Personality is defined as stable patterns of behavior and traits that influence how a person interacts with their environment. It has both internal components like thoughts and feelings as well as external components like appearance and behaviors. Personality is shaped by biological factors like genetics and physical traits, as well as environmental influences like family, culture, and social situations. Two major theories discussed are psychoanalytic theory, which views personality as emerging from unconscious desires and interactions between the id, ego, and superego, and trait theory, which describes personality in terms of measurable traits. Understanding personality can help with tasks like job matching, training, motivation, and management.
2. Is a pattern of stable characteristics of a
person that influences his behavior
towards goal achievement
It includes external appearance & behavior
It consists of inner awareness of self
It is therefore a particular pattern of
measurable traits both inner & outer
3. Each person is unique & distinct: it consists of all those
characteristics which an individual has in common with
others & some of which separates him from others
Each person has some stable patterns of behavior:
although a person’s personality undergoes certain
changes over time, most behavior patterns remain
stable over the years
Personality is thus both internal & external elements:
one can easily form an opinion by observing the
external traits of a person. The internal states such as
feelings & thoughts make a person somewhat unique
4. A. Biological factors
Heredity: physical features, facial features, gender, etc, all those features
which are inborn
Brain: this refers to the IQ level of a person. Shows his analytical bent of
mind
Biofeedback: All involuntary functions which affects behavior like blood
pressure, brainwave patterns
Physical features: external appearances, a tall well built person has an
imposing personality
Age: Aged employees tend to be more loyal with organizations than younger
employees
Gender: Rate of absenteeism in females is higher than males
Ability: includes both intellectual & physical abilities, some parts of which are
inborn
5. B. Cultural factors
Norms prevailing within the family
Personality formation is influenced to a
large extent in the culture in which we are
born
6. C. Family Factors
Refers to the overall home environment
created by parents
Siblings also contribute to personality
development
Children raised by parents in a warm & loving
home become socially well adjusted
It also involves the socialization process
when a child learns to interact &
communicate with others in the society
7. D. Social factors
Consists of friends, peers, colleagues,
Relates to the process of socialization
E. Situational factors
Refers to the effect of environment
Varying demands of the situation
9. Developed by Sigmund Freud
This theory emphasizes the unconscious
determinants of behavior
He says personality is the interaction
between 3 elements:
a) Id
b) Ego
c) Superego
10. Id: is the only part of the personality that is
present at birth, inherited & uncontrolled
The id operates according to the pleasure
principle & wants immediate fulfillment of its
wants with or without logic
Id is largely childish, irrational & always
demanding
11. Ego is the logical, rational, realistic part of the
personality
It keeps the id in check
It mostly operates on the reality principle &
thus is mostly conscious
It considers the constraints of the real world in
determining the appropriate time, place &
object for gratification of the id’s wishes
12. Super ego is the moral component of the
personality
It is popularly known as the conscience which
consists of all those behaviors for which we
are punished or feel guilty
It is the most power element in one’s
personality
Its main function is to keep the id & ego in
check
13. A trait is a personal characteristic that is used to describe &
explain personality.
It is a set of relatively stable & consistent personal
characteristics
Allport gave 2 main categories of traits:
a) Common traits- those which are common to others
belonging to the same culture like praying before taking a
meal which reflects religiousness of a person
b) Individual traits- specific or unique to an individual like good
at painting or singing which shows artistic abilities
14. Raymond Cattell’s 16 personality
framework can be divided into 2 parts:
i) Surface traits: observable qualities of a
person like honest, helpful, kind etc
ii) Source traits: these are the causes of
behavior like intelligence, practicality etc
15. Reserved vs Outgoing
Less intelligent vs More intelligent
Emotionally stable vs Emotionally unstable
Submissive vs Dominant
Serious vs Happy go lucky
Expedient vs Conscientious
Timid vs Venturesome
Tough minded vs Sensitive
Trusting vs Suspicious
Practical vs Imaginative
Forthright vs Shrewd
Self assured vs Apprehensive
Conservative vs Experimenting
Group dependent vs Self sufficient
Uncontrolled vs Controlled
Relaxed vs Tense
16. Conscientiousness: extent of obedience & hard
working vs lazy & unorganized
Extraversion: the degree to which a person can
connect & gel up with other individuals vs introvert &
reserved people
Agreeableness: cooperation vs non cooperation
Emotional stability: the degree to which an individual is
secure vs insecurity
Openness: the extent to which an individual is creative
& open to new ideas vs narrow ideas
17. Matching jobs & individuals- every job needs some
specific characteristics of the job performer
Training & Development- certain skills can be
developed through training
Designing Motivation System- All people cannot be
motivated by the same incentives, some prefer
monetary incentives while some prefer non monetary
Designing control systems- democratic or autocratic,
different personality variable react differently to
different control mechanism