Power of Thought a Gift From God.--The mind is a trust from God.

The powers of
the mind are to be cultivated. They are to be so wisely used that they will increase in
strength. Each one is to use his entrusted talents in a way that the greatest good will be
done. The mind is to be educated that the best energies of the soul will be brought out
and every faculty be developed. We must not be contented with a low standard. We
are to move onward from one advanced line of work to another. --Lt 106, 1901.
Mind to Be Trained.--The mind is the best possession we have; but it must be trained
by study, by reflection, by learning in the school of Christ, the best and truest educator
the world has ever known. The Christian worker must grow. He must build up a
character for usefulness; he must educate himself to endure hardness and to be wise to
plan and execute in the work of God. He must be a man of pure mind and
conversation--one who will abstain from every appearance of evil and give no
occasion for reproach through his heedless ways. He 666 must be truthful at heart; in
his mouth there must be no guile.--RH, Jan 6, 1885.
He [Christ] died for me that I might be blessed and that His joy might remain in me.
Therefore I keep my mind in that channel; I educate it; I train it; I train my tongue; I
train my thoughts; I train all that there is of me that I may fasten it upon Jesus
Christ.--MS 36, 1891.
Every faculty of the mind ... shows that God designed these faculties to be used, not to
remain inactive.--4T 411 (1880).
Right Thinking Only Security.--The only security for any soul is right thinking. As a
man "thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). The power of self-restraint
strengthens by exercise. That which at first seems difficult, by constant repetition
grows easy, until right thoughts and actions become habitual. If we will, we may turn
away from all that is cheap and inferior and rise to a high standard; we may be
respected by men and beloved of God.--MH 491 (1905).
Christ-centered Thinking.--Your last thought at night, your first thought in the
morning, should be of Him in whom is centered your hope of eternal life.-- Lt 19,
1895. (HC 116.)
Positiveness to Be Developed.--The positiveness and energy, the solidity and strength
of character manifested in Christ are to be developed in us through the same discipline
that He endured. And the grace that He received is for us.--DA 73 (1898).
Effort Proportionate to Object of Pursuit.--The thoughts must be centered upon
God. We must put forth earnest effort to overcome the evil tendencies of the natural

heart. Our efforts, our self-denial and perseverance, 667 must be proportionate to the
infinite value of the object of which we are in pursuit. Only by overcoming as Christ
overcame shall we win the crown of life.--MH 455 (1905).
Thinking for Yourself.--If you allow another to do your thinking for you, you will
have crippled energies and contracted abilities. There are many whose intellects are
dwarfed because they confine them to dwell upon commonplace subjects. You should
wrestle with problems of thought that require the exercise of the best powers of your
mind.--RH, Apr 16, 1889.
Refinement of Heart Learned in Christ's School.-- Real refinement of thought and
manner is better learned in the school of the Divine Teacher than by any observance of
set rules. His love pervading the heart gives to the character those refining touches
that fashion it in the semblance of His own. This education imparts a heaven-born
dignity and sense of propriety. It gives a sweetness of disposition and a gentleness of
manner that can never be equaled by the superficial polish of fashionable society.--Ed
241 (1903).
Mental Discipline Required.--The ability to fix the thoughts on the work in hand is a
great blessing. God-fearing youth should strive to discharge their duties with
thoughtful consideration, keeping the thoughts in the right channel and doing their
best. They should recognize their present duties and fulfill them without allowing the
mind to wander. This kind of mental discipline will be helpful and beneficial
throughout life. Those who learn to put thought into everything they undertake,
however small the work may appear, will be of use in the world.--YI, Aug 20, 1903.
(MYP 149.)
Relation of Ideas One to Another.--Some minds are more like an old curiosity shop
than anything else. Many odd bits and ends of truth have been picked up and
stored 668 away there; but they know not how to present them in a clear, connected
manner. It is the relation that these ideas have to one another that gives them value.
Every idea and statement should be as closely united as the links in a chain. When a
minister throws out a mass of matter before the people for them to pick up and arrange
in order, his labors are lost, for there are few who will do it.--RH, Apr 6, 1886. (Ev
648, 649.)
Why the Mind Takes a Low Level.--If the human mind takes a low level, it is
generally because it is left to deal with commonplace facts and not called out and
exercised to grasp lofty, elevated truths, which are enduring as eternity. These literary
societies and lyceums are almost universally exerting an influence entirely contrary to
that which they claim, and are an injury to the youth. This need not be the case, but
because unsanctified elements take the lead, because worldlings want matters to go to

please themselves, their hearts are not in harmony with Jesus Christ. They are in the
ranks of the Lord's enemies, and they will not be pleased with that kind of
entertainment which would strengthen and confirm the members of the society in
spirituality. Low, cheap matters are brought in which are not elevating or instructive
but which only amuse.--MS 41, 1900.
Dwelling on Unimportant Matters.--During the waking hours the mind will be
constantly employed. If it dwells upon unimportant matters, the intellect is dwarfed
and weakened. There may be some spasmodic flashes of thought; but the mind is not
disciplined to steady, sober reflection. There are themes that demand serious
consideration. . . . By dwelling upon these themes of eternal interest, the mind is
strengthened and the character developed.--RH, June 10, 1884.
Thoughts Indelibly Imprint the Soul.--Abstain from all evil. Common sins,
however insignificant they may be 669 regarded, will impair your moral sense and
extinguish the inward impression of the Spirit of God. The character of the thoughts
leaves its imprint upon the soul, and all low conversation pollutes the mind. All evil
works ruin to those who commit it. God may and will forgive the repenting sinner, but
though forgiven, the soul is marred; the power of the elevated thought, possible to the
unimpaired mind, is destroyed. Through all time the soul bears the scars. Then let us
seek for that faith which works by love and purifies the heart that we may represent
the character of Christ to the world.--RH. Dec 8, 1891. (FE 195.)
Surrounding the Soul by a Pure Atmosphere.--None are to be forward or obtrusive,
but we are quietly to live out our religion, with an eye single to the glory of God. . . .
Then we shall shine as lights in the world, without noise or friction. None need fail,
for One is with them who is wise in counsel, excellent in working, and mighty to
accomplish His designs. He works through His agents, seen and unseen, human and
divine. This work is a grand work and will be carried forward to the glory of God, if
all who are connected with it will make their works correspond to their profession of
faith. Purity of thought must be cherished as indispensable to the work of influencing
others. The soul must be surrounded by a pure, holy atmosphere, an atmosphere that
will tend to quicken the spiritual life of all who inhale it.--Lt 74, 1896. (SD 316.)
Every Energy to Be Exercised (counsel to a young woman).--The life of the soul
cannot be sustained unless it is brought into subjection to the will of God. Every
energy is to be exercised in doing the divine will. Our thoughts, if stayed upon God,
will be guided by divine love and power. Then, my dear child, live on the words that
proceed from the lips of Christ. May the Lord strengthen and bless and guide you.
Press forward and believe that if you ask, you will receive.--Lt 339, 1905. 670

Christ Changes Thoughts.--Christ came to change the current of his [man's]

thoughts and affections.--1T 196 (1859).
As the Flower Turns to the Sun.--Let the soul be drawn out an upward that God may
grant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that in
every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to
the sun.--SC 99, 100 (1892).
Transformation Begins With Thoughts.--The words "A new heart also will I give
you" (Ezekiel 36:26) mean, "A new mind will I give you." This change of heart is
always attended by a clear conception of Christian duty, an understanding of truth.
The clearness of our view of truth will be proportionate to our understanding of the
Word of God.--CT 452 (1913).
We want the transforming grace of God to take right hold of our thinking powers. We
may think evil, we may continue to keep our minds upon objectionable things, but
what does this do for us? It conforms our entire experience to that which we are
looking upon. But by beholding Jesus we become changed into His likeness. The
servant of the living God sees to some purpose. The eyes are sanctified, and the ears
are sanctified, and those who will close their eyes and ears to evil will become
changed. --MS 17, 1894.

Chapter XXIX. Right Thinking And Personality

Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called. - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.
Right thinking fits for complete living by developing the power to appreciate the beautiful in nature and art, power to think the true
and to will the good, power to live the life of thought, and faith, and hope, and love.
- N. C. Schaeffer, Thinking and Learning to Think.
The speaker's most valuable possession is personality - that indefinable, imponderable something which sums up what we are, and
makes us different from others; that distinctive force of self which operates appreciably on those whose lives we. touch. It is
personality alone that makes us long for higher things. Rob us of our sense of individual life, with its gains and losses, its duties and
joys, and we grovel. "Few human creatures," says John Stuart Mill, "would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals for a
promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's pleasures; no intelligent human being would consent to be a fool, no instructed person
would be an ignoramus, no person of feeling and conscience would be selfish and base, even though he should be persuaded that
the fool, or the dunce, or the rascal is better satisfied with his lot than they with theirs. ... It is better to be a human being dissatisfied
than a pig satisfied, better to be a Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool or the pig is of a different opinion, it is
only because they know only their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides."
Now it is precisely because the Socrates type of person lives on the plan of right thinking and restrained feeling and willing that he
prefers his state to that of the animal. All that a man is, all his happiness, his sorrow, his achievements, his failures, his magnetism,
his weakness, all are in an amazingly large measure the direct results of his thinking. Thought and heart combine to produce right
thinking: "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." As he does not think in his heart so he can never become.
Since this is true, personality can be developed and its latent powers brought out by careful cultivation. We have long since ceased
to believe that we are living in a realm of chance. So clear and exact are nature's laws that we forecast, scores of years in advance,
the appearance of a certain comet and foretell to the minute an eclipse of the Sun. And we understand this law of cause and effect
in all our material realms. We do not plant potatoes and expect to pluck hyacinths. The law is universal: it applies to our mental
powers, to morality, to personality, quite as much as to the heavenly bodies and the grain of the fields. "Whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap," and nothing else.
Character has always been regarded as one of the chief factors of the speaker's power. Cato defined the orator as vir bonus dicendi
peritus - a good man skilled in speaking. Phillips Brooks says: "Nobody can truly stand as an utterer before the world, unless he be
profoundly living and earnestly thinking." "Character," says Emerson, "is a natural power, like light and heat, and all nature
cooperates with it. The reason why we feel one man's presence, and do not feel another's is as simple as gravity. Truth is the
summit of being: justice is the application of it to affairs. All individual natures stand in a scale, according to the purity of this element
in them. The will of the pure runs down into other natures, as water runs down from a higher into a lower vessel. This natural force is
no more to be withstood than any other natural force. . . . Character is nature in the highest form."
It is absolutely impossible for impure, bestial and selfish thoughts to blossom into loving and altruistic habits. Thistle seeds bring
forth only the thistle. Contrariwise, it is entirely impossible for continual altruistic, sympathetic, and serviceful thoughts to bring forth a
low and vicious character. Either thoughts or feelings precede and determine all our actions. Actions develop into habits, habits

constitute character, and character determines destiny. Therefore to guard our thoughts and control our feelings is to shape our
destinies. The syllogism is complete, and old as it is it is still true.
Since "character is nature in the highest form," the development of character must proceed on natural lines. The garden left to itself
will bring forth weeds and scrawny plants, but the flower-beds nurtured carefully will blossom into fragrance and beauty.
As the student entering college largely determines his vocation by choosing from the different courses of the curriculum, so do we
choose our characters by choosing our thoughts. We are steadily going up toward that which we most wish for, or steadily sinking to
the level of our low desires. What we secretly cherish in our hearts is a symbol of what we shall receive. Our trains of thoughts are
hurrying us on to our destiny. When you see the flag fluttering to the South, you know the wind is coming from the North. When you
see the straws and papers being carried to the Northward you realize the wind is blowing out of the South. It is just as easy to
ascertain a man's thoughts by observing the tendency of his character.
Let it not be suspected for one moment that all this is merely a preachment on the question of morals. It is that, but much more, for it
touches the whole man - his imaginative nature, his ability to control his feelings, the mastery of his thinking faculties, and - perhaps
most largely - his power to will and to carry his volitions into effective action.
Right thinking constantly assumes that the will sits enthroned to execute the dictates of mind, conscience and heart. Never tolerate
for an instant the suggestion that your will is not absolutely efficient. The way to will is to will - and the very first time you are tempted
to break a worthy resolution - and you will be, you may be certain of that - make your fight then and there. You cannot afford to lose
that fight. You must win it - don't swerve for an instant, but keep that resolution if it kills you. It will not, but you must fight just as
though life depended on the victory; and indeed your personality may actually lie in the balances!
Your success or failure as a speaker will be determined very largely by your thoughts and your mental attitude. The present writer
had a student of limited education enter one of his classes in public speaking. He proved to be a very poor speaker; and the
instructor could conscientiously do little but point out faults. However, the young man was warned not to be discouraged. With
sorrow in his voice and the essence of earnestness beaming from his eyes, he replied: "I will not be discouraged! I want so badly to
know how to speak!" It was warm, human, and from the very heart. And he did keep on trying - and developed into a creditable
speaker.
There is no power under the stars that can defeat a man with that attitude. He who down in the deeps of his heart earnestly longs to
get facility in speaking, and is willing to make the sacrifices necessary, will reach his goal. "Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye
shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you," is indeed applicable to those who would acquire speech-power. You will not
realize the prize that you wish for languidly, but the goal that you start out to attain with the spirit of the old guard that dies but never
surrenders, you will surely reach.
Your belief in your ability and your willingness to make sacrifices for that belief, are the double index to your future achievements.
Lincoln had a dream of his possibilities as a speaker. He transmuted that dream into life solely because he walked many miles to
borrow books which he read by the log-fire glow at night. He sacrificed much to realize his vision. Livingstone had a great faith in his
ability to serve the benighted races of

Africa. To actualize that faith he gave up all. Leaving England for the interior of the Dark Continent he struck the death blow to
Europe's profits from the slave trade. Joan of Arc had great self-confidence, glorified by an infinite capacity for sacrifice. She drove
the English beyond the Loire, and stood beside Charles while he was crowned.
These all realized their strongest desires. The law is universal. Desire greatly, and you shall achieve; sacrifice much, and you shall
obtain.
Stanton Davis Kirkham has beautifully expressed this thought: "You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of
the door that has for so long seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience - the pen still
behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers - and then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be driving
sheep, and you shall wander to the city - bucolic and open-mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the
studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, 'I have nothing more to teach you.' And now you have become the master, who
did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the
regeneration of the world."

Trait theories
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, personality traits are
"enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a
wide range of social and personal contexts." Theorists generally assume a) traits are relatively stable over
time, b) traits differ among individuals (for instance, some people are outgoing while others are reserved),
and c) traits influence behavior. When people are describing a person, they constantly talk about traits to help define
the person as a whole. Traits are relatively constant; they do not usually change. Traits are also bipolar; they vary
along a continuum between one extreme and the other (ex: friendly vs. unfriendly).[citation needed]
The most common models of traits incorporate three to five broad dimensions or factors. All trait theories incorporate
at least two dimensions, extraversion and neuroticism, which historically featured in Hippocrates' humoral theory.[2]

Gordon Allport delineated different kinds of traits, which he also called dispositions. Central traits are basic
to an individual's personality, while secondary traits are more peripheral. Common traits are those recognized
within a culture and thus may vary from culture to culture. Cardinal traits are those by which an individual may be
strongly recognized. In his groundbreaking book, Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, Gordon Allport
(1937) both established personality psychology as a legitimate intellectual discipline and introduced the first of
the modern trait theories. [3] [4] [4]

Raymond Cattell's research propagated a two-tiered personality structure with sixteen "primary factors" (16
Personality Factors) and five "secondary factors." In Cattell's lengthy career, he had written 50 books, 500
journals, and 30 different types of standardized tests. When Cattell was conducting his research, he tended to
use the inductive approach to research. This simply means that he gathered up all the data he could find to
create one big conclusion. For Cattell, personality itself was dened in terms of behavioral prediction. He dened
personality as that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation.

Hans Eysenck believed just three traitsextraversion, neuroticism and psychoticismwere sufficient to
describe human personality. Differences between Cattell and Eysenck emerged due to preferences for different
forms of factor analysis, with Cattell using oblique, Eysenck orthogonal rotation to analyze the factors that
emerged when personality questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis. Today, the Big Five factors have
the weight of a considerable amount of empirical research behind them, building on the work of Cattell and
others. Eysenck, along with another contemporary stalwart in trait psychology named J. P. Guilford (1959),
believed that the resultant trait factors obtained from factor analysis should be statistically independent of one
another that is, the factors should be arranged (rotated) so that they are uncorrelated or orthogonal (at right
angles) to one another.

Lewis Goldberg proposed a five-dimension personality model, nicknamed the "Big Five":

1.

Openness to Experience: the tendency to be imaginative, independent, and interested in variety

vs. practical, conforming, and interested in routine.

2.

Conscientiousness: the tendency to be organized, careful, and disciplined vs. disorganized,

careless, and impulsive.

3.

Extraversion: the tendency to be sociable, fun-loving, and affectionate vs. retiring, somber, and
reserved.

4.

Agreeableness: the tendency to be softhearted, trusting, and helpful vs. ruthless, suspicious, and
uncooperative.

5.

Neuroticism: the tendency to be calm, secure, and self-satisfied vs. anxious, insecure, and selfpitying[5]

The Big Five contain important dimensions of personality. However, some personality researchers argue that
this list of major traits is not exhaustive. Some support has been found for two additional factors:
excellent/ordinary and evil/decent. However, no definitive conclusions have been established.[5]

Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee, in 2008, proposed a six dimensional HEXACO Model of Personality
Structure. The HEXACO personality traits/factors are: Honesty-Humility(H), Emotionality (E),
Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to Experience (O). The three
dimensions - Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience are considered to be basically
the same as their counterpart dimensions in the Big Five Model. However, in the HEXACO model, HonestyHumility, Emotionality and Agreeableness differ from the Neuroticism and Agreeableness factors of the Big
Five Model. Ashton and Lee especially emphasize the Honesty-Humility (H) factor as differentiating the
HEXACO model from other personality frameworks. Specifically, the H factor is described as sincere,
honest, faithful/loyal, modest/unassuming, fair-minded, VERSUS sly, deceitful, greedy, pretentious,
hypocritical, boastful and pompous. The H factor has been linked to criminal, materialistic, power-seeking
and unethical tendencies.[6]

Trait models have been criticized as being purely descriptive and offering little explanation of the underlying
causes of personality. Eysenck's theory, however, does propose biological mechanisms as driving traits, and
modern behavior genetics researchers have shown a clear genetic substrate to them.[vague] Another potential
weakness of trait theories is that they may lead some people to accept oversimplified classificationsor worse,
offer advicebased on a superficial analysis of personality. Finally, trait models often underestimate the effect of
specific situations on people's behavior. It is important to remember that traits are statistical generalizations that
do not always correspond to an individual's behavior.

Does the importance of genetic influences on personality characteristics change across the 5 year period?

Are genetic influences important for the likeliness of co-twins to change in the same way over the period of
time?

Are there genetic influences on the tendency of the co-twins to change, without keeping in mind the direction
of the change

Age differences create more variables even within a family, so the best comparisons are found using twins.
Twins typically share a family environment called a shared environment because they may share other aspects
like teachers, school, and friends. A non-shared environment means completely different environment for both
subjects. "Biologically related children who are separated after birth and raised in different families live in nonshared environments." Identical twins separated at birth and raised in different families constitute the best cases
for heredity and personality because similarities between the two are due only to genetic influences. Vulnerability
was a factor in this study that was taken into consideration regarding the issue of genetic influences on
vulnerability. The study concluded that the monozygotic co-twins would be more similar than dizygotic co-twins in
change over time. To answer the questions as to whether change is genetically influenced through personality,

the data concluded that there was no significant differences for either variances between the monozygotic and
dizygotic co-twins.[7][8]
A link was found between the personality trait of neuroticism and a polymorphism called 5-HTTLPR in the
serotonin transporter gene, but this association was not replicated in larger studies.[9] Other candidate gene
studies have provided weak evidence that some personality traits are related to AVPR1A ("ruthlessness gene")
and MAOA ("Warrior gene"). Genotypes, or the genetic make up of an organism, influence but don't fully decide
the physical traits of a person. Those are also influenced by the environment and behaviors they are surrounded
by. For example, a person's height is affected by genetics, but if they are malnourished growth will be stunted no
matter what their genetic coding says. Environment is also not completely responsible for an outcome in
personality. An example from "Psychobiology of Personality" by Marvin Zuckerman is alcoholism: Studies
suggest that alcoholism is an inherited disease, but if a subject with a strong biological background of alcoholism
in their family tree is never exposed to alcohol, they will not be so inclined regardless of their genome.[10]
Another factor that can be addressed is biological versus adoptive relatives, a real-life experiment, adoption.
This creates two groups: genetic relatives (biological parents and siblings) and environmental relatives (adoptive
parents and siblings). So the question can be asked, are adopted children more like their biological parents, who
share the same genes, or their adoptive parents, who share the same home environment? And consequently to
sharing that home environment, do those adopted siblings come to share traits as well? After studying hundreds
of adoptive families, the discovery was that people who grow up together, whether biologically related or not, do
not much resemble one another in personality. In characteristics such as extroversion and agreeableness,
adoptees are more like their biological parents than to their adoptive parents. However, the minute sharedenvironment effects do not mean that adoptive parenting is ineffective. Even though genetics may limit the family
environment's influence on personality, parents do influence their children's attitudes, values, faith, manners and
politics. In adoptive homes, child neglect and abuse and even divorce between the parents is uncommon. In
accordance to that, it is not surprising, despite a somewhat greater risk of psychological disorder, most adopted
children excel, especially when they're adopted as infants. In fact, seven out of eight have reported feeling a
strong connection with one or even both of their adoptive parents.[11]
[edit]Type

theories

Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of people. Personality types are
distinguished from personality traits, which come in different levels or degrees. For example, according to type
theories, there are two types of people, introverts and extroverts. According to trait theories, introversion and
extroversion are part of a continuous dimension, with many people in the middle. The idea of psychological types
originated in the theoretical work of Carl Jung[12] and William Marston, whose work is reviewed in Dr. Travis
Bradberry's Self-Awareness. Jung's seminal 1921 book on the subject is available in English as Psychological
Types.
Building on the writings and observations of Jung, during World War II, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother,
Katharine C. Briggs, delineated personality types by constructing theMyers-Briggs Type Indicator.[13] This model
was later used by David Keirsey with a different understanding from Jung, Briggs and Myers.[14] In the former
Soviet Union, LithuanianAura Augustinaviit independently derived a model of personality type from Jung's
called Socionics.
The model is an older and more theoretical approach to personality, accepting extroversion and introversion as
basic psychological orientations in connection with two pairs of psychological functions:

Perceiving functions: sensing and intuition (trust in concrete, sensory-oriented facts vs. trust in abstract
concepts and imagined possibilities)

Judging functions: thinking and feeling (basing decisions primarily on logic vs. considering the effect on
people).

Briggs and Myers also added another personality dimension to their type indicator to measure whether a person
prefers to use a judging or perceiving function when interacting with the external world. Therefore they included
questions designed to indicate whether someone wishes to come to conclusions (judgment) or to keep options
open (perception).[13]
This personality typology has some aspects of a trait theory: it explains people's behaviour in terms of opposite
fixed characteristics. In these more traditional models, the sensing/intuition preference is considered the most
basic, dividing people into "N" (intuitive) or "S" (sensing) personality types. An "N" is further assumed to be
guided either by thinking or feeling, and divided into the "NT" (scientist, engineer) or "NF" (author, humanitarian)
temperament. An "S", by contrast, is assumed to be guided more by the judgment/perception axis, and thus
divided into the "SJ" (guardian, traditionalist) or "SP" (performer, artisan) temperament.[14] These four are
considered basic, with the other two factors in each case (including always extraversion/introversion) less
important. Critics of this traditional view have observed that the types can be quite strongly stereotyped by
professions (although neither Myers nor Keirsey engaged in such stereotyping in their type descriptions[13][14]),
and thus may arise more from the need to categorize people for purposes of guiding their career choice.[15] This
among other objections led to the emergence of the five-factor view, which is less concerned with behavior
under work conditions and more concerned with behavior in personal and emotional circumstances. (It should be
noted, however, that the MBTI is not designed to measure the "work self", but rather what Myers and McCaulley
called the "shoes-off self."[16]) Some critics have argued for more or fewer dimensions while others have
proposed entirely different theories (often assuming different definitions of "personality").
Type A and Type B personality theory: During the 1950s, Meyer Friedman and his co-workers defined what
they called Type A and Type B behavior patterns. They theorized that intense, hard-driving Type A personalities
had a higher risk of coronary disease because they are "stress junkies." Type B people, on the other hand,
tended to be relaxed, less competitive, and lower in risk. There was also a Type AB mixed profile.
John L. Holland's RIASEC vocational model, commonly referred to as the Holland Codes, stipulates that six
personality types lead people to choose their career paths. In this circumplex model, the six types are
represented as a hexagon, with adjacent types more closely related than those more distant. The model is
widely used in vocational counseling.
Eduard Spranger 's personality-model, consisting of six (or, by some revisions, 6 +1) basic types of value
attitudes, described in his book Types of Men (Lebensformen; Halle (Saale): Niemeyer, 1914; english
translation by P. J. W. Pigors - New York: G. E. Stechert Company, 1928).
[edit]Psychoanalytic

theories

Psychoanalytic theories explain human behavior in terms of the interaction of various components of
personality. Sigmund Freud was the founder of this school. Freud drew on the physics of his day
(thermodynamics) to coin the term psycho-dynamics. Based on the idea of converting heat into mechanical
energy, he proposed psychic energy could be converted into behavior. Freud's theory places central importance
on dynamic, unconscious psychological conflicts.

Freud divides human personality into three significant components: the id, ego, and super-ego. The id acts
according to the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification of its needs regardless of external
environment; the ego then must emerge in order to realistically meet the wishes and demands of the id in
accordance with the outside world, adhering to the reality principle. Finally, the superego(conscience) inculcates
moral judgment and societal rules upon the ego, thus forcing the demands of the id to be met not only
realistically but morally. The superego is the last function of the personality to develop, and is the embodiment of
parental/social ideals established during childhood. According to Freud, personality is based on the dynamic
interactions of these three components.[17]
The channeling and release of sexual (libidal) and aggressive energies, which ensues from the "Eros" (sex;
instinctual self-preservation) and "Thanatos" (death; instinctual self-annihilation) drives respectively, are major
components of his theory.[17] It is important to note that Freud's broad understanding of sexuality included all
kinds of pleasurable feelings experienced by the human body.
Freud proposed five psychosexual stages of personality development. He believed adult personality is
dependent upon early childhood experiences and largely determined by age five.[17] Fixations that develop during
the Infantile stage contribute to adult personality and behavior.
One of Sigmund Freud's earlier associates, Alfred Adler, did agree with Freud that early childhood experiences
are important to development, and believed birth order may influence personality development. Adler believed
the oldest was the one that set high goals to achieve to get the attention they lost back when the younger
siblings were born. He believed the middle children were competitive and ambitious possibly so they are able to
surpass the first-born's achievements, but were not as much concerned about the glory. He also believed the
last born would be more dependent and sociable but be the baby. He also believed that the only child loves
being the center of attention and matures quickly, but in the end fails to become independent.
Heinz Kohut thought similarly to Freud's idea of transference. He used narcissism as a model of how we develop
our sense of self. Narcissism is the exaggerated sense of one self in which one is believed to exist in order to
protect one's low self esteem and sense of worthlessness. Kohut had a significant impact on the field by
extending Freud's theory of narcissism and introducing what he called the 'self-object transferences' of mirroring
and idealization. In other words, children need to idealize and emotionally "sink into" and identify with the
idealized competence of admired figures such as parents or older siblings. They also need to have their selfworth mirrored by these people. These experiences allow them to thereby learn the self-soothing and other skills
that are necessary for the development of a healthy sense of self.
Another important figure in the world of personality theory was Karen Horney. She is credited with the
development of the "real self" and the "ideal self". She believes all people have these two views of their own self.
The "real self" is how you really are with regards to personality, values, and morals; but the "ideal self" is a
construct you apply to yourself to conform to social and personal norms and goals. Ideal self would be "I can be
successful, I am CEO material"; and real self would be "I just work in the mail room, with not much chance of
high promotion".
[edit]Behaviorist

theories

Behaviorists explain personality in terms of the effects external stimuli have on behavior. It was a radical shift
away from Freudian philosophy. This school of thought was developed by B. F. Skinner who put forth a model
which emphasized the mutual interaction of the person or "the organism" with its environment. Skinner believed
children do bad things because the behavior obtains attention that serves as a reinforcer. For example: a child
cries because the child's crying in the past has led to attention. These are the response, and consequences. The

response is the child crying, and the attention that child gets is the reinforcing consequence. According to this
theory, people's behavior is formed by processes such as operant conditioning. Skinner put forward a "three
term contingency model" which helped promote analysis of behavior based on the "Stimulus - Response Consequence Model" in which the critical question is: "Under which circumstances or antecedent 'stimuli' does
the organism engage in a particular behavior or 'response', which in turn produces a particular 'consequence'?"
Richard Herrnstein extended this theory by accounting for attitudes and traits. An attitude develops as the
response strength (the tendency to respond) in the presences of a group of stimuli become stable. Rather than
describing conditionable traits in non-behavioral language, response strength in a given situation accounts for
the environmental portion. Herrstein also saw traits as having a large genetic or biological component as do
most modern behaviorists.
Ivan Pavlov is another notable influence. He is well known for his classical conditioning experiments involving
dogs. These physiological studies led him to discover the foundation of behaviorism as well as classical
conditioning.
[edit]Social

cognitive theories

In cognitive theory, behavior is explained as guided by cognitions (e.g. expectations) about the world, especially
those about other people. Cognitive theories are theories of personality that emphasize cognitive processes
such as thinking and judging.
Albert Bandura, a social learning theorist suggested the forces of memory and emotions worked in conjunction
with environmental influences. Bandura was known mostly for his "Bobo Doll experiment". During these
experiments, Bandura video taped a college student kicking and verbally abusing a bobo doll. He then showed
this video to a class of kindergarten children who were getting ready to go out to play. When they entered the
play room, they saw bobo dolls, and some hammers. The people observing these children at play saw a group of
children beating the doll. He called this study and his findings observational learning, or modeling.
Early examples of approaches to cognitive style are listed by Baron (1982).[18] These include Witkin's (1965)
work on field dependency, Gardner's (1953) discovering people had consistent preference for the number of
categories they used to categorise heterogeneous objects, and Block and Petersen's (1955) work on confidence
in line discrimination judgments. Baron relates early development of cognitive approaches of personality to ego
psychology. More central to this field have been:

Attributional style theory[19] dealing with different ways in which people explain events in their lives. This
approach builds upon locus of control, but extends it by stating we also need to consider whether people
attribute to stable causes or variable causes, and to global causes or specific causes.

Various scales have been developed to assess both attributional style and locus of control. Locus of control
scales include those used by Rotter and later by Duttweiler, the Nowicki and Strickland (1973) Locus of Control
Scale for Children and various locus of control scales specifically in the health domain, most famously that of
Kenneth Wallston and his colleagues, The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale.[20] Attributional style
has been assessed by the Attributional Style Questionnaire,[21] the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire,
[22]
the Attributions Questionnaire,[23] the Real Events Attributional Style Questionnaire[24] and the Attributional
Style Assessment Test.[25]

Achievement style theory focuses upon identification of an individual's Locus of Control tendency, such as
by Rotter's evaluations, and was found by Cassandra Bolyard Whyte to provide valuable information for

improving academic performance of students.[26] Individuals with internal control tendencies are likely to
persist to better academic performance levels, presenting an achievement personality, according
to Cassandra B. Whyte[26]
Recognition that the tendency to believe that hard work and persistence often results in attainment of life and
academic goals has influenced formal educational and counseling efforts with students of various ages and in
various settings since the 1970's research about achievement. [27] Counseling aimed toward encouraging
individuals to design ambitious goals and work toward them, with recognition that there are external factors that
may impact, often results in the incorporation of a more positive achievement style by students and employees,
whatever the setting, to include higher education, workplace, or justice programming.[28] [27]
Walter Mischel (1999) has also defended a cognitive approach to personality. His work refers to "Cognitive
Affective Units", and considers factors such as encoding of stimuli, affect, goal-setting, and self-regulatory
beliefs. The term "Cognitive Affective Units" shows how his approach considers affect as well as cognition.
Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST) is another cognitive personality theory. Developed by Seymour
Epstein, CEST argues that humans operate by way of two independent information processing systems:
experiential system and rational system. The experiential system is fast and emotion-driven. The rational system
is slow and logic-driven. These two systems interact to determine our goals, thoughts, and behavior.[29]
Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) is a theory of personality developed by the American
psychologist George Kelly in the 1950s. From the theory, Kelly derived apsychotherapy approach and also a
technique called The Repertory Grid Interview that helped his patients to uncover their own "constructs" (defined
later) with minimal intervention or interpretation by the therapist. The Repertory Grid was later adapted for
various uses within organizations, including decision-making and interpretation of other people's world-views.
From his 1963 book, A Theory of Personality, pp. 103104:

Fundamental Postulate: A person's processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which the
person anticipates events.

Construction Corollary: A person anticipates events by construing their replications.

Individuality Corollary: People differ from one another in their construction of events.

Organization Corollary: Each person characteristically evolves, for convenience in anticipating events, a
construction system embracing ordinal relationships between constructs.

Dichotomy Corollary: A person's construction system is composed of a finite number of dichotomous

constructs.

Choice Corollary: People choose for themselves the particular alternative in a dichotomized construct
through which they anticipate the greater possibility for extension and definition of their system.

Range Corollary: A construct is convenient for the anticipation of a finite range of events only.

Experience Corollary: A person's construction system varies as the person successively construes the
replication of events.

Modulation Corollary: The variation in a person's construction system is limited by the permeability of the
constructs within whose ranges of conveniences the variants lie.

Fragmentation Corollary: A person may successively employ a variety of construction subsystems which are
inferentially incompatible with each other.

Commonality Corollary: To the extent that one person employs a construction of experience which is similar
to that employed by another, the psychological processes of the two individuals are similar to each other.

Sociality Corollary: To the extent that one person construes another's construction processes, that person
may play a role in a social process involving the other person.

[edit]Humanistic

theories

In humanistic psychology it is emphasized people have free will and they play an active role in determining how
they behave. Accordingly, humanistic psychology focuses on subjective experiences of persons as opposed to
forced, definitive factors that determine behavior. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers were proponents of this
view, which is based on the "phenomenal field" theory of Combs and Snygg (1949).[30]
Maslow spent much of his time studying what he called "self-actualizing persons", those who are "fulfilling
themselves and doing the best they are capable of doing". Maslow believes all who are interested in growth
move towards self-actualizing (growth, happiness, satisfaction) views. Many of these people demonstrate a
trend in dimensions of their personalities. Characteristics of self-actualizers according to Maslow include the four
key dimensions:
1.

Awareness - maintaining constant enjoyment and awe of life. These individuals often experienced a
"peak experience". He defined a peak experience as an "intensification of any experience to the
degree there is a loss or transcendence of self". A peak experience is one in which an individual
perceives an expansion of his or herself, and detects a unity and meaningfulness in life. Intense
concentration on an activity one is involved in, such as running a marathon, may invoke a peak
experience.

2.

Reality and problem centered - they have tendency to be concerned with "problems" in their
surroundings.

3.

Acceptance/Spontaneity - they accept their surroundings and what cannot be changed.

4.

Unhostile sense of humor/democratic - they do not like joking about others, which can be viewed as
offensive. They have friends of all backgrounds and religions and hold very close friendships.

Maslow and Rogers emphasized a view of the person as an active, creative, experiencing human being who
lives in the present and subjectively responds to current perceptions, relationships, and encounters. They
disagree with the dark, pessimistic outlook of those in the Freudian psychoanalysis ranks, but rather view
humanistic theories as positive and optimistic proposals which stress the tendency of the human personality
toward growth and self-actualization. This progressing self will remain the center of its constantly changing
world; a world that will help mold the self but not necessarily confine it. Rather, the self has opportunity for
maturation based on its encounters with this world. This understanding attempts to reduce the acceptance of
hopeless redundancy. Humanistic therapy typically relies on the client for information of the past and its effect on
the present, therefore the client dictates the type of guidance the therapist may initiate. This allows for an
individualized approach to therapy. Rogers found patients differ in how they respond to other people. Rogers

tried to model a particular approach to therapy- he stressed the reflective or empathetic response. This response
type takes the client's viewpoint and reflects back his or her feeling and the context for it. An example of a
reflective response would be, "It seems you are feeling anxious about your upcoming marriage". This response
type seeks to clarify the therapist's understanding while also encouraging the client to think more deeply and
seek to fully understand the feelings they have expressed.