Attitude, theories of personality, determinants of personality

1. KUNAL BASU
LLB SEM-1
CCI&C
FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
PERSONALITY IS TO A MAN WHAT PERFUME IS TO A FLOWER
The word "personality" originates from the Latin persona, which means mask.
Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed
by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors
in various situations. Significantly, in the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world,
the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a character, but
rather was a convention employed to represent or typify that character. Personality
also refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adjustments, and behaviors
consistently exhibited over time that strongly influences one's expectations, selfperceptions, values, and attitudes. It also predicts human reactions to other people,
problems, and stress. There is still no universal consensus on the definition of
"personality" in psychology. DC Funder defined personality as "…..individuals'
characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the
psychological mechanisms -- hidden or not -- behind those patterns. This definition
means that among their colleagues in other subfields of psychology, those
psychologists who study personality have a unique mandate: to explain whole
persons." Feist and Feist stated that, “Although no single definition is acceptable to all
personality theorists, we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent
traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a
person's behavior." The multiple dimensions of personality led the US steel magnate,
Charles M Schwab to aptly remark that "Personality is to a man what perfume is to a
flower."
Many of the ideas developed by historical and modern personality theorists stem
from the basic philosophical assumptions they hold. The study of personality is not a
purely empirical discipline, as it brings in elements of art, science, and philosophy to
draw general conclusions. The following five categories are some of the most
fundamental philosophical assumptions on which theorists disagree:
 Freedom versus determinism: Whether humans have control over their own
behavior and understand the motives behind it or if their behavior is causally
determined by forces beyond their control. Behavior is categorized as being
unconscious, environmental, or biological by various theories.
 Heredity versus environment: Personality is thought to be determined largely
either by genetics and biology, or by environment and experiences.
Contemporary research suggests that most personality traits are based on the
joint influence of genetics and environment. One of the forerunners in this
arena is C. Robert Cloninger, who pioneered the Temperament and Character
model.
 Uniqueness versus universality: Discusses the extent of each human's
individuality (uniqueness) or similarity in nature (universality). Gordon Allport,
Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers were all advocates of the uniqueness of
individuals. Behaviorists and cognitive theorists, in contrast, emphasize the
importance of universal principles, such as reinforcement and self-efficacy.
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2. KUNAL BASU
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
 Active versus reactive: Explores whether humans primarily act through
individual initiative (active) or through outside stimuli. Behavioral theorists
typically believe that humans are passively shaped by their environments,
whereas humanistic and cognitive theorists believe that humans are more
active in their role. Most modern theorists agree that both are important, with
aggregate behavior being primarily determined by traits in their interaction
with short-term behavior, whereas situational factors in interaction with
aggregate behavior are direct predictors of behavior on the short term.
 Optimistic versus pessimistic: Whether humans are integral in the changing of
their own personalities. Theories that place a great deal of emphasis on
learning are often more optimistic than those that do not.
Personality theory has developed over the last century. The most common models
of traits incorporate three to five broad dimensions or factors. All trait theories
incorporate at least two dimensions, extraversion and neuroticism, which historically
featured in Hippocrates' humoral theory. Personality type refers to the psychological
classification of different types of people. Personality types are distinguished from
personality traits, which come in different levels or degrees. For example, according to
type theories, there are two types of people, introverts and extroverts. According to
trait theories, introversion and extroversion are part of a continuous dimension, with
many people in the middle. Psychoanalytic theories explain human behavior in terms
of the interaction of various components of personality. Sigmund Freud was the
founder of this school of thought. Freud drew on the physics of his day
(thermodynamics) to coin the term psychodynamics. Based on the idea of converting
heat into mechanical energy, he proposed psychic energy could be converted into
behavior. Freud's theory places central importance on dynamic and unconscious
psychological conflicts.
Behaviorists explain personality in terms of the effects external stimuli have on
behavior. The approaches used to analyze the behavioral aspect of personality are
known as behavioral theories or learning-conditioning theories. One of the major
tenets of this concentration of personality psychology is a strong emphasis on
scientific thinking and experimentation. In cognitive theory, behavior is explained as
guided by cognitions (e.g. expectations) about the world, especially those about other
people. Cognitive theories are theories of personality that emphasize cognitive
processes, such as thinking and judging. Humanistic psychology emphasizes that
people have free will and that this plays an active role in determining how they
behave. Accordingly, humanistic psychology focuses on subjective experiences of
persons as opposed to forced, definitive factors that determine behavior. The study of
the biological level in personality psychology focuses primarily on identifying the role
of genetic determinants and how they mold individual personalities. Ever since the
Human Genome Project allowed for a much more in depth understanding of genetics,
there has been an ongoing controversy involving heritability, personality traits, and
environmental vs. genetic influence on personality. The human genome is known to
play a role in the development of personality. This theory examines how individual
personality differences are based on natural selection. Evolutionary theory states that
through natural selection, organisms change over time through adaptation and
selection. Traits are developed and certain genes come into expression based on an
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3. KUNAL BASU
LLB SEM-1
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
organism's environment and how these traits aid in an organism's survival and
reproduction.
The study of personality is based on the essential insight that all people are similar
in some ways, yet different in others. There have been many different definitions and
theories of personality proposed but most now converge on the Big Five, in sum and
substance that, lead back, in many ways, to trait, behavioral and other theories of
personality with some variable(s) in combination. However, many contemporary
psychologists agree that “Personality is that pattern of characteristic thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors that distinguishes one person from another and that persists
over time and situations.” Accordingly, the Big Five personality traits are five broad
domains or dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality.
The Big Five factors are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,
and neuroticism, often referred by collective acronyms OCEAN, NEOAC, or CANOE.
However, none of the five traits is in themselves positive or negative, they are simply
characteristics that individuals exhibit to a greater or lesser extent. Each of these 5
personality traits describes, relative to other people, the frequency or intensity of a
person's feelings, thoughts, or behaviors. Everyone possesses all 5 of these traits to a
greater or lesser degree. For example, two individuals could be described as
‘agreeable’ (agreeable people value getting along with others). However, there could
be significant variation in the degree to which they are both agreeable. In other
words, all five personality traits exist on a continuum rather than as attributes that a
person does or does not have as the following diagram shows:
Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious) reflects the
degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a
person has. Extraversion is marked by pronounced engagement with the external
world. Extraverts enjoy being with people, are full of energy, and often experience
positive emotions. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented, individuals who are
likely to say "Yes!" or "Let's go!" to opportunities for excitement like an army covert
operations group leader. In groups they like to talk, assert themselves, and draw
attention to themselves like politicians and many godmen like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Introverts lack the exuberance, energy, and activity levels of extraverts. They tend to
be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and disengaged from the social world like Sri Aurobindo.
Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression;
the introvert simply needs less stimulation than an extravert and prefers to be alone.
The independence and reserve of the introvert is sometimes mistaken as
unfriendliness or arrogance. In reality, an introvert who scores high on the
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4. KUNAL BASU
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
agreeableness dimension will not seek others out but will be quite pleasant when
approached as was the case with Sri Aurobindo.
Openness is also described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or
independent, and depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict
routine like my stentorian father at work. Open personalities have an appreciation for
art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience, what
many psychologists call intellect like philosophers, politically dissenting artists like
Marlon Brando, entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates and nonconformist painters like Late MF Hussain. Openness is a general appreciation for art,
emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience.
People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and
sensitive to beauty. Depending on the individual's specific intellectual abilities, this
symbolic cognition may take the form of mathematical, logical, or geometric thinking,
artistic and metaphorical use of language, music composition or performance, or one
of the many visual or performing arts. People with low scores on openness to
experience tend to have narrow, common interests such as auditors and accountants.
They prefer the plain, straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and
subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion, regarding these
endeavors as abstruse or of no practical use. Closed people prefer familiarity over
novelty; they are conservative and resistant to change such as members of the Ku Klux
Klan and religious groups. Open people tend to be, when compared to closed people,
more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are more likely to hold
unconventional beliefs.
On average, people who register high in Openness are intellectually curious, open
to emotion, interested in art, and willing to try new things. A particular individual,
however, may have a high overall Openness score and be interested in learning and
exploring new cultures but have no great interest in art or poetry like my voracious
devouring of information on the Internet and print media but a strict no-no to poetry.
There is a strong connection between liberal ethics and openness to experience such
as support for policies endorsing racial tolerance. Thus I do not believe in caste and
religious prejudices, instead chide others who have them. Another characteristic of
the open cognitive style is a facility for thinking in symbols and abstractions far
removed from concrete experience such as surrealist and cubist painters like Salvador
Dali or Pablo Picasso.
Conscientious people (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless) have a
tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement, show planned
rather than spontaneous behavior, are organized, and dependable. Conscientiousness
is a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement against
measures or outside expectations. It is related to the way in which we control,
regulate, and direct our impulses. High scores on conscientiousness indicate a
preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior. The average level of
conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines among older adults.
Extraverts (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved) exhibit energy, positive
emotions, assertiveness, sociability and show tendency to seek stimulation in the
company of others, and are talkative. Extraversion is characterized by breadth of
activities (as opposed to depth), encouragement from external activity/situations, and
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5. KUNAL BASU
LLB SEM-1
CCI&C
FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
energy creation from external means such as the leaders of the French Revolution
who derived inspiration from the US Declaration of Independence. The trait is marked
by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy interacting with
people, and are often perceived as full of energy. They tend to be enthusiastic, actionoriented individuals. They possess high group visibility, like to talk, and assert
themselves. Introverts have lower social engagement and energy levels than
extraverts. They tend to seem quiet, low-key, deliberate, and less involved in the
social world. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or
depression; they are simply more independent of their social world than extraverts.
Introverts simply need less stimulation than extraverts and more time alone. They
should not be seen as deliberately unfriendly or antisocial, instead they are reserved
in social situations.
Agreeable (friendly/compassionate vs. cold/unkind) people show a tendency to be
compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards
others. Agreeableness reflects individual differences in concern with cooperation and
social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are
therefore considerate, friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their
interests with others. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature
like Mother Teresa. They believe people are basically honest, decent, and trustworthy.
Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are
generally unconcerned with others' well-being, and therefore are unlikely to extend
themselves for other people. Sometimes their skepticism about others' motives
causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative. Agreeableness is
obviously advantageous for attaining and maintaining popularity. Agreeable people
are better liked than disagreeable people. On the other hand, agreeableness is not
useful in situations that require tough or absolute objective decisions like a Prime
Minister when a nation needs to declare war or emergency to protect its international
borders. Disagreeable people can make excellent scientists, critics, or soldiers like a
dictatorial Adolf Hitler, an intolerant Meghnad Saha or overweening US General
Douglas MacArthur. It is also a measure of one’s trusting and helpful nature, and
whether a person is generally well tempered or not. Agreeableness is a tendency to be
compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards
others. The trait reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony.
Although agreeableness is positively correlated with good team work skills, it is
negatively correlated with leadership skills. Those who voice their opinion in a team
environment tend to move up the corporate rankings, whereas the ones that don't
remain in the same position usually labeled as the followers of the team. Disagreeable
individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally
unconcerned with others’ well-being, and are less likely to extend themselves for
other people. Sometimes their skepticism about others’ motives causes them to be
suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative.
Neurotics (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident) show a tendency to experience
unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability.
Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control, and is
sometimes referred by its low pole – "emotional stability". Neuroticism is the
tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression as in
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6. KUNAL BASU
LLB SEM-1
CCI&C
FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
case of the juvenile delinquent in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case in Delhi. It is
sometimes called emotional instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional
stability. Conscientiousness concerns the way in which we control, regulate, and direct
our impulses. Impulses are not inherently bad; occasionally time constraints require a
snap decision, and acting on our first impulse can be an effective response. Also, in
times of play rather than work, acting spontaneously and impulsively can be fun.
Impulsive individuals can be seen by others as colorful, fun-to-be-with, and zany.
Nonetheless, acting on impulse can lead to trouble in a number of ways. Some
impulses are antisocial such as murder for failing to share a cold beverage with others.
Uncontrolled antisocial acts not only harm other members of society, but also can
result in retribution toward the perpetrator of such impulsive acts such as kidnapping
for ransom or in pursuance of business rivalry. Another problem with impulsive acts is
that they often produce immediate rewards but undesirable, long-term consequences
such as animosity between individual businessmen and co-workers. Examples include
excessive socializing that leads to being fired from one's job, hurling an insult that
causes the breakup of an important relationship, or using pleasure-inducing drugs that
eventually destroy one's health. Impulsive behavior, even when not seriously
destructive, diminishes a person's effectiveness in significant ways. Acting impulsively
disallows contemplating alternative courses of action, some of which would have been
wiser than the impulsive choice.
Impulsivity also sidetracks people during projects that require organized
sequences of steps or stages, such as intolerance of constructive dissidence in a group.
Accomplishments of an impulsive person are therefore small, scattered, and
inconsistent. A hallmark of intelligence, what potentially separates human beings from
earlier life forms, is the ability to think about future consequences before acting on an
impulse. Intelligent activity involves contemplation of long-range goals, organizing and
planning routes to these goals, and persisting toward one's goals in the face of shortlived impulses to the contrary. The idea that intelligence involves impulse control is
aptly captured by the term prudence, an alternative label for the Conscientiousness
domain. Prudent means both wise and cautious. Persons who score high on the
Conscientiousness scale are, in fact, perceived by others as intelligent. The benefits of
high conscientiousness are obvious. Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and
achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. They are
also positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable like my father. On the
negative side, they can be compulsive perfectionists and workaholics, again like my
father. Furthermore, extremely conscientious individuals might be regarded as stuffy
and boring like many of my father’s professional colleagues. Unconscientious people
may be criticized for their unreliability, lack of ambition, and failure to stay within the
lines, but they will experience many short-lived pleasures and they will never be called
stuffy like the majority of civil servants in India.
According to Eysenck’s (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism is interlinked
with low tolerance for stress or aversive stimuli. Freud originally used the term
neurosis to describe a condition marked by mental distress, emotional suffering, and
an inability to cope effectively with the normal demands of life. He suggested that
everyone shows some signs of neurosis, but that we differ in our degree of suffering
and our specific symptoms of distress. Today neuroticism refers to the tendency to
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7. KUNAL BASU
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
experience negative feelings. Those who score high on neuroticism may experience
primarily one specific negative feeling such as anxiety, anger, or depression, but are
likely to experience several of these emotions. People high in neuroticism are
emotionally reactive like actor Sanjay Dutt. They respond emotionally to events that
would not affect most people, and their reactions tend to be more intense than
normal. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor
frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist
for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. For
instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach toward work, confidence
that work impedes with personal relationships, and apparent anxiety linked with work
– a trait common to most bosses at work. These problems in emotional regulation can
diminish a neurotic's ability to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with
stress. At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are less
easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally
stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from negative feelings
does not mean that low scorers experience a lot of positive feelings; frequency of
positive emotions is a component of the Extraversion domain.
Furthermore, those who score high on neuroticism may display more skin
conductance reactivity than those who score low on neuroticism. These problems in
emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism
to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. Lacking contentment
in one's life achievements can correlate to high Neuroticism scores and increase a
person's likelihood of falling into clinical depression such as many movie stars, singers
and models when they careers go down the hill. At the other end of the scale,
individuals who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less emotionally
reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative
feelings. Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low scorers experience a
lot of positive feelings. Research suggests extraversion and neuroticism are negatively
correlated. Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the Freudian
sense. Some psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional stability to
differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test.
Each of the big five personality traits is made up of six facets. These can be
assessed independently of the trait that they belong to as shown in the following
diagram:
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8. KUNAL BASU
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
Extraversion facets include friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, high
activity levels, excitement-seeking and cheerfulness. Friendly people genuinely like
other people and openly demonstrate positive feelings toward others. They make
friends quickly and it is easy for them to form close, intimate relationships. Low
scorers on friendliness are not necessarily cold and hostile, but they do not reach out
to others and are perceived as distant and reserved. Gregarious people find the
company of others pleasantly stimulating and rewarding like Narendra Modi and other
politicians. They enjoy the excitement of crowds. Low scorers tend to feel
overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. They do not necessarily
dislike being with people sometimes, but their need for privacy and time to
themselves is much greater than for individuals who score high on this scale. Assertive
ones like to speak out, take charge, and direct the activities of others. They tend to be
leaders in groups. Low scorers tend not to talk much and let others control the
activities of groups. Active individuals lead fast-paced, busy lives. They move about
quickly, energetically, and vigorously, and they are involved in many activities. People
who score low on this scale follow a slower and more leisurely, relaxed pace. High
excitement-seekers are easily bored without high levels of stimulation. They love
bright lights and hustle and bustle. They are likely to take risks and seek thrills. Low
scorers are overwhelmed by noise and commotion and are adverse to thrill-seeking.
Cheerfulness measures positive mood and feelings, not negative emotions (which are
a part of the Neuroticism domain). Persons who score high on this scale typically
experience a range of positive feelings, including happiness, enthusiasm, optimism,
and joy. Low scorers are not as prone to such energetic, high spirits.
For instance, I speak little but keep my eyes and ears open, am not too fond of
visitors at home, seldom attend parties, am glued to the Internet and my notebook.
On the contrary, my father, is outgoing, generally sociable with a fondness for parties,
fond of writing columns on contemporary events in the print media, a voracious
reader of the Internet and print media with fairly strong opinions about a subject. He
is also quite assertive and often adopts ill-suited courses of action for which he
repents later. My mother is more laid back – midway between the two extremes. As
she welcomes visitors, she is not too enamored of parties other than within her
friends’ circle, while she is a passionate information-gatherer from the media, yet she
generally is circumspect about her opinions.
Agreeableness facets include trust, morality, altruism, cooperation, modesty
and sympathy. A person with high trust assumes that most people are fair, honest,
and have good intentions. Persons low in trust may see others as selfish, devious, and
potentially dangerous. They see no need for pretence or manipulation when dealing
with others and are therefore candid, frank, and sincere. Low scorers believe that a
certain amount of deception in social relationships is necessary. People find it
relatively easy to relate to the straightforward high-scorers on this scale. They
generally find it more difficult to relate to the low-scorers on this scale. It should be
made clear that low scorers are not unprincipled or immoral; they are simply more
guarded and less willing to openly reveal the whole truth. Altruistic people find
helping other people genuinely rewarding. Consequently, they are generally willing to
assist those who are in need. Altruistic people find that doing things for others is a
form of self-fulfillment rather than self-sacrifice. Low scorers on this scale do not
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9. KUNAL BASU
LLB SEM-1
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
particularly like helping those in need. Requests for help feel like an imposition rather
than an opportunity for self-fulfillment. Individuals who score high on this scale dislike
confrontations. They are perfectly willing to compromise or to deny their own needs
in order to get along with others.
Those who score low on this scale are more likely to intimidate others to get
their way. They are modest and do not like to claim that they are better than other
people. In some cases this attitude may derive from low self-confidence or selfesteem. Nonetheless, some people with high self-esteem find immodesty unseemly.
Those who are willing to describe themselves as superior tend to be seen as
disagreeably arrogant by other people. Such people are also sympathetic, tenderhearted and compassionate. They feel the pain of others vicariously and are easily
moved to pity. Low scorers are not affected strongly by human suffering. They pride
themselves on making objective judgments based on reason. They are more
concerned with truth and impartial justice than with mercy.
For instance, I often ask my father to donate for a charitable cause but seldom pay
out for the same purpose from my own pocket money. I do not mind if my mother
gives away my old clothes to the domestic help but do not take any initiative of my
own. Yet I participate in all team activities in College and University and generally trust
about a half of the people I meet. Often I am short-changed but I let that pass but
remember it for future relationships. My father is as agreeable as he is disagreeable.
He is prone to stifling dissent at his place of work and drives his officers and staff to
great lengths, albeit toward professional achievement. He rewards those who succeed
in keeping pace with him while the less fortunate often get punished. At the same
time he maintains an open door policy at work and is available to all his officers and
staff. Yet he also helps staff in their distress, particularly the low-paid ones. While my
mother is a hard taskmaster, particularly for me and her domestic helps, she cares for
the indigent when she gives away my old clothes and food/sweets to her domestic
helps and their children and gifts them a token sum on every religious occasion,
including on my birthday. However, she is relatively short on her temper and trust of
others and is often not able to hold either, that sometimes costs her friends and
acquaintances. As for my paternal grandfather, he is deeply solicitous of the indigent
and sometimes overdoes it, is a great conversationist that endears him to a large
number of friends, neighbors and well-wishers, yet very precise and clear-headed
when it comes to rendering an opinion or taking any decision that invariably is in the
greatest interest of his family, including us. Like my father, he too is not very tolerant
of dissent, yet selectively antagonistic to others.
Conscientiousness facets include self-efficacy, orderliness, and dutifulness,
striving for achievement, self-discipline and cautiousness. Self-efficacy describes
confidence in one's ability to accomplish things. High scorers believe they have the
intelligence (common sense), drive, and self-control necessary for achieving success.
Low scorers do not feel effective, and may have a sense that they are not in control of
their lives. Persons with high scores on orderliness are well-organized. They like to live
according to routines and schedules. They keep lists and make plans. Low scorers tend
to be disorganized and scattered. Dutifulness reflects the strength of a person's sense
of duty and obligation. Those who score high on this scale have a strong sense of
moral obligation. Low scorers find contracts, rules, and regulations overly confining.
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10. KUNAL BASU
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FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
They are likely to be seen as unreliable or even irresponsible. Achievement-Striving
individuals who score high on this scale strive hard to achieve excellence. Their drive
to be recognized as successful keeps them on track toward their lofty goals. They
often have a strong sense of direction in life, but extremely high scores may be too
single-minded and obsessed with their work. Low scorers are content to get by with a
minimal amount of work, and might be seen by others as lazy. Self-discipline-what
many people call will-power-refers to the ability to persist at difficult or unpleasant
tasks until they are completed. People who possess high self-discipline are able to
overcome reluctance to begin tasks and stay on track despite distractions. Those with
low self-discipline procrastinate and show poor follow-through, often failing to
complete tasks-even tasks they want very much to complete. Cautiousness describes
the disposition to think through possibilities before acting. High scorers on the
Cautiousness scale take their time when making decisions. Low scorers often say or do
first thing that comes to mind without deliberating alternatives and the probable
consequences of those alternatives.
For instance, my father plans our itineraries down to the last Google directions
map, restaurants, sights to see, public transportation, etc for all our vacations. He
even saves all his appointments to his mobile most dutifully. To the contrary, my
mother and I go along with him since he is seldom wrong. Yet my father is also
spontaneous and is able to fit in with most audiences with his effervescence and sense
of humor. However, he is a workaholic and seldom gets home before 8 pm after a
day’s professional achievement. At home, he loves to decorate the house and clean
up the mess that I leave behind, of course, not without chiding me, for not following
his discipline. To the contrary, my mother is none too organized, particularly when it
comes to keeping important documents in her custody and frequently misplaces
them. In contrast, my paternal grandfather is even more disciplined as he even has his
original order of appointment to his job from 1949 – that he keeps wrapped in a red
cloth along with other important documents, many of which date back over 50 years.
He also assiduously takes his morning and evening walks, come rain or shine. He too
has a wonderful sense of humor and is supremely proficient in both English and
Bengali, many steps ahead of my father and me.
Neuroticism facets include anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness,
immoderation and vulnerability. People who are high in anxiety often feel like
something dangerous is about to happen. They may be afraid of specific situations or
be just generally fearful. They feel tense, jittery, and nervous. Persons low in anxiety is
generally calm and fearless. Persons who score high in anger feel enraged when things
do not go their way. They are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful
and bitter when they feel they are being cheated. This scale measures the tendency to
feel angry; whether or not the person expresses annoyance and hostility depends on
the individual's level on agreeableness.
Low scorers do not get angry often or easily. Depression measures the
tendency to feel sad, dejected, and discouraged. High scorers lack energy and have
difficult initiating activities. Low scorers tend to be free from these depressive
feelings. Self-conscious individuals are sensitive about what others think of them.
Their concern about rejection and ridicule cause them to feel shy and uncomfortable
abound others. They are easily embarrassed and often feel ashamed. Their fears that
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others will criticize or make fun of them are exaggerated and unrealistic, but their
awkwardness and discomfort may make these fears a self-fulfilling prophecy. Low
scorers, in contrast, do not suffer from the mistaken impression that everyone is
watching and judging them. They do not feel nervous in social situations. Immoderate
individuals feel strong cravings and urges that they have difficulty resisting. They tend
to be oriented toward short-term pleasures and rewards rather than long-term
consequences. Low scorers do not experience strong, irresistible cravings and
consequently do not find themselves tempted to overindulge. High scorers on
Vulnerability experience panic, confusion, and helplessness when under pressure or
stress. Low scorers feel more poised, confident, and clear-thinking when stressed.
For instance, like my mother, I too have a short fuse and tend to lose my cool
even over insignificant things and tend to carry long-term prejudices against my family
members too even when they may not be entirely responsible for it. I am not overtly
social but I not unsocial either. I am easily dejected and disheartened by falling grades
in University and hyper-nervous on the days of my exams, even panic. Yet I was
extremely happy when my first published book was released, during family vacations,
shopping and dining out and remains thankful to my hosts for indulging me. My
mother has characteristics similar to mine. In contrast, my father gets extremely angry
at times, even flushed, but, after cooling down, is generally in a forgiving mood.
However, it is often difficult to judge who he forgives and those he does not, oblivious
of the closeness of their relationship with him. Yet he does not care much for what
people think of him and not easily fazed by failure. In fact, his agreeable facet more
than compensates for his failings on the neuroticism front. My paternal grandfather
shows occasional outbursts of temper but is forever contemplating future possible
courses of action to remedy wrong or taking appropriate decisions for the family. He is
certainly dejected on some counts, viz. that his friends (he is 91 years old now) are
passing away, he is no longer as nimble and physically strong as he was and suffers
major ailments. Yet these do not faze him as he remains a voracious reader, television
addict, an addictive conversationist that attracts new friends by the day and is a
regular invitee at many senior citizens’ meets, et al.
Openness facets are imagination, artistic interest, emotionality,
adventurousness, intellect and liberalism. To imaginative individuals, the real world is
often too plain and ordinary. High scorers on this scale use fantasy as a way of
creating a richer, more interesting world. Low scorers are on this scale are more
oriented to facts than fantasy. High scorers on the artistic interests scale love beauty,
both in art and in nature. They become easily involved and absorbed in artistic and
natural events. They are not necessarily artistically trained or talented, although many
will be. The defining features of this scale are interest in, and appreciation of natural
and artificial beauty. Low scorers lack aesthetic sensitivity and interest in the arts.
Persons high on Emotionality have good access to and awareness of their own
feelings. Low scorers are less aware of their feelings and tend not to express their
emotions openly. High scorers on adventurousness are eager to try new activities,
travel to foreign lands, and experience different things. They find familiarity and
routine boring, and will take a new route home just because it is different. Low scorers
tend to feel uncomfortable with change and prefer familiar routines. Intellect and
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DATE: SEP 25, 2013
artistic interests are the two most important, central aspects of openness to
experience.
High scorers on intellect love to play with ideas. They are open-minded to new
and unusual ideas, and like to debate intellectual issues. They enjoy riddles, puzzles,
and brain teasers. Low scorers on Intellect prefer dealing with people or things rather
than ideas. They regard intellectual exercises as a waste of time. Intellect should not
be equated with intelligence. Intellect is an intellectual style, not an intellectual ability,
although high scorers on Intellect score slightly higher than low-Intellect individuals on
standardized intelligence tests. Psychological liberalism refers to a readiness to
challenge authority, convention, and traditional values. In its most extreme form,
psychological liberalism can even represent outright hostility toward rules, sympathy
for law-breakers, and love of ambiguity, chaos, and disorder. Psychological
conservatives prefer the security and stability brought by conformity to tradition.
Psychological liberalism and conservatism are not identical to political affiliation, but
certainly incline individuals toward certain political parties.
For instance, having authored my own book of action short stories in 2011 –
Thrills, Chills & Frills - my rich vocabulary, and vivid imagination, ability to understand
and reflect upon current events for themes for my stories projects me to be an Open
personality. Conversely, things abstract do not interest me as I have difficulty in
understanding abstract ideas. On the other hand, my businessman neighbor has
excellent business ideas that I do not, has a limited vocabulary (other than for money),
lives in the present and is not interested in abstractions, yet has a great collection of
art and artifacts that he collects during his foreign visits. While I am conscientious as
far as my studies and personal appearance are concerned, I am quite careless about
my physical environment at home. I also do not easily trust others and am always
trying to best my friends and acquaintances. Yet I have large number of friends that
understand me. While I do not discuss too many current affairs with my father and
grandfather at home, yet I listen intently when they discuss with my mother. Only
computer and automotive technology interest me but not others. I also do not have
an eye for the beauteous but for my personal apparel.
For instance, my mother loves traveling abroad but is unable to plan ahead that
my father does with his awareness and gathered experience of the world. While my
mother is most conscientious of our welfare, she is usually resistant to any major
change without prolonged diligence. She is also mistrustful of the true intentions of
others till she is fully convinced. My paternal grandfather is a similar mixture of open
and closed personality. His vocabulary is far richer than mine, in Bengali and English,
poetry recitation is a pastime, he understands and reflects on current events and even
relates them to his historical experiences. Yet he hates abstraction because he is
unable to understand them. My father is imaginative and a highly creative writer,
possesses a rich vocabulary, thinks far ahead of his times, is a connoisseur of beautiful
paintings and artifacts, and a great traveler but closed to abstraction. Yet he is often
involuntarily insensitive, has certain frozen ideas about people and does not retrace
his steps easily even if he takes a wrong decision.
Personality is shaped not only by external factors but by internalized ones as
well. It is also shaped by handed down customs and conventions, physiological
changes, maturation, physical environment, availability of resources, etc. Twin studies
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DATE: SEP 25, 2013
suggest that heritability and environmental factors equally influence all five factors to
the same degree. Among four recent twin studies, the mean percentage for
heritability was calculated for each personality and it was concluded that heritability
influenced the five factors broadly. The self-report measures were as follows:
openness to experience was estimated to have a 57% genetic influence, extraversion
54%, conscientiousness 49%, neuroticism 48%, and agreeableness 42%1. Many studies
of longitudinal data, which correlate people's test scores over time, and crosssectional data, which compare personality levels across different age groups, show a
high degree of stability in personality traits during adulthood 2. It is shown that the
personality stabilizes for working-age individuals within about four years after starting
working. There is also little correlation that adverse life events can have any significant
impact on the personality of individuals.3 More recent research and meta-analyses of
previous studies, however, indicate that change occurs in all five traits at points in the
lifespan. The new research shows evidence for a maturation effect. On average, levels
of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness typically increase with time, whereas
Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness tend to decrease.4 Research has also
demonstrated that changes in Big Five personality traits depend on the individual's
current stage of development. For example, levels of agreeableness and
conscientiousness demonstrate a negative trend during childhood and early
adolescence before trending upwards during late adolescence and into adulthood 5. In
addition to these group effects, there are individual differences: different people
demonstrate unique patterns of change at all stages of life6. Another area of
investigation is the downward extension of Big Five theory into childhood. Studies
have found Big Five personality traits to correlate with children's social and emotional
adjustment and academic achievement.
More recently, the Five Factor Personality Inventory – Children7 was published
extending assessment between the ages of 9 and 18. Perhaps the reason for this
recent publication was the controversy over the application of the Five Factor Traits to
children. Studies by Oliver P. John et al. with adolescent boys brought two new factors
to the table: "Irritability" and "Activity". In studies of Dutch children, those same two
new factors also became apparent. These new additions "suggest that the structure of
1
Jang, K.; Livesley, W. J.; Vemon, P. A. (1996). "Heritability of the Big Five Personality Dimensions and
Their Facets: A Twin Study". Journal of Personality 64 (3): 577–591. doi:10.1111/j.14676494.1996.tb00522.x. PMID 8776880
2
McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T. (1990). Personality in adulthood. New York: The Guildford Press.
3
Cobb-Clark, D. A.; Schurer, S. (2012). "The stability of big-five personality traits". Economics Letters 115
(2): 11–15. doi:10.1016/2011.11.015
4
Srivastava, S.; John, O. P.; Gosling, S. D.; Potter, J. (2003). "Development of personality in early and
middle adulthood: Set like plaster or persistent change?". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
84 (5): 1041–1053. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.1041. PMID 12757147.
5
Soto, C. J.; Gosling, Potter (Feb 2011). "Age differences in personality traits from 10 to 65: Big Five
domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100
(2): 300–348. doi:10.1037/a0021717. PMID 21171787. Retrieved Sep 14, 2013.
6
Roberts, B. W.; Mroczek, D. (2008). "Personality Trait Change in Adulthood". Current Directions in
Psychological Science 17 (1): 31–35. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00543.x. PMC 2743415.
PMID 19756219.
7
McGhee, R.M., Ehrler, D.J., & Buckhalt, J. (2007). Five Factor Personality Inventory – Children (FFPI-C).
Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
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DATE: SEP 25, 2013
personality traits may be more differentiated in childhood than in adulthood"8, which
would explain the recent research in this particular area. In addition, some research
suggests that the Big Five should not be conceived of as antipodes (such as
extraversion vs. introversion) but as continua. Each individual has the capacity to
move along each dimension as circumstances (social or temporal) change. He is or she
is therefore not simply on one end of each trait dichotomy but is a blend of both,
exhibiting some characteristics more often than others.9
Medico-psychological research regarding personality with growing age has
suggested that as individuals enter their elder years (79–86), those with lower IQ see a
raise in extraversion, but a decline in conscientiousness and physical well being.10
Some research has been done to look into the structures of the brain and their
connections to personality traits of the five factors. Two main studies were done by
Sato et al. (2012)11and DeYoung et al. (2009)12. Some results of the two show that
extraversion is positively correlated with orbitofrontal cortex metabolism, increased
cerebral, volume of medial orbitofrontal cortex while conscientiousness is positively
correlated with volume of middle frontal gyrus in left lateral PFC.
Cross-cultural research has shown that women consistently report higher
Neuroticism, Agreeableness, warmth (an extraversion facet) and openness to feelings,
and men often report higher assertiveness (a facet of extraversion) and openness to
ideas.13 The difference in neuroticism was the most prominent and consistent, with
significant differences found in 49 of the 55 nations surveyed. Gender differences in
personality traits are largest in prosperous, healthy, and more gender-egalitarian
cultures. Differences in the magnitude of sex differences between more or less
developed world regions were due to differences between men, not women, in these
respective regions. That is, men in highly developed world regions were less neurotic,
extraverted, conscientious and agreeable compared to men in less developed world
regions. Women, on the other hand tended not to differ in personality traits across
regions.
Frank Sulloway argues that firstborns are more conscientious, more socially
dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to later-borns. Large
scale studies using random samples and self-report personality tests, however, have
found milder effects than Sulloway claimed, or no significant effects of birth order on
8
John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big-Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and
theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and
research (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.
9
Fleeson, W. (2001). "Towards a structure- and process-integrated view of personality: Traits as density
distributions of states". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80: 1011–1027.
10
Mottus, R. (2012). Correlates of personality trait levels and their changes in very old age: The Lothian
birth cohort 1921. Journal of Research in Personality
11
Extracted on Sep 14, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22807062
12
Extracted
on
Sep
14,
2013,
from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=deyoung%20testing%20predictions
13
Costa, P.T. Jr.; Terracciano, A.; McCrae, R.R. (2001). "Gender Differences in Personality Traits Across
Cultures: Robust and Surprising Findings". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81 (2): 322–331.
doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.322. PMID 11519935 & Schmitt, D. P.; Realo, A.; Voracek, M.; Allik, J.
(2008). "Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55
cultures". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94 (1): 168–182. doi:10.1037/00223514.94.1.168. PMID 18179326.
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personality14. Thompson has demonstrated the Big Five structure across several
cultures using an international English language scale15. Cheung, van de Vijver, and
Leong (2011) suggest, however, that the Openness factor is particularly unsupported
in Asian countries and that a different fifth factor is sometimes identified16. Recent
work has found relationships between Geert Hofstede’s cultural factors, Individualism,
Power Distance, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance, with the average Big Five
scores in a country17. For instance, the degree to which a country values individualism
correlates with its average extraversion, while people living in cultures which are
accepting of large inequalities in their power structures tend to score somewhat
higher on Conscientiousness.
Charles Schwab was therefore not wrong in stating that “Personality is to man
what perfume is to a flower.” In the same manner that perfumes blend fragrances
from millions of flowers, oils and other extracts to create mind-boggling combinations
jostling for space on store shelves, personality combines the Big Five variables with six
control variables each, all eleven of which have billions of permutations and
combinations that determine the personality of human beings on the terra firma of
planet Earth. Again, like all perfumes, no two humans are identical in their respective
personalities, not even identical twins. Such diversity within families (such as mine by
illustration) and individuals within and outside them are the essence of humankind.
Equally, it would violate the laws of Nature to have a unified nature of humankind that
would militate and be incapable of sustaining such population. As the French aviator
and novelist, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry18 aptly remarked “He who is different from me
does not impoverish me - he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher
than ourselves - in Man... For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his
reflection in the glass.”
14
Harris, J. R. (2006). No two alike: Human nature and human individuality. WW Norton & Company &
Jefferson, T.; Herbst, J. H.; McCrae, R. R. (1998). "Associations between birth order and personality
traits: Evidence from self-reports and observer ratings". Journal of Research in Personality 32 (4): 498–
509. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1998.2233.
15
Thompson, E.R. (2008). "Development and validation of an international English big-five minimarkers". Personality and Individual Differences 45 (6): 542–548. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.013.
16
Cheung, F. M.; Vijver, F. J. R. van de; Leong, F. T. L. (2011). "Toward a new approach to the study of
personality in culture". American Psychologist 66: 593–603.
17
McCrae R. R., Terracciano, A., & 79 Members of the Personality Profiles of Cultures Project. (2005).
Personality Profiles of Cultures: Aggregate Personality Traits. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 89, No.3, 407–425.
18
Extracted on Sep 15, 2013, from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/diversity
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