There is a good deal of agreement among most psychologists on these points. But, nevertheless, it cannot be said that the present day psychologists have been able to either discover or unravel all the facts and mysteries of personality. A large part of it is still an enigma. But certainly we are in a much better position today than where we were a few decades ago. While the points mentioned above, help us to understand the nature of personality, there is another aspect of the issue yet to be explained. Fortunately, on this question also, one can find a considerable amount of agreement among psychologists. Personality integrates the different elements of behaviour like perception, learning and the affective and cognitive responses.

It gives meaning and totality to behaviour. The personality of an individual is a stabilising factor and gives consistency to behaviour. It is this consistency which makes behaviour predictable. Personality is the factor responsible for enabling a psychological order in behaviour and gives direction to behaviour. It, thus, influences and determines the other behavioural processes. In fact, this is the most characteristic function of personality. At the same time, it is the personality which also enables commonness of behaviour, sharing of perceptions, values, goals, etc. Personality measurement, as a practice, has developed only during the past six decades though other psychological variables such as intelligence and aptitude were being measured even earlier.

To a great extent, principles and techniques used to measure intelligence and aptitude have found their way into personality measurement also. However, a number of other techniques, exclusive to the field of personality measurement have also been developed. Today, the field of personality measurement is highly developed and is finding application in a number of situations such as personnel selection, treatment of psychological disorders, etc. The exact technique of measurement used, depends on the purpose envisaged, the type of person whose personality is being assessed, the preferences, and biases of the particular psychologist. Again, in many instances, a combination of techniques is employed. This, of course, appears to be the most common trend.

We may now briefly deal with some of the more important techniques of personality measurement:. Observation of a phenomenon is probably the most natural way of measuring basic psychological processes and personality is no exception. A very common method of assessing personality is to observe it in action and then rate it. For example, in an interview situation, the interviewers observe the behaviour of a person and rate his personality on a scale ranging from a low to high value. This method is called the rating method. Such rating can be done in two ways.

One way of approaching it is to rate the personality as a whole or as a totality, taking into account different attributes or qualities. Thus, personalities are rated on a scale ranging from low effectiveness to high effectiveness. This is known as the global approach, which has the advantage of giving a total assessment of each person. It is very useful when time is limited and a large number of people have to be assessed or when the personality score is only one of the many criteria to be taken into account. But a global assessment requires that the persons carrying out the assessments have the ability to make accurate and comprehensive observations. Further, they should also have the ability to integrate the assessment of individual components into a single total measure.

This is a very complicated task. In view of the above problems, another approach, known as the analytic approach, is employed. Here, instead of the total personality, a number of attributes or qualities are individually rated and these individual ratings are summed up. For example, cheerfulness, persuasiveness, alertness, humour, spontaneity and other individual attributes can be separately rated and summed up. This method has its advantages since equal attention and care can be bestowed on every aspect and a complete and comprehensive observation can be made. But the problem involved here is that this is a time-consuming procedure. It may also be unreliable because certain attributes may not be expressed adequately on a particular occasion. For example, it is possible that a person who has a high sense of humour may not give expression to it at a particular time.

And this will result in a poor rating on this quality. A global rating may be advantageous under such conditions because errors of such a type may affect the global rating only marginally. Sometimes, ratings are done by comparison against descriptions or actual models of different levels of a particular trait. On the other hand, the provision of models may bias the rater to fit the rating to some particular model. Rating procedures are very extensively employed but there are some common errors which may affect ratings. Some raters hesitate to give extremely low or high ratings even though a situation might warrant it. They avoid the responsibility and give only middle-level ratings to everyone.

This error is called the error of central tendency. Another possible error is when, in an analytic rating procedure, a rater carries over his rating from one trait to another. For example, if a person is rated as good in communication, the rater may tend to carry over this impression in rating the person on alertness also. In addition to these, other sources of errors are leniency, fatigue, etc. Rating, therefore, is a very complex and intricate process. The rater should have sufficient skill and practice in carrying it out. The situations under which the ratings are made should also be carefully selected and designed to provide adequate data. If these conditions are taken care of, then rating is a useful procedure. Another common technique of measuring personality is through questionnaires and inventories.

The reader might have come across certain personality questionnaires and inventories, either while appearing for some interview or selection t est or, perhaps, even in some books. The use of questionnaires to measure personality was first introduced by Woodworth for use in the American army during the First World War. It was found by the army that several soldiers developed anxiety and other forms of psychological problems which incapacitated them from taking part in the fighting. Woodworth felt that this could be because many of these people had personality problems and should not have been selected for active warfare.

He went on to develop an inventory with a number of questions and asked them to respond to certain statements by stating whether they had those ideas, experiences, feelings, etc. The inventory consisted of questions. Some examples of items in such inventories are given below:. Subsequently a number of personality inventories and questionnaires were developed. Some of these were meant to be used in special situations like hospitals for instance, while others were meant for general use. A typical personality questionnaire consists of a number of questions which the respondent has to answer. There are two ways in which a subject can be told to answer these. Firstly, each question may be followed by certain alternative responses and the person has to respond by choosing the one which is nearest to what he feels is the truth.

Such questionnaires are called structured or closed-ended questionnaires. In other cases, the questions may be given without alternative answers and the person can answer them in his or her own words, thus being able to answer more freely. Such questionnaires are called open-ended or unstructured. Structured or unstructured questionnaires are preferred depending on the situations, such as the type of person whose personality is being measured, the purpose of measurement, the amount of time at the disposal of the psychologist, etc. Generally, when a large number of people are to be tested in a short time and when these people are sufficiently educated, a structured questionnaire is used. On other occasions, an unstructured questionnaire is preferred.

These types are also sometimes referred to as closed or open. A personality questionnaire or inventory must possess certain properties before it can be considered useful. The questions or items should be clearly worded, so that different people reading it get the same meaning. This is called objectivity. The questions must elicit the same answer on different occasions, from the same persons. This is called reliability. If this quality is not present we cannot depend on the measurements. Thirdly the questions or items should measure personality and not anything else. This is called validity. Thus, if items measuring intelligence are put into these questionnaires, to that extent, we will be measuring intelligence and not personality.

Thus, objectivity, reliability and validity constitute the three essential attributes of personality questionnaires or inventories. These attributes are essential not only for personality questionnaires or inventories but for all tools of psychological measurement. Over the years, psychologists have developed a number of questionnaires which have been thoroughly tested for their reliability and validity. Some of the famous questionnaires are — the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire developed by Cattell, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory developed by Hathaway, the California Personality Inventory etc..

Separate personality inventories for children, adults and different populations have been developed. Questionnaires and inventories have been found to be useful instruments, but there are some disadvantages too. They depend for their usefulness on the verbal ability of the respondents. However, even though they are influenced by cultural, social and economic factors they are easy and useful instruments. Especially when the measure involves a large number of people. A variation of questionnaires is what is known as a situational test. Here instead of giving questions or statements, certain situations are described and different alternative responses are given.

The individual has to choose whichever he feels would be the best and true response. An example of such a test is the Ascendance-Submission Test developed by Allport. So far we have considered ratings and questionnaires as tools for measuring personality. There are certain factors common to these. From the responses or ratings inference is made about the personality. Here you will see that the measurement is based on the conscious observations of the rater or the conscious responses of the subject. It is assumed that all aspects of personality can be studied at the conscious or behavioural level.

It is further assumed that from the observations and responses all aspects of personality, can be directly observed and measured; hence these are called direct measures of personality. But serious doubts were cast on the validity of such measurement, when Freud pointed out that personality operates to a considerable extent at an unconscious level Individuals are not fully aware of their own motives and personality, thus, making it even more unlikely that an observer or rater can make valid assessments. It has been shown that behaviour or verbal responses are not simple and direct expressions of the personality.

As a result, very often personality has to be studied in such a way that the data observed is relatively free from distortion by such mechanisms. In such instances psychologists employ indirect measures and what are more popularly known as projective tests. The rationale of projective tests is that, in order to study the unconscious and underlying factors of personality, such tests should be used which are likely to give us data free from the distortions which creep in at the conscious level. For this purpose, tests are designed in such a way that defence mechanisms are operative at a minimal level.

Spontaneous activity, under relatively free and unstructured situations, appears to be the best medium. Projective tests assume that the inner aspect of personality, particularly the unconscious components, can be measured by requiring the individual to act upon, interpret, organise or manipulate certain unstructured stimulus situations. From such revelations the trained psychologist is able to draw inferences about the personality. Projective tests fall into two categories- tests of structure and tests of content. The reader is already familiar with the distinction between structure and content.

We shall now briefly examine one or two projective tests. The pioneering effort in the development of projective testing was made by Herman Rorschach. He wanted to develop a test of personality which would help measure it in its totality. After a series of efforts he arrived at a very simple test. It consists of a set of ten ink-blots which are bilaterally symmetrical. Some of them are black, some black and red, and the rest in different colours. These blots were selected after trying out a number of variations. The Rorschach test is a perceptual test. The person who takes the test is asked to look at each blot and mention all the objects one sees in them.

For example, one may see a bird, a tiger skin, and two men dancing in a single ink blot. People differ in their responses because the blots are vague and do not convey anything definite. In such a situation, where the blots do not convey anything definite, people respond in accordance with their own inner personality dynamics see Fig. The cards are exposed to the person one after the other, each for a time period of a maximum of five minutes. The responses of the subject are noted. This refers to the location of the response on a particular card — whether the subject perceived the response in the whole blot or a major part or a minor part or a very small part. This is ascertained for each response on each card.

Responses are, thus, classified in this manner. or the form or outline. The ratio of colour and form responses are assumed to be an indicator of the personality. This part of the enquiry consists of an analysis of the actual contents of the responses, whether the responses refer to human beings or animals, whether they are descriptions of moving objects or stationary objects, animate objects or inanimate objects and so on. Rorschach regards this as an indication of the intellectual level of the person. In addition, responses are also categorized as original or popular. The above mentioned points are the three major dimensions for analysis.

In addition, a number of other criteria are also used. Based on the above indicators, psychologists who are well-trained in the interpretation of the Rorschach test are able to assess personalities. After the original work of Rorschach, a number of refinements have been introduced by people like Beck, Rapaport, Harrower, Erichson and a few others. While the ink blots essentially remain the same, variations have been introduced to enable administration of the test to a group of people, provision of multiple choice alternative responses from which the individual has to choose and also in techniques of interpretation. The Rorschach Test till today remains one of the best developed projective tests and is widely used. They are acquired as a result of social interaction.

With reinforcement and punishment they can be changed. They include dimensions of personality and personal characteristics. These aspect advocates for the spiritual fulfillment and achievement. Baldwin, M. Understanding and modifying the relational schemas underlying insecurity. Baldwin Ed. Psychological Science, 18, — Note: this sample is kindly provided by a student like you, use it only as a guidance. ID Password recovery email has been sent to email email. Don't waste time. HIRE A WRITER Sign in. Free Essay Examples current About Us Who We Are Contact Us Our Writers Our Guarantees How It Works FAQ Honor Code WowEssays Reviews Discounts Blog Our Services.

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS. these are: - Psychoanalytic this represents the unconscious mind first analyzed by fraud which consists of three parts the id which is the unconscious part of the brain and the ego and superego which represents morality. References Baldwin, M. Cite this page Choose cite format: APA MLA Harvard Vancouver Chicago ASA IEEE AMA. Accessed 04 November Personality Essay Examples. March Accessed November 04, Retrieved November 04, com, Mar Free Essay Examples - WowEssays. Published Mar 24, Share with friends using:. Removal Request.

REQUEST THE REMOVAL. Finished papers: This paper is created by writer with ID If you want your paper to be: Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate Original, fresh, based on current data Eloquently written and immaculately formatted. Hire this Writer. Calculate Price. Subject arear Accounting Biology Business Chemistry Computer Science Economics Engineering Finance Financial Management Geography Geology Logic Mathematics Medicine Nutrition Pharmacology Physics Science Statistics Technology. Academic level High school Undergraduate Bachelor Professional. Deadline 3 hours 6 hours 12 hours 24 hours 2 days 3 days 7 days 14 days 20 days. If the parents give sufficient initiative and ample opportunities to the child to protect himself and master a difficult situation, he will grow into an independent, strong an self-reliant person.

If the parents are over-cautious and protect the child too much, and attend to all his needs, he will develop into a dependent, weak, diffident person. Alfred Alder attaches great importance to the birth-order of the child in the family. The only, child, the pet of the parents, is apt to become over-dependent and tyrannical. The second child, eager to dispossess the first child of his privilege, is apt to be a rebel against the established order. The youngest child, the perpetual baby of the family, is apt to become over-dependent, always looking to others for service and support.

The unwanted child, hated by the family, is apt to become a deliquent, not able to adapt himself to the social environment. He finds a free scope of his abilities in the company of his fellows. His love of adventure finds expression in the gang. An adventurous boy becomes the leader of a gang. He has innate ability for leadership. He naturally leads the gang of his fellows who carry out his orders. A boy makes a plan of adventures. He is the leader of the gang. Another becomes the dare-devil. He executes the plan. Different children with different innate abilities find their proper place in the gang, and choose their proper functions suited to their abilities. They find their proper role in the gang, and develop in the direction of that role. The child grows into an adult.

He finds himself a member of a group and unconsciously imbibes the style of the group. The group code of morality, etiquette, peculiarities of behaviour, makes a powerful impression on the personality of the members of the group. Besides the group code, the general moral atmosphere of the people exerts a paramount influence on the personality of an individual. Even a genius or a misanthrope cannot escape their influence. An Indian unconsciously imbibes fatalism from the social environment. An Englishman unconsciously imbibes the cult of self-reliance and self-exertion. Thus the social environment powerfully moulds the personality of an individual. The former are interested only in the inner life and spiritual things, while the latter lay stress on material things and objective reality.

Jung similarly distinguishes between introverts and extroverts or extroverts. The former are interested in their own thoughts and feelings, enjoy being alone, have independent judgments different from public opinion, withdraw into themselves on encountering opposition, and do not participate in social functions. They cannot make quick decisions and quickly execute their plans into action. They are wavering and-vacillating. They prefer thought and planning to action. They think of ideals and live for the future. They are dominated by thought and given to reflection and meditation.

They are unpractical thinkers. Scientists, philosophers, poets, mystics, etc. The latter are sociable, interested in the social environment, parti­cipate in social functions, quickly react to situations, and readily adjust themselves to new situations. They can make quick decisions and execute then plans into action. They are practical men of action. They are dominated by feeling and live in the present. Social and political workers, athletes and actors, are extroverts. The introverts are so called because their psychic energy is directed inward to their thoughts, emotions and desires. The extroverts arc so called because their psychic energy is directed outward to the social environment. Jung maintains that those who are extraverted in their conscious life are introverted in their unconscious life.

He recognizes a middle variety called ambiverts, whose psychic energy is partly directed inward and partly directed outward. They are interested in their own thoughts and emotions and also in other persons and their actions. The behaviour of the sensing type of governed by the senses. They depend on the evidence of their senses for their actions without exercising their reason upon it. The intuitive type also is dominated by sense-perception, but he can discover the causes of the facts perceived and envisage what can be made of a situation. He also is irrational like the sensing type.

Physicians and some politicians belong to this type. The feeling type of dominated by feelings a emotions, attaches values to objects and situations, and makes emotional reactions to them. They have definite sentiments of right and wrong, good and bad, friends and foes, and they are governed by them in their behaviour. The thinking type is dominated by reason. He reasons logically, exercises intellective imagination, and makes formulae to systematize the facts of observation and experiment. This type initiates new ways of thought. Newton, Einstein, etc. Kretschmer distinguishes between schizoid and cycloid types of personality. He flies from reality, and is preoccupied with himself. He is a normal person with characteris­tics corresponding to schizophrenia in which a patient is completely withdrawn from the social environment and does not take any interest in what happens around him.

The cycloid is emotional, active and responsive to the environment. He is in contact with reality, and his feelings and activities are determined by external situations. He is a normal person with instability of mood. He is alternately exalted and depressed. He possesses characteristics corresponding to manic-depressive insanity in which a patient alternates between exaltation and depression. These two types of personality partly resemble introverts and extroverts. These type theories are not acceptable for the following reasons. First, all persons do not belong to one of the types proposed. Most persons lie between the two extremes, and there is continuous gradation from one extreme to the other. Secondly, the type theories describe the behaviour of a person and do not explain it.

Is a person withdrawn from the social environment because he is introverted? Or is he introverted because he withdraws from the social environment? Or is his introversion and flight from reality the result of the same causes in his life history? The type theories do not explain his. They over-simplify the description of personality. There are many methods for. assessment of personalities. The various tests of personality Assessment give some information about the nature of the personality of an individual. Some of the important personality tests may be briefly stated below:. The other personality traits also can be measured by the question­naire method. The personality traits are measured in their exact or approximate quantities, and a profile is made.

It gives an idea of the nature of personality of an individual.

The Latin word denotes the masks worn by ancient Greece and Rome. Therefore a very common meaning of the term personality is the role which the person actor displays to the public. Personality is a very frequently used word but still there is no consensus about its meaning. There is a great deal of controversy about the meaning of the word personality. According to Floyd L. In Psychology, personality is interpreted in different ways by different theorists. For example Carl Rogers views personality in terms of self, an organised, permanent, subjectively perceived entity which is at the heart of all our experiences. Freud describes the structure of personality as composed of three elements the id, ego and super ego. In addition the social learning aspects of personality are also emphasized by some theorists.

Taking all the aspects together, personality represents the sum total of several attributes which manifest themselves in an individual, the ability of the individual to organize and integrate all the qualities so as to give meaning to life, and the uniqueness of the situation which influences behaviour of an individual. Bonner provides six propositions to classify the nature of personality within the context of change and development:. Now that we have understood the meaning of personality, the next question is what determinants go into the development of personality? Was the individual born with that personality or was it developed afterwards as a result of his interaction with his environment? The concept that heredity is a determinant of personality is embedded in our minds.

However, the importance of heredity varies from one personality trait to another. According to S. The first looks at the genetic underpinnings of human behaviour and temperament among young children. The second addresses the study of twins who were separated at birth and the third examines the consistency in job satisfaction over time and across situations. If all personality traits are determined by heredity, they would be fixed at birth and would not be changed throughout the life. But this is not so. The personality traits are not completely dictated by heredity, environment also plays a very important role in the development of personality of a person. Culture establishes norms, attitudes and values that are passed along from generation to generation and create consistencies over time.

Every culture expects and trains its members to behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group. Persons belonging to different cultural groups generally have different attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition, cooperation, artistic talent etc. While growing, the child learns to behave in ways expected by the culture of the family in which he was born. Most cultures expect different roles from males than from females. Similarly, every culture has its own sub cultures with different views about such qualities as moral values, style of dress, etc.

Although culture has significant influence on personality development, a linear relationship cannot be established between culture and personality due to the following reasons:. i Individuals within the same culture can differ in their behaviour and personality formats because of the existence of several sub systems within the same culture. ii The workers are not influenced by the same culture as managers are. Moreover, skilled workers have different behaviour patterns than unskilled workers. Management must recognize and understand these differences while dealing with the people in the organisation. One of the very important determinants of the personality of a person is his immediate family.

Families influence the behaviour of a person especially in the early stages. To elaborate, a person brought up in a rich and prestigious family has a different personality as compared to the people who belong to a poor family. The family size will also affect the behaviour of a child. The personality of a single child is different from the personality of a person who is brought up in a family of more than two siblings. Similarly, the personality of a person brought up in a nuclear family will be different from that of a person brought up in a joint family. Studies have also shown that first born children are more responsible, rational, independent, ambitious and more sensitive to social acceptance. Empirical evidence also suggests that the home and family environment, created by the mother and the father as well as their own behaviour is highly influential on personality development of the child.

Every child tries to identify himself with some person whom he feels ideal in the family. Generally a child in the family tries to behave like his father or mother. i Firstly, identification can be viewed as the similarity of behaviour including feelings and attitudes between child and model. iii Lastly, identification can be viewed as the process through which the child actually takes on the attributes of the model. Socialization is a process by which an infant acquires from the enormously wide range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him at birth, those behaviour patterns that are customary and acceptable to the family and social groups.

Initially socialization starts with the contact of the infant with the mother when he grows up. Contacts with the other members of the family and social groups influence his socialization process. These social groups include school mates, friends, then friends or colleagues at work place, groups to which an individual belongs. There are some norms and laws of every society in which the individual exists. Much of the behaviour arises out of the respect for these norms and laws. Apart from the above factors, situational factors also play a very important role in determining the personality of a person. It exercises constraints and may provide push. In certain circumstances, it is not so much the kind of person a man is, as the kind of situation in which he is placed that determines his actions.

That is why it is often said that life is a collection of experiences. Every individual goes through different type of experiences and events in his life. Some of the events and experiences can serve as important determinants of his personality. A trauma suffered by a person in the childhood can sometime change the structure of his own personality. In addition to this, certain incidents or situations reveal a specific aspect of the personality of a person that was so far hidden. The role of psychiatrists in personality shaping and changing is wide known.

From the preceding discussion of the determinants of personality, it is clear that personality is a complex concept that reflects many influences both from within and outside the individual. Your Article Library Home Static Main Menu Home Share Your Files Disclaimer Privacy Policy Contact Us Prohibited Content Prohibited Content Image Guidelines Plagiarism Prevention Content Filtrations Terms of Service Account Disabled. Related Articles: Factors that Influence Our Personality Personality: The Characteristics, Foundations and Nature. Top 3 Factors Affecting Individual Behaviour. Top 12 Personality Traits Influencing Organizational Behavior.

They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or mechanics. This, of course, appears to be the most common trend. For example, a young man is wearing his best suit and going for an interview. They affect other persons powerfully. The feeling type of dominated by feelings a emotions, attaches values to objects and situations, and makes emotional reactions to them. People differ in their responses because the blots are vague and do not convey anything definite. The mechanisms of imitation and identification which play an important role in the development of personality make it necessary that adults should set proper examples for the younger generation.

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