Premium Essay

Personality

In:

Submitted By joeyalextorres
Words 1340
Pages 6
Personality
Joseph Torres
PSY 405: Theories of Personality
March 17, 2014
Sarah Lind
University of Phoenix

Personality
Psychology of personality is the study of personality, which a person’s differences distinguishes him or her from others. Defining personality becomes difficult because of the many aspects that are included. The word theory tends to be confused with other words like hypothesis or philosophy, which many factors can affect a person’s personality. There are different theories that assist psychologists in determining how or why a person develops characteristics and traits. Without a clear understanding, personality will continue to be a focus for psychological research and theories.
Personality Definition The term “personality” in the Latin reference means persona, which is like a mask an actor, wears in shows during the Greek or Roman performances (Feist & Feist, 2006). The actor superimposes his or her persona to establish an appearance in the characters plot. During modern day, personality has a separation from false appearances in regards to behavior that is observable. Personality tends to describe the characteristics or traits of people. There are consistencies of behaviors that traits take account for through time, which characteristics describe the attributes of a person. An example would be a person’s intelligence of physique. A pattern of traits, which are permanent, with characteristics that are unique provide consistency to the behavior of a person is known as personality (Feist & Feist, 2006). This can influence the stability of a person’s behavior and reliability of behavior in situations.
Understanding a Theory
The word theory is one of the most understood words in the English language. A set of assumptions that allow the use of deductive reasoning to formulate hypotheses at a testable level is known as a scientific

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Personality

...What would make a personality test reliable and valid? In this week personiality is the main focuas. It is amazing how much information a person can learn just from reading into peoples emotional, mental, and social characteristics. The purpose here is to help others understand what personality is, the key features that define, the key concepts. The information gathered will tell if personality features consistent, and what will make a personality test reliable and valid. Personality Aftering intence research personiality is the charther apperance that is seen by outside indivuals. Personiality is also seen as the characteristics impression that is given to another person about an indiviual. However, Shantell has never taken a personality test, however once reading what seems to produce a prsons personality, one can say that personality is the way aperson acts and thinks. It is a portric of what some one says and feel within. Key Features There are many key features that can define a person, but the main ones that define Shantell are her spiritual dimension,which is better known as reglion. Her height, culture, mastery, the consistency of her behavior, and her interaction between people in mulitible environments are som key features. If Shantell was to take a personality test she believes the test will measure her strenthes and weekness when dealing with different situations such as emergies, and business deals, and daily activites. she believes the test...

Words: 780 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Personality

...of their distinctive personalities. The mere fact that we all have different parents, life styles, family members, and different routine patterns that they have become accustomed to, seals the fact that we all will be unique in our own way. All of these combined, contributes to the foundation of one’s personality. I believe the personality of a person is the sum of a person’s physical, emotional, mental as well as their social characteristics. What makes people different? Why are some people more likable or more likely to be socially accepted by others? Why are people judged by the way that they act or appear to be rather than by what they have to offer? These are just a few questions that came to my mind when I overheard a group of teenagers talking about this kid that attempted suicide because he felt as if he was an outcast to his peers. This story made me realize that the personality of an individual can determine whether or not a person is capable of overcoming some of the cruel and insensitive barriers that are placed in his or her pathway by the people that he or she has to deal with on a day to day basis. There are many traits that I have adopted throughout my life which defines my personality. I can really appreciate my family for grooming me into the man that I am today. I am not saying that every day was superb, but I have to appreciate the good and the not-so-good days that I personally experienced. I would consider my personality to be like one of a debating...

Words: 910 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personality

...Defining Personality Personality, this common thread weaves its way through the life of every person on earth, subsequently making each person's behavior different from the next. There are a number of theories on how personality develops; however, none have pinned the development of personality to any one definition. With this in mind, this paper encompasses a discussion surrounding some definitions of personality, examines research methodology that help explain personality development, and the factors that influence personality development. Personality Perspectives For many years people studied personality and theorized about where this behavior came from. Personality is a unique aspect to each individual and is "…a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior" (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 4). In addition, speculation of personality development centers on genetics and the environment. However, there are challenges in the interpretation of personality development test data, as there are a number of perspectives trying to define personality and each theory is unique to the perspective of the theorist. If one looks toward psychoanalyses for an answer, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, or Carl Jung would contend that personality is a result of early childhood experiences and "…ongoing compromise among numerous independently operating mental subsystems" (Funder, 2001, p. 199). Thus, expressing...

Words: 1245 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Personality

...Value of Understanding Personality By Caroline Hinkes What is personality? Personality, in its simplest definition, refers to the overall characterization of an individual-including both positive and negative, made evident by different circumstances in a person's life. Personality encapsulates the different traits that people perceive in an individual. Personality isn't something that you're just born with. While some traits may be present at birth, there are so many other factors that help build a person's personality. Factors such as education, physical limitations, genetic makeup, environment exposure, life experiences, and emotional issues all come together to create the entirety of an individual's personality. By working toward an ideal personality, a person can develop new standards of character and become a better individual with more potential to succeed in life. Every individual has a set of characteristics, both good and bad, that can work together and be managed to develop an ideal personality. Using tools, strategies, and understanding certain principles and ideas can lead one to become more self-confident and linguistically competent. A person's strengths and talents, as well as social skills can also be developed for a more positive perspective on life. Four Factors that Affect Personality When we ask the question, "What is personality?" we also want to know the things that affect it. There are four major areas that contribute to the development...

Words: 701 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personality

...The many theorists of personality and psychologists cannot agree on a definition of personality. They understand that it is what makes each person unique, but other than that they are baffled. This is not from a lack of trying. Many theorists have been studying personality for years. Sigmund Freud has theorized many things about personality and his work is still being used today. Nature verse nurture is another debate in the personality world. Psychologists cannot come to a conclusion as to whether it is genetics or the environment that gives people their personality. Psychologists have theorized many ways as to how people obtain their personality, whether it is nature or nurture; this paper will discuss that topic. The word personality has no set in stone meaning. The reason for this is because psychologists cannot agree on the meaning. Each branch of psychology will think that the meaning of personality is different, as well as each psychologist within the branch thinking that the meaning is different. Although psychologists do not agree on the same definition they can agree on what it does to a point; this is the generic definition of personality. They agree that personality is the characteristics and traits of a person that attribute to each person’s own behavior. Since psychologists cannot agree on just one definition of personality, many psychologists have come up with theories for what it is and different concepts about it. According to Feist & Feist (2009),” A scientific...

Words: 1141 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Personalities

...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Potential Strengths” These are the general characteristics for these Personalities.[1] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Popular Sanguine Personality * The Extrovert * The Talker * The Optimist* Are Best: * In Dealing with People Enthusiastically. * In Expressing Thoughts with Excitement. * In Up-Front Positions of Attention.* . Their Emotions: As a Parent: As a Friend: At Work: -Appealing Personality -Makes Home Fun -Makes Friends Easily -Volunteers for Jobs -Talkative, Story-Teller -Is Liked by Children’s Friends -Loves People -Thinks Up New Activities -Life of the Party -Turns Disaster into Humor -Thrives on Compliments -Looks Great on the Surface -Good Sense of Humor -Is the Circus Master -Seems Exciting -Creative & Colorful -Memory for Color -Envied by Others -Has Energy & Enthusiasm ...

Words: 622 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality Danielle Taliaferro PSY 211 June 5, 2013 Andrea Mc Lellan, MA, MFT Personality The study of personality is one of the major topics of interest within psychology. Each of us, as human beings, influences much that is within us and around us. Each person has many psychological attributes; feelings, thoughts and motivations. It is our personality that orchestrates our psychological qualities. Some individuals cannot help but wonder how the personality works, how it came to be and what it might mean for their future. Some also wonder about the personalities of others; how they are the same or different from them. Although these questions are intriguing, the question that must be answered first is the most basic: “What is personality?” Personality encompasses the many characteristics that arise from within an individual. It is what makes an individual unique. Researchers have developed four different perspectives on personality. Each of these perspectives attempts to describe different patterns in personality, including how these patters form and how people differ on an individual level. Psychoanalytic Perspective emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences and the unconscious mind. This perspective was created by psychiatrist Sigmund Freud who believed that things hidden in the unconscious could be revealed in a number of different ways, including through dreams, free association and slips of the tongue. Freud’s work shaped the fields of clinical...

Words: 1559 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality is defined as the visible aspect of one's character as it impresses other, a person as an embodiment of a collection of qualities the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. Personality is the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual and the quality of being a person. Also it’s the essential character of a person and distinctive qualities of a person, especially those distinguishing personal characteristics that make one socially appealing. Personality tells another person who the next person is person is. It’s the pattern of collective character, behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits of a person. www.thefreedictionary.com You can see people personality come out by how they act. When people see me they see I’m very honest, dependable, and loving. There are so many things that describe my personality. My personality defines me, it tells other people who I ‘am and how I carry myself as a person. My attitude towards kids brings out my good personality because I’m a fun person and we have a good time playing games and laughing. Also, kids bring the joy and the best out of me it keeps you young and healthy. It’s a joy when you are the reason kids are running around happy. Other factors that defines my personality is I have a good heart I like helping others and being there for people that need me. I like to see everybody happy; sitting around and having a good time. Sometimes...

Words: 760 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality Kristen Lewis PSY/211 April 8, 2014 Dr. Diane H. Taylor Personality The definition of personality is a persons unique and relatively consistent pattern of thinking. There are several factors that play roles in a persons personality the culture they are raised along with the environment also DNA plays an important role. Even though, there are many different theories of personality key influences from many different psychologist play a role in the theories on personality and also the brain structure of personality. The amount of personality theories that are out there is a large number but the number that is normally used is the basic four perspectives. The first perspective is the psychoanalytic perspective that emphasizes the importance of unconscious processes and the influence of early childhood experience. Also there is the humanistic perspective that represents an optimistic look at human nature, emphasizing the self and the fulfillment of a persons unique potential. The third is the social cognitive perspective this emphasizes learning and conscious cognitive processes, including the importance of beliefs about the self, goal setting, and self-regulation. Lastly is the trait perspective that emphasizes the description and measurement of specific personality differences among individuals. (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2014) Personality development theories are based on the basic four as discussed earlier. The Differences amongst the four are great....

Words: 759 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Personality

...2008). Since 1960, personality has emerged as major field of specialization among doctoral candidates (Vance &ump; Macphail, 1964). Many investigations have been accomplished followed by literature on a variety of theories of personality. The importance on individual differences and distinctiveness of the individual are the most frequent features of the study of personality. There is a guarantee that each person’s profile is different from that of another person and thus, each person has unique personality (Allport &ump; Odbert, 1936). Nevertheless, the question is how do we determine personality? In general, the easiest approach to do this was through the observations of individual differences. Though, the validity and reliability of such observation can be questioned as it is not efficient and systematic adequately. On the other hand, the assessment of individual researcher may be subject to personal bias. Thus, in order to be accurate, personality theories often employ the systematic and scientific approach. The study can merely be called systematic and scientific when it concerned unbiased observations that are quantified so that systematic analyses can be performed (Allen, 1990). Dworkin and Kihlstrom (1978) underlined that the prediction of behavior will be improved by the use of personality tests. In line with this, many personality inventories with certain extent of reliability and validity have been developed to aid in the study of personality. There are essentially...

Words: 527 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personality

...In general, I have variety of personality traits. I am an open minded person and I like to work with multi-backgrounds people. Since I started study at elementary school I had many friends with different backgrounds (ethnic group, religion, hobby, and personality). These experience help me to build a good relationships to other people in my life time, especially in my working experience. I have good understanding about the people around me. I don’t judge them instantly when they show some different habbits from me. I realize that culture take a role on it. It helped me when I entered my life career, especially in professional communication sector. I am also able to work with team. I like to share knowledge and information to another people. Working in team challenged me to be a creative person. Almost two years working experience in professional communication sector developed my self confident. I used to meet many people with various backgrounds. Sometimes I interviewed them and discussed some topics. These experiences make me able to build the networking with others and being positive about my self when I was giving opinion or just take a long conversation with them. I think being open minded fit perfectly when I’m working in communication sector, such as Public Relations which orders understanding to anothers point of view and can deliver a reputable and balance information to public. I am also an organized person. I can work with good preparation and pay attention to time...

Words: 277 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Personality

...PERSONALITY There are many different theories of personality; the first step is to understand exactly what is meant by the term personality. A brief definition would be that personality is made up of the characteristics pattern of thought, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. Besides this, personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life. “Generally speaking personality refers to the unique core set of characteristics that influence the way one thinks, act, and feels” (Licht, Hull, & Ballantyne, 2014, p.467). After visiting the 41 question personality website, my overall personality profile was fantastic, real, and true. My results show that I am warm-hearted, popular and conscientious. The assessment further reveals that I tend to put the need of others over mine, I feel a strong sense of responsibility and duty, value traditions, and security, and interested in serving others. However, I need positive reinforcement to feel good about myself, well-developed sense of space, and function. My four different dimensions of personality are extroversion (E) vs. introversion (I), sensing(S) vs intuitive (I), thinking (T) vs feeling (F), and judging (J) vs perceiving (P). Extroversion tends to manifest as outgoing, talkative, and energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifest as more reserved and solitary behavior. According to (Licht, Hull, & Ballantyne, 2014), “extroversion dimension tends to display a marked degree...

Words: 638 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality Casey Hyndman PSY/211 January 21, 2014 Mr. Jerry Mote Personality Personality refers to the total behavior of the individual, but particularly to the relatively enduring and consistent aspect of our personality. Personality is a very vast term, it encompasses a number of factors like - The way you look; The way you dress; The way you talk; The way your listen; The way you act; Your habits; Your philosophy of life; Your versatility; Your willingness to help other etc. Personality defines a person, it makes a person and some people have good personalities and some have bad ones. There are four different perspectives to a personality. First we will look at the Psychoanalytic Perspective. Psychoanalytic Perspective emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences and the unconscious mind. For example, Michelle was adopted into a loving family when she was five.  However, for years she displayed aggressive behavior towards her adoptive parents and siblings, even though they were incredibly kind to her. The adoption specialists advised the family not to take Michelle’s behavior personally, explaining that her anger was really directed at her birth parents and former foster families for the way she had been treated.  The second perspective is the humanistic perspective and it focuses on psychological growth, free will and personal awareness. For example, a person feels like his or her life is bland and boring. A humanistic perspective would encourage the person...

Words: 843 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality In my own words, I would say that personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make each and every individual their own unique person. In addition to this, personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life. Some key personality features that define me, would be Honesty, Responsibility, Loyalty, Being Open-minded, Very Compassionate, Dedicated, Adventurous, Independent, and I love to cook and spend more time alone then around others. I can say that I ‘am an antisocial person at times. I love to make sure that everyone is happy and treated equally. Expressed sensing personality type, slightly expressed feeling personality type, and moderately expressed judging type. I suppose these are key concepts or construct’s that * are used to explain my personality. I believe myself that I ‘am observant, cooperative, * * responsible, informative, and expressive. If I had someone under my care such as * * children or a husband I believe that my main focused and concern will be on their well- * * being, their health and welfare. * * * My personality features are consistent majority of the time; if they were to change it * * would in fact have to be according to the situation I find myself in. My personality is * * ideal and unique in its own way, I find it that I have my own sense of style and...

Words: 773 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality John Bryant PSY/405 July 20, 2012 Dr. Carmel Munroe Personality Human beings are born inherently with his or her individual personality. In the following essay the author of this essay will examine personality in detail. First I intend to define personality where I will give some characteristics of personality and inform the reader what personality is. Secondly the author of this essay will examine the theoretical approaches in the study of personality and give some examples of schools of thought based on personality. Last the author of this essay will analyze influential factors that influence human personality development and compare nature versus nurture and what affect if any that has on personality. The aforementioned topics will be researched to create an understanding of human personality. An individual’s personality is made up by multiple factors that inclusively become one’s personality. Some of the characteristics of an individual’s personality are the individual’s patterns of thoughts, feelings, and certain behaviors that the individual exhibits. To understand personality one has to factor in key traits within a person and understand that personality is organized and consistent. Humans express their individual personality in different situations and tend to have stable responses to the situation. An individual’s personality tends to stay constant throughout his or her entire life with few to no changes occurring throughout. Personality is solely...

Words: 1132 - Pages: 5