Individual Programmatic Assessment Personality Development Paper

Individual Programmatic Assessment: Personality Development Paper

PSYCH/645

Individual Programmatic Assessment: Personality Development Paper

Everyone has his or her own definition or theory for personality. Even some psychologists are not all on the same views of personality’s theory and definition. Personality from a psychological viewpoint is when you define qualities that relate to the persons unique way of behaving. Our text defines it as “psychological qualities that contribute to an individual’s enduring and distinct patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving” (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). This is saying that the qualities and patterns that help to make up a their personality is how psychologists view and define personality. This paper will examine the influence of traits, such as trait theory, and biology, such as temperament on personality development. The following questions will be answered: How does the gene-environment interaction influence personality? Is culture a factor in personality expression? What do twin studies show us about the inheritability of personality? What characteristics of temperament are stable over time and contribute to our adult personality? Are specific characteristics consistent over situation and over time? The biological model, Five-factor trait theory, and temperament model of personality will be explained and how they can account for variation in the personal, societal, and cultural factors.

Gene-environment Interaction Influence with Personality

In a recent study on gene contributions to heritability, the researchers found that genetics do contribute to an individual’s personality. The average effect of genetic contributions to individual differences in personality is 40% (Vukasović, & Bratko, 2015). This can be an explanation for individuals that may take on some of their parent’s personalities as well. If you ever heard the phrase that someone gets something from their mother or father, they may be right. For example, if someone is a bit more aggressive than most, you may hear a family member say that she gets that from either her mom or dad.

Is Culture a Factor

Personality is influenced by biological and environmental factors, in which culture is one of the most important factors. Culture norms can influence personality and behavior while current research shoes that the strength of personality traits vary greatly across cultures. Cultural differences in personality make some researchers wonder on cross-cultural differences. One way to explain this can be from looking at the Five-factor trait theory. The Five-factor trait theory is based on the idea that the foundation of individual differences in personality rests on three types of data: trait terms in cross-cultural research, and the relation of trait questionnaires. These factors in the theory are Neuroticism (N), Extraversion (E). Openness (O), Agreeableness (A), and Conscientiousness (C). A trait adjective is used to describe the individuals and uses a score or either high or low (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). Neuroticism refers to the emotional stability with feelings of anxiety, sadness, etc. Openness refers to the experience to depth and complexity of an individual’s mental life. Both Agreeableness and Extraversion refer to the traits that are interpersonal and capture what people do with each other and to each other. Conscientiousness refers to the task and goal directed behavior and socially required impulse control. There is evidence that people in divers cultures with different languages view differences in personality traits similar to those in the Five-factor trait theory across cultures. So, to answer the question of: is culture a factor in personality expression, the answer is yes.

Twin Studies on Inheritability of Personality

What do twin studies show us about the inheritability of personality? Twin studies have been researched for some time now to give researchers the benefit of testing in a naturally occurring experiment. The plus to this research that gives researchers the given answers is that any observed differences could be attributed to the environment because the two organisms are identical genetically. In essence if the two individuals are genetic make up is different but they experience the same environment, any differences that are observed can be cause to genetic factors (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). Twins that is growing up in the same home, does not bring then any more closer to being identical then what they already are.

Stable Temperaments

Temperament describes an individual emotional, behavior, and nature that is constant with the individual. A person’s temperament can be positive or negative depending on the characteristic. It is a genetic and innate foundation for personality traits and it influences how an individual develops in relation to their environment. EAS: Emotional, activity and sociality. The EAS Model designed with Eysneck and other contributions in mind to determine how many temperaments there are. Emotionality refers to individual’s reactions to environmental stimuli. An individual with low temperament as a child may seem easy going and relaxed, while another individual as an adult with high emotional may have long lasting relationships. Activity refers to an individual’s level of energy. Individuals as a child with high levels may be seen as active and like physical activity and games. An individual as an adult with these levels may be the reason they have a significant role in their career choice and socialization. Sociability refers to a person’s comfort and interaction with others. In sociability those that are high in this temperament will like group activities and tea sports, as those with low scores may prefer solitary activities (Heffner, 2015). Characteristics over situation and over time, I believe are consistent. This is because when you look at certain traits of an individual from when they were young to them as an adult, some things do not seem to change. The two ways to test this theory is determined by: longitudinal stability and cross-situational consistency. The Longitudinal stability refers to if people with an excess of one trait at a certain time, are also excessive on that trait at a different point in time. Cross-situational consistency determines if people with an excess of ne trait in one situation and excessive on that train in a different situation. Trait theorists believe that both are “true people” and they are stable across certain situations.

To assess personality one must look at the influence of traits and biology. It can be explained for how an individual acts or behaves on the personal, societal, and cultural levels. The five-factor trait theory, also known as The Big Five, helps researchers to five factors with traits associated with them to determine ones personality. These factors spell out the acronym OCEAN, for Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Researchers have also used twin studies in the past and are now currently using them to understand biology with personality. Identical twins that have the same genetic make up but have some differences in personalities can attribute the differences to the environment. Twins that do not have the same genetic make up but have differences can attribute their differences to the environment. This paper also lets us know that there are some characteristics that are consistent and stable across situations and time.

References

Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2010). Personality: Theory and research (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Heffner, C. (2015). Chapter 3: Section 3: Temperament and Personality. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
Vukasović, T., & Bratko, D. (2015). Heritability of personality: A meta-analysis of behavior genetic studies. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 769-785.