Psychology : Personality Psychology Rough Draft

Over the last 100 years, the underpinning concepts in the fields of psychology and counseling were wrought. Within this period, these concepts have transformed and evolved from somewhat crude conceptions of the psyche toward more holistic interventions and approaches. As the profession continues to move forward, adaptations of the original theorists regarding the nature of man and the development of personality continue to emerge. These adaptations, along with the integration of new concepts and ideas, continue to contribute to the field. The author describes his view of man and human nature, personality development, and explores potential implications for counseling.

The tests related with personality intrigue people because human personality is a very curious topic for people. Everyone wants to know about their personality and the internet has become the easiest method to access any personality test that claims to solve your queries about your own. People take interest into these tests and end up being fooled by some vague claims made by a machine that has all remarks and conclusions fitted in it. I was no exception to it when I decided to take a personality test and get included in the list of those people who got duped by such tests.

The world would be a lot better of a place if everyone got along and knew how to communicate effectively with one another. There are several different personalities at any given workplace. “According to typological theory, each of us is born with a predisposition for certain personality preferences” (Kroeger pg11 para4). The Myers-Briggs Personality assessment is the most effective way to determine one’s personality type. The test uses different markers to determine how one is stimulated and exerts energy, gather information, make decisions, and living structure. At the completion of the test one will get personality type that is comprised of four letters. The test was developed based off of Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs-Myers’ psychological research on personalities and later dissected into Otto Kroeger’s book, “Type Talk at Work.” This book gives one the tools to determine what one’s personality is and then goes into great detail about one’s strengths and weaknesses and how it applies to to real life situations. My personality description is ENFP; Extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. The following are details regarding and ENFP personality type examining a holistic view including personal and work place interactions. Everything is based on insights gained from real world experiences and interactions.

Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Born in 1876 in Travelers City, South Carolina John B. Watson had an unsecular upbringing which played a role in his opposition to religion in his later years. Watson graduated from Furman University in South Carolina at the age of twenty-one with a masters degree in hand. John B.Watson started studying psychology at the University of Chicago which is where he started developing his behaviorist theories. Watson was greatly influenced by the works of Vladimir Bekhterev and Ivan Pavlov. In 1902, Watson married Mary Ickes Watson. Later down the line, Watson committed adultery with one of his graduate students at John Hopkins University. Which resulted in him marrying his second wife, Rosalie Rayner. After he quit teaching, Watson went into advertising, going big in just two years. In 1915, Watson was given the title of president of the American Psychological Association (APA), he was also given a gold medal for his

I found the test results of the Big Five personality assessment to be an interesting and very accurate description of myself. After completing this assessment, I was able to analyze my personality in depth. I found this information to be helpful knowledge and provide insight about myself, as well as being crucial in examining my personality traits. The big five is also referred to the OCEAN model of personality, and stands for the main traits used to describe personalities. This acronym stands for openness to experience/intellect, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. After taking the test I was then given percentile scores that allowed me to compare myself with other people who have taken the test online as well, therefore making it a more meaningful comparison.

However with advantages come disadvantages. For example, with correlational studies there is no background information obtained. Therefore, the reliability of the correlational studies is questioned.

Self report is a type of psychological test in which a person fills out a survey or questionnaire. The purpose of this test is to find out the participants interests, values, behaviors, and traits or personality types. An example would be asking a participant about their feelings, attitudes, beliefs and so on.. Projective assessment is a type of personality test in which the individual offers responses to ambiguous scenes, words or images. An example of this would be looking at various pictures and determining any internal emotions stirred inside. This test designed to reveal hidden emotions and internal conflicts from inside the participant. Behavior assessment is a is a method used in the field of psychology to observe, describe, explain,

Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)

The Big Five personality test was created in the 1970 's by two independent research teams. One team with Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, and the other with Warren and Lewis Goldberg. The two teams had different methods that they tested but in the end they both ended up with the same results. The results were that no matter what culture, race, or language people have their personality fits into five dimensions of personality. The five dimensions were created after reviewing lots of surveys and data analysis called factor analysis. Now, just forty years later the Big Five is one of the most commonly accepted personality models.

Leigh Anne Touhy is the fictional representation of the real life Leigh Anne, famed adoptive mother of Michael Oher from the 2009 film The Blind Side. Leigh Anne is a white interior designer, living in the south with her husband and two children. The family is considered to be part of the upper class, and made their money from owning a string of fast food chains. Leigh Anne and her family take in a black homeless boy, Michael, and throughout the film experience a growing love and bond. They eventually adopt Michael and the Leigh Anne becomes a fiercely protective mother. Very little is revealed about her upbringing

Some key personality concepts that define who I am is introvert, intuitive, intuitive feeling, and judging. Introverted intuition allows me to appreciate a better clarity of perception of inner unconscious techniques. It allows me to act spontaneously and insightful as original resolutions present themselves, on a case by case basis. Basically this means that I follow my intuition and not how I may sense something.

I have to admit that I was skeptical in completing the personality profile. I thought, “How could a few questions determine everything about my management style”. When I received my results, I was astonished at how accurately those results portrayed my personality. While deciding which of my personality traits were advantageous and which were detrimental to my management style, I became conflicted as all of my scores can be portrayed as both positive and negative depending on the situation.

Self-awareness is important in the development of a leader, because by realizing your faults and the preventing yourself from falling into the traps. A few tools used to help make people those more self-aware of their leadership skills are the IPIP test and 360 degree feedback. Research shows by understanding and examining your personality predicts leadership to a certain degree.

“We are influenced by our own internal forces, forces of which we are unaware, have feelings towards, or urges we do not quite understand “(Freidman, 2012, p. 17). This is the struggle that personality psychology tries to understand, how and to what extent the unconscious forces plays a role in human behavior. It is believed that people are responsible for their own actions. There is a continuous struggle with personality psychology and the comprehension of and to what extent unconscious forces play in human behavior. “Meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction both are transformed” (Carl Jung 1993, p.57). There are various questions that are asked about the issues in personality psychology such as, “How important are social influences on the self, such as parental deprivation or excessive praise? Is the sense of self merely an inconsequential epiphenomenon or secondary perception arising from other forces that really matter? What is the core of who we are? A second core issue with the studies of personality studies is does each person require a unique approach? “Gordon Allport argued that a key aspect of the study of personality must focus on the individual and thus be idiographic” (p.18). To generalize an individual is a complication in itself because the personality of each person is complex in its own way so how can we generalize? Obtaining an answer to that question is still a dilemma. Allport complained