Present

resent Auth oring:

orin g: Faults

Welcome to the Present Authoring: Faults component of the Self-Authoring suite. This exercise has

been designed to allow you to do an in-depth analysis of some of the negative aspects or faults of

your personality.

The exercise may take up to three hours to complete. You may quit the exercise any time by

clicking Exit/Home or shutting down your browser. If the current page is a page you have been

writing on, remember to click Save before exiting. The text that you entered on previous pages will

have already been saved.

You can come back to the exercise later, and resume your work. Just go to

www.selfauthoring.com,
www.selfauthoring.com, click the Subscriber Login button (top right) and choose the Present

Authoring: Faults exercise. When you return, all your previous work will be waiting for you, and

you will be taken to the last point in the exercise you had completed.

[Index]

Faults Analysis

This program has been designed to allow you to do an in-depth analysis of some of the negative

aspects or faults of your personality. It is the partner program to the virtues analysis section of the

present authoring program. It is our hope that constructing a clearer picture of your faults will help

you understand the impact of your personality

personality traits on your life in the pa st, present, and future.

It is probably best to complete this exercise if you are in a normal to good mood, so that you can

tolerate the self-criticism. If you are feeling sad, lonely, or depressed, you should probably do the

virtues analysis instead. This exercise will take you 60-90 minutes, depending on your choices. You

will be asked first to read some information about basic personality theory and then to select 2-10

faults from each of five lists of faults (one list per basic personality trait).

Then you will be presented with the faults you have selected, and asked to choose a final list of the

faults you think have most interfered with your life. You will be asked to write for about 10

minutes, later, for each fault you choose, after you have rank-ordered them in importance. We

recommend that you choose 6-9 faults (for 60 to 90 minutes of work), but you can choose as many

as you like. Just remember that you will be asked to write about each one. You will be asked to

describe how this fault has impacted you negatively, in the past; what you might have done

differently; and what you could do now and in the future to rectify or eliminate this fault.
Completing the Exercise 2

On many pages, you will not be able to successfully click Next or Previous unless you have

provided a minimum of necessary text. If you do not, you will receive an error message, and the

text box in question will be highlighted in red.

Text boxes also have a maximum length. Pay attention, as you write, to the numbers above the

text boxes. Numbers like [180 / 1000] indicate that you have typed 180 characters out of a

maximum allowable of 1000. When you go over the maximum, the numbers above the text box

become red. Clicking Next, Previous, or Save will result in an error message and you will not be

able to proceed to the Next or Previous page. To resolve this, edit your text until the number of

characters is less than or equal to the maximum. These limitations have been established so that

you do not get stalled at any point in the process.

We do encourage you to write in some detail, however, subject to those limitations. Our research

indicates that better results are obtained as the amount written by participants increases.

There is a progress bar in the t op right portion of the screen, which displays the percentage of the

exercise that you have already completed. If you hover over the bar with the mouse, you can see

approximately how much time it will still take to complete the exercise.

You may use the Index to jump to any page you have already completed. Clicking the [Index] link

will open the index. Clicking it again will close it. Remember to click Save to save any work on the

current page before using the index to jump to another page.

After you have completed the exercise, you will be taken to a Summary page. You can use that

page to email yourself a copy of your writing.

[Index]

Backgrou nd Know ledge

To complete the following exercise, there are a number of things that are useful to know. (you may

have encountered this information previously if you have completed the virtues analysis program,

but it might be worthwhile to review it):

Everybody's personality is composed of two higher-order traits. The first higher-order trait is

known as plasticity, and can be thought of as the tendency to be flexible, exploratory, curious, and
quick to adapt. The second higher-order trait is known as stability, and can be thought of as the

tendency to be structured, organized, emotionally stable and focused.

[Index]

Plasticity

Plasticity, the first higher-order trait, can be further broken down into two sub-traits: Extraversion

(the tendency to be enthusiastic and dominant) and Openness (the tendency to be open -minded

and intelligent).

Extraversion (Outgoi ng vs Reserved)

• Sociable

• Active

• Adventurousness

• Positive

• Excitement-Seeking

• Gregarious

Openness (Original vs Traditional)

• Fantasy-prone

• Aesthetically-minded

• Philosophical

• Creative

• Intuitive

• Intellectual

Stability

Stability, the second higher-order trait, can be further broken down into three sub-traits:

Conscientiousness (the tendency to be orderly and industrious), Emotional Stability (lack of

negative emotional volatility and the tendency to withdraw), and Agreeableness (politeness and

compassion, as opposed to belligerence or aggression).

Conscientious ness (Conscientious vs Carefree)

• Competent
 • Decisive

• Achievement-oriented

• Self-disciplined

• Deliberate

• Industrious

Emotional Stability (Calm vs Nervous)

• Anxious (reversed)

• Angry (reversed)

• Hostile (reversed)

• Depressed (reversed)

• Self-Conscious (reversed)

• Vulnerable (reversed)

 Agreeableness (Agreeable vs As serti ve/Aggr ess ive)

• Warm

• Trusting

• Straightforward

• Altruistic

• Modest

• Compliant

• Tender-minded

• Nice

[Index]

Impact of Personality Traits

There are advantages and disadvantages to each trait, particularly at the extremes. Extremely

sociable, extraverted people can be dominant and impulsive, while introverted, quiet people can

easily become isolated and depressed. Extremely open people can be scattered and overwhelmed

by their own thoughts and ideas, while closed-minded people may become narrow and inflexible.

Exceptionally conscientious people can be obsessive about order, judgemental and rigid, while their

more carefree counterparts may be messy, undisciplined and careless. People very high in

emotional stability may engage in risky, dangerous behavior, while those who are more neurotic
can become so preoccupied by anxiety and pain that they are unable to function. Finally, extremely

agreeable people may never stand up for themselves, while those who are too assertive can be

aggressive, callous and bullying.

Previous Next

[Index]

Change

Personality is reasonably stable over the lifespan, and is also powerfully influenced by hereditary or

genetic factors. Despite this, personality can broaden or even transform. As people age, for

example, they tend to become more agreeable, conscientious and emotionally stable.

Changing personality means changing habits of action, presumption and perception. Personality

change requires the formulation of clear future goals, as well as discipline and practice. People who

are too agreeable can learn to stand up for themselves. Disorderly people can become more

conscientious. Introverted people can become socially skilled. People who experience paralyzing

levels of negative emotion can learn to explore.

[Index]

Extraversion/Introversion
Select Relevant Items

Please select habits that apply to you. You can select up to 10 habits, and are required to select at

least 2. Be over-inclusive. Don’t worry if some of the bad habit descriptions do not really apply, as

you will get to specify the most typical habits later, when you make your final fault selection, prior

to writing.

Sometimes act without thinking

Sometimes talk too loudly

Can spend too much money

May exaggerate the truth

May dominate the conversation excessively

Find it difficult to spend time alone

Could be a better listener