Notes

Defining Personality:

An individual’s personality is a recurring and consistent pattern of behavior, thought processes, and understanding displayed in day-to-day life. Personality consists of three main elements. They are stability, consistency, and uniqueness.
Stability refers to certain aspects of your personality that tend to remain stable throughout your lifetime. For instance, if you are friendly and outgoing in childhood, chances are that you will retain these qualities as you grow up.
Consistency refers to how regularly you display certain characteristics of your personality. For instance, a reclusive person will tend to be relatively quiet and aloof. This happens irrespective of the environment. It will happen whether the person is at school, work, home, or even a social event.
The third aspect of personality is uniqueness and states that each individual is different or unique. Learning about an individual’s family history, social relationships, experiences, etc., might not be enough to evaluate the individual’s personality. Thus, the postulated theories of personality work from the basic assumption that each person has a unique personality. Everyone might show similar characteristics in specific situations. However, the variations, levels, and combinations of these characteristics make each person unique.
Many psychologists have studied personality over the years. The highly complex nature of the concept has interested and intrigued them for various reasons. Primarily, the concept of personality arouses curiosity and fascination. This is because people with completely different backgrounds, relationships, environments, and knowledge may respond to a given situation in very similar ways. For example, everyone laughs at a funny movie.
Various psychologists have defined personality differently. The approaches of their personality theories vary as well. These approaches differ based on the type of study conducted, whether or not the study considered one specific element of personality, etc. There are five main approaches or categories of personality theories. They are trait theories, type theories, psychodynamic and sociocultural theories, and humanistic theories. However, the common purpose of all personality theories is to explain the intricacies of personality; predict, influence, or modify some of its aspects; and to benefit the study and understanding of human behavior.
Trait Theories:
A personality trait is a consistent and long-lasting component of an individual’s personality. Personality traits define the nature of an individual. They affect the individual’s outlook toward people and society in general. For instance, a cheerful and optimistic person tends to look at the world from a more positive perspective and acts accordingly in various situations. It is crucial to note that a trait is different from a state of mind.
We can define a state as a temporary shift in an individual’s personality that occurs due to an unusual external or internal factor. For example, a normally easygoing person might become angry when faced with severe adversity. Similarly, a typically confident and assertive person might feel scared if threatened beyond a certain point. Various personality theories known as trait theories rely on identifying traits. Let’s look at the contributions of psychologists such as Gordon Allport, Raymond Cattell, and Hans Eysenck in the study and development of trait theories.
Gordon: During the 1930s, psychologist Gordon Allport classified personality traits into three major types. They were cardinal, central, and secondary. According to him, a cardinal trait refers to the most dominant trait of an individual’s personality. This has a considerable bearing on the individual’s life. Such traits tend to be almost synonymous with a person’s identity. For instance, Mother Teresa achieved recognition for her empathetic and compassionate personality.
Central traits are a person’s other major traits. You may call a person confident, friendly, deceitful, funny, and so on. At such times you are referring to the person’s central traits. Lastly, secondary traits are relatively weaker features of personality. They don’t give a clear picture of an individual’s true nature. For instance, a person might usually be patient and careful. However, the person might drive rashly and become impatient when trying to reach a place by a particular time. Thus, secondary traits vary according to certain circumstances.
Raymond Cattell: In the 1940s, psychologist Raymond Cattell classified personality traits into two major types. They were surface traits and source traits. According to Cattell, surface traits are the most obvious and palpable aspects of an individual’s personality. Surface traits occur in clusters. For instance, you may have come across people who are generally even-tempered, caring, and polite. Such obvious characteristics are surface traits. However, after taking a closer look, you will realize that this cluster of traits make up a broader traitsensitivity. In this example, sensitivity is a source trait that manifests itself in various surface traits.
Thus, Cattell provided a cause and effect theory of personality. Cattell presented a list of 16 major source traits. He believed these traits were most prevalent across individuals. These traits also formed part of Cattell’s popular personality assessment tool This was known as the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
Hans Eysenck: In 1947, psychologist Hans Eysenck proposed two traits. He felt that these traits could describe the entire concept of personality. These traits were extraversion and emotional stability. According to Eysenck, extraversion is the extent to which a person is outgoing, friendly, and socially active in general. If a person is low on such a scale, the person is leaning toward introversion. Introversion is the quality of being aloof and quiet.
Emotional stability refers to a person’s emotional strength. It is also the ability to deal with one’s feelings and emotions in a positive manner, even in trying times. Similarly, emotional instability makes a person more vulnerable to difficult situations. Such people may suffer from nervous breakdowns and become depressed when faced with problems.
After proposing this theory, Eysenck studied patients suffering from various forms of mental illnesses. He added a third trait to his theory of personality based on this research. It was called psychoticism. Psychoticism is a negative trait that can make an individual extremely delusional, aggressive, apathetic, and antisocial.
The Big Five Personality Traits:
In 1963, psychologist W. T. Norman stated that Cattell’s theory proposed too many personality traits He also felt that, Eysenck’s theory proposed too few personality traits (three). Norman suggested that five traits should be adequate to describe the realm of personality. In 1981, four researchers came to the same conclusion during a conference in Honolulu. They were Lewis Goldberg, Andrew Comrey, John Digman, and Naomi Takemoto-Chock. Thus, another trait theory of personality known as the Big Five personality factors model emerged. The term Big Five came from Goldberg. He was one of the researchers of the theory as well as a psychologist working at the University of Oregon at the time. Let’s understand more about these five factors.
Extraversion: This trait suggests how social and outgoing a person is. The diametrical opposite of this trait is introversion. This suggests that the person is quiet and reclusive.
Agreeableness: People with this trait tend to be positive and considerate toward others. They also excel at building and maintaining healthy social relationships. Such people are generally cooperative and helpful. This also makes them strong team players. On the other hand, disagreeable people lack harmony and social skills. They aren’t particularly considerate.
Conscientiousness: This trait refers to the way in which a person controls and manages instincts and desires. People who are conscientious try to do the right thing. They follow rules and the laws of the land, carefully manage work and relationships, etc. Though they may seem uninteresting and overtly meticulous at times, they are also intelligent. On the other hand, individuals who are low on this trait tend to be more spontaneous. They even tend to be rash at times. Unconscientious people are not well organized. They generally give in to their impulses. They typically clash with authority figures and law enforcement.
Neuroticism: or emotional instability is a negative trait. It relates to emotions such as fear, depression, anxiety, anger, etc. People who score high on this trait tend to be more pessimistic in their daily lives. They typically magnify their own problems. Such individuals tend to be more paranoid. They also tend to be dissatisfied and insecure about their work and relationships. In contrast, emotionally stable people are more optimistic and confident in general. They also tend to get along with others. This is because they are satisfied with most aspects of their lives.
Openness to experience: This trait refers to how open-minded a person is. Individuals scoring high on this trait tend to be intelligent. They are also relatively receptive to change and interested in art and beauty. Such people are generally creative and unconventional. They are capable of thinking outside of the box. On the other hand, individuals who are not open to experiences tend to be more conservative and orthodox. They are wary of change, experiments, novelty, and adventures. They are creatures of habit who prefer simplicity. They stick to conventional methods to accomplish tasks.
Various tests for assessing personality traits have evolved over the years. Such tests include personality inventories. Personality inventories are questionnaires that ask the test-taker to choose between options such true or false, agree or disagree, etc. This may be with regard to behavior, choices, and feelings in a given situation. Professionals review the test-taker’s responses on such tests. This helps them obtain an accurate understanding of the individual’s personality. Let’s look at some popular and widely-used personality tests based on trait theories of personality.
The Big Five Personality Test:
In this personality test, the test-taker rates various statements based on the extent to which the individual agrees or disagrees with the statements. For example, one of the statements could be, “I think people take me for granted.” The test-taker has options such as (1) disagree, (2) slightly disagree, (3) neutral, (4) slightly agree, or (5) agree. The test poses 50 such questions (statements). These measure the test-taker’s five basic personality traits.
16PF Questinnaire:
Dr. Raymond Cattell developed the 16PF Questionnaire. This was based on 16 personality source traits. These included reserved-outgoing, trusting-suspicious, relaxed-tense, and so on. The questionnaire contains 164 statements. It provides a disagree-to-agree scale (similar to the Big Five Personality test). The test-taker has to rate disagreement or agreement with the statements.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):
During the 1930s, psychologist Starke Hathaway and psychiatrist J. C. McKinley introduced the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). This was originally developed as a personality test. This test is currently among the most widely used clinical tests. The MMPI assesses a person’s clinical qualities. These may include depression, anxiety, etc. The current version is the MMPI-2. It directs the test-taker to answer 567 true or false questions. These questions try to gauge different personality traits in various situations. For instance, it might include a statement like, “You don’t like to talk to people at a party”. For this question, the test-taker will have to select true or false. Based on the responses to such statements, the test tries to assess problems (such as depression) in a test-taker’s personality. In addition, the test has certain scales that attempt to assess how honestly the test-taker has responded to the statements and how much thought went into the responses. The MMPI-2 is not like other personality tests. This is because it tests more for clinical qualities than personality traits. Thus, clinicians use it in counseling and diagnosis, but only rarely as a personality trait test.
Personality Assessment System (PAS)
In the 1950s, psychologist John Gittinger developed the PAS to assess personality traits. This system assumed that people inherited certain traits that they could modify through learning and personal experiences. The test uses a structure similar to that of an intelligence quotient (IQ) test. For instance, the PAS uses the same subtests as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) to assess an individual’s problem-solving skills, verbal skills, reasoning skills, and so on. Similar to Cattell’s 16 dimensions of personality traits, the PAS uses three dimensions of personality. These are internalizer-externalizer, rigid-flexible, and acceptable-unacceptable. Let’s find out more about each dimension.
Internalizers (I): Such individuals are withdrawn, aloof, instinctive, and self-assured. People with such traits rely more on themselves than others. They use internal cues to guide their thought processes. They typically don’t allow their social environment to influence them.
Externalizers (E): These people tend to fall under the influence of external factors in their social environment. This makes them more dependent on others. They need support, attention, and appreciation from others to feel confident and secure.
Rigid (R): Such individuals tend to concentrate on a specific set of thoughts and ideas. They are relatively more dominant, stubborn, and even insensitive toward others.
Flexible (F): These people (as opposed to the “R” dimension) reflect on multiple thoughts and have trouble concentrating on any one idea. However, they are also more outgoing, friendly, empathetic, and sensitive to others’ feelings.
Acceptabe (A): People falling under this dimension excel at adapting to most social environments. They easily make friends and gain acceptance, support, and mutual respect. However, others can tend to expect a lot from such individuals.
Unacceptable (U) The diametrical opposite of the “A” dimension is the “U” dimension. People who fall under this dimension lack the skills to adapt to different social situations; consequently, they do not gain easy acceptance from others. Thus, such people tend to face rejection regularly in social settings.
Lewis Goldberg proposed the Big Five Personality traits model. Raymond Cattell proposed the 16 personality source traits model. Hans Eysenck introduced a model which is based on three personality traits: extraversion, emotional stability, and psychoticism. Gordon Allport proposed a theory based on cardinal, central, and secondary personality traits
Type Theories
In 1920, psychologist Carl Jung put forth the idea that the entire human race inherits certain archetypes, or beliefs. People embrace these beliefs right from childhood. For instance, humanity has always preserved and upheld the idea of a loving mother, a brave hero, a kind guardian, etc. Hence, people can relate to such characters in books and movies. According to Jung, all these archetypes together form the collective unconscious of humanity, a group of beliefs that people inherit unknowingly. He also stated that the collective unconscious drives people to act in certain ways to match up to an ideal image or archetype. For instance, men refrain from crying in public. This is because their collective unconscious makes them believe that they are supposed to be strong. Jung stated that when humans try to embody these archetypes, they sometimes conceal the true aspects of their personalities. He termed this false personality or impression as one’s persona. Persona means mask in Latin.
When it came to personality, Jung believed that all humans existed somewhere in the broad spectrum of introversion to extroversion. However, his ideas had a close connection to his concepts of the collective unconscious and the persona. He stated that people who are more absorbed in their collective unconscious are introverts. Thus, theyindulge in their own ideas, thoughts, imagination, etc. In contrast, people who are better at projecting a persona (fake personality) in their social environment tend to be more outgoing and confident. Thus they are extroverts.
fter introducing the two basic areas of personality—introversion (I) and extroversion (E)—Jung introduced four universal functions of personality:
Sensing (S): This function relates to what people see, hear, feel, smell, etc. Sensing thus refers to perceiving through the senses.
Intuiting (N): As opposed to sensing, this function relies more on inner instincts or impulses and does not consider information obtained through sensory means.
Thinking (T): This function involves processing information based on logic, and then making decisions.
Feeling (F): The opposite of thinking, this function relies on the use of emotional responses to judge certain situations
In the 1940s, teacher Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers (an author), created a personality assessment tool based on Jung’s theory: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). While creating the MBTI, they added two more dimensions to Jung’s theory: judging and perceiving. (Interestingly, neither woman had training in psychology.)
Judging (J): This function relates to the way in which some people tend to be more careful, meticulous, cautious, and restrained than others.
Perceiving (P): This function, as opposed to judging, allows a person to be more spontaneous, confident, flexible, and possibly even careless at times.