Individual Differences and Personalities
Individual Difference and Personalities
1. Personality
a. Definition Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of this the word based on their theoretical positions. Personality is the sum total of all the behavioural and mental characteristics by means of which an individual is recognized as being unique.
b. Shaping of Personality * Biological Factors Biological factors determine the individual's "temperament", the group of personality characteristics that seem to be present in some form from early life onward and that make us consider people as having individualized personalities. Temperamental characteristics are expressed in different ways as the person matures, but are always there, no matter whether experiences tend to encourage or discourage them. One example of a temperamental factor is activity level. This does not refer to so-called "hyperactivity" in a pathological sense, but simply to the preferred amount of activity with which an individual feels comfortable. This can vary a good deal within a normal range, with both quite active and quite inactive people as examples of normal variations. Another is mood quality, with normal differences of cheerful or morose dispositions appearing not just when good or bad things happen, but in neutral situations. Some hereditary factors that contribute to personality development do so as a result of interactions with the particular social environment in which people live. For instance, your genetically inherited physical and mental capabilities have an impact on how others see you and, subsequently, how you see yourself. If you have poor motor skills that prevent you from throwing a ball straight and if you regularly get bad grades in school, you will very likely be labeled by your teachers, friends, and relatives as someone who is inadequate or a failure to
1. Personality
a. Definition Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of this the word based on their theoretical positions. Personality is the sum total of all the behavioural and mental characteristics by means of which an individual is recognized as being unique.
b. Shaping of Personality * Biological Factors Biological factors determine the individual's "temperament", the group of personality characteristics that seem to be present in some form from early life onward and that make us consider people as having individualized personalities. Temperamental characteristics are expressed in different ways as the person matures, but are always there, no matter whether experiences tend to encourage or discourage them. One example of a temperamental factor is activity level. This does not refer to so-called "hyperactivity" in a pathological sense, but simply to the preferred amount of activity with which an individual feels comfortable. This can vary a good deal within a normal range, with both quite active and quite inactive people as examples of normal variations. Another is mood quality, with normal differences of cheerful or morose dispositions appearing not just when good or bad things happen, but in neutral situations. Some hereditary factors that contribute to personality development do so as a result of interactions with the particular social environment in which people live. For instance, your genetically inherited physical and mental capabilities have an impact on how others see you and, subsequently, how you see yourself. If you have poor motor skills that prevent you from throwing a ball straight and if you regularly get bad grades in school, you will very likely be labeled by your teachers, friends, and relatives as someone who is inadequate or a failure to