Walter White is the main protagonist of the acclaimed show Breaking Bad. In this short analysis, I will go through the personality traits that Walter White seemed to possess.

I am using the five factor model of personality to assess Walt’s character. Below, I’ve written it down in very brief points. If you wish to understand Walter White more deeply, check out this character analysis.

Let’s begin!

Openness to Experience: Moderately High

Walt is intelligent.

He is also open to other value systems. He can justify crime but, on the other hand, he also shows some understanding of how his drug business does not conform to societal standards of clean living. Moreover, he is also creative; this is shown in how he deals with Tuco, manipulating him effectively and creatively.

It should be said, however, that he could make better aesthetic choices. While the hat on Heisenberg is certainly stylish – the outfit is put together haphazardly. A more aesthetic individual would probably put his outfit together close to someone like Hannibal or Dexter.

Concientiousness: High

Throughout the runtime of Breaking Bad, Walt is shown to be a workaholic, often coming home late.

There are also clear pieces of evidence of his ambitions; such as when he discloses to Pinkman about his plans to expand upon their business, with Gustavo Fring gone. He also organizes his attempts to get rid of threats were carefully.

Extraversion: Moderately Low

Walt does not have a very big social circle.

In fact, the people he confides in are limited to just his immediate domestic and work circle. In the beginning of the show, Walter is visibly inhibited while interacting with the many people who had come to his birthday party.

Other than this, Walt is shown to be outgoing only in situations where he has some other ulterior motive. For example, when he agrees to join Hank Schwader on a drug bust, he only seems to have the intention of seeing how the drug business is run from a house. Otherwise, he had refused Hank previously to go to such operations.

Agreeableness: Low

It will be wrong to say that Walter is not empathic. He certainly understands how Jesse Pinkman feels, when the latter’s girlfriend died early on in the show.

Having said that, Walt stands his ground over points that he disagrees with.

He firmly refuses Gustavo Fring’s offer to work for him early on, until one of his own motives was fulfilled. Furthermore, in an argument with Mike, he chose to work independently of Mike when faced with the choice of giving his money to people who he thought did not deserve it. He is also compliant only when his own interests are involved. When his interests are not met, he seemingly is discarding of others’ worth – as was the case in his paranoia towards Gustavo Fring.

Neuroticism: Moderately Low

Walter appears to handle the news of his death fairly well.

Rather, he is accepting of it.

While there certainly is a factor of being bored and disinterested in his life at the beginning, he does not display enough dysfunction to qualify for depression, anxiety or a fixation on negative emotions.

Even after ‘having lost everything’, Walter does all the tasks that he sets for himself at the end of the show.

There are, however, indications of anger issues. Some of his thoughts seem to be off base. For example, he believes that his former friend Elliott and former fiancé mistreated him, reaping the benefits of his work. However, it was he who impulsively sold his share of Gray Matter Technologies.

Summary

Walter exhibits signs of having a creative, industrious and meticulous personality. He likes to work long hours on his craft to the point where the money that he earns is almost irrelevant. However, he also considers himself to be a dutiful family member, and this justification is often used for his workaholism and continued meth-cooking. He can bear social gatherings, but he would rather spend the time with a few people who are within his closer social circles.

Furthermore, Walt retaliates quickly when he senses danger near to his close social circles, indicating a secure attachment style. Due to his intellectual capacity to formulate complex plans, he is able to stay aloof of both his competitors and the law enforcement.

In some ways, his thoughts and actions seems to align somewhat close to a high-intelligence subclinical antisocial personality.