Slides explain personality and its theories

1. PERSONALITY
AND IT’S
THEORIES

2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit the student will be able to
• Define personality
• Describe the characteristics of personality
• Explain determinants and development of personality
• Describe theories of personality
• Explain assessment of personality

3. INTRODUCTION
The term ‘personality’ stems from the Latin word ‘ PERSONA’
Which means to speak through, it is also a mask used by actors
in Greece and Rome to play different roles or disguise
themselves.

4. DEFINITION
• Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given
situation.( Cattell)
The Personality refers to the distinct traits, thoughts, feelings, actions and
characteristics of an individual that differentiates him from other individuals. Simply, the
personality is the typical behavior of a person in which he responds to the given
situations.
• Personality refers to deeply ingrained patterns of behavior which include the way one
relates to, perceives and think about the environment and oneself.
-American psychiatric Association- 1987

5. TOPOGRAPHY OF PERSONALITY
• Personality is the product of heredity and environment.
• A child develops personality in course of continuous interaction with his
environment. The social and cultural factors as well as the various
experiences influence the development of personality.
• Personality includes cognitive, affective and psychomotor behaviors and
covers conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind.
• It is specific and unique for each individual.
• Personality is not static. It is dynamic and ever in process of change and
modification.

6. • Learning and acquisition of experiences contribute
towards the growth and development of personality
• Personality should not be equated with one’s character.
• Personality should be viewed as different from the ego
or the individual self

8. HEREDITY FACTOR
Brain
• Brain is one of the most important factors of personality determinant. It
is generally believed that the father and the child adopt almost the same
type of brain stimulation and the later differences are the result of the
environment in which the child has been grown up.
• Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB) and Split Brain Psychology
(SBP) and the outcomes of genetic transmissions and are the tools that
are used by the management of any organization to mold and amend the
employee’s behavior to a more positive and proper one.

9. 2. Physical Factors
One of the most important factors in determining personality is the
‘Physical Characteristics’ of an individual.
It is believed that this factor plays a vital role in determining one’s
behavior in any organization. Physical features may involve the height of
a person (short or tall), his color (white or black), his health status (fat or
skinny) and his beauty (handsome or ugly).
• These factors are involved when interacting with any other person and
thus contribute in the personality development in many ways.

10. 3. Social Factors:
Social factors also play a vital role in determining one’s personality. The
things that revolve and evolve around us on a regular basis determine our
personality. The society that we live in, the cultural environment that we
face daily, the community we get interacted to, all are included in this
factor. Relationships, co-ordination, co- operation, interaction,
environment in the family, organizations, workplaces, communities,
societies all contribute in way or another as personality determinants.

11. 4. Cultural and Religious Factors
The culture in which one lives in, that may involve traditional practices,
norms, customs, procedures, rules and regulations, precedents and
values, all are important determinants of personality. Moreover, the creed,
religion and believes are also very important factors of personality
determinants.

12. 5.Situational factors:
Although these factors do not literally create and shape up an individual’s
personality, situational factors do alter a person’s behavior and response
from time to time. The situational factors can be commonly observed
when a person behaves contrastingly and exhibits different traits and
characteristics.
For example, a person’s behavior will be totally different when he is in his
office, in front of his boss, when compared to his hangout with old friends
in a bar. In this way, situational factors impact a personality in a significant
way. They often bring out the traits of a person that are not commonly
seen.

13. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT-refers to the learned ways of living and
norms of behavior
THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT- refers to the various groups and social
interactions going on in the groups
FAMILY :
It is important of all human group because it is the basic unit which
transmits the biological traits of its members.

14. THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Theories adopting type approach: Theories adopting type approach ,
advocates that human personalities can be classified into a few clearly
defined types depending on his behavioral characteristics, somatic
structure, blood types, fluids in the body
Theories adopting trait approach: In trait approach personality is viewed
in terms of traits Eg: honest, shy, aggressive
Theories adopting type cum trait approach
Theories adopting developmental approach: this approach take into
consideration the developmental patterns or characteristics of one’s
personality.

15. TYPE APPROACH
Hippocrates classification.
Dominance of fluid
type in the body
Personality
type
Temperamental characteristics
Blood Sanguine Light hearted, optimistic, happy,
hopeful and accommodating
Yellow bile Choleric Irritable, angry but passionate and
strong with active imagination
Phlegm(mucus) Phlegmatic Cold, calm, slow or sluggish,
indifferent
Black bile melancholic Bad tempered, dejected, sad,
depressed, pessimistic, deplorable
and self-involved

16. 2.KRETSCHMER’S CLASSIFICATION

17. 3.SHELDON’S CLASSIFICATION

18. 4.CG JUNG’S CLASSIFICATION:
CG Jung has classified personality on the basis of sociability character as
Introverts and Extraverts.
• Introverts are described as people who share characteristics such as
shyness, social withdrawal, and tendency to talk less. Because of
these characteristics these people appear to be self-centered, unable
to adjust easily in social situations. They are not easily suggestible.
They are future oriented, very sensible and rigid in ideas.
• Extraverts share a tendency to be outgoing, friendly, talkative, and
social in nature. They prefer social contacts, generous, sportive, and
courageous. They are happy-go-lucky persons and show interest in
present reality than future. They express their feelings openly. Take
decisions quickly and act upon quickly. They are not affected easily by
difficulties.

19. CG JUNG’S CLASSIFICATION:
Ambiverts:
There are only few people who are pure introverts or pure
extraverts. The remaining majority of people possess both the
qualities of introverts and extraverts.

20. THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Since there is no exact definition of the term personality, different theorists
from psychology field as well as from other fields dealing with human behavior
have carried on researches to find out the answers to certain questions Viz. What
is Personality? What does it constitute? How is behavior governed by Personality?
Thus, we can say, that personality is the organization of different
psychological systems in an individual, who tries to adjust to the external
environment.

21. THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

22. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
The Psychoanalytic Theory is the personality theory, which is
based on the notion that an individual gets motivated more by unseen
forces that are controlled by the conscious and the rational thought.
Sigmund Freud is closely related to the psychoanalytic theory.
According to him, the human behavior is formed through an interaction
between three components of the mind, i.e. Id, Ego and Super Ego.

23. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

24. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
Id:
Id is the primitive part of the mind that seeks immediate gratification of
biological or instinctual needs.
The biological needs are the basic physical needs and while the instinctual
needs are the natural or unlearned needs, such as hunger, thirst, sex, etc.
Id is the unconscious part of the mind; that act instantaneously without giving
much thought to what is right and what is wrong.
Example: If your Id passed through a boy playing with a ball, the immediate urge
to get that ball will drive you to snatch it by any means, this is irrational and may
lead to the conflict between the boys. Thus, Id is the source of psychic energy, a
force that is behind all the mental forces.

25. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
Super-Ego:
The Super-Ego is related to the social or the moral values that an
individual inculcates as he matures.
It acts as an ethical constraint on behavior and helps an individual to develop
his conscience. As the individual grows in the society, he learns the cultural
values and the norms of the society which help him to differentiate between right
and wrong.
Example: If the super-ego passed that boy playing with a ball, it would not
snatch it, as it would know that snatching is bad and may lead to a quarrel.
Thus, super ego act as a constraint on your behavior and guides you to follow
the right path. But if the Id is stronger than super-ego, you will definitely snatch
the ball by any means.

26. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
Ego:
Ego is the logical and the conscious part of the mind which is associated with the
reality principle.
This means it balances the demands of Id and super-ego in the context of real life situations.
Ego is conscious and hence keep a check on Id through a proper reasoning of an external
environment.
Example: If you pass through the same boy playing with the ball, your ego will mediate the
conflict between the Id and super-ego and will decide to buy a new ball for yourself. This may
hurt you Id, but the ego would take this decision to reach to a compromise situation between
the Id and super-ego by satisfying the desire of getting a ball without committing any
unpleasant social behavior.
Hence, these are the fundamental structures of the mind, and there is always a conflict
between these three. The efforts to attain the balance between these defines the way we
behave in the external environment.

27. SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY
The Socio-Psychological Theory
asserts that individual and society are
interlinked. This means, an individual
strives to meet the needs of the society
and the society helps him to attain his
goals. Through this interaction, the
personality of an individual is determined.

28. The Socio-Psychological theory is the contribution of Adler, Horney,
Forman and Sullivan. This theory is also called as Neo-Freudian Theory
because it differs from the Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in the following
respects:
According to this theory, the social variables and not the biological
instincts, are the important determinants in shaping the individual’s personality.
Here, the motivation is conscious, i.e. an individual knows what are his needs
and wants and what kind of behavior is required to meet these needs.
Thus, the theorists believe that socio-psychological factors, i.e. the
combination of both the social (family, society, wealth, religion) and the
psychological factors (feelings, thoughts, beliefs) play an important role in
shaping the personality of an individual.
It is the society from where the individual inculcates the cultural values
and the social norms, which helps him in shaping his personality and
influences his behavior according to the external situations.

29. TRAIT THEORY
The Trait Theory asserts that an individual is composed of a set of definite
predisposition attributes called as traits. These traits are distinguishable and often long lasting
quality or a characteristic of a person that makes him different from the others.
The two most common trait theories are:

30. ALLPORT’S TRAIT THEORY:
This theory is given by Gordon Allport.
According to him, the personality of an individual can be studied through
a distinction between the common traits and the personal dispositions.
The common traits are used to compare the people on the grounds of six
values, such as religious, social, economic, political, aesthetic and
theoretical. Besides the common traits, there are personal dispositions
which are unique and are classified as follows:
Cardinal Traits,
Central Traits,
Secondary Trait.

31. Cardinal Traits: The cardinal traits are powerful, and few
people possess personality dominated by a single trait. Such
as Mother Teressa’s altruism.
Central Traits: These traits are the general characteristics
possessed by many individuals in the varying degrees. Such
as loyalty, friendliness, agreeableness, kindness, etc.
Secondary Trait: The secondary traits show why at times, a
person behaves differently than his usual behavior. Such as a
jolly person may get miserable when people try to tease him.

32. CATTELL’S TRAIT THEORY:
This trait theory is given by Raymond Cattell. According to him, the
sample of a large number of variables should be studied to have a proper
understanding of the individual personality.
He collected the
• life data (everyday life behaviors of individuals),
• experimental data (standardizing experiments by measuring actions),
• questionnaire data (responses gathered from the introspection of an
individual’s behavior) and done the factor analysis to identify the traits
that are related to one another.
By using the factor analysis method, he identified 16 key personality
factors

33. BY USING THE FACTOR ANALYSIS METHOD, HE IDENTIFIED 16 KEY
PERSONALITY FACTORS:
Abstractedness – Imaginative Vs Practical
Warmth – Outgoing Vs Reserved
Vigilance – Suspicious Vs Trusting
Tension – Impatient Vs Relaxed
Apprehension – Worried Vs Confident
Emotional Stability – Calm Vs anxious
Liveliness – Spontaneous Vs Restrained
Dominance – Forceful Vs Submissive
Social Boldness – Uninhibited Vs Shy
Perfectionism – Controlled Vs Undisciplined
Privateness – Discreet Vs Open
Sensitivity – Tender Vs Tough
Self Reliance – Self sufficient Vs Dependent
Rule-Consciousness – Conforming Vs Non-
Conforming
Reasoning – Abstract Vs Concrete
Openness to Change – Flexible Vs Stubborn

34. The trait theory is based on the assumption that the
traits are common to many individuals and they vary in
absolute amounts. Also, the traits remain consistent over a
period of time, and thus can be measured through the
behavioral indicators.

35. SELF THEORY
The Self Theory emphasizes on the set of perceptions an individual
has for himself and the perceptions of the relationships he has with others
and the other aspects of life. Carl Rogers has contributed significantly
towards the self theory.
The self theory comprises of four factors that are explained below:

36. SELF-IMAGE:
Self-image means what an individual thinks about
himself. Everybody has certain beliefs about themselves, such
as who or what they are, these beliefs form the self image and
identity of a person.
According to Erikson, identity is formed through a lifelong
development usually unconscious to the individual and his
society, i.e. an individual forms perception about himself
unconsciously, according to the social circumstances.

37. IDEAL-SELF:
The ideal-self means, the way an individual would like to
be. It is very much different from the self-image, as it shows the
ideal position perceived by an individual, whereas the self-
image is the reality that an individual perceives. Thus, there
could be a gap between these two.
The ideal-self-acts as a stimulus to motivate an individual to
undertake those activities that are in compliance with the
characteristics of his ideal self.

38. LOOKING-GLASS-SELF:
The looking-glass self means, an individual’s perception
of how others are perceiving his qualities or feeling about him.
Simply, it is the perception of other’s perception, i.e. perceiving
what others perceive about yourself and not see what actually
you are.

39. REAL-SELF:
The real-self is what others show you with respect to
your self-image. An individual’s self-image is confirmed when
others responses to him and shares their beliefs or perception,
about what they actually feel about him.
This is taken as feedback from the environment that
helps an individual to adjusts his self-image accordingly and be
in line with the cues he had received.
Thus, according to Carl Rogers, the self theory is composed of
several perceptions of “I” or “me” and the perception of
relationships of “I” and “me” to others.

49. RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST

50. HOW TO MAKE GOOD PERSONALITY

51. CRAFT YOUR PERSONALITY
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
Don't overdo; keep your limits
Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
Dream more while you are awake

52. HOW TO CARRY YOURSELF & BUILD SELF
CONFIDENCE
• Dress Sharp
• Walk Faster
• Compliment other people
• Sit in the front row
• Speak up

53. REFERENCES
1.Richard’s (2014) .Gross Psychology-The Science of Mind and Behavior (6th Edition)
Hodder Education.978-1-4441-0831-6.
2.Rod Pllotnik, Haig Kouyoumdijian.(2011).Introduction to Psychology. (9th
Edition).Wadsworth, USA. 978-0-495-90344-4.
3.Gleitman, Gross, Reisberg (2011), Psychology , 8th edition, w.w. Norton & Company,
NewYork, London ,
ISBN 978-0-393-93250-8
4.R.Sreevani, (2015), Psychology for nurses, 3rd edition, Jaypee brothers medical publishers,
ISBN 978-93-5270-154-4