How Does Your Personality Affect Your
Behavior?
A workable
definition of personality is that it
is the constellation of traits unique to the individual. Your personality is
like a psychological fingerprint. Only you have your particular personality. Your
personality contains the self, the
personality as viewed from within, as you yourself experience it. These points
will be elaborated in later sections.
Your Traits: Are You Introverted or
Extroverted?
A very early
type-trait theory was the one presented by Hippocrates, who was often
identified as the father of medicine, about 400 B.C. According to
Hippocrates, there are four personality types: The dominant trait of a sanguine personality is optimism. The
dominant trait of a choleric personality
is irritability. The dominant trait of a melancholic
personality is depression. The dominant trait of a phlegmatic personality is sluggishness.
Another
classical personality theory, was proposed about sixty years ago by the
physiologist William H. Sheldon. Sheldon suggested that there are three basic
body types: An endomorph tends to
have a soft, flabby body. The endomorph will tend to be placid and lazy and to
seek fun for fun’s sake. A mesomorph tends
to have a firm, muscular body. The mesomorph will tend to be assertive and
ambitious and to seek action for action’s sake. An ectomorph tends to have a thin, frail body. The ectomorph will tend
to be shy, tense, and nervous.
One of the most
famous type-trait theories of personality is the one proposed in the early part
of the twentieth century by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, one of Freud’s
early associates said that two basic
personality types are the introvert and the extrovert. The introvert favors behaviors such as thinking, reading, reflecting,
meditating, creative writing, remembering, composing music, daydreaming, and
spending time alone. The extravert (also,
extrovert) favors behaviors such as
talking, going to motion pictures, taking trips, seeking financial success,
exploration, being physically active, and spending time with a fairly large
circle of friends.
Freud’s Theory: The Three Faces of
You
According to
Freud, there are three parts to the human personality: The id is inborn, and it is present at birth. The ego emerges with experience.The superego emerges last. It reflects the influence of the family.
Other Psychodynamic Theories: Is There a
Collective Unconscious Mind?
A psychodynamic theory assumes that the
personality is a field of forces that are sometimes in opposition.
Carl Jung
(1875–1961) was referred to in the context of type-trait theories. He was the
one who proposed the introversion-extraversion dimension of personality. Jung
called this deeper layer the collective
unconscious.
Alfred Adler
(1870–1937), One of the main causes of the break with Freud was Adler’s
insistence that the will to power is just as influential in psychological
development as the sexual drive. The will
to power is an inborn drive to become effective and competent. If the will
to power is frustrated, as it often is, this sets up the conditions for an
inferiority complex. An inferiority
complex is a group of related ideas that may or may not be realistic about
the self. An inferiority complex tends to contribute to feelings of inadequacy,
incompetence, depression, anxiety, and chronic anger.
Learned Aspects of Personality:
The Effects of Experience
Operant conditioning takes place when
behavior is shaped by reinforcers. Reinforcers
increase the probability of occurrence of a given class of behavior. Observational learning takes place when
an individual imitates the behavior of a role model.
It is clear
that the learning process plays a significant role in the acquisition of a
personality.
The Conscious Individual: The
Self-Shaping of the Personality
A proactive behavioral process focuses on
the role played by consciousness in the acquisition of personality. The humanistic viewpoint recognizes that
the individual can think, reflect, and decide.
Carl Rogers placed an emphasis on the self-concept, the way in which one
perceives one’s own personality. The self-concept exists in contrast to the ideal self, the way one would like to
be. If the self-concept and the ideal self are far apart, then a state of incongruence exists. Incongruence tends
to induce depression and anxiety. Like Abraham Maslow, Rogers believed that the individual has some control
over the status of the self. Rogers employed these concepts as important
aspects of his approach to psychotherapy.
The humanistic
viewpoint attempts to put the individual in the psychological driver’s seat. It
asserts that a human being’s personality doesn’t just happen. The individual,
to some extent, creates his or her own personality.
Personality Tests: “Can That Silly
Inkblot Test Really Tell You Anything about People?”
Personality tests are measuring
instruments used primarily for two purposes: to conduct research on the nature of personality and to make
evaluations of personality useful in counseling and clinical settings.
Three specific
personality tests :
- The Rorschach test consists of ten inkblots with bilateral symmetry (i.e., the right half of each inkblot is the mirror image of the left half). The Rorschach test is called a projective test.
- The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) also consists of a set of cards, nineteen with pictures and one blank. The word apperception means “subconscious perception.”
- The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a selfreporting, paper-and-pencil test with a group of 550 statements. One of three responses can be given to the statements:True, False, or Cannot say. The MMPI is a standardized, objective test, not a projective test.
The ten
clinical scales yielded by the MMPI are listed below.
- Hypochondriasis. This scale measures excessive preoccupation with one’s health.
- Depression. As its name indicates, this scale measures depression.
- Hysteria. This scale measures a tendency to develop conversion disorders in which anxiety is converted into a physical symptom such as paralysis.
- Psychopathic deviation. This scale measures a tendency to violate moral standards and codes of conduct without feelings of guilt.
- Masculinity-femininity. This scale measures the subject’s tendency to have interests generally associated the interests of members of the opposite sex.
- Paranoia. This scale measures a tendency to mistrust other people.
- Psychasthenia. This scale measures a tendency to develop neurotic reactions.
- Schizophrenia. This scale measures a tendency to have delusions and distorted thoughts.
- Hypomania. This scale measures a tendency to become overly emotional and excessively excited.
- Social introversion. This scale measures a tendency to withdraw from other people.
Komentar
Posting Komentar