Introduction: What is Personality?
Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)
Traditional Theory Vs Cognitive Theory
When we speak about personality, we must consider the two prominent schools of thought: traditional and cognitive theories. Traditional theorists believe that personality is static and not likely to change, irrespective of education (Holland and Rayman et al., 1986, pp. 55--82). To suggest that a person’s personality and behaviour are consistent over time is a more unitary view that fails to incorporate the effects of interaction with others. Traditional theorists believe we have little or no control over the type of personality we transmit. This personality theory is now considered obsolete and has been overshadowed by the more modern cognitive personality theory. The cognitive model views ‘people as complex and sophisticated information processors’ (Pervin, 1993). Cognitive theorists see personality as more flexible as it provides predictions that are situation specific. This theory is more applicable to understanding personality in the workplace as it is largely based on how people react to certain situations and contexts. Cognitive theorists believe that ‘people do have a choice about ...
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The purpose of this research report is to investigate the personality of Beyoncé Knowles in terms of humanistic and trait conceptions of personality.
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Raymond B. Cattell (1906-1998) studied the personality traits of large groups of people, calling the visible features of their personalities “surface traits.” During his studies, Cattell observed that certain “surface traits” would appear simultaneously in individuals. When Cattell noticed this trend occurring frequently he renamed the group of “surface traits” “source traits”. At the conclusion of his research Cattell identified sixteen “source traits.”
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Different people describe the word ‘personality’ differently. Martin et al. (2010,p.610) describes personality as a “particular pattern of behavior and thinking that prevails across time and situations, and differentiates one person from another”. According to Mullins and Christy (2013,p.136), they explain that Personality may be perceived as “consisting of stable characteristics that explains why an individual behaves a certain way. Independence, conscientiousness, agreeableness and self-control are all examples of personality characteristics”. Mullins and Christy (2013, p.136) further explain that we can only identify and understand a person’s personality from listening, watching and observing them. For instance, an independent person may show independence characteristic by demonstrating a strong sense of self-sufficiency. It would be expected that this individual would not be dependable on other people around him and if this is established, it can support the characteristic being a consistent part of the person’s behavior. Individuals are therefore generally consistent in the way they respond to situations. At...
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The Five-Factor Model of Personality gives an insight to psychologists when dealing with patients and test subjects. Due to this theory, research psychologist are able to research personality more accurately and uphold a better understanding when discussing the reasoning behind certain pre-disposed tendencies. Also, counselors which practice different types of therapy are enabled to learn details concerning their patient that can assist in the treatment of that specific patient. There have been multiple disputes in regards to the validity of the Five-Factor Model of Personality theory. Many skeptics believe that there are too many variations that come into play when dealing with personality in order to accurately depict and diagnose a 100% accurate declaration of ones’ characteristics (McCrae, 1991). The issue with relying on the model in order to declare one’s characteristics is that there is often overlap between the degrees of high and low (Popkins, 1998). Although this is a valid statement, the model is a significant role in sorting through the variations to achieve a probable consensus. Therefore, the model cannot achieve a result without any probable cause for doubt but generally will provide a clear depiction of ones’ traits and
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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.