Nearly every day we describe and evaluate the personalities of people around us, but do we really know how ones’ personality is developed or formed? The purpose of this essay will be discussing what personality is, followed by the description of 3 personality theories, and lastly it will conclude with my view of how personality is developed.
Personality refers to a dynamic and complex set of unique psychological characteristics that every individual has instilled in them. Personality can thus be known as the consistency in an individual’s ways of being – that is, the way they think, act, react and perceive things. (Personality and Spirituality; n.d.). Many theories have been established to understand how personality develops. Examples of these theories include Erik Erikson’s Life Approach theory, Skinners Behaviourist theory and Maslow’s Humanistic Needs theory.
Erik Erikson’s Life approach theory focuses on what the impact of external
…show more content…
Francis Galton is considered to be a pioneer in the debate and studies of nature versus nurture. He believed that nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world when he is born, whilst nurture refers to every influence that affects man after his birth. He believed that the DNA and genotype that we are born with determines who we are and the type of personality traits we have. Galton explored the world of inheritance and the progression of characteristics in personality. He believed that intelligence was largely inherited thus favouring the nature part of the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate. In his work he depicts the impact of previous generations on the hereditary of personalities. He suggests that parents can pass on certain characteristics down to their offspring. Galton concluded that intelligence was inherited when he began to see the achievement of his studies through the families he examined. (Origins;
When discussing personality one must understand the differences between personality and black personality. While it may be difficult to find an all-encompassing definition, personality refers to a person's unique and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions. According to an excerpt presented in Psychological Principals and the Black Experience, "the personality represents the compromise between inner drives and needs, and the controls that limit and regulate their expression... Personality functions to maintain stable, reciprocal relationships between the person and his environment." Meaning that personality is made up of distinct characteristics that helps a person manage their day to day experiences under ordinary circumstances (Houston, 1990). There are many different theories on how one develops his or her personality. These theories include, the psychoanalytic theory which attempts to explain personality based on unconscious mental forces; the humanistic theory, which is the idea that all people are good and that they are striving for self-fulfillment; the social cognitive approach which states that people develo...
Personality is a set of individual differences that are affected by the development of an individual: values, attitudes, personal memories, social relationships, habits, and skills. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of the word based on their theoretical positions. The term "personality trait" refers to enduring personal characteristics that are revealed in a particular pattern of behaviour in a variety of situations. Personality can be determined through a variety of tests. However, dimensions of personality and scales of personality tests vary and often are poorly defined.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Personality is characterized by many dimensions of a person’s overall being. The belief that personality stems from one origin is small minded and on many levels, unsupported. If the scope of personality is expanded, it suggests that there is not a single explanation determining a person’s personality and how it is formed. Personality Theories have been generated for centuries by individuals who desire to identify what distinguishes a person’s personality and how it affects their behaviors. What is it that comprises all the unique characteristics about a person?
I believe our personalities make up who we are and how others perceive us at times. Personalities are our own unique qualities, that we possess as individuals. In writing this short paper, I have found that psychologists use assessments to define an individual’s personality to determine their qualities and what makes them different from other individuals. Through the Big Five Personality test, I found it difficult to define and understand an individual personality
In conclusion, personality is a term that refers to the many patterns of similarities and patterns of differences among individuals. There are various ways with psychologists have examined individual differences in personality including the use of genetics. Through this method, psychologists have mainly examined biological underpinnings that contribute to individual differences in personality. While these measures provide some insights regarding personality, individual differences in personality cannot be adequately explained with reference to genes because of the weaknesses of these theories and the effect of environmental factors.
Many psychologists throughout many years present theoretical approaches in an attempt to understand personality. Hans Eysenck’s approach of personality differed from that of Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytical theory of personality. Eysenck’s theory of personality relies on the scientific basis of biology in explaining human personality. Although Freud’s theories are intriguing to an open mind, Eysenck’s approach made measurable scientific sense. He relied on the use of trait and factor analysis, which is a statistical method. Freud relied on faith and his personal opinions based on observational research to reach the assumptions that set forth his theories (Feist & Feist, 2009). Eysenck and Freud did not agree on anything about understanding how and why the mind operates the way, it does.
Personality is patterns of thinking, behavior and emotional responses that make up individuality over time. Psychologist attempt to understand how personality develops and its impact on how we behave. Several theories attempt to explain personality, using different approaches. The social-cognitive and humanistic approaches are two of many theories that attempt to explain personality. This essay will identify the main concepts of social-cognitive and humanistic approach, identify perspective differences and discuss approach limitations.
As individuals we all have something within us that sets us apart, and makes us unique, our personality. Maybe you’ve come across someone who isn’t the easiest to get along with, and someone utters, “Don’t take it personally; they were born with a bad personality.” While some believe personality is entirely dependent upon your parents, your friends, and merely the way you were born, people neglect the science behind the traits of personality. Personality is defined as an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is through personality that we are able to explore our innermost being and determine why we act and react to things the way we do, and what makes us make the decisions we choose.
There are four main theories of personality. These theories include; Psychodynamic perspectives, behavioral perspectives, humanistic perspectives, and biological perspectives. The first theory to be analyzed will be Psychodynamic perspective, and this theory dates back to more than one hundred years ago. Psychodynamic theories include all of the theories from the work of Sigmund Freud that concentrates on unconscious behaviors (Wayne Weiten, 2012, p. 33). Freud was a major influence on many other intelligent scholars that followed in his footsteps about the subject of Psychodynamic perspectives. However, Freud’s theories of Psychodynamic perspectives were not always concepts that his counterparts were conformable
Personality is a branch of scientific discipline that studies temperament and its variation among people. It is a dynamic and a set of characteristics possessed by their atmosphere, cognitions, emotions, motivations and behaviours in various things. Personality conjointly refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adjustments and behaviour consistently exhibited over time that powerfully influences one’s exceptions, self-perceptions, values and attitudes. It also predicts human reactions to different folks, problems and stress.
Personality involves a blend of characteristics that make one unique. In reviewing personality, we consider the influence of the interactions that one is engaged in, the nature or the environment of one's upbringing and genetics. The characteristic traits may change over time while some of them becoming a lasting part of a person’s personality. In this essay will analyze the theories that relate to the character and the various stages that children undergo during development. We will use the same theories and developmental stages in analysis my progress from childhood up to date.
Human personality is a complex area of study. This is because in different situations, a human being will portray a certain behavior and this may be part of culture that is developed over a long time. There have been diverse observations on explanations regarding human personality. Over the time, theories have been developed attempting to explain this complex human phenomenon. Theories of personality have taken different approaches that try to make people understand the human personality. It is evident that no single theory can effectively describe personality in totality. This is because personality is not a stagnant thing but rather is an ever evolving thing. It evolves because it is an aspect of human being and naturally human beings change with time. What they used to be a 100 years ago is not what they are today. Even within a span of one week, a human being can decide to completely change his behavior due to an encounter with a compelling situation. Therefore, personality theories can be said or viewed to be valid for only a certain period of time. However, there are concepts embedded on personality theories that give them long term validity.
When we are born, over time we grow up and develop a personality. For each person, our personalities differentiate between one another which presents a wide variety of individuals. According to psychology, there are different factors that make up who we are. Today, I will be talking about the four major theories of personality (Psychodynamic, five-factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive).
Personality is the expression of a person’s traits according to ones feelings, mentality and behavior. It involves understanding individuals’ traits such as withdrawal and willpower and how various parts of an individual link together to form personality. Personality expresses itself from within an individual and is comparatively regular throughout in an individual’s life. Different people have different personalities dependent on factors such as environment and genetic composition. Our personality is dependent on the success or failure of our development in the eight stages of life. This is proposed by Erik Erikson. Success in the development stages lead to virtues while the failure leads to malignancies.
The concept of personality has numerous definitions (Fatahi, Moradi, & Kashani-Vahid, 2016). Schultz and Schultz (2009), define personality in its broad sense as the manner of an individual’s behaviour in different situations. This essay explores the nature of personality, with the intention of highlighting its flexibility. The results of numerous empirical research studies are examined in order to investigate if, and how personality changes over time. It will be argued that an individual’s personality has the ability to change throughout their life.