Personality

• INTRODUCTION:
Personality is derived from the Latin word, ‘persona’ meaning
‘mask’, referring to the masks that the Greek actors wore.

• DEFINITIONS OF PERSONALITY:
# Norman Munn- “Personality is a unique combination of
individual’s physical structure, needs, interest, abilities and
aptitudes.”

# Gordon Allport- “Personality is the dynamic organization within

the individual of those psychophysical systems that determines his
unique adjustments to the environment.”

REFER TO THE TEXTBOOK FOR DETAILS.

 Factors shaping Personality
1) HEREDITY
● Heredity means the transmission of traits and characteristics from parents to
offsprings, or Heredity implies all those characteristics that an individual inherits from
their parents.
● Heredity affects the physical and mental makeup of a person.
● For eg- inherent physical features like height, colour of the eyes, physical structure as
well as some genetically transmitted diseases.
● All these affect the self concept which in turn affects the personality of an individual.
1) ENDOCRINE GLANDS
● Endocrine glands such as the pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, adrenals, gonads etc. play an
important role in shaping personality of an individual.
● Over secretion or the under secretion of hormones produced by various glands may
adversely affect the personality of an individual.
● For ex- An over secretion of the thyroxine hormone produced by thyroid gland leads
to nervous tension, irritability, restlessness and emotional instability etc. which may
adversely affect the personality of an individual.
 Endocrine Glands
Name Hormone Hypersecretion Hyposecretion

1. Pituitary Somatotropin, 1) Gigantism- 1) Dwarfism- A .

Gland Growth hormone, Person becomes person
Adrenocorticotropic very huge. becomes very
2) Acromegaly- The
hormone, Oxytocin, person has short, but with
Pituitrin, Endorphins, features of a normal
etc. chimpanzee. intelligence.

Thyroxin 1) Grave’s 1) Cretinism- Among

1. Thyroid Disease- Person children, the child
is mentally and
Gland loses weight, physically slow.
irritated, 2) Myxedema- Among
sleeplessness adults, person
and sweating becomes huge,
palms. lacks motivation
and energy,
weakness.
 .

Name Hormone Hypersecretion Hyposecretion

.

3) Parathyroid Parathyroxin Person feels nauseated, Person lacks

sleepy, and relaxed. motivation, energy,
weakness and muscle
cramps.

4) Adrenal Cortin, Adrenalin, 1) Increase in sexual 1) Laziness, lack of

Noradrenaline. drive, females sexual drive and
start looking like hunger, weight
males. loss.
2) Increase in heart
beat, blood
pressure and
breathing.

5) Pancreas Insulin and Glycogen Reduces blood sugar, Person gets diabetes,
Hyperglycaemia, quite hungry, very
person lacks energy tired, restless and
and motivation, may irritated behaviour,
faint. frequent and
uncontrolled urination.
 3) Family
Family has various elements which have significant effects on the personality of an
individual. They are:
1. Structure of the family
2. Socio-economic status of the family
3. Emotional atmosphere
4. Parenting styles
5. Academic Environment: Educated parents encourage their children to study.
6. Cultural Environment: Cultural values and beliefs are taught to children from an
early age .

1. Structure of the family

Joint family
Grandparents, parents and children.
• Initially language development might be
hindered.
• Discipline is Inconsistent.
• Adjustment and flexibility is better.
• Interaction skills are good.
• Relationships may not be intimate.
Nuclear family
Parents and a child/children staying together.
• Good language development is seen
• Discipline is consistent.
• Adjustment and flexibility can be hard to
develop.
• Interaction skills take time to develop.
• Intimate relationships are formed.
2. Socio-economic status of the family

Upper class families Middle class families Lower class families

• Very strict/very indulgent • Discipline is inconsistent

• Teach their children to
• better opportunities for be financially
education independent.
• Discipline is consistent.
• Encourage open
communication
• More emphasis on
education/career
and physical
• There is little or no
communication.
• Education is not given a
lot of importance.

3. Emotional atmosphere

Positive: Love and respect shown by Negative: Over protection, rejection,

parents towards their children boosts the negligence, etc. shown by parents towards
self-confidence, self-esteem, self-image their children leads to low self-esteem, low
and security of children. It also promotes self-confidence, negative self-image and
healthy relationships. insecurity among children.
4. Parenting styles

Authoritarian/ Authoritative/ Permissive/ Uninvolved/ Overprotective

autocratic reasonable or Indulgent Indifferent parents:-
parents:- reciprocal parents:- parents:-
parents:-

• Strict • Firm and • The parent • A lot of • Decides

friendly loves the freedom is everything
• Less child more given. for the child.
affectionate • Communicati • High
on is open. than • Few/no
• Communicati needed. expectations expectations
on is one way • More • Too much
affectionate. • Provides • less nurturing pampering.
• Less more than • Doesn’t
nurturing • Expectations needed. • less/no allow the
are clear communication child to work
• Expectations
are high • Child is • Excess love, • Child usually by himself.
usually care and has no • The child is
• Child is disciplined, affection. direction to usually
usually has good follow, can dependent,
submissive, moral values, • Child is involve in anti indecisive,
fearful, expressive. usually social activities, lacks
hostile, spoilt, doesn’t know initiative,
rebellious, demanding, difference may rebel.
and
secretive. impatient. between wrong
and right, lazy.
 4) Peer group
• What is a peer group?
Members of the same/similar age group, who spend a lot of time
together constitute a peer group.
⮚ Peers are a pervasive aspect of our social life as they surround us in
our everyday lives from childhood to adulthood and until old age.
Eg: in classroom, workplace, sports club etc.
⮚ Refer to Activity 3, page no. 25 of the textbook.
The PEER GROUP may influence our personality in a:
•POSITIVE MANNER •NEGATIVE MANNER
or
For eg. Good habits such as studying For eg. Unhealthy habits such as
regularly, time management , bunking lectures, developing various
developing a healthy attitude addictions, showing aggressive
towards one’s own and opposite tendencies, anti-social behaviour, using
gender, good value system may be abusive language, bullying etc may be
developed by being in a company of developed by being in a company of bad
good friends. friends.
 5) School
The school plays an important role in the personality development of students. The
elements related to school which have a significant impact on the personalities of
students are as follows:
1) Teaching learning process:
• K- Knowledge: Acquiring knowledge by studying the material.
• U- Understanding: Being able to identify concepts, terms, etc.
• S- Skill: Acquiring skills and being able to answer diagram related questions.
• A- Application: Applying the previous aspects.
1) Academic activities: Academic activities include activities related to the subject
like projects, field trips, exhibitions, labs, etc.
2) Co-Curricular activities: Co-Curricular activities include sports, theater, arts and
crafts, etc.
3) Discipline: Following rules and regulations of the school or college is also an
important part of character development .
4) Rapport with teacher: A creative, well qualified, experienced and well-mannered
teachers act as a role model for their students. Such teachers provide maximum
opportunities for the optimum development of the potential of their students.
This in turn helps students to develop their personality in a healthier manner.
 6) Mass Media
Mass media includes all types of social media, news, radio, T.V.,
etc.

Advantages Disadvantages
1. Awareness about: Fashion 1. Addiction to social media
trends, Different cuisines, 2. Increase in crime rate [ cyber
Weather, Sports, etc. crime ]
2. Connection with people 3. Disconnection with people
3. Shapes opinions/ attitudes/ 4. Egocentrism
beliefs/ values.
5. Sleep deprivation
4. Helps to develop skills.
6. Poor academic performance
5. Source of information,
entertainment and social and 7. Insecurity
political awareness, Informal 8. Anti-social behaviours
education, socialization
9. Loneliness
 7) CULTURE
• Cultural factors also play an important role in shaping the personality
of an individual. Every culture has its own set of values, beliefs, norms,
etc. influencing thoughts feelings and behavioural patterns of the
individual.
• Leadership skills. Listening skills, entrepreneurial skills[self reliance,
patience], tendencies to cooperate and communicate well with others
etc. may differ from culture to culture
• E.g.

Western culture Eastern culture

❏ Focuses on individual/ ❏ Focuses on community/

personal achievement. collectivistic
❏ stresses on Competition achievement.
❏ encourages independent ❏ Stresses on Co-operation.
thinking ❏ Believes in
❏ verbal communication interdependence.
 Perspectives of studying
personality
1. PSYCHOANALYTIC 3. TRAIT 5. SOCIAL-COGNITIVE
PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Early childhood Every individual possesses Observational learning and

experiences and the specific traits in different cognitive processes in the
unconscious mind in the quantities and so every personality development
development of individual has a unique of an individual.
personality. personality Main psychologists; Albert
Main psychologist: Main psychologist; Gordon Bandura
Sigmund Freud Allport, Raymond Cattell
4. TYPE
2. HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
Every individual has a unique
Free will and psychological growth personality type based on his
are important in the personality physique, temperament and
development of an individual. mental characteristics.
Main Psychologist: Carl Rogers, Main psychologists: Sheldon, Carl
Abraham Maslow Jung, Kretschmer, Hippocrates
Introduction to Big Five Factors of
Personality [OCEAN]
• It is a theory which is based on the trait perspective to
understand personality.
• It was developed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa in
1987.
• According to them, personality traits are based on
biological aspects with the interaction of external
influences which helps in shaping emotions, attitudes,
habits, skills, etc.
 Openness to experiences ( O )
• Open to new things.
• Love art related topics.
• tries new things, skills.
• wants variety in life.
➢People with high O traits:- ➢People with low O traits:-
1. Curious. 1. straightforward.
2. Creative. 2. Non-creative
3. Non-conforming. 3. No complex thoughts.
4. Original ideas. 4. Plain.
5. Sensitive to beauty. 5. Prefer Routine.
6. Like novel experiences. 6. like familiarity
 Conscientiousness ( C )
• Self disciplined.
• Knows difference between right and wrong.
• Very committed.

➢People with high C traits:- ➢People with low C traits :-

1. Very cautious 1. Lazy
2. Hardworking. 2. Aimless
3. Dependable 3. Impulsive
4. People see them as “boring”. 4. People think they are fun to be
with.
 Extroversion ( E )
It is a trait characterized by energy creation from
external means.

➢ People with high E traits:- ➢ People with low E traits:-

• fun-loving, • shy,
• social, • alone,
• adventures, • don’t connect with people,
• talkative, • less talkative,
• open-minded, • less involved.
• assertive,
• courageous
• enthusiastic.
 Agreeableness ( A )
It is a trait showing ability of an individual to get
along with people.

➢ People having high ➢ People having low

agreeableness:- agreeableness:-
• soft hearted, • self interested,
• trust people easily, • don’t trust people,
• popular, • skeptical,
• loving, • unfriendly,
• caring, • suspicious,
• friendly, • make good critics and scientists.
• optimistic
• people generally like them.
 Neuroticism ( N )
It is a trait showing tendencies of negative emotions like
anger, anxiety, depression etc.

➢ People having high ➢ People having low

neuroticism:- neuroticism:-
• emotionally reactive, • calm,
• frustrated for minor reasons, • know how to regulate
• can’t have a stable emotion, emotions,
• worry a lot, • not temperamental,
• are vulnerable, • Stable,
• unable to make decisions, • Balanced.
• see ordinary situations as
threatening.
• impulsive
Measurement of Personality
There are many methods by which psychologists seek to measure
personality:-
• Behavioural analysis techniques
• Self-report Inventories
• Projective techniques

1) Behavioural Analysis:
Behavioural techniques such as
i. interview and
ii. observation
help in assessing the personality of an individual.
They can be explained as follows:
❏Interview
❖Interview is the most common method of measuring
personality
❖It’s a process by which an interviewer tries to collect
information about the personality of an interviewee by asking
him/her various questions.
❖Factors like;
a)Time taken to give an answer
b)Gestures, postures
c)Communication skills
d)Body movements etc
Are also taken into account by the interviewer while measuring
the personality of an interviewee.
Types of Interviews
Structured/Planned Interview
• The factors like, number of
questions, sequence of
questions etc. are
predetermined.
• There are no changes to
the questions on the spot.
• Usually this method is
used by industrial
psychologists to select
employees for a particular
job.
Unstructured/Unplanned
Interview
• Number, type and sequence
of questions are not
predetermined.
• Depending on the responses
of the interviewee the
interviewer adapts and
changes his questions on the
spot.
• Usually used by clinical,
sports, health, counselling
psychologists
• For collecting detailed
information about the client
 ❏Observation
● Observing an individual in various situations is another important method of
personality measurement.
● Observation method proves helpful when it is used by a trained psychologist
(observer) with clear objectives and guidelines for observation.
● It is used to collect information about the behaviour and personality of an individual.
● There are 2 types of observation :-

1. Natural Observation
2. Laboratory Observation.

1) Natural observation takes place in the natural surrounding of an individual without letting
them know about it. It has 2 types,
• Participant observation: in which the observer is a part of the group which is being
observed.
• Non-participant observation: in which the observer observes the group from some distance
without getting involved. For ex- A psychologist can observe the behaviour of a child when
the teacher is not present in the class.
2) Laboratory observation takes place in a lab and the subject knows he/she is being observed.
 2) Self Report Inventories
● In self report technique an individual provides information of his/her own
personality by responding to questions [ yes, no, unsure].
● The person has to answer all the questions honestly so that a true picture of
his personality is painted
● Some examples are Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
given Starke Hathaway and J.C. McKinley. It was used for psychopathology
and is one of the most widely used and researched clinical assessment tool to
diagnose mental disorders.
● 16 personality factors (PF) given by Raymond Cattell is used to identify
personality factors and primary traits.
● Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is used to find out likes, dislikes, strengths,
weaknesses, career, compatibility. It was given by mother and daughter Myers
and Briggs.
● High School Personality Inventory (HSPQ) is used to measure personality
characteristics.
 3) Projective Methods
• Projective methods emerged from the psychoanalytic school of thought.
• Their aim is to uncover feelings, desires, conflicts, motives, etc. hidden at
the unconscious level via unstructured or ambiguous stimuli or material.
• Rorschach’s Ink-Blot Test, Thematic Apperception Test, and Sentence
Completion Test are some major examples.

1) Rorschach’s Ink-Blot Test:

● Hermann Rorschach developed this test in 1921.
● It consists of 10 cards of symmetrical inkblots which have a specific shape, and
of which 5 are black and white and 5 are in colour.
● The cards are administered individually in two phases.
a) In the first stage [Performance] the participants are shown the cards and are
asked to tell what they see in each of them.
b) In the second phase, (inquiry phase), a detailed report of the response is
prepared by asking the subject to tell where, how and on what basis a
particular response was made.
● Scoring and interpretation procedures are very complicated and require the
services of an extensively trained psychologist.
 2) Thematic Apperception Test:
• The TAT was developed by Morgan and Murray in 1935.
• It requires the participant to look at the picture (representing a situation) and
to interpret it by telling a story.
• There are 30 such cards.
• The participant is asked to narrate a story in regards to the scene in the card.
They are asked to say what led up to the scene in the picture, why such events
occurred, what is currently happening and what the consequences will be.
[ past, present, and future]
• The answers provided by the participants reveal their unconscious motives,
thoughts and relationships with people.

3) Sentence Completion Test:

● SCT consists of a number of incomplete sentences,
● The starting part of the sentence is presented to the participant and
they have to provide an ending to the sentence.
● The answers provided by the participants reflect their attitudes,
motivations, and conflicts, relationship with people etc.