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CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Personal Development

1.1 Concept of Personal Development

Personal development is a lifelong process. It is a way for people to assess their skills
and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order to realise and maximise
their potential.

Personality is what makes a person a unique person, and it is recognizable soon after
birth. A child's personality has several components: temperament, environment, and
character. Temperament is the set of genetically determined traits that determine the
child's approach to the world and how the child learns about the world. There are no
genes that specify personality traits, but some genes do control the development of the
nervous system, which in turn controls behavior.

A second component of personality comes from adaptive patterns related to a child's

specific environment. Most psychologists agree that these two factors—temperament
and environment—influence the development of a person's personality the most.
Temperament, with its dependence on genetic factors, is sometimes referred to as
"nature," while the environmental factors are called "nurture."
While there is still controversy as to which factor ranks higher in affecting personality
development, all experts agree that high-quality parenting plays a critical role in the
development of a child's personality. When parents understand how their child responds
to certain situations, they can anticipate issues that might be problematic for their child.
They can prepare the child for the situation or in some cases they may avoid a
potentially difficult situation altogether. Parents who know how to adapt their parenting
approach to the particular temperament of their child can best provide guidance and
ensure the successful development of their child's personality.
Finally, the third component of personality is character—the set of emotional, cognitive,
and behavioral patterns learned from experience that determines how a person thinks,
feels, and behaves. A person's character continues to evolve throughout life, although
much depends on inborn traits and early experiences. Character is also dependent on a
person's moral development .

In 1956, psychiatrist Erik Erikson provided an insightful description as to how personality

develops based on his extensive experience in psychotherapy with children and
adolescents from low, upper, and middle-class backgrounds. According to Erikson, the
socialization process of an individual consists of eight phases, each one accompanied
by a "psychosocial crisis" that must be solved if the person is to manage the next and
subsequent phases satisfactorily. The stages significantly influence personality
development, with five of them occurring during infancy, childhood, and adolescence .

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Infancy
During the first two years of life, an infant goes through the first stage: Learning Basic
Trust or Mistrust (Hope) . Well-nurtured and loved, the infant develops trust and security
and a basic optimism. Badly handled, the infant becomes insecure and learns "basic
mistrust."

Toddlerhood
The second stage occurs during early childhood, between about 18 months to two years
and three to four years of age. It deals with Learning Autonomy or Shame (Will) . Well-
parented, the child emerges from this stage with self-confidence, elated with his or her
newly found control. The early part of this stage can also include stormy tantrums ,
stubbornness, and negativism, depending on the child's temperament.

Preschool
The third stage occurs during the "play age," or the later preschool years from about
three to entry into formal school. The developing child goes through Learning Initiative
or Guilt (Purpose) . The child learns to use imagination; to broaden skills through
active play and fantasy; to cooperate with others; and to lead as well as to follow. If
unsuccessful, the child becomes fearful, is unable to join groups, and harbors guilty
feelings. The child depends excessively on adults and is restricted both in the
development of play skills and in imagination.

School age
The fourth stage, Learning Industry or Inferiority (Competence) , occurs during school
age, up to and possibly including junior high school. The child learns to master more
formal skills:
 relating with peers according to rules
 progressing from free play to play that is structured by rules and requires
teamwork (team sports)
 learning basic intellectual skills (reading, arithmetic)
At this stage, the need for self-discipline increases every year. The child who, because
of his or her successful passage through earlier stages, is trusting, autonomous, and full
of initiative, will quickly learn to be industrious. However, the mistrusting child will doubt
the future and will feel inferior.

Adolescence
The fifth stage, Learning Identity or Identity Diffusion (Fidelity) , occurs during
adolescence from age 13 or 14. Maturity starts developing during this time; the young
person acquires self-certainty as opposed to self-doubt and experiments with different
constructive roles rather than adopting a negative identity, such as delinquency. The
well-adjusted adolescent actually looks forward to achievement, and, in later
adolescence, clear sexual identity is established. The adolescent seeks leadership
(someone to inspire him or her), and gradually develops a set of ideals to live by.

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The Child Development Institute (CDI) rightfully points out that very little knowledge is
available on the type of specific environment that will result, for example, in traits of trust
being more developed in a person's personality. Helping the child through the various
stages of emotional and personality development is a complex and difficult task.
Searching for the best ways of accomplishing this task accounts for most of the
research carried out in the field of child development today.

Renowned psychologist Carl Rogers emphasized how childhood experiences affect

personality development. Many psychologists believe that there are certain critical
periods in personality development—periods when the child will be more sensitive to
certain environmental factors. Most experts believe that a child's experiences in
the family are important for his or her personality development, although not exactly as
described by Erikson's stages, but in good agreement with the importance of how a
child's needs should to be met in the family environment

Main Purpose Criteria of Personal Quality

Positive Personal Attributes • Having high self- esteem.

• Having the ability to handle responsibility
• Adopting system procedures
• Having self discipline
• Hard working
• Practical implementation
• Maintaining a high level of sincerity and
honesty
• Accepting constructive criticism
• Having flexibility and the ability to adapt to
changes
• Applying time management
• Having good communication skills
• Having elegance and good appearance
• Having fitness and good health
• Living a balanced life
• Having self improvement

Good Human Relations • To treat all people with respect

• To be optimistic
• To show care for others
• To maintain good relations
• To have good listening skill
• To draw people attention to their faults politely.
• To give an honest and a specific evaluation.
• To praise when needed

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• To control your emotions
• To admit your faults
• To keep secrets
• To have empathy to see the others point of
view
• To respect commitments and promises
• To help others in their development
• To keep smiling
• To avoid controversy and irony

Superior / Outstanding Work • To achieve error-free work

Performance • To have full knowledge of the job
• To predict problems and prevent them
• To be initiative to improve work
• To do tasks by priority
• To take quick and accurate decisions based on
full awareness of facts
• To have team working skills
• To have creativity and innovation

1.2 Enhancing personal quality

The Three Components of Personality

Sigmund Freud is known for his study on the three basic components that greatly
affect our personality. He created the three levels of awareness that are congruent
to the three different parts of the mind: conscious mind, preconscious mind, and
subconscious mind. According to him, our conscious mind includes our current or
present mental processes contributing a major part in our current awareness.
The next level of mental awareness is our preconscious mind which, according to
Freud, comprises those that we are aware of, but we do not really give focus or
pay attention. We can either decide to take notice of these things and purposefully
let our conscious mind be aware of them. The third part of the human mind is the
subconscious where some of our thoughts surpass the conscious level.
From these levels of awareness by Freud, he then developed the three
components of our personality: the id, ego, and super ego. These are the results
of our thinking, feeling, and behaviors.

 The id functions primarily based on pleasure principle wherein our mind

seeks to achieve pleasure and avoid any form of pain. Freud mentioned
that the id consists of two major instincts and these are eros and thanatos.
The former is otherwise known as the life instinct that urges us to seek for

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pleasurable activities while the latter is our death instinct that stimulates us
to cause to destroy.
 The ego is the next component of our personality which is the heart of our
consciousness. It is characterized by either of the dominant functions
which are introversion or extraversion along with the other functions. It is
based on the reality principle which states that our mind acknowledges
what is real and currently existing. It also understands that there are
corresponding consequences to our behaviors.
 The super ego is the last component of our personality in which our
values and morals are contained. Our super ego can also offset or
compensate the id.

The Big Five Factors

Our various personality traits are generally categorized into what is referred to as
the Big Five Factors: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
neuroticism, and openness to experience.

 Extraversion pertains to being outgoing, sociable, full of energy,

enthusiasm, and action-oriented. Introversion, on the other hand, refers to
lack of liveliness and energy.
 Agreeableness manifests our differences in terms of cooperation and
social harmony. Agreeable people like getting along with each other well
while disagreeable individuals are more concerned with self-interest and
personal well-being.
 Conscientiousness focuses on how we manage and control our impulses
and desires. Conscientious people are intelligent, organized, and
persistent.
 Neuroticism is evident in individuals who are emotionally reactive and may
have gone through or are going through a particular strong negative
feeling.
 Openness to experience is a trait that characterizes people who are
creative, imaginative, curious, and intellectuals.

Essential Characteristics of Personality

Our personality is characterized not just by one aspect of our whole character
such as our behaviors or attitude but also by our patterned thoughts and feelings.
It is said that whatever behavior an individual has is consistent and becomes a
regular pattern even in different types of situations. It is associated with an
individual’s natural stimuli to a circumstance. For example, when there is a
deadline to meet, most of us cram during the completion process.

Another characteristic is that our personality is both psychological and

physiological. We have known personality to be a major element in the study of

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psychology but experts also found that our biological aspect also affects the way
we shape our personality.

Although we closely associate a person’s behavior and values with personality,

the way we think and even physical appearance are also expressions of human
personality. Our physical appearance is the initial impression of people when
identifying our personality. And then it can possibly change when the inner
personality comes out through other aspects such as our attitude and
communication skills.

Enhancing Personality

a) Be Physically Appealing

Our physical traits are one of the aspects in assessing our characters. It is
because how we carry our physical attributes reflects our inner personality. It is
usually with our outer appearance that causes people to initially create an
impression. To boost your personality, you need to make sure you appear
physically appealing and attractive with your manner of dressing, the way you put
on make-up, the way you do your hair, and the way you present yourself to
people. It does not necessarily mean that you have to wear flashy clothes and or a
really made-up hairdo just to get people’s attention. It simply means being neat,
well-groomed, maintaining a good posture, and properly dressed for the
appropriate situation.

Everyone is attracted to someone who keeps a neat and well-groomed

appearance. When leaving the house, make sure that your hair is neatly combed
or brushed and the nails are trimmed. Take a shower daily to be fresh all the time.
Double check yourself and your attire in the mirror before leaving and make sure
that your outfit does not catch attention by either being sloppily dressed or overly
dressed. You must care for your body by keeping it healthy. A regular exercise or
engaging in sports will keep you physically fit.

b) Widen Your Knowledge and Experience

Our everyday encounters with various situations and different kinds of people are
huge factors in molding our personalities. You need to gather as many
experiences as you can wherever you may be. It is through these experiences that
we get to understand who we really are and how we are in dealing with unfamiliar
circumstances.

Never hesitate to learn many new things. Doing so only expands your horizons
and develops undiscovered skills in other aspects. Take interest in your
surroundings and be keenly observant.

Be interested in people and learn what they want. Find out their preferences,
interests, beliefs, and actions. Attend social occasions and gatherings where you
get the chance to meet new acquaintances. Travel a lot to places you want to go

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and discover. Traveling provides exposure and is guaranteed to broaden one’s
knowledge and experience which, in turn, broaden one’s mind to many things.

c) Develop a Likeable Attitude

If you want to make people like you, learn to like yourself first and be likeable.
Once you develop a good personality, people will easily admire and like you.
Reflect on what you like and what you dislike about yourself. Take note of your
assets and positive aspects. Develop an attitude that will be impressive to others.
In augmenting your personality, this aspect is way more challenging than boosting
the physical appearance.

It is important to learn to admit your weaknesses and flaws and then do something
to correct them. Never tell yourself that this is all that you are and you cannot do
anything about yourself anymore. There is always a chance to change if you are
more than willing to go through it.

Learn how to value little achievements and recognize simple accomplishments

from people. You will be surprised to find out how people will admire you for being
appreciative and you will be appreciated in return. Do your best to refrain from
unhealthy arguments since it creates gaps and ruins relationships with people.
Always remember that there are a lot of things to like about you.

1.3 Personality test

A personality test can give you a great deal of insight about the core
components that make up who you are. Personality is how we interact with
the world and those around us. It determines whether we bounce back after a
tragic event or relationship problem, or we get mired down by the feelings.

Your personality helps determine whether you’ll get along with your co-
workers and boss, or whether every conversation turns into an argument.
Knowing more about your personality — and yourself — can help you lead a
life with less friction and more happiness. Even if you uncover qualities of
your personality that you’re unhappy with, the information can help you
understand the things that may need changing.

What Do Personality Tests Measure?

Personality tests usually help measure how well you will perform at the
organization based on your interpersonal skills, the motivation and inspiration
that drive you, and the role that you can excel in due to your behavioral traits.
The organization’s structure may be divided into teams and the members of a
team may be impacted by their co-workers and peers. The team leader may
guide and mentor the whole team, motivate the members, and encourage them

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to interact and respond so as to bring the best out of them. One with a
personality characterized by negative traits, such as pessimism may have a
detrimental effect on the team and its performance. Thus, personality tests
usually help in analyzing if you are a good fit for a certain company and its work
environment.

What to Expect in a Personality Test?

The type of questions in a personality test may depend on the roles that you will
be required to perform at the job position. The design and structure of the test
may be dependent on the work domain of the company and the characteristics
and skills they appreciate in their potential employees.

16 Personality Types

1) ISTJ (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judgment) Sentinels

Quiet, serious, earn success by Practical, Facts

thoroughness and dependability. Practical, Minded, Reliable
matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible.
Decide logically what should be done and
work toward it steadily, regardless of
distractions. Take pleasure in making
everything orderly and organized - their work,
their home, their life. Value traditions and
loyalty.

2) ISFJ (Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Judgment) Sentinels

Quiet, friendly, responsible, and Dedicated. Warm

conscientious. Committed and steady in Protector, Defend their
meeting their obligations. Thorough, love ones
painstaking, and accurate. Loyal,
considerate, notice and remember specifics
about people who are important to them,
concerned with how others feel. Strive to
create an orderly and harmonious
environment at work and at home.

3) INFJ (Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judging) Diplomats

Seek meaning and connection in ideas, Quiet, Mystical,

relationships, and material possessions. Want Inspiring, Tireless
to understand what motivates people and are Idealist

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insightful about others. Conscientious and
committed to their firm values. Develop a clear
vision about how best to serve the common
good. Organized and decisive in implementing
their vision

4) INTJ (Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, Judgment) Analysts

Have original minds and great drive for Imaginative, Strategic

implementing their ideas and achieving their Thinker, Planner
goals. Quickly see patterns in external events
and develop long-range explanatory
perspectives. When committed, organize a
job and carry it through. Sceptical and
independent, have high standards of
competence and performance - for
themselves and others.

5) ISTP (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Perception) Explores

Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a Bold, Practical

problem appears, then act quickly to find Experimenters
workable solutions. Analyze what makes
things work and readily get through large
amounts of data to isolate the core of
practical problems. Interested in cause and
effect, organize facts using logical principles,
value efficiency.

6) ISFP (Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Perception) Explorers

Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the Flexible, Charming

present moment, what's going on around Artist, Ready to
them. Like to have their own space and to explore & experience
work within their own time frame. Loyal and something new
committed to their values and to people who
are important to them. Dislike disagreements
and conflicts, do not force their opinions or
values on others.

7) INFP (introversion, intuition, feeling, perception) Diplomats

Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people Poetic, Kind, Altruistic

who are important to them. Want an external People, Always eager
life that is congruent with their values. to help

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Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be
catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to
understand people and to help them fulfil
their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and
accepting unless a value is threatened.

8) INTP (Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, Perceiving) Analyst

Seek to develop logical explanations for Innovative Investor

everything that interests them. Theoretical with thirst of
and abstract, interested more in ideas than in knowledge
social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible,
and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus
in depth to solve problems in their area of
interest. Sceptical, sometimes critical, always
analytical.

9) ESTP (Extroversion, Sensing, Thinking, Perception) Explorers

Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic Smart, Energetic,

approach focused on immediate results. Perspective and Risk
Theories and conceptual explanations bore Taker
them - they want to act energetically to solve
the problem. Focus on the here-and-now,
spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they
can be active with others. Enjoy material
comforts and style. Learn best through doing.

10) ESFP (Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling, Perception) Explorers

Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant Spontaneous,

lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Energetic &
Enjoy working with others to make things Enthusiastic
happen. Bring common sense and a realistic
approach to their work, and make work fun.
Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to
new people and environments. Learn best by
trying a new skill with other people.

11) ENFP (Extrovert, Intuition, Feeling, Perception) Diplomats

Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life Enthusiastic, Creative

as full of possibilities. Make connections and Sociable
between events and information very quickly,

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and confidently proceed based on the patterns
they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others,
and readily give appreciation and support.
Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their
ability to improvise and their verbal fluency

12) ENTP (Extrovert, Intuition, Thinking, Perception) Analyst

Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and Smart and curious

outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and thinker, cannot resists
challenging problems. Adept at generating intellectual challenge
conceptual possibilities and then analyzing
them strategically. Good at reading other
people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the
same thing the same way, apt to turn to one
new interest after another.

13) ESTJ (Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judgement) Sentinels

Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, Excellent

quickly move to implement decisions. administrators, Good
Organize projects and people to get things at managing thing
done, focus on getting results in the most
efficient way possible. Take care of routine
details. Have a clear set of logical standards,
systematically follow them and want others to
also. Forceful in implementing their plans.

14) ESFJ (Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling, Judgement) Sentinels

Warm hearted, conscientious, and Extra ordinary caring,

cooperative. Want harmony in their social & popular,
environment, work with determination to always eager to help
establish it. Like to work with others to
complete tasks accurately and on time.
Loyal, follow through even in small matters.
Notice what others need in their day-by-day
lives and try to provide it. Want to be
appreciated for who they are and for what
they contribute.

15) ENFJ (Extrovert, Intuition, Feeling, Judgement) Diplomats

Warm, empathetic, responsive, and Charismatic, Inspiring,

responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, Mesmerizing Listeners

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needs, and motivations of others. Find
potential in everyone, want to help others
fulfil their potential. May act as catalysts for
individual and group growth. Loyal,
responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable,
facilitate others in a group, and provide
inspiring leadership.

16) ENTJ (Extrovert, Intuition, Thinking, Judgement) Analyst

Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Bold, Imaginative,

Quickly see illogical and inefficient Strong will leader,
procedures and policies, develop and
implement comprehensive systems to solve
organizational problems. Enjoy long-term
planning and goal setting. Usually well
informed, well read, enjoy expanding their
knowledge and passing it on to others.
Forceful in presenting their ideas.

Reference

1. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/personal-development.html
2. https://www.truity.com/view/types
3. https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-
types.htm?bhcp=1
4. https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types
5. http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/personality-development/how-to-
enhance-your-personality.html
6. The Effect of Personal Quality Performance on Strategic Quality Management
Evidence From The Jordanian Hospitals Sector. Feras Suliman Alshalabi.
Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume 12 Issue 19
Version 1.0 Year 2012 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International
Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-4588
& Print ISSN: 0975-5853

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