Theories of Personailty

Although there is no universally accepted definition for what personality is, the most widely accepted interpretation of personality is the pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior (Feist & Feist, 2009). Notice how this definition also dictates that these characteristics promote both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. Therefore, personality is unique to individuals; twins do not share personalities. Consistency causes us to behave the same or in a similar manner in different situations. Traits may be common among a specific group but the pattern is still specific to each individual. The term personality focuses on prominent areas of an individual’s life such as a person’s outward appearance. This accumulation of psychological collections includes emotions, motives and thoughts.

Personality also influences how we behave and move in relation to our environment. Ironically, the reason for the lack of a universal definition derives from the many backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and religions of the many personality theorists who work separately or unified to formulate theories. To reach a mutual agreement as to what personality is would be to reach a universal agreement as to what the nature of humanity is, as well as viewing personality from the exact same viewpoint; this is impossible. There also exist tools for personality theorists to gather data and formulate theories: empirical data and experiences as psychotherapists (Feist & Feist, 2009).

The difficulty faced in the field of psychotherapy comes in formulating theories. Like any other field, one must be totally objective to form useful theories. Because wit...

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...lly obvious when studying how students vote at election polls similar to their parents (Jonason & Webster, 2012).

In conclusion, many factors develop theories of personality including the personalities of the theorists themselves. One must be objective in making theories in order for them to have any real use. If these theories are not capable of generating hypotheses that can change, verify, or falsify it, it holds no real merit. The dimensions of analyzing human nature and personality are subjective to the faults of personality itself.

Works Cited

Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: Mc Graw Hill.

Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2012). A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad personalities and social influence tactics. Personality & Individual Differences, 52(4), 521-526. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.023