The study of personality has a very old tradition; the first attempts to describe and analyze it was made during the period of antiquity by Aristotle and other philosophers. Since that time psychological and sociological sciences have achieved considerable progress but even at the beginning of the twentieth century scientists have to agree as to the definition of personality, its elements, and formation. This paper aims to discuss different explanations of this notion, approaches in the study, and the factors which may affect the development of personality. On the whole, we can say that this phenomenon is multidimensional and none of the scientific theories must be dismissed.
Overall, the definition strongly depends on the perspective which scholars take while studying this concept. For instance, the supporters of behavioral psychology argue that it is the characteristic conduct of an individual that can be observed over a certain period (Hunt, 2007, p 4). This explanation may be acceptable but it focuses only on the actions of the person, but it does not take into account his or feelings or emotions because they are not always noticeable. In turn, the advocates of integrative theory state that this notion can be interpreted as a set of character, emotional, behavioral, and temperamental traits of an individual (Block, 2002). Freudian psychologists would say that personality is the result of interaction between primitive instincts and moral judgment or consciousness and sub-consciousness (Engler, 2008, p 31). None of these definitions should be disregarded because all of them contribute to a better understanding of personality and its components.
At this point, it is vital to examine theoretical approaches in the study. They are very diverse; each of them focuses on one particular aspect of this concept. For example, we can single out trait and type theories, psychoanalysis,
behavioral and biopsychological approaches, cognitivism , observational learning and many others (Engler, 2008). The most ancient approach to the description and analysis of individuality is the trait theory. It has undergone many changes with time passing but in its core this method is based on the assumption that the characteristic features of a human being are relatively stable and observable for a long period of time (Boyle et al, 2008, p 7). The assessment of personal traits is usually done according to the model called Big Five, proposed by Lewis Goldberg (Boyle et al, 2008 p 200). He proposed such criteria for evaluation: as openness or resistance to new experience, tendency to agree or disagree with other people, extraversion and introversion etc. As a research technique, trait theories are rather helpful because they help to classify the types of personality, yet they fail to explain its formation and they do not examine the major drivers of individuals conduct.
Another technique of studying the personality is behaviorism. The most famous representative of this psychological school is Burrhus Frederic Skinner who claimed that the character is shaped mostly through external stimuli such as punishment and reinforcement (Skinner as cited in Mroczhek & Todd, 2006). It is rather difficult to compare these approaches because they look at the personality from difficult perspectives. The major contribution of behaviorism is that it explains the evolvement of individuality. Behavioral psychologists believe that character traits are dynamic and they may be changed or at least modified. They try to determine how exactly environment (family, friends, peers, school) influences a person. However, it should be borne in mind that behaviorism does not explain the relations between different components of the individuality, namely consciousness and sub-consciousness.
Probably, this is the reason why psychoanalysis has become so popular. It stems from the ideas developed by Sigmund Freud, who argued that personality consists of three components 1) subconscious fears and desires; 2) consciousness; 3) superego which is responsible for moral judgment (Freud as cited in Mroszek and Little, 2006. p 33). Hence, we need to examine cooperation of these elements in order to get comprehensive understanding of individuals actions, behaviors and feelings. Psychoanalysis can be employed not only as a research technique but as a treatment mode as well. The main advantage of psychoanalysis is that it helps to establish the links between different elements of personality.
The rapid development of neuroscience has given rise to many biopsychological methods. These techniques rely on the belief that each part of the human brain is responsible for personal traits like creativity, inclination or disinclination to violence, introversion or extraversion. The major premise of this theory is that personality is heavily dependent on hereditary factors (Engler, 2008). It is believed that biopsychological methods can trace the origins of many mental disorders. These approaches have a great potential in the future but now they have many limitations. First, the structure and functioning of human brain have not been fully described, and this will not be done soon. Besides, the character of a person is immensely impacted by the social environment, which is in no way connected with heredity.
It is rather difficult to say which of these methods is the most effective because each of them helps to analyze personality from a different angle like classification of character types, major elements of personality, its formation etc. Perhaps, it might be prudent to adopt an integrative or combined approach to the study of this psychological phenomenon.
The development of personality has always been a subject of thorough psychological and sociological analysis. Special attention has been paid to the factors which may influence its formation. According to the Theory of Observational Learning, developed by Albert Bandura, each individual acquires new knowledge, skills through observation, memorizing and reproducing the behavior of other people (Boyle et al, 2008). He or she is constantly guided by the role models (parents, friends, popular culture), which can modify or change inborn character traits. It is normally done by means of operant conditioning or providing motivation to the individual. As a rule, the process of formation is influenced by the environment (social, educational and cultural background) and heredity. The impact of heredity is heatedly debated, because the relations between DNA of the human being and his personality have not been fully established. Naturally one cannot deny the fact that genes have a profound effect on the individual but the exact mechanisms have not been described. Probably, this process is affected by a host of hereditary and environmental factors. But it is practically impossible to measure the contribution of each one.
Judging from this discussion, we can say that in the study of personality there are several gaps to be filled. First, it is necessary to analyze the interactions between different forces which affect the evolvement of persons character and behavior, in particular the interplay of social environment and heredity. Secondly, the relationship between consciousness and sub consciousness requires close examination. This is why it is vital to employ various research methods in order to study this complex psychological phenomenon.
Reference List
Block J (2002). Personality as an Affect-Processing System: Toward an Integrative Theory. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Boyle G. J. Mathews G. Saclofske D. H (2008). The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Engler. B (2008). Personality Theories. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Hunt. J (2007). Personality and the Behavior Disorders. New York. The Ronald Press Company.
Mroczek. D. Little. T. Handbook of personality development. New Jersey Routledge.