smith's personality
traits and qualities that make him extremely likeable, it's first best to figure out what
personality traits we need to consider when doing this, as it will help better structure
our understanding on where to focus.
To do this, I'm going to look into the big five personality traits model, which has been
used in the field of psychology for decades and while it's been debated by psychologists
over the years, it's still the most well known and recognised model in the field.
So to begin, the 5 personality traits include:
Openness to experience, which considers whether individuals are inventive and curious vs.
consistent and cautious Conscientiousness, which considers whether
individuals are efficient and organized vs. easy-going and careless
Extraversion, which considers whether individuals are outgoing and energetic vs. solitary and
reserved Agreeableness, which considers whether individuals
are friendly and compassionate vs. challenging and detached
and finally Neuroticism, which considers whether individuals are sensitive and nervous vs.
secure and confident
The Big Five personality traits each contain two separate, but correlated, aspects reflecting
a level of personality below the broad domains.
However, this is still a level above the individual facet scales that are also part of the Big
Five.
The aspects are labeled as follows: Volatility and Withdrawal for Neuroticism, Enthusiasm
and Assertiveness for Extraversion, Intellect and Openness for Openness to Experience, Industriousness
and Orderliness for Conscientiousness and Compassion and Politeness for Agreeableness.
If an individuals doesn't display a clear predisposition to a single factor in each
dimension, then they are often considered as being adaptable, moderate and reasonable,
though may equally be perceived as unprincipled, inscrutable and calculating.
Now with explaining the big 5, let's look at some of the factors that influence Will
Smith's personality and how this makes him likeable.
We won't go through all five traits, but rather focus on those that work to help us relate
to him more easily.
2.
Extraversian The most obvious starting point to consider
when looking at an individual's ability to be relatable is how the do in social situations,
heavily characterised by their extraversian.
Many of us understand this in our day to day speech as extroverts, introverts, or even
ambiverts, whereby a person's nature is inclined in how they respond to different relationships.
Will Smith is naturally an extrovert, as seen in his ability to be outgoing and friendly
to those he meets.
He's often quite a dominant figure in a room and this makes it easier for others to speak
to him, as they know he's naturally inclined to engage in conversation and entertain.
Now when we go back to the Big 5, the two aspects associated to extraversian as detailed
before inlclude enthusiasm and assertiveness, something that Will Smith excels at when in
social situations, as he often dominates conversations and makes his presence known, while still
having the respect to listen and acknowledge what others say, something seen frequently
in the talk shows he does.
All in all, this makes him naturally the life of the party, meaning it's easy for people
to naturally be drawn to him and be more inclined to like him.
3.
Agreeableness So previously we spoke about how Will Smith
is naturally extroverted and the life of the party in social settings, but what helps him
stand apart from others is he's naturally very agreeable.
People who are agreeable tend to show a lot of compassion and friendliness to others.
Psychological studies conducted have traditionally shown that women are naturally more agreeable
than men, but this is a trait of Will Smith that helps be significantly more likeable.
It's quite normal for people to find those that are agreeable attractive, as they'll
be sensitive to their emotional needs and naturally find ways that make people feel
better about themselves, as they're not only compassionate, but also often polite too,
meaning they carefully think through their behaviours when interacting with others.
What's particularly interesting in Will Smith's case is his agreeableness hasn't always been
natural, as he's spoken on his YouTube channel about a time in school where he said something
to anger a classmate who later hit him in the head and sent him to hospital.
While Smith was the victim in this case, he acknowledged his responsibility with his words
that incited such anger, leading him to take action to make sure he doesn't affect people
in such a way in the future, something we still see to this day when he speaks to people,
where he's careful with his words, not at all offensive and often complimentary.
4.
Low Levels Of Neuroticism People who have higher levels of neuroticism
often display behaviours that could be seen as unstable and insecure.
These are completely different to the perception of Will Smith in public, where he's often
the example of someone who is cool, confident and composed, someone that's secure within
himself.
These low levels of neuroticism are highly attractive traits, both in potential partners
and people who you may just want a relationship with.
Confidence in particular is of vital importance, and Will Smith has this in spades, perhaps
reinforced by his success as an actor and musician.
In many cases, high levels of neuroticism are often perceived as toxic or negative,
something that needs to be curbed and dealt with if possible.
The fact is, Will Smith is the complete opposite, usually perceived to be someone who people
want to engage with and believed to be a positive presence.
5.
What To Take Away Now that we've gone through some of the key
personality traits that make Will Smith highly likeable, at least his persona in the public
sphere, what lessons do we need to take away from him?
Well, it's important to appreciate qualities that make him likeable and apply them in your
life.
For example, not everyone is extroverted, but that doesn't mean there isn't something
to learn from Smith's personality.
We previously discussed how extraversian is about having enthusiasm and assertiveness,
qualities that introverts can naturally apply when the situation calls for it.
So if you talk less, that's not a problem, but when you do talk, make it a positive engagement.
Likewise, agreeableness has qualities you can develop.
What we often accept as basic human decency in being polite can go a long way to helping
us be agreeable, at least to the extent that it's accepted in social settings.
Think about your actions and your words, saying what you need to say without inciting unnecessary
and unproductive reactions because people felt emotionally triggered by you.
Have confidence in yourself, have belief and if you don't, then it's something to work
on and something that can be developed.
I've done many videos on confidence and self belief, so be sure to check them out if this
is something you're working on.
And by understanding and applying these qualities into your own life and using them in your
relationships with others, you too can be highly likeable, just like the beloved bad
boy himself, Will Smith.
Are you going to be watching Bad Boys For Life?
Let me know in the comments.
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