Conscientiousness. Is it always a good thing?

Soul GPS
3 min readSep 22, 2020
Photo by Bahaa A. Shawqi from Pexels

What makes people enter into and stay in toxic relationships for much too long?

Turns out that there are seven specific traits that belong to people who form the perfect personality model that attracts manipulators.

These traits include: conscientiousness, empathy, cooperativeness, optimism, fear of failure, attachment, and sentimentalism.

The list is by no means exhausted but it is enough to give us a feel for the person who falls for the promises spun by a highly problematic partner, whether in business or private life.

Now, these traits are fine to possess in a neutral to positive social context, meaning when you are surrounded by kind and benevolent people who are not set at exploiting these traits in you for their personal gain.

The moment you encounter a malevolent manipulator however, these traits instantly become your prime vulnerabilities.

Since our world consists of a diverse mix of personalities, it’s good to be aware of the traits within yourself as well as the MO of those who seek to profit from your naïveté.

In this series of articles, we will look at each trait, how it manifests, what it means and what you can do to protect yourself if you identify with it.

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Soul GPS

Certified coach and workshop facilitator, sharing tools for healing from narcissistic abuse and chronic pain. #coach #writer mysoulgps.org