Personality the Concept of Personality

¶ … Personality

The concept of personality refers to the profile of stable beliefs, moods, and behaviors that differentiate among children and adults who live in a particular society (Kagan pp). These profiles that differentiate across cultures of different historical times will not be the same due to the fact that most adaptive profiles vary according to the values of the society and the historical era (Kagan pp). Contemporary theorists emphasize that personality traits have to do with individualism, internalized conscience, sociability with strangers, the ability to control strong emotion and impulse, and personal achievement (Kagan pp).

In 1934, Carl Jung wrote that "Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being" (Personality pp). He believed that personality was an act of high courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal condition of existence coupled with the greatest possible freedom for self-determination" (Personality pp).

The Oxford Dictionary defines Personality as "the distinctive character or qualities of a person, often as distinct from others; personal existence or identity; the condition of being a person" (Perspectives pp). Before Darwin, two features of evolution were recognized, that change over time, and apparent adaptation to environment (Evolutionary pp). Personality theorists are interested in the structure of the individual, and in particular, the psychological structure, such as how an individual is "put together," how does he or she "works," and how do they "fall apart" (Boeree pp).

It has been recognized, since early Greek civilization or longer, that people are not only different physically, but also in profound psychological ways (Personality pp). The dispositional approach creates systems for classification that describe psychological characteristics in which individuals differ consistently between situations and over time (Personality pp). Although the trait approach emphasizes the dispositional perspective, another way to approach the concept of dispositions is to consider people as "types" or alternatively to view dispositions in terms of motivational characteristics that vary in strength from person to person (Personality pp).

A major criticism of the majority of Western personality theories is that they "fall prey to Descartes' mind-body dualism, and treat personality and almost exclusively psychological" (Personality pp). These theories do not identify the mechanisms of the proposed relationships between body and personality, and most do not easily account for the origins of personality and personality characteristics (Personality pp).

Because humans are biological creatures that exist due to genetics, the food eaten, the air breathed, and are able to think due to the neurons that fire in the brain, some believe that the variations in biology may cause the personality differences that are observed in behavior (Personality pp).

Psychoanalytic theory is closely connected with evolutionary perspectives on personality (Personality pp). Freud accepted Darwin's basic insights on evolutionary theory, especially concerning the idea that humans have evolved with particular instincts that were advantageous to survival (Personality pp). This approach assumes that the psychological apparatus of the mind is dependent upon some type of energy to make it function (Personality pp). This energy is used in psychological work such as planning, thinking, feeling, and remembering (Personality pp). Everything that happens in an individual's mind and everything he or she does have a specific, identifiable cause, which is referred to as psychic determinism (Personality pp). According to Freud, "people are driven, fundamentally, by unconscious, animalistic, instinctual urges, particularly lust and aggression" (Personality pp). The unconscious is understood to be the large part of the mind that is hidden from view, and the internal structure of the mind is divided into three separate motivations, the Id, which is the irrational and emotional part of the mind, the Ego, which is the rational part, and the Superego, the moral part (Personality pp).

The basic assumption of the learning perspective is that all behavior is learned through experiences and by interaction with the environment (Personality pp). This perspective views the individual as entering the world as a "tabula rasa," or blank slate, although it acknowledges that there are instincts and pre-set responses to stimuli, as well as a preference for pleasure and a desire to avoid pain (Personality pp). Yet, this perspective differs from perspectives that propose a person is born with an innate nature or personality structure, "some biological theories call it temperament, trait theories call it dispositions, psychoanalysts call it drives or instincts, and the humanists use the term drives" (Personality pp).