Personality Theories Determinants of Behavior

Personality and Behavior: Changing for the Better

Hundreds of thousands of years of instinctive programming influence the behavior of modern humans in ways they do not fully understand, and in many cases, people may not even be aware of these influences on their behavior. This is not to say, of course, that modern humans are incapable of thoughtful and purposeful action, but it is to say that such unconscious influences on behavior can cause problems if they are not recognized and dealt with in a meaningful fashion. To gain additional insights in this area, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning personality and behavior, followed by a discussion concerning how behavior can be influenced by personality in ways that can cause individual problems such as risky behaviors that lead to substance abuse or unprotected premarital sex. Finally, an examination concerning how the interactionism view of personality can be used to help people overcome this problem. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

The specific determinants of behavior that influence humans have been of interest to personality theorists for some time, but there remains some debate over which are most salient and how these determinants operate (Livesley, 2001). Despite this controversy, the powerful effect of personality on behavior is well documented and most psychologists and laypersons alike attribute human behavior to "stable underlying dispositions" (Aizen, 2005, p. 1). One personality attribute in particular that may lead to problems is fixation. According to Carver and Sheier, for instance, "An adult who is fixated at the oral stage might smoke more or eat or drink more when stressed at work. . . . The stronger the fixation, the more likely is the person to regress under stress to the mode of functioning that characterizes that stage" (p. 182). Consequently, even when people recognize that they have a problem and try to fix it, they may be influenced by unconscious behaviors that undermine their efforts. For example, people who are trying to stop drinking may find themselves in situations time and again where they are tempted to drink. Likewise, people who are trying to stop smoking (or any other harmful behavior) may place themselves in situations where these behaviors are more possible and even more likely to occur in ways that can be explained by interactionism theory. In this regard, Carver and Scheier report that, "Interactionism holds that personality and situation interact in several ways to determine behavior. For example, some situations permit or even elicit individual differences, whereas other situations don't. People also choose which situations to enter, and then they influence the nature of the situations by their own actions" (p. 88). This observation indicates that people who are trying to address harmful behaviors in their lives and who are predisposed to certain types of self-destructive behaviors should be made aware of the fact that they damage their chances of success by placing themselves in situations where they are more likely to engage in these types of behaviors.