Meaning The term “Personality” is derived from the Latin word “persona” meaning a mask worn in

Greek and Roman Theatres by actors to enable each actor to play several roles. Personality comprises of
character, thoughts, emotions, feelings and behaviour of a person that make a person unique. These
characteristics are inborn and acquired and can be observed when a person interacts with the
environment and the society. Personality as a psychological concept aims at identifying, classifying and
explaining the stable psychological characteristics of a human being. Personality also denes those
qualities that are similar to all the human beings that differentiate a psychological man from other
species. Mere external appearance does not constitute personality. It is the combination of both
physical and mental qualities of an individual. Thus, personality is an aggregate of physical, psychological
and behavioural aspects of human beings. G.W. Allport denes personality as “Personality is the
dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique
adjustment to his environment”. This denition gives more emphasis on the dynamic aspect of
individual's psychological system, that makes him adapt with the environment. The nature of an
individual is attributed to his personality. A matured person generally has an objective attitude towards
himself and others and take efforts to improve his nature and behaviour. The features or the nature that
distinguish a human being from other species are self-consciousness, adaptability, strive for goal
achievement, and integration of activities. A person with positive personality has greater ability to
integrate their values and experiences. Such persons act as role models for youth who try to acquire and
practice their values. I CHAPTER Dimensions and Determinants of Personality Page 1 Characteristics of
personality Personality is the integration of physical, mental and social qualities of an individual. There
are two main approaches to the study of personality. Theya are: Ÿ Psychological approach & Ÿ
Sociological approach The psychological approach considers personality as unique in nature. That is, a
person's personality is determined by his thoughts, emotions, and sentiments. Whereas, the sociological
approach reveals that a person is more socially conscious and gives more importance to the ideas, and
attitude of others. Example: What the society think about us? Thus, personality includes both the ideas,
values and attitude of a person and combination of these nature which determine his role in the society.
The following are the characteristics of Personality Ÿ Personality is unique Ÿ Personality consists of
consistent, persistent and permanent qualities of an individual who adapt to the environmental factors.
Ÿ Personality is dynamic in nature as a person learns or acquires the personality traits to become a
positive personality. Ÿ We acquire certain qualities when we come into contact with others. Thus,
personality is a result of social-interaction Ÿ Personality is a representation of social predisposition.
Dimensions of human personality Personality includes thoughts, emotions, beliefs, values, attitudes,
perceptions and expectations that make people to react in different ways. Personality is a single unit but
that unit is formed of various dimensions and according to Indian Philosophy, ve dimensions play a
vital role in shaping a human's personality. They are: Physical Self: physical self is related to our senses
and it is based on the saying “The rst impression is the best impression”. Thus, physical self mainly
denotes our exterior appearance like good physique, good health, and good body language. Energy Self:
Energy self is related to mental strength, intellectual and abilities of a person. The mental strength of a
person can be developed by means of yoga and meditation in order to control anger, anxiety and stress.
By identifying and developing one's potentialities, a person can become an intellect irrespective of his
appearance. Page 2 Intellectual Self: Intellectual self is related to the ability of a person to work and
think beyond his subject matter, and to learn about new methods and topics. This self stimulates a
person to think out of the box by using new ideas rather than traditional one. Mental Self: Mental self is
all about the biological processes that happens in our body and mind. It is concerned with cognitive,
behavioural and emotional wellbeing of a person. Psychotherapy, medication, meditation, deep
breathing, mindfulness, balanced nutritious diet and sharing the problems with others make a person
become mentally t. Blissful Self: Blissful life represents happiness, contentment and peacefulness. To
attain a blissful self, a person must have belief, faith, understanding, compassion, affection, forgiveness,
gratitude, humanity and harmony with others. Influence of culture on personality Culture plays a major
role in inuencing the personality of an individual. Man is a social animal. But he is not born social. Only
as he grows and exposed to the external environment, he becomes human being from a biological
organism. By interacting with his peer group, the carriers of varied culture, he is transformed into
human nature by acquiring the values, and traditions of different culture. Determinants / Structure of
Personality Personality is based on certain structures and they are: 1.Physiological structure
2.Psychological structure 3.Social and cultural structure 1.Physiological structure The physiological
structure is strongly inuenced by certain internal and external factors. The most important aspects that
inuence the development of physiological structure of an individual are heredity and social
environment. A person by means of heredity acquires qualities like intelligence and other values from
his or her ancestors, that is , from parent to child. These traits help in personality development as well
as to occupy a dignied position in the society. Cultural factors on the other hand help a person to
develop qualities like adaptability and social networking. Heredity factors, the raw materials blended
with social and cultural factors moulds the personality of a person. 2.Psychological factors Psychological
factors include attitudes, feelings, emotions, values and ideals. Attitude inuence the psychological
structure followed by physiological structure of an individual. Traits are inherent as well as acquired
qualities of person. Feelings and emotions play an important role in the personality Page 3
development. Emotions and feelings are short-lived. Feelings are turned into emotions by means of
human behaviour. Whereas, sentiments are permanent as they are interlinked with culture. Regarding
values and ideals, almost all are guided by a standard set of ethics, values and ideals that shape our
personality. 3.Social and Cultural structures Culture can be dened as all the ways of life including arts,
beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from one generation to another. It is the
way of life for an entire society and includes code of conduct, mannerism, dress, language, religion,
rituals, art etc. Social factors include wealth, buying habits, educational level, family size and structure.
These social factors affect a person's lifestyle and both these two factors help in personality
development. We can nd difference in the personality traits of two individuals mainly due to
sociocultural factors. Characters / Traits essential for positive personality Traits are a characters and
qualities that distinguish a person from others and these traits are: Accept Responsibility Show Empathy
Be optimistic Think before speaking Have the spirit of winning Do a work with enthusiasm Have
gratitude Be loyal Be a good friend Be humorous Accept your mistakes Learn from your mistakes Rectify
your mistakes Be honest Discuss but don't argue Practice listening habits Sincerely appreciate your
friends / colleagues / siblings irrespective of their age Practice humanity Don'the gossip Work hard Set
SMARTgoals Smile and be kind to others Have emotional intelligence Be polite Choose your words
carefully before speaking Practice positive body language Page 4 Have perseverance Have common
sense Have self - condence Develop leadership qualities Have self - control, self - motivation , self -
discipline, self-respect & self-esteem Above all follow the words of Dr. Abdul Kalam "you have a dream
before your dreams can come true " and develop your Imagery which would help to achieve success in
life and work.

Our conscious mind is like a watchman. And the subconscious mind is a storehouse which stores
previous information, knowledge, beliefs, experience and comments of other persons. Most of us feed
wrong messages or programmes to our subconscious mind like “Do not do that”, “Don't take the risk”,
“You cannot do that” and so on. Such messages will create bad effects on any person. Personality can be
programmed by putting positive beliefs and information into the storehouse but without the knowledge
of the watchman. [i.e., conscious mind]. Suppose if we think positively like “I am good at public
speaking”. And the store consists of negative messages and comments given by others like “you are
poor in communication”, “You cannot speak will in public” and “you do not have good body language”.
The watchman compares the new positive information with the knowledge in the storehouse and
rejects the new information. According to the watchman, this new information is a wrong one and he
does not allow it enter into the storehouse. Thus, it becomes very difcult to change the personality and
behaviour positively. Positive information must be fed into storehouse (subconscious mind) without the
obstruction of watchman (conscious mind). We can programme our mind positive traits during the
twilight period i.e., just before sleeping and just before waking up. Only during this time, the conscious
mind is active and will accept positive traits. Reinforced programming (or) Conscious programming Auto
suggestion [developing positive traits voluntarily] and repetition of positive traits helps us to achieve
success in programming our mind positively. They II CHAPTER Subconscious Mind Programming Page 6
inuence both our conscious and subconscious mind in the long run and shapes our personality and
attitude. Auto-suggestive thoughts should be mixed with emotions and faith. Our subconscious mind is
like a garden. To make the garden fertile, seeds of more desirable crops must be sown. If not, weeds will
grow in abundance. To develop our subconscious mind, positive thoughts must be fed voluntarily and
negative thoughts of destructive nature must not be allowed into the rich garden of mind. Defensive
approach There are 2 approaches. First approach is denying the negative traits before they could enter
into the subconscious mind. And the second approach is avoiding the situation which would tempt us to
feed negative traits. Imaginary Anchoring (or) Invisible Counselling committee We imitate great
personalities who have impressed us. For example, while watching a movie, we imagine ourselves in the
place of the hero. Each person has Invisible Counselling Committee within himself. This committee
consists of great personalities who have impressed us. We take decisions by following their principles
and we also acquire from them their positive traits. Physical Action (or) Body language approach We
must practice positive traits whether we achieve success or not. Personality traits control our body
language. We can also change our negative traits towards positive traits by developing or practicing the
body language for positive traits. Example: You may not be attentive in class. But, just show an
expression as if you are attentive for some three or four days, then you would become a good listener.
Domino-effect (or) direct exposure to good personalities Direct contact with good personalities will
shape our personality. Similarly, the organization culture and structure will also inuence our
personality. Importance of Personality Development Personality Development is a process of nurturing
our qualities and talents and it is also a part of skill development. A good personality is what everyone
expects right from family members to your employer. The way you present yourself to the world will
determine your personality. Reasons why personality development is important are listed below: Ÿ
Personality development increases self-awareness Ÿ It increases your condence by being ware of
yourself Ÿ It helps to set SMARTgoals by understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Ÿ It helps to
achieve your goals. Ÿ It helps to grab good employment opportunity by presenting yourself physically
and mentally t before your employer. Ÿ It helps to reduce our stress. Ÿ It helps to lead an esteemed,
joyful and peaceful life.

Research in personality development is conducted by psychologists to study how our personality

develops and how our personality inuences our thoughts and behaviour. Personality psychology is one
of the major branches of psychology. These professionals analyse the reasons why and how the
personality of people varies and why certain people look similar. According to them, factors like
genetics, life experiences, exposure to external environment, and the way of nurturing a child by the
parents shape the personality of an individual. Psychologists have introduced many theories of
personality that explain the different aspects of personality, how personality has developed, and why
people are unique in nature. Some of the theories are as follows: Ÿ Type Theory Ÿ Trait Theory Ÿ Social
Learning Theory Ÿ Humanistic Theory Ÿ Psychoanalytic Theory 1.Type Theory Type theory is based on
two factors, biological factors and psychological factors. The ancient Greeks were the rst to classify
personality on the basis of certain types. Hypocrates and then Galen divide personality into four
categories called Humours and these categories are as follows: Ÿ Sanguine which means the optimistic
personality Ÿ Choleric refers to anger, moody and irritable type of personality Ÿ Melancholic meaning
depressed personality Ÿ Phlegmatic denotes a calm personality III CHAPTER Theories of Personality Page
8 Modern Type Theories The following are the modern theories of personality that are still existing and
these theories are: Ÿ Body Type theory Ÿ Type A& Type B theories Ÿ Carl Jung Theory Body type theory
This theory was introduced by Kretschmer and Sheldon which classies personality on the basis of a
person' appearance and body type. They coined the categories of personality as: Ÿ Endomorph meaning
fat and lethargic Ÿ Mesomorph or athletic refers to person having t and aggressive personality Ÿ
Ectomorph or asthenic means thin and creative personality According to these two psychologists, a
short and plumb person would be sociable, calm, and relaxed. A tall and thin person would be reserved,
selfconscious and remain isolated. Whereas, a heavy and muscular person will be talkative, callous and
prefer physical activities. Type Aand Type B Personality This type of personality studies how people
respond to stress. Cardiologists, Friedman and Rosenman discovered Type A behaviour by observing the
behaviour of patients waiting in their clinic. After conducting research, they revealed the fact that
people with Type Apersonality are prone to a higher risk of heart disease and high blood pressure than
people with Type B personality. Type APersonality Page 9 Type Apersonality People with Type A
personality are more competitive, self-critical, selfactualised, perfectionist, aggressive, hostile and work
round the clock. They prefer doing multiple tasks at the same time, don't enjoy achievements, hate
failures and hence they become depressed and stressful. Type B Personality People having Type B
personality are calm, relaxed, easy-going, exible, adaptable, care free and casual in their approach.
They are creative and have more patience, less stress, time management, stress management skills and
critical thinking skills. They are open-minded persons and accept challenges, new ideas and new
suggestions. They are broad minded people and set a specic goal which could be easily achieved. The
enjoy success and are comfortable with failures. These people have lower risk of health issues like hyper
tension and heart diseases. Type B Personality Carl Jung Theory Carl Jung introduced this theory in his
book “Psychological Types” where he described the four psychological functions, namely, thinking,
feeling, sensation and intuition. Thinking and feeling come under rational functions and sensation and
intuition are described by Jung as irrational functions. Karl Jung also says that every person has a
dominant life attitude and a primary function and has given 8 personality types by combining various life
functions and attitudes. These eight personality types are: Page 10 Ÿ The extraverted thinking type Ÿ The
introverted thinking type Ÿ The extraverted feeling typ Ÿ The introverted feeling type Ÿ The extraverted
sensation type Ÿ The introverted sensation types Ÿ The extraverted intuitive type Ÿ The introverted
intuitive type Introverted personality focus on their own mental world. Whereas, extraverted
personality gives importance to outside world. The thinking type personality take decision based on
reasons. But a feeling type personality take decision based on emotions. The sensation type persons are
more inuenced by external sensory stimuli like smell, sound, vision and even temperature. The
intuitive type persons are inuenced by undenble internal feelings. According to Jung, one life attitude
is dominant in a person in addition to primary functions, secondary functions, lower and lesser
developed functions. For example, in case of introversion type, the dominant life attitude is introversion,
the primary function being thinking, sensation and intuition the secondary functions and feelings come
under lower and lesser developed functions. Karl Jung introduced this theory only for the purpose of
psychotherapy and did not develop this theory to label the people under different types of personality.
Based Jung's theory, researchers and psychologists have developed many personality tests like: Ÿ Myer's
Brigs Indicator Ÿ Management Team Roles Indicator Ÿ Type Dynamics Indicator Ÿ Jungian Type Indicator
Ÿ Insights Discovery Ÿ Golden Personality Type Proler Ÿ Big Five Personality Test 2.Trait Theory Trait is a
specic characteristic of a person which distinguishes him/her from others. Genes, environmental
factors or combination of both determine the traits of a person. Traits can be either qualitative,
quantitative or both. Eye colour is an example of qualitative factor and height and blood pressure are
examples of quantitative factors. Trait theory also known as Dispositional Theory is an approach to study
human personality by measuring traits like habits, thoughts and emotions. Trait theory differs from
other theories and business people rely on trait theory to see person who the characteristics to be a
good team leader. Trait theory is in many ways similar to Type Theory and has given two ways to assess
personality traits. They are: Page 11 Ÿ Assessing a person's quality by making him describe himself to
answer certain questions related to his attitudes, feelings, habits and behaviour. Ÿ A person's trait is
assessed by someone else by means of observation method or collecting information about his
behaviour. Apersonality inventory, which is a questionnaire is generally used to measure the personality
traits. This inventory consists of same set of questions with multiple options to answer and is given to all
the persons whose personality are to be assessed. A personality inventory may be designed to measure
as= single dimension of personality or it may several personality traits simultaneously. There are
different contributors to trait theory and they are: (a) Gordon Allport: Allport introduced a hierarchy of
traits after extracting 18,000 words describing personality and reduced them into 4,000 words and these
three levels of traits are; Ÿ Cardinal traits:These traits dominate a person throughout his own life. Such
traits are intrinsically tied to an individual's personality that the person almost becomes synonymous
with these qualities. Cardinal traits develop in the later part of a person's life and determine and shape
almost all aspects of human behaviour and attitudes. Only few people have such traits that shapes the
course of their entire life. Examples: Mother Theresa is known for kindness and for being charitable,
Albert Einstein for brilliance. Ÿ Central Personality Traits: Central traits are more common among the
people but in varying degrees. Traits like honesty, loyalty, kindness, friendliness, intelligence,
anxiousness are some of the central traits These traits serve as the basic building blocks that shape the
behaviour of a person. Ÿ Secondary Traits: These traits tend to appear in certain situations. Example, a
calm person may become short tempered when he is overloaded with work and a person who speaks
well at home may feel nervous at a public speech. According to Allport, two forces, namely, internal and
external inuence an individual's behaviour and personality. These forces are referred to as genotypes
and phenotypes. Genotypes are internal persons that explains how an individual retains information and
uses it to interact with others. Phenotypes are external forces that explains how an individual accepts
his/her surroundings and how others inuence a person's behaviour. (b) Raymond Cattell In 1965,
Raymond Cattell reduced the 4,000 words listed by Allport to 171 words by eliminating uncommon traits
and grouping similar characteristics. He reduced these 171 words to 16 word describing personality by
using the statistical technique, Factor Analysis. According to Cattell, a large number of traits are Page 12
required to judge a person's personality. He collected data from different groups of people through
three different sources. These sources are: Ÿ L-data – Life record data such ad school grades, occupation,
etc., Ÿ Q-data – Questionnaire designed to rate an individual's personality. Ÿ T-data – Data collected
from objective tests designed to apt a personality construct. Cattell analysed the T-data and Q-data
using a mathematical technique and identified 16 personality traits present in all the people. He
presented these 16 traits with low and high scores by indicating the character of low and high scores.
These 16 traits are: Ÿ Warmth Ÿ Intellect Ÿ Emotional stability Ÿ Aggressiveness Ÿ Liveliness Ÿ Dutifulness
Ÿ Social Assertiveness Ÿ Sensitivity Ÿ Paranoia Ÿ Abstractness Ÿ Introversion Ÿ Anxiety Ÿ Open-
mindedness Ÿ Independence Ÿ Perfectionis Ÿ Tension Cattell developed a personality test based on the
above 16 factors or traits and named it as 16PF. (c) Hans Eysenck Hans Eysenck, a personality theorist
believe that a personality is largely inuenced by biological factors. He categorised people into three
personality dimensions, namely, extroversion / introversion, neuroticism / emotional stability and
psychoticism / socialization. Ÿ Introversion relies on inner experiences whereas extroversion focus on
others. Ÿ Neuroticism reveals anxiety and people with emotional stability feel cool, calm and relaxed. Ÿ
Psychoticism trait will nd it difcult to accept reality and may become antisocial and hostile. People
with socialisation trait are empathetic, cooperative and conventional. Page 13 Eysenck's theory was
considered to be more quantiable and justiable when compared to other trait theories. (3) Social
Learning Theory Social Learning theory was proposed by Albert Bandura who emphasised the
importance of observing, modelling and imitating the behaviour, attitudes and emotions of others in
shaping one's personality. According to this theory, both environmental and cognitive factors inuence
human learning and his behaviour. Albert introduced two ideas in his theory and they are: Ÿ
Observational Learning Ÿ Mediating processes (a) Observational Learning: Children observe the
behaviour of the people around them such as parents, and other family members, friends and teachers
at school and cartoon characters in television channels. Individuals who are observed are called models.
First, the children encode the behaviour of their model and later on imitate the behaviour they have
observed and encoded. (b) Mediating Processes: People do not immediately imitate the behaviour of
others. Some thought process, that is mediating process, take place before imitation. This process
occurs between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and imitating it or not (response). Bandura proposed
the following fourmediational processes Ÿ Attention – Paying attention to the behaviour of a person
(stimulus) Ÿ Retention – Remembering the behaviour of that particular person Ÿ Reproduction –
Imitating the behaviour of the model Ÿ Motivation – The will to perform the behaviour of the model The
social learning theory gives importance to thought processes and acknowledges the role played by the
process in deciding whether to imitate a person's behaviour or not. This theory provides a
comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational process and some
quite complex behaviour. (4) Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud, known as the “Father of Modern
Psychology” was an Austrian Neurologist, who revolutionised how people think about and treat mental
conditions. Freud founded Psychoanalysis to listen to his patients and to understand how their mind
works. Sigmund Freud came out with this theory stating that human personality is complex and has
more than one component. According to Freud, three elements make up the personality and these
elements are the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego. (a) The Id: The id is the source of all psychic energy and
is the primary component present from birth. It is the main source of basic biological needs and Page 14
is related to desires and impulses. It is driven by pleasure principle. The id strives for immediate
satisfaction of needs, desires and wants. Dissatisfaction of needs leads to anxiety and tension. For
example, to satisfy hunger or thirst, a person needs to eat or drink water. If not, he may become weak
and tired. (b) The Ego: The ego is related to reasoning and functions in the conscious mind of a person.
The ego operates on reality principle which satises id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate
ways. This principle considers the pros and cons of an action before implementing it or reacting towards
that action. (c) The Superego: This is the last component of personality and it begins at the age of ve.
This superego holds the moral values and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society. It
provides certain guidelines for making judgements. The superego has two parts, conscience and ego
ideal. Ÿ The conscience includes information that are considered as bad habits and practices by our
parents and society and these are forbidden. Ÿ The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for
behaviours that ego aspires to. The super ego tries to make a person's behaviour perfect and make him
behave in a civilised manner. It supresses the unwanted and unacceptable urges of the Id and makes the
ego act upon idealistic standards. There must be a proper balance between id, ego, and super ego to
achieve a healthy personality. Type Aand Type B Personality Theory Type APersonality Type A individuals
can be described as impatient, time-conscious, perfectionist, concerned about their status, highly
competitive ambitious, business-like, aggressive, having difculty in relaxing and are unhappy about
delays. They have strong entrepreneurial spirits (risk takes). As such, they embrace changes and are
always looking for practical solution for solving problems. The term Type Apersonality was coined in the
1950s by cardiologists, Dr. Meyer Friedman and Dr. Ray Rosenman. They theorized that people who
were labeled Type A were more likely to suffer heart attacks. The term quickly came into public use, and
became even more commonly known as a result of a book published in 1974 by the 2 doctors “Type
ABehaviour and Your Heart”. Type B personality: (lower stress, relaxed and easy going) Ÿ The type B
personality generally lives at a lower stress level. Ÿ They work steadily and enjoy achievement but not
becoming stressed when they are not achieved. Page 15 Ÿ When faced with competition, they do not
mind losing and they enjoy the game. Ÿ They may be creative. Ÿ They have more patience. Ÿ They like to
travel, be part of groups and are centre of attraction. Ÿ They are supportive and direct in their approach.
Ÿ They are relaxed and easy going. Ÿ They want others to like them and can be easily hurt if theory they
think someone doesn't care for them. Ÿ They do very well in sales, advertisement, marketing and public
speak. Type Apersonality: (generally lives at a higher stress level) Ÿ They enjoy achievement of goals,
with greater enjoyment in achieving of more difcult goals. Ÿ They work hard to achieve the goals. Ÿ
They nd it difcult to stop, even when they have achieved goals. Ÿ They are conscious. Ÿ They are
highly competitive and will, if necessary, create competition Ÿ They hate failure and will work to avoid it.
Ÿ They are impatient. Ÿ Perfectionist and more concerned about their statement. Ÿ They are often well-
educated. Ÿ Type 'A' personalities are often found as business owners, managers and sales people.
Introverts Introverts are more concerned with the inner would of the mind. They enjoy thinking,
exploring their thoughts and feelings. They want to be alone. An introvert may not be shy at all but may
not prefer social activities. They often have taken pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing,
drawing, and Page 16 using computers. The artist, writer, sculptor, composer and inventor are all highly
introverted. They like to work independently. They appear reserved, quiet and thoughtful. They do not
have many friends. They do not like unexpected visits. They think before acting. They are absent mind
and day –dreamers. Extroverts Enjoy human interactions, and are enthusiastic, talkative, assertive and
gregarious. They take pleasure in social activities such as parties, community activities, business or
political groups. Polities, teaching, sales, managing, brokering and acting are elds that favour
extroversion. As extroverted person do not want to be alone but like to enjoy time spent with people.
Extroverts make new friends easily. They are interested in what is happening around them. They
compare their own opinions with the opinion so others. They are initiative and easily break unwanted
relations.

The term “Self” is a knowledge about us, including our behaviour, beliefs, values we follow, physical
features, traits and goals. Self-development is the process of improving ourselves by developing our
skills, and knowledge in order to achieve self-fullment or self-actualisation. The ve dimensions of self-
care are physical, intellectual, social, spiritual and emotional aspects. Physical self-care is related to your
physical tness, food and sleeping habits. Intellectual self-care concentrates on your personal growth by
means of continuous learning, practicing mindfulness and positive attitude. Social self-care creates a
good network with people who would guide and uplift you in times of need. Spiritual self-care is all
about your belief and attitudes that guide your life. This self-care helps to understand about ourselves,
nourishes our soul and explore our spiritual life. Emotional self-care includes awareness about our
feelings. This self-care helps us to deal with our stress positively and develops within ourselves love,
affection, caring, towards us and others. There are variety of ways to develop our Self anf few of them
are: Self-Awareness Self-awareness is the discovery of one's own personality. Self-awareness is the
ability to know ourselves. We must have self-awareness to develop a better IV CHAPTER Self Page 18
personality and to succeed in life, to become more condent and to build a high self-esteem. We must
be aware of our positive and negative behaviour and traits. To be aware about ourselves, we must know
about the following (a) Our goals in life. (b) The things and events that make us happy. (c) Strengths and
weaknesses. (d) Values and beliefs. (e) Our philosophy in life. (f) Our achievements and how we attained
them. (g) Our failures and causes of failures and what can be done to prevent them. (h) Our relationship
with others. (I) Our way of dealing with people, events and things. ( j) How we see ourselves and others.
Importance of Self-awareness Ÿ Self-awareness develops our personality. Ÿ It increases our condence
and morale. Ÿ It helps to set realistic and specic goals. Ÿ It helps to achieve our goals. Ÿ It helps to
develop our interpersonal skills. Ÿ It helps us to learn from our own mistakes and failures. Ÿ It helps us to
take efforts to overcome one weakness and to develop our capabilities. Ÿ It increases the possibilities of
success. Ÿ It helps us to change our negative behaviour. Ways to develop Self Awareness Adhering to
good values We should follow those values which will help us become more self-aware. These values are
humility, honesty and ambition. If we are humble, it will be easier for us to accept our mistakes and we
accept criticisms and corrections. Honest allows a person to focus on things that must be changed
because he is true to himself. Ambition, motivates a person to change because he has high expectations
of himself and understands that to meet those expectations, he has to do needs to be done, including
pinpointing his strengths and weaknesses. Page 19 Using self-help books We should lead a lot of books
on personality development which will teach the various ways to be self-aware. Books suggest a lot of
techniques which can be applied to develop self -awareness. Getting a life coach Mentors give guidance
and show the ways of improving self -awareness. So, we can also seek the help of such mentors. Johari
Window It is necessary to improve self-awareness and personal development among individuals when
they are in a group. The 'Johari' window model is a convenient method used to achieve this task of
understanding and enhancing communication between the members in a group. American psychologists
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham developed this model in 1955. The idea was derived as the upshot of the
group dynamics in University of California and was later improved by Joseph Luft. The name 'Johari'
came from joining their rst two names. This model is also denoted as feedback/disclosure model of
self-awareness. Introduction The Johari window model is used to enhance the individual's perception on
others. This model is based on two ideas- trust can be acquired by revealing information about you to
others and learning yourselves from their feedbacks. Each person is represented by the Johari model
through four quadrants or window pane. Each four window panes signify personal information, feelings,
motivation and whether that information is known or unknown to oneself or others in four viewpoints.
Page 20 The method of conveying and accepting feedback is interpreted in this model. A Johari is
represented as a common window with four panes. Two of these panes represent self and the other two
represent the part unknown to self but to others. The information transfers from one pane to the other
as the result of mutual trust which can be achieved through socializing and the feedback got from other
members of the group. 1. Open/self-area or arena – Here the information about the person his
attitudes, behaviour, emotions, feelings, skills and views will be known by the person as well as by
others. This is mainly the area where all the communications occur and the larger the arena becomes
the more effectual and dynamic the relationship will be. 'Feedback solicitation' is a process which occurs
by understanding and listening to the feedback from another person. Through this way the open area
can be increased horizontally decreasing the blind spot. The size of the arena can also be increased
downwards and thus by reducing the hidden and unknown areas through revealing one's feelings to
another person. 2. Blind self or blind spot – Information about yourselves that others know in a group
but you will be unaware of it. Others may interpret yourselves differently than you expect. The blind
spot is reduced for an efcient communication through seeking feedback from others. 3. Hidden area or
façade – Information that is known to you but will be kept unknown from others. This can be any
personal information which you feel reluctant to reveal. This includes feelings, past experiences, fears,
secrets etc. we keep some of our feelings and information as private as it affects the relationships and
thus the hidden area must be reduced by moving the information to the open areas. 4. Unknown area –
The Information which are unaware to yourselves as well as others. This includes the information,
feelings, capabilities, talents etc. This can be due to traumatic past experiences or events which can be
unknown for a lifetime. The person will be unaware till he discovers his hidden qualities and capabilities
or through observation of others. Open communication is also an effective way to decrease the
unknown area and thus to communicate effectively. Example Linda got a job in an organization. Her co-
workers knew a little about her and in this context the unknown and hidden areas will be larger and the
open area will be small. As the others don't know much about her the blind spot also will be smaller and
the model will be as shown in Figure 1. Linda spent most of her free time sketching in the ofce which
was her preferred pastime and her co-workers found her very shy and elusive. With that evaluation she
got the idea how she was and tried to be more talkative and interacted more with other co-workers.
This helped her to increase her open area and thus making the hidden and unknown are smaller. Page
21 Through the feedback Linda got from her co-workers she could perform well in the ofce and her
real capacity could be obtained as a result of an effective interaction among the colleagues. Self-
Monitoring Self-Monitoring is the systematic recording of our own actions, thoughts and feelings, for
the purpose of changing these aspects of behaviour using behaviour modications techniques. Self-
Monitoring is the process of assessing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Page 22 If refers to the
process of through which people regulate their own behavior in order to “look good” so that they will be
perceived by others in a favourable manner. High self monitors People who closely monitor themselves
are known as high self-monitor and often behave in a manner that is highly responsible to social cues.
They try to impress others and receive positive feedback. High self-monitors tend to monitor their
surrounding and change their behavior to t in. They imitate the behaviour of other people. They
impress people. They watch other people, what they do and how they respond to the behaviour of
others. They are very self-conscious and adapt (adjust) well to differing social situations. Low self-
monitors Low self-monitors do not participate in excessive control. They use inner beliefs and values in
deciding how to behave. They are generally oblivious to how others see them. They are quality
conscious. In advertising, high self-monitors respond more to image-based ads that promise to make
them look good, while low self-monitors respond better to product-based ads and prefer high quality
goods. Self-monitoring is an executive control function. If we have self-monitoring skills, we will have the
ability to control ourself. It helps us to improve our behaviour. Self-Monitoring strategies 1. Self-
recording 2. Self-observation 3. Self-instruction 4. Self-reinforcement. Self –Concept Each person is a
composite of body, mind and spirit with needs which are physical, psychological and spiritual [relating to
the soul]. When these needs are properly fullled, whole human organism will be healthy and the
person will be happy. To fulll these needs, we should develop a true and deep love of self and accept
ourselves as we are. In order to achieve this, a person must form a realistic idea about himself. Idea
about himself is called self-concept which is important for personality development. Formation of self-
concept Self-concept is the process of gaining self-awareness. It is one's own denition of one's
relationship with the environment around himself. It consists of mental Page 23 images an individual has
about his physical, social and psychological characteristics. Self-concept is what we understand about
ourselves. Physical Characteristics I am tall or short. I am fat or slim. Social Characteristics I am sociable. I
am shy. I have condence. Psychological Characteristics I am pessimistic or optimistic. I am happy. I can
take decisions easily. Our self-concept develops in several ways. One way is through self-appraisal. Self-
appraisal can be done by looking into a mirror and read our biography. E.g., I am tall, I am fair, I have
dark hair etc. Self-concept begins in infancy stage at 6 to 7 months. During this period, a child begins to
identify his parts i.e., hands, feet, toes and ngers by his personal experience. The child knows nothing
about himself, except what he hears others saying. He keeps hearing his name, hears his parents,
teachers and companions calling him strong, smart, pretty, good etc. He readily accepts others
judgement and begins to form ideas about himself such as “I am a good boy”, “I am clever”, “I am
strong” and so on. Dimensions of self-concept Self Esteem Self-esteem occurs in every facet of life. It is
the face behind success and failure, the face behind successful achievement and peak performance.
Self- esteem is the feeling of being happy. The denition of positive self-esteem is that of life of
happiness, of sound mind and health. When we are not casing about what people say about us, we live a
happier life, a healthier life and a more successful life. Happier life style controls stress. It leads to a
prolonged life expectancy. Actual self concept Ideal self concept Private self Actual self How I actually
see myself? E.g., I am little darker. Ideal self How I would like to see myself? E.g., I want to be fair. Public
self How others actually see me? E.g., Others think that I am an average student. How I would like others
to see me? E.g., I want others to think that I am a brilliant student. Page 24 Self- esteem is a term used
in psychology to reect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self- esteem is
our appraisal, our evaluation and our feeling about ourselves. Self- esteem increases our condence. It
we have condence we will have selfrespect and then we respect others, improve our relationships and
become happier whether we are young or old, famous or not, looking at ourselves with a positive regard
is self- esteem. Self- esteem may be high self -esteem or low self - esteem. High self- esteem High self-
esteem is when we feel good, happy, and satised about our self. When we think we are capable of
achieving anything. When we have lot of energy, condence and persistence to achieve success at any
time. Low self-esteem Low self-esteem is when we don't feel good about ourself. When we think we are
not worth of even trying to move forward.When we are focusing on our weaknesses instead of paying
attention to our strengths, we have low selfesteem. People with high self-esteem are more ambitious.
They communicate openly and honestly about their needs and desires. They willingly admit their
mistakes. They choose healthy relationship. They treat others with respect and fairness. Low self-esteem
causes depression, unhappiness insecurity, low condence and inner criticism. Steps to the taken to
increase self-esteem Formulate realistic goals We must know who we are, our capabilities and our
limitations. We must know what we can and cannot do. This will help us to develop goals that we can
reach and achieve. Be optimistic We must have positive attitude about our self. i.e., we must look at our
self in a positive manner. If we look at our self in a negative manner, we will not be able to do a work
and we can't achieve anything and we will not be happy. Remember the success We should not always
think about failures and our weaknesses, but remember always the success we achieved and our
strengths. Have self-esteem We must motivate ourselves and should not expect others to motivate us,
e.g., buy a gift if you achieve something. Page 25 Strengthen the social support system We should
always have around us friends and family members who believe in us and our capabilities. We must be
among people who will help us increase our selfcondence and self-esteem. Success in life comes from
an increase in our selfesteem and condence. If we believe in our self, nothing will stand in the way of
our dreams.

SWOT analysis in personality development is a framework to identify and analyse an individual's

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. There are many benets of using SWOTanalysis for
personal growth and development. This analysis was introduced by business experts Edmund P.
Learned, Kenneth Andrews, C. Ronald Christensen and William D in their book “Business Policy, Text,
and Cases” in I960s. Initially SWOT analysis was used by business organisations to evaluate their position
in the market, to develop strategic plans for the organisation, to assess internal and external factors that
may affect the company, and to identify current and future potentialities of the organisation. SWOT
stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT analysis in personality development
is an action plan or Personality Development Plan that is used to set goals in life, identify our strengths
and weaknesses, the areas we need to improve, the obstacles that as a hindrance to achieve the goal
and the strategies to be followed for achieving the goal. It is an exercise for self-evaluation and self-
reection to achieve progress in life and for career advancement. Louis Pasteur, a French Chemist has
rightly said that “Let me tell you the secret that has led to my goal. My strength lies solely in my
tenacity” and has also quoted that “Chance favours the prepared mind”. We can achieve success in life
only if we are determined and use our potentialities to the fullest extent. We can minimise our failures
only if we identify our weaknesses and manage them. SWOT analysis a technique that helps an
individual to further develop his / her specialised talents and abilities needed for career advancement
and to achieve personal goals. Personal SWOTanalysis is presented in 4 quadrants. They are Ÿ I Quadrant
– Strengths V CHAPTER SWOT Analysis Page 27 Ÿ II Quadrant – Weakness Ÿ III Quadrant - Opportunities
Ÿ IVQuadrant - Threats The rst two quadrants are external factors and the last two are internal factors.
By following SWOT analysis, identify your strengths, review your weaknesses, dene the opportunities
available for you, understand your potential threats and take a rm decision. To analyse these factors, a
series of questions related to our goal are to be framed and answered by us. Process in SWOTanalysis
Conducting personal SWOT analysis create a stronger self-condence and helps an individual to set
specic goals and frame a time limit to achieve it. 1. Prepare a questionnaire The rst step in SWOT
analysis is to identify our strengths and list it down. Knowing your strengths beforehand will help a
person to face the interview with condence and he can direct his efforts for career advancement.
Frame a set of questions to be answered by us. There is a saying that people who know how to ask the
right questions always achieve success in their career and in life. We must ask ourselves the following
questions to determine our internal factors. We can frame the questions in the following manner:
Strengths Ÿ What are my unique skills? Ÿ How others recognise me? Ÿ What are my potentialities? Ÿ
What are the skills that I possess whish others do not have? Ÿ What are my talents? Ÿ How strong is my
communication network? Ÿ Have I achieved my goals? Weaknesses Ÿ What are the negative traits that I
practice? Ÿ Why I could not achieve my goal? Ÿ What should I do to achieve my goal? Ÿ How to develop
my skills? Ÿ What are the health issues I have? Opportunities Ÿ How to use my network to move forward
in my career? Ÿ How to use our skills and talents to achieve both the organisational and the personal
goals? Ÿ Where to undergo training to develop the skills? Page 28 Ÿ What are the technological
advancements that I can make use of in my studies or job or business? Ÿ How to grab the opportunities
that were not explored by applying our skills? Threats Ÿ Is my personality act as a drawback to achieve
my goal? Ÿ Are my peers or colleagues more skilful than myself and in what ways? Ÿ Are my peers do
complete their task within the assigned time than myself? Ÿ Is my nancial position serve as a hurdle to
achieve my goal within the specied period? 2. Write down the answers for all the questions At this
stage, we must be honest and think deeply while answering the questions as this is a self-analysis. The
more you think about yourselves and credible you are the more would be the chances for your future
growth. 3. Ask the opinion of others about you Getting the opinion of others about your strengths and
weaknesses and how they perceive you would help you to identify the skills and drawbacks which were
left unnoticed by you. 4. Gather your answers Write down everything which you collected from others
and the answers you have given for your self-assessment. Write down everything whatever that comes
into your mind. Unwanted answers can be eliminated at a later stage. 5. Determine your solutions
Identify the solutions that would enable you to achieve your goals and dreams. SWOT analysis would be
platform for success if your answers are honest and realistic or else the analysis would become a mere
waste. Benefits of SWOTAnalysis The main aim of conducting SWOT analysis is to develop the identied
strengths, overcome from weaknesses, exploit and experiment the opportunities, and develop a
strategy to minimise threats. Some of the most important benets of conducting SWOTanalysis are: Ÿ It
helps to develop strategies for success. Ÿ It helps to identify the position where we stand and the
destination to reach. Ÿ Increases self-condence, and self-esteem. Page 29 Ÿ Develops your career, and
personality. Ÿ Maximises your strengths and minimises the weaknesses Ÿ Develops bot soft and hard
skills. Ÿ Helps to understand our tastes, preferences, personality traits, likes and dislikes. Ÿ It helps to
have more focus on our abilities, attitudes, skills, and capabilities. Ÿ It helps to achieve self-actualisation.
Page 30 Personal Skills are personal characteristics of an individual. They help a person to adapt to new
situation. Personal skills are developed through work experiences, hobbies, classroom experiences and
through everyday living. Example: Selfmanagement, punctuality, self-awareness etc., To be an effective
personality, one should have the following personal skills: 1.Self-management skills Self-management is
the ability to manage our responsibilities and challenges in life and work. We should recollect our past
experience and its impact on our physical and mental state, self-management requires the background
skills of reection, self-awareness, planning, time management, exibility and selfappraisal.
2.Independent learning skills Independent learning is the ability to acquire knowledge out of own
interest by being self-motivated. It is the capacity to learn continuously even after completing
graduation or doctoral degree. Independent learning requires the following: Ÿ Resourcefulness Ÿ Drive
to learn Ÿ Initiative Ÿ Planning Ÿ Self-motivation Ÿ Knowledge of our personal learning styles Ÿ Reection
Ÿ Time management VI CHAPTER Personal Skills Page 31 Ÿ Flexibility Ÿ Self-management and Ÿ Self-
appraisal 3.Goal skills Goal skill is the ability to create, plan and achieve personal and professional goals.
Set SMART goals and examine what is important to us in order to achieve the goals. Goal achievement
requires: Ÿ Motivation Ÿ Tenacity Ÿ Self-appraisal Ÿ Flexibility Ÿ Planning Ÿ Reection 4. Background skills
The following are the background skills: A. Reflection requires the following i.Contemplating past
experiences and their effect on physical and mental state of mind. ii.Awareness of our own motivations,
needs and desires. Think about how we respond to people and situations and how our actions are
perceived by others. iii. Learning from contemplation and awareness. Through learning, we identify the
ways to change negative behaviour, feelings or attitudes. We can also create new strategies for
achieving the goals. B. Self-awareness requires the following i.The perception of our skills, knowledge,
responsibilities and values both personally and professionally. ii.The ability to acknowledge our talents
and feel sel-condent. iii.The ability to improve and gain new talents and skills. C. Flexibility requires the
following i.The ability to adapt to new situations, by applying our skills in different areas or by acquiring
new skills. ii.The ability to work constructively with people having different values, backgrounds,
attitudes and levels of understanding. D. Time Management involves the following steps i.Identifying the
different demands or activities within our limited time. Page 32 ii.Setting priorities. iii.Preparing a
schedule according to our goals, respionsibilities and needs. iv.Awareness of our personal time
preferences for relaxation, regelection, social life and thereby minimise stress. E. Commitment requires
the following i.Trustworthy. ii.active involvement in work. iii.Perseverance to achieve the goal. F. Goal
setting involves i Examining our interests, desires, commitments and responsibilities. ii.Identifying the
goals that are most important to us. iii.Setting realistic and clearly dened goals with a specic time
limit. iv.Working towards achieving those goals with determination. v.Continously monitoring our
development in life by tracking our progress. G. Planning and monitoring require i.Deveoping a detailed
plan to solve a problem or to achieve a goal. ii.Anticipating the problems or constraints. iii.Adjusting our
plans according to the changes taking place in the situation or environment. H. Self-appraisal requires
i.Analysing our skills, situ

The term inter-personal skills are quite often used in business to measure a person's ability to adapt
within business organisations effectively through social communication and interactions. The following
are some of the inter-personal skills expected by an organisation: 1. Communication: communication is
the process of sharing of information in any form between two or more persons. Communication must
be a two-way process to make it effective, to reduce conicts and to complete a task successfully. 2.
Leadership: Leadership is the process of successfully inuencing the activities of a group of people to
achieve a common goal. A leader must have the following qualities to inuence others: a.Personal
Charisma b.Expertise c.Langauge skills d.Mutual respect e.Strong communication and personal skills
f.Mentoring g.Decision making h.Delegation i.Motivating others 3. Networking: It is the ability to seek,
identify and create effective contacts with others. Networking requires communication and personal
skills. VII CHAPTER Inter-Personal Skills Page 34 4. Teamwork: Teamwork means working with others in a
group to achieve a common objective. Teamwork requires: a.Cooperation b.Collaboration c.Mentoring
d.Decisionmaing e.Delegation f.Accepting responsibility 5. Background goals: Background goals require
mentoring. Mentoring means actively supporting and guiding someone to develop knowledge and
experience, or to achieve career or personal goals. Amentoring relationship may be formal or informal
but must involve trust, mutual respect and commitment to achieve the goal. 6.Decision making:
Decision Making requires a.Identifying the available alternatives b.Evaluating each alternative c.Selecting
the best alternative and d.Taking responsibility for a decision and its outcome 7. Delegation: Delegation
means distributing authority to the team members to do them assigned tasks and to take decisions.
8.Collaboration: Collaboration means working cooperatively and productively with other team members
to achieve the objective of the organisation. 9. Network building involves: a. Creating contacts with
other people and maintaining those contacts. b. Acquiring information about these contacts. c. Using
the contacts in an ethical manner to help each other to attain specic goals. 10.Motivating others:
Motivating involves: a. Creating enthusiasm among the workers. b. Focusing on nding solutions. c.
Maintaining positive attitude. d. Encouraging employees to take solutions. e. Listening carefully to their
ideas. f. Offering constructive feedback. g. Supporting others and not blaming others when things go
wrong. Ten ways to improve your interpersonal skills We may work hard and be sincere too. But we may
face struggles in life and career if we do not have good interpersonal skills. Here are the tips to develop
interpersonal skills: Page 35 Ÿ Smile often and maintain a positive and cheerful attitude about work and
life. Ÿ Be appreciative – Praise others and use kind words of encouragement. Ÿ Pay attention to the
grievances of others. Ÿ Acknowledge the happy moments of others and express concern and sympathy
for their difcult situations. Ÿ Practice active listening. Ÿ Bring people together by treating them equally.
Ÿ Resolve conicts and learn to be a good mediator. Ÿ Communicate clearly to avoid misunderstanding.
Ÿ Have a sense of humour. Ÿ Have empathy. Ÿ Don't complain. Page 36 Communication is an exchange
of facts, ideas, opinions, or emotions by two or more persons. It is a two-way process and the process of
communication involves transmission of ideas or information, known as, message from one person
called “Sender” to another person called “Receiver”. The ideas should be accurately replicated in the
receiver's mind, that is, the receiver should get exactly the same ideas as were transmitted. The sender
is assured of the accurate replication of the ideas by means of feedback i.e., by the receiver's response
which is communicated back to the sender. Communication Cycle / Process The transmission of the
sender's ideas to the receiver and the receiver's feedback to the sender constitute the communication
cycle. 1.Input: The information or ideas the sender wants to give the receiver. 2.Encoding: The sender
translates his thoughts into words. 3.Message: The actual message to be sent. 4.Channel: Letter, fax,
phone, e-mail, whatsapp etc., 5.Output: The information the receiver gets. 6.Decoding: The receiver
translates the sender's information and perceives it most suitably. 7.Feedback: The receiver's response
to the message. VII

Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions, or emotions by two or more persons. It is a two-
way process and the process of communication involves transmission of ideas or information, known as,
message from one person called “Sender” to another person called “Receiver”. The ideas should be
accurately replicated in the receiver's mind, that is, the receiver should get exactly the same ideas as
were transmitted. The sender is assured of the accurate replication of the ideas by means of feedback
i.e., by the receiver's response which is communicated back to the sender. Communication Cycle /
Process The transmission of the sender's ideas to the receiver and the receiver's feedback to the sender
constitute the communication cycle. 1.Input: The information or ideas the sender wants to give the
receiver. 2.Encoding: The sender translates his thoughts into words. 3.Message: The actual message to
be sent. 4.Channel: Letter, fax, phone, e-mail, whatsapp etc., 5.Output: The information the receiver
gets. 6.Decoding: The receiver translates the sender's information and perceives it most suitably.
7.Feedback: The receiver's response to the message. VIII CHAPTER Communication Skills Page 37
Importance of Communication Communication is the accurate ow of information which is needed by
everyone for the successful completion of job. The benets of effective communication are:
1.Communication helps in smooth and unrestricted running of an enterprise. 2.Communication keeps
the personnel to work in accordance with the decisions taken and communicated to them by the top
management. 3.An effective communication is necessary to achieve coordination among various
departments in an organisation. 4.Effective communication between the management and the
employees create an atmosphere of mutual trust and condence. 5.Communication enables the
employees to express their grievances to the top management and leads to morale building and
democratic management. 6.Communication is needed to impart education and training, to provide
counselling, to motivate employees and to persuade customers. Communication Network In an
organisation, there are number of channels connecting various positions for the purpose of
communication. The sum total of the channels is referred as communication network. This
communication network is made of 2 types of channels namely, formal and informal. Formal Channel:
Formal or ofcial communication ows between various positions in an organisation. This channel is
used for communicating information, decisions, instructions, orders, suggestions, grievances and so on.
Formal communication moves vertically or horizontally. Vertical communication ows downwards (from
superiors to subordinates) or upwards (from subordinates to superiors). Horizontal communication
ows between employees of equal status, that is among peer group. Page 38 Informal Channel: This
channel is also known as “Grapevine” or “Unofcial Communication”.This communication is usually oral
and moves or less horizontally. It is a communication which takes place freely between the employees.
Example: Rumours, Gossips. There is a greater speed in the transmission of message. Mostly, erratic and
unnecessary messages are communicated through this channel. But ths channel satises the
communication needs of the people and message which cannot be transmitted through formal channel
can be easily transmitted through informal channel. Characteristics of successful communication / Seven
Cs of communication The following characteristics are essential to make communication ow effective
and uninterrupted and they are: Candidness: The speaker should speak and listen without prejudice or
bias. We should be honest, sincere and guileless in expressing our views. Candidness implies
consideration of the interest of the listener. We must avoid “I” attitude and follow “You” attitude.
Candidness helps the speaker to speak without hesitation and in a condent manner. Clarity: The
message should be clear and well organised. We should use simple words and phrases and avoid
ambiguous words. Completeness: Both oral and written communication must be well planned and
structured. We must communicate all the information that the listeners/readers need, answer all
possible questions raised by them and also give additional information if necessary. If we have no
answer or are unwilling to answer, then we should frankly express our inability to answer politely.
Conciseness: Brevity in expression wins the attention of the reader/listener. The message should not
only brief but also clear, correct and complete. We should include only relevant facts and avoid
repetition and use single word instead of wordy phrases. Concreteness: Concreteness means vivid
description of events and things. We must use precise words and speak with proper modulation and
force. In written communication, gures, tables, diagrams and illustrations can be used to make our
statements vivid and concrete. Correctness: We should transmit correct facts in correct language. All the
message must be transmitted and responded to at the correct time. Grammatica erors must be avoided.
Courtesy: Courtesy implies consideration and friendly behaviour towards others, that is listeners /
readers. We should not use words that insult or hurt others. We should not interrupt the other person
when he/she is speaking. We should wait for our chance to speak and when it is our time to speak, we
should Page 39 speak with clarity. The tone we use in conversation should not be aggressive. We must
avoid irritating expressions and apologise sincerely for any omission and thank generously for a favour.
Besides oral and written communication, there is also visual and audio-visual communication. Visual
communication uses symbols, posters, drawings, photographs, cartoon etc, to convey general
information or for educational purposes (charts, diagrams, graphs, maps) trafc lights, green & red
lights at railway stations & airports convey different messages to the public. Even illiterate people can
understand and the meaning is clear to everyone. Audio-Visual Communication makes use of words &
pictures, television programmes, lms, social media like you tube. It helps to remember the concept for
a long period of time. Participants will be attentive as it is appealing and it would be easier to explain the
concepts by means of this communication. Non-verbal communication (or) Body Language: Non-verbal
communication is communication without words. Our body plays an important role in nonverbal
communication. It is language without spoken words. Changes in body position and body movements
reveals what a person is feeling or thinking. Each movement or expression of the speaker conveys a
meaning to the listener. Study Page 40 of Body Language is known as “Kinesics” which means body
movements. NonVerbal communication should be accompanied by verbal communication to make it
more powerful. Non-verbal communication is instinctive, unconscious and very difcult to control. Use
non-verbal communication to give correct explanation. Whenever we interact with others, we are
continuously giving and receiving wordless communication. Body language includes facial expressions,
physical behaviour, mannerisms, postures, gestures, tone of voice, eye contact body movements, silence
etc., Symbols of body language;All bodily movements act as symbol like movement of hands, feet, head
(nodding), shoulders, shrugging, blinking of eyes, way you stand, sit and walk, postures. Body
movements covey our feelings, and emotions along with words. Ekman's classification of communicative
movement into 5 types Emblems: If our body movements represent ideas in the form of icons or images,
then communication is said to be emblematic. Example: A circle made with the thumb and index nger
and stretching out the remaining ngers is sign a for “OK” in America and it is meaningful for those
people who know English. The same circle represents a Coin in Japan. The emblem or sign gives a clear
meaning, but this meaning depends on the culture. Page 41 Illustrators: Illustrators means movements
of hand and arms for representing size, shape, frequency or speed. Speakers use illustrators when he is
enthusiastic or fully involved in the subject. These movements are done involuntarily. Example: Widely
stretched arms means enormous size. Body manipulators: Body manipulators are acts of touching one's
own body or an object for no reason. Playing with jewellery or touching one's buttons in the dress are
unintentional acts that reveals nervousness, anxiety or boredom. Facial expressions Human face is very
expressive and conveys countless emotions without opening our mouth. Some facial expressions are
universal and they convey the same meaning across the world. Example: Facial expressions for
happiness, sadness, surprise & fear are the same. Smile, frown, blush, paleness reveal our positive and
negative body language. Smile Frown Page 42 Blush Paleness Regulators: Regulators are eye movements
like squinting of eyes, winking, and starring. Remember the saying, face reects our mind, whereas, eyes
reveal our heart. Eye contact shows attentiveness, partly closed eyes indicate reectiveness, rolling eyes
reects restlessness or looking for something. Starring eyes communicate threat, wide open eyes reveal
shock. Raised eyebrows or wrinkled forehead symbolises objection or trying to raise a question and
avoiding eye contact shows nervousness. Page 43 Barriers to communication The following are the
factors that act as hindrances or barriers to effective communication: Ÿ Noise Ÿ Lack of planning Ÿ
Wrong assumptions Ÿ Premature Evaluation Ÿ Semantic barriers Ÿ Time and distance Ÿ Socio-
psychological barriers between superior and subordinates Ÿ Personal attitudes and opinions Ÿ Emotions
Ÿ Closed mind Ÿ Status consciousness of superiors Ÿ Inattentiveness Ÿ Loss of information in
transmission especially in oral communication Ÿ Poor retention Ÿ Improper selection of communication
channel Ÿ Abstracting Ÿ Slanting Ÿ Inferring