# Keanu Reeves - Who Is He? ## Analysis for Personality Psychology Personality is difficult to isolate. How do we know who a person is? Two theories about “who people are” are the Five Factor Model (FFM) and the Hierarchy of Needs. To explain and apply these theories, we will examine the personality of Keanu Reeves. Keanu Reeves is a 46-year-old male who was born in Lebanon and raised in Canada. His father abandoned him when he was 3 years old and his mother remarried repeatedly. Mr. Reeves never completed a high-school education. In the recent past, he has lost a child to stillbirth and lost his ex-wife to a car accident. In addition, his sister is coping with Leukemia. He began acting in theatre at the age of nine and had attained major movie roles by the age of 25. Interestingly, his role in the Bill & Ted movies led to the perception he was empty-headed. Even today, some remnants of this perception exist. He is described, however, by his colleagues, as: introspective, charismatic, a collaborator, bright, funny, aware, open, willing to take risks, and anal about the work”. The FFM posits that individual personalities can be described by examining evidence for five broad categories of personality characteristics (traits), each of which are placed along a continuum. These five factors were derived by factor analysis of words used to describe people. In the FFM, there are 30 individual dimensions with which to place an individual personality – six individual dimensions to each of the five factors. The five factors that make up the FFM are commonly called the “Big Five.” The Big Five include Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. Briefly, Extroversion is the tendency to be talkative and sociable; Agreeableness is the tendency to be friendly and warm; Conscientiousness is the tendency to be dependable and organized; Neuroticism is the tendency to be nervous and moody; finally, Openness is the tendency to be creative and open to experience (Friedman & Schustack, 2009). While each of these factors is composed of six individual traits, we can generally use the five broader categories to produce a model of personality. Since these traits were framed in terms of words of description, we can readily use descriptions of Keanu Reeves as a basis for applying the FFM. Since each dimension in the FFM is a continuum, it makes sense to describe personality in terms of the extent to which a trait exists. To demonstrate, we can fuzzily describe the extent to which Reeves exemplifies each of the Big Five. There is evidence to suggest that Reeves is less extroverted than we might assume due to his choice of profession. He was described in a 2005 article by Lev Grossman as “Hollywood’s ultimate introvert” and in the same article his manager, Erwin Stoff, describes him as a “really private person ... keeping a distance from people.” This would lead one to rate Reeves in the lower to middle range for Extroversion. We can find examples of Reeves’ agreeableness through descriptions such as “… a collaborator who meets you more than half way…” and “sort of gregarious and kind of funny”. At the same time, however, he is described as “clawing for his privacy” when being interviewed. This might lead us to think that Reeves falls somewhere in the upper middle range in Agreeableness. Similarly, there are many examples of his Conscientiousness: “if I sent him a book that had something to do with the film, he would read it right away,” or “incredibly professional…always on time…” and “…first one there, the last one to leave…”. These would lead us to rate Reeves as being in the upper range for Conscientiousness. Reeves does demonstrate some examples of Neuroticism: One of his directors described him as being “intense” and having learned how to “channel his energies.” Carrie-Anne Moss described him as “hardcore with himself and so hard on himself” and Jon Amiel goes further to note that Reeves would “swear violently and stomp off into a corner”. However, more examples of emotional stability are present than otherwise. Most poignantly, Lawrence Fishbourne describes him as being able to take heavy criticism from many people and still be compassionate. These examples lead one to conclude that Reeves might fall somewhere in the middle range of Neuroticism. Finally, with regards to Openness, one can find numerous examples of Reeves being well read, witty, artistic, and intelligent. Rachel Weisz described him as “cleverer than some of the dons at Cambridge.” One director said that he was “willing to take risks” with regards to playing roles that might not fit him at first glance. From these examples, one could argue that Reeves possesses Openness in the middle to upper range. One would need to, however, take into consideration his propensity for privacy as possibly simultaneously increasing Neuroticism and decreasing Openness. The preceding application shows the relevancy of using factor analysis to determine the Big Five and show how the FFM readily lends itself to modeling personality based on descriptions of personality. Would one be able to predict what it might be like to meet Keanu Reeves based on a description of him as being somewhat introverted, rather agreeable, very conscientious, slightly neurotic, and open to intellect? This rough sort of model would provide some useful information about what it might be like to meet a new person for the first time and the model could be refined by examining each of the sub-traits of the Big Five, which would very likely increase the predictive power of the model. However, just knowing the central dispositions of an individual might not convey the entire scope of that individuals personality. What motivates an individual? Henry Murray would describe Reeves’ dedication to acting as a need for achievement and a need for exhibition. However, this doesn’t quite capture the descriptions of Reeves as not being interested in fame or publicity. Perhaps there is different sort of need at play, which could explain Reeve’s personality more accurately. Abraham Maslow, a Humanist, developed the idea of the need for self-actualization. Self-actualization is defined as “the innate process by which a person tends to grow spiritually and realize his or her potential.” While this may be difficult to pin down in biological or behavioral terms, it does lend itself well to discovering what motivates people. Self-actualization can only be practiced once lower needs are met. Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs generally formed by a distinction between needs with regards to survival (whether it be biological, physical, or social survival) and needs with regards to “being,” or self-actualization. These needs were, from lowest to highest, Physiological, Safety, Belongingness, Esteem, and Self-actualization. Maslow believed that self-actualization was organismic – natural to the organism – and part of the natural development of the individual. It could certainly be argued that Reeves has stronger needs for esteem and belongingness due to his abandonment by his father at the age of 3. Biographically, it is safe to say that his Safety and Physiological needs were being met for the entirety of his life due to his family connections to the movie industry – a family friend became (and still is) his manager at a very young age. Through reading descriptions of him across the span of his career, one can see that Reeves most certainly has a strong drive for self-actualization. One description by Patrick Swayze sums up this drive, with a particularly humanistic perspective: “He's a little hard on himself when he works. But that's good because that continues the seeking spirit - because he wants the most out of the moment and out of himself.“ Other’s describe him as “…looking to learn…looks for and responds to close work with the director…” and that “… he so much wants to [get better as an actor]…”. One could also argue that h is propensity for privacy is an extension of his fulfilled esteem and belongingness needs (which would be supported by his close knit friendships and long time membership in a band) and that his interest in Eastern religion is an expression of his self-actualization needs. Perhaps it is best to use a quote from Reeves himself, after his recent losses: "I think, after loss, life requires an act of reclaiming. Grief changes shape, but it never ends. Life has to go on." While perhaps there is no evidence for his actually having attained self-actualization, this quote and the descriptions of him by others do support Maslow’s idea of a natural drive for self-actualization. Once again, we are faced with a dilemma, similar to that of the FFM, does examining a person in terms of their needs provide enough accurate information to describe what it would be like to meet a new person for the first time? Perhaps the need for self-actualization can capture some of the missing elements in the FFM, but it certainly cannot stand on its own. We wouldn’t be able to describe what Reeves is actually like, succinctly, without involving some description of traits and dispositions. This speaks to the need for the integration of the different theoretical perspectives on personality. The trait and skill approach seems to fit nicely with the humanistic perspective and each can be augmented by behaviorist, cognitive, biological, or other perspectives. Still, we are left wondering about people, particularly with actors – who are they? ## References Friedman, Howard S. and Schustack, Miriam W.. (2009). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research 4th edition. Pearson Higher Education. Grossman, Lev. “The Man Who Isn’t There” Quotes from - http://www.whoaisnotme.net/quotes.htm