Personality
Personality refers a combination of motivation, emotion, behavior and patterns of through that define an individual. In psychology, personality examines the differences and similarities of these patterns among different groups and individuals. The differences in which individuals feel, think and behave are studied through personality. Therefore, according to Moors, Ryan and Chopik (2019), personality can be defined as the overall behavior of an individual considering all factors such as thinking processes, emotions, and motivation. In the opinion of these scholars, while there is no specific theory that is used in explaining personality, it is worth noting that the environment in which an individual is subjected play a pivotal role in determining their personality. Research studies have found out that people who exhibit certain personality traits obtain them from their social environment. For instance, people are tend to become angry after being offended slightly are likely to have developed such behavior from their friends. Also, people who are too emotional may spread such characteristics to other people whom they spend much time with. Therefore, the external social environment plays a crucial role in determining one’s personality. Personality also refers to a study that examines an individual’s level of irritability or sociability characteristics. Various theories are used in explaining personality. Different people exhibit various personality traits and types depending on many factors that range from psychological, social, emotional, and psychological. Therefore, the role of personality in human development is a broad concept that cannot be underestimated. Therefore, a deeper understanding of personality can be used in understanding why people exhibit different behaviors. It is in this light that this paper delves into examining the concept of personality in depth as studied in psychology.
Personality originated from the word persona. It originated from a Greek physician who argued that human behaviors and personality traits are based on different temperaments that are related to various body fluids called “humors.”Humorism was a theory that claimed that a person’s personality resulted from a balance of different humors in the body such as black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. This study showed that people exhibit different behaviors that result to different personality traits and various processes in the body also contribute to one’s personality. These processes in the body operate different from one individual to another and are genetically determined. Most people who are related or come from one family may exhibit similar personality traits while those who are not related show completely different personality traits. This explains why most people exhibit behaviors that are similar to those exhibited by their parents. Also, other factors such as social peer group among other environmental factors play a huge role. A person’s personality may also change from one environment to another depending on the people with whom the person interacts with. For instance, a persona may become violent and develop violent personality if he or she spends much time in an environment with violent people.
Psychodynamic theory is one of the theories that are used in explaining a deeper understanding of personality. This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud who argued that human behavior results when various components of the mind such as ego, id, and super ego. Freud also stated that a pattern of different stages of psychosexual development lead to development of personality. Freud claimed that id is the instinctual and primitive part of the mind that contains aggressive and sexual drives. This part of the mind also contains hidden memories. Different people have different id depending on various biological traits. Freud further argued that the super ego is based on a moral conscience. He then stated that the acts as a mediator between the super-ego and the id. These three elements work in unison to create the behavior exhibited by different individuals. The id forms the demand in the mind while ego adds reality needs and the super-ego increases morality to the action that has been taken. These three agents work together in the mind to describe the interactions and activities of one’s mental life. Therefore, the different personalities that different individuals exhibit are as a result of these three parts of the mind. They also explain the differences in individual thoughts, feelings and behavior.
Karl Jung introduced the idea of psychological types that influence personality. The different psychological types within an individual determined their behavior within themselves and when they interact with other people. It is worth noting that despite the differences in personality whereby each person has a specific unique personality trait, some individuals exhibit different personality traits depending on the environment. This means that one may show a specific personality trait when being alone and display a completely different personality when they are in a group of other people. All these behaviors result from various psychological aspects that are unique to each individual. Biologically, the body produces certain chemicals that affect how people behave. Some of these chemicals may react differently on the personality of an individual when subjected to a one environment and react differently when the person is in another environment (Baumert, Schmitt & Perugini, 2019). For instance, people have bad moods when they wake up and are likely to use a negative or unpleasant language during this time. However, as the day progresses, such people may become excited and show a different personality. All these differences in behavior result from various chemicals in the body that control our emotions. Therefore, this explains why people may respond differently while they are alone and exhibit a different behavior when they are in a group of other people. Psychologists have studied the role of emotions and the biological processes that affect these emotions. The study has found out that these biological processes function differently among different people. This is why some people may be moodless in the morning while others are happy.
Different psychological models also affect behavior. The judging functions affect behavior through feeling and thinking. Some people base their decisions on emotions while others base them on logic. Perceiving functions, on the other hand, is based on intuition and sensing. Some people trust in imagined possibilities and abstract concepts while others trust in sensory-oriented and concrete facts. Myers and Briggs used the two personality indicators to determine whether people prefer using perceiving or judging functions during their interaction with the external environment. According to their study, most people are driven by emotions to react in certain behaviors when faced by different situations. An example is whereby one gets into a fight after being offended instead of applying logic to seek to know the reason why they have been offended. Some people react violently when offended awhile others do not react and instead take time to use their cognitive abilities to know the reason for being offended. On the other hand, people who react violently without thinking about their reason for the reaction may employ cognitive reasoning afterwards and realize that they have reacted for the wrong reasons. All these differences in how people react differently when offended can be examined through personality. Therefore, personality psychology forms the basis for which one can use to examine the interesting nature of different individuals
While modern technology continues to proliferate, studies have shown that the Internet of Things has continued to affect personality and it is predicted that in the future, people will exhibit different behaviors due to the impact of internet. The human brain is designed to embrace the behaviors that are most common within the environment where one is situated. This means that continued watching of violent games or videos is likely to influence one into developing violent behavior after a long exposure. Also, there have been an increased rate of suicides in the past few years as compared to the era when internet had not yet developed. This means that people have been seeing many instances of suicides and suicidal stories over the internet for a long time, which has hardened them and thus most people no longer take suicide as a big issue, This explains why most people opt to commit suicide when they face a challenge or lose a lot of money through gambling. Psychologically, when the mind is exposed to a certain action for a long time irrespective of how fierce it may be, it becomes used to the act and one becomes to view such actions as normal (Montag & Elhai, 2019). There have been more suicidal and drug abuse cases in the United States in the recent years than it have been the trend before. This is one of the impacts of the Internet of Things on personality. Continued exposure to drug abuse and suicide issues in the internet affects one’s personality and makes them perceive such acts as moral. Each individual has their own unique instincts that guide them on the right and the wrong. The ability to differentiate between the two depends on one’s personality. Therefore, a person who has been exposed to drugs may view drug abuse as a normal act. Also, their instincts will not question such individuals. Therefore, a close examination of one’s personality can guide an individual on the most likely behaviors that another person is likely to exhibit.
There are different traits that are used to describe personality. The personality trait theories are based on the notion that there are many dispositions or broad traits in which personality is centered. There have been numerous theories that explain the main attributes in personality. Gordon Allport, a psychologist who studied about personality psychology described personality with respect to individual traits. Allport argued that common traits are the ones that are dorminant within a particular culture while the traits that comprise of one’s personality are the central traits. Cardinal traits are the most dorminant within an individual that one becomes known for them. An example is Mother Teresa whose charity has made her name almost synonymous to charitable works. The “Big Five” theory is the most common theory in explaining the theory of personality. It argues that there are five dimensions that describe personality dimension such as extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness. Every trait occurs as a broad continuum and the personality of every individual lies within that spectrum for every trait.
All in all, personality is a wide field of psychological study that examines individuals’ behavior, motivation, feelings, and cognition in various situations. It enables one to understand why individuals exhibit various personality traits. Therefore, a close examination of personality psychology creates a deeper understanding on human body, feelings, emotions and the overall behavior.
References
Baumert, A., Schmitt, M., & Perugini, M. (2019). Towards an explanatory personality psychology: Integrating personality structure, personality process, and personality development. Personality and Individual Differences, 147, 18–27. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.04.016.
Montag, C., & Elhai, J. D. (2019). A new agenda for personality psychology in the digital age? Personality and Individual Differences, 147, 128–134. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.03.045
Moors, A. C., Ryan, W., & Chopik, W. J. (2019). Multiple loves: The effects of attachment with multiple concurrent romantic partners on relational functioning. Personality and Individual Differences, 147, 102-110.