Human Personality Aspects - Essay Example

Most psychologists would agree that the division of labor has laboratories to such extremes that it is threatening the very conception of “personality” as a legitimate field of scientific study.

Human Personality Aspects

This theory of specificity has its roots deep in the experimental tradition, and its à priori improbability should not prevent us from glancing at the main sources from which it draws its strength. The first of these sources is the Thorndikian type of learning theory prevalent around the first decades of this century. Learning is conceived in terms of S-R (stimulus-response) bonds after the manner of the reflex or the conditioned reflex, and these bonds are, of course, conceived to be entirely specific. If the organization of personality is mainly a matter of learning and here the huge preponderance of writers have favored an anti-hereditarianism sight, without basing themselves on any persuasive experimental evidence then the specificity of the learning procedure ought to be mirrored in the last product of learning, i.e. the mature personality. And as S-R theories in the field of learning have been confronted by S-S theories which uphold that learning is part of a better difficulty of organization, chiefly perceptual organization, these non-specific theories came into the field additional lately, have been somewhat less important historically, and have not carried over into the field of personality account to the similar extent as the specificity theories.

Genius

Human perfectibility" has been the theme of many enthusiasts; and many utopian schemes of society have been and still are suggested, which postulate in the men and women of the future an increase in moral and physical health and vigour. Andvigor plain that in a broad and general way natural selection, sexual selection, and the advance of science are working together towards improvements of these kinds. But it is plain also that these onward tendencies, at least in comparison with our desires and ideals, are slow and uncertain; and it is possible to argue that the apparent advance in our race is due merely to the improvement that science has effected in its material environment, and not to any real development, during the historical period, in the character or faculties of man himself.

Sleep

Regarding sleep as an alternating phase of personality, we must consider what are its special characteristics and faculties. Regarding it as an integral factor in our earthly existence, and on an equal footing with the waking state, we must consider how the faculties of sleep, as of waking, can be enhanced and intense in the course of the bodily and psychical development of man. Such development or concentration, though, presupposes an understanding of the true nature of sleep which we are by no means at liberty to take for granted.

Disintegrations Of Personality

Many disturbances and disintegrations of the personality must presently fall to be described. But the reader who may follow me must remember the point of view from which I am writing. The aim of my study is not to destroy but to complete; or say, rather, I hope that observation of how the personality tends to fall to pieces may suggest methods which may be inclined on the other hand to its additional absolute integration.

This idea of personality as an asocial construct has been championed by psychologist Robert Hogan of the University of Tulsa. To Hogan, we are social animals whose behavior is governed by certain rules. Throughout our evolution, he believes, most people have behaved in ways that will increase their influence within the group or else gain them greater social approval. This search for status or popularity means that we behave in ways that other people will find predictable. They can confidently describe us as being honest or dependable or pleasant or intelligent because that is the way they see us behaving. For Hogan, then, personality is the description that one group of people uses when they describe the behavior of other people.

People describe other people in many different ways. We may say that someone is either sociable or withdrawn; moody or emotionally stable; good-natured or uncooperative; well-organized or aimless. Each of these different descriptions represents a separate dimension of our personality. When people describe us they pinpoint our position on several of these dimensions at the same time.

Conclusion

Some medical specialists still regard the idea of personality as an abstraction. But these links between personality and health or the perception of health may have a very practical application. As well as being a set of social forms of behavior, it seems that personality may represent a quality deep inside the person. Its proper assessment may not only result in improved mental health but may save a great deal of unnecessary expenditure on physical health care as well.