My Personality Traits

Chris Keyes Frederick Walter Psychology 101 8 November 2013 My Personality Traits Personality differs from person to person and is affected by many factors. According to Hockenbury and Hockenbury, Personality is defined as an individuals unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving (p. 418, 2013). There are many different ways that psychologists try to measure or describe a particular persons personality. The specific test that I took uses Raymond Cattells trait theory to determine my personality. It is the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire or other known as 16PF. The idea behind this is that the 16 personality factors that the test measure represents the vital source traits of the human personality. (Hockenbury p. 441 , 2013). The 16PF test obviously tests 16 different variables. The characteristics being tested are sociability, abstractedness, emotional stability, dominance, seriousness, conscientiousness, timidness, sensitivity, trusting, imagination, shrewdness, apprehensiveness, conservativeness, self-reliance, controlled, tenseness and their opposites. This test was designed by Raymond Cattell and actually uses his trait theory; people have 16 key personality factors. After taking the test by answering questions on how much I agree or disagree, I was given my results on each personality factor with a rating from zero to four. For example in the personality factor of emotionally stable, I scored a 3.4 which is relatively high. This means that I am in control of my emotions and adaptive. The test revealed to me what my specific personality is according to my answers. The questionnaire tested me to find where I lie between the two extremes of Cattells

My Personality Traits
2

personality factors. My first factor that was measured was warmth; I scored a 2.8. Warmth is the reserved or outgoing factor on Cattells scale. This is how friendly I am to others. Next was reasoning which is how much I think about things rather than taking them how they are; I scored a 3.1 which means I like to dig deeper on subjects. On Cattells the two extremes are concrete and abstract. After reasoning, came dominance; the extremes are submissive and humble to dominant and assertive. I scored a 3.4 meaning that I am more aggressive and competitive than most people. Two more high scoring factors were rule-consciousness and perfectionism. I scored a three and 3.1 respectively. This means that I abide by the rules and am self-disciplined. A few of the factors that I scored low in were sensitivity and apprehension; these scores were 1.1 and 1.8 respectively. This means that I am self-reliant and confident. These are just a few of the places that I scored between Raymond Cattells two extremes of his 16PF Questionnaire. Each represents a different trait in my personality. As human beings, we have something inside us that makes us want to express ourselves. Our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions affect how we handle situations in our life. The way that a person responds to a certain event can unmask some of their personality. According to the personality test, I am emotionally stable. I can agree with this because in my life there are some times when I am very stressed out, and I can handle it. During the summer, I had five jobs, all during football. Two of the jobs were suppose to be finished by a certain date, one was helping on a farm, and the other two were actual jobs that gave me a schedule. Along with football and my two jobs that scheduled me, I needed to make time to finish my other two jobs. I also needed to balance in farmwork too. Many kids my age would be too stressed working from eight in the morning to midnight with football three days a week, but I managed to take a deep breath when I needed to and come home with a good attitude every night. If you ask me, that was a strong test

My Personality Traits
3

of the stability of my emotions. One of the personality factors that I scored low in was sensitivity. When I first read my score, I was surprised, but as I read the description, I agreed; self-reliant and no-nonsense were some of the identifiers. This made perfect sense to me because as I grew up my brother needed help on his homework and life in general. My parents never had the time to help me on my schoolwork, so if I did not know an answer and needed an explanation, I had to discover it for myself. I was on my own for some time while I was little so I learned to rely on myself. My personality has sprouted from the way I was raised and the events in my life. I believe the cognitive-social learning theory best supports the way that peoples personalities shaped. This theory states that a persons behavior is led by the environment, learning, thought, and expectancies. Performance standards are also crucial in the cognitive-social learning theory. They are the standards that in individual judges his or her behavior. Expectancies are what a person thinks the result of their behavior will be if they act a certain way. These relate to me because as I grew up I had high standards for myself. I saw the mistakes that people would make in their life, and I remember telling myself I never want to end up like them; I am going to make a better life for myself and my family. Coming from a family that did not always have luxuries, I sent standards for myself so that I could reach my goals of bettering my life. Growing up I never realized the hard work my father put in, and how he lived without some of the items that most people take for granted so my brother and I could have a better life. This would be an example of thought and environment because some days I would go with him to work and see what he has to do working two jobs. After reflecting on this, it showed me that hard work helped my family, pushing me to work hard in everything I do. I believe that is why my scores on the personality test in perfection, competitiveness, and emotionally stable. Also growing up just like

My Personality Traits
4

any other child I learned about right and wrong. Since my father was a role model to me, I saw that he abided by the law and set a good example for us. He would always tell us about rules and what happens to people who break them. This is an example of learning and expectancies. I would always think to myself about what would happen if I broke one of the rules that my parents set out for me. In contrast I would imagine what would happen if I did what was asked. I believe that is why my scores were high in rule-consciousness. The cognitive-social theory also applies to people as they get older. When they grow up they will learn what successful people do and try to emulate them. Also, while a person doing their career, they will learn from their successes and continue to do them. I think that the cognitive-social learning theory best explains how my personality and the personalities of other people are shaped because personality is a result of how people are raised and the events that happen throughout a lifetime. Personalities are main way to describe a person. It is their label, the way they have been since they were young. There are many different aspects of a personality, but Raymond Cattell narrowed it down to 16 factors that were extremes. I believe that these traits in my personality are from learning through my environment that is around me and the people in my life which is best explained as the cognitive-social theory. After taking the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, some aspects of my personality were revealed to me, others were some that I have already known.

My Personality Traits
5

References Cattells 16 personality factors. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://personalitytesting.info/tests/16PF.php Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2014). Discovering Psychology, 6th edition. New York, New York: Worth Publishers. Personality test. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.similarminds.com/bigfive.html