External Determinants

Internal versus external determinants of behavior are the ideas of how personality can either be determined based on inherent factors and upbringing or by the interaction of a person with their environment. The textbook, Personality: Theory and Research, explains that trait theories of personality argue that people inherit traits that cause generalized patterns of behavior (McCrae & Costa, 2008). While on the other hand Social Cognitive Theories of personality state that thinking processes and knowledge structures are acquired through interaction with social and cultural environments (Bandura, 1999; Mischel & Shoda, 2008). The way that I believe personality psychologists go about observing the effects of internal and external determinants

It is hard to argue against this because there are certainly aspects of a persons personality that are stable and may be part of a hierarchically concept of structures in one personality. However, I believe that if you are aware of aspects of your personality you have the power to change them meaning that your personality is in fact malleable but you may choose to keep some aspects constant because they serve you well. In psychology we are constantly looking at nature versus nurture and I believe when looking at internal versus external determinants of behavior we are having basically the same discussion. In which case it should be accepted that your personality is a combination of both internal and external factors that determine your personality. For example in my personal case, growing up in the type of family that I grew up in helped me to become flexible with whatever situation life throws at me proving that there are internal factors controlling my personality. However, growing up in my family also predisposed me to be close minded and uninterested in things that are not directly related to me; but my external environment surrounded me with people from all over the world and school opened my mind to the ability to think critically of abstract situations which caused me to make drastic changes in my process of thinking and ultimately my personality. I would then have to say that I am a perfect example of how our personalities are a mixture of internal and external factors constantly changing as we age. As a last bit, and I know that it is outside of what we have read thus far in our book but one way an internal factor can be ever changing is chemical balances in the brain so a young