Interview - Personal Statement Example

Interview and Section # of Interview An interview is a conversation between two individuals where the interviewer asks questions from the interviewee. According to the project requirements I chose my neighbor to conduct an interview with since he is close to my age. I have included the interview and the following discussion in the project report. The Interview Q1. Do you mind living alone (Y/N) A1. No Q2. Do you listen to appraisals about yourself that are positive only and ignore everything else (Y/N) A2. Yes Q3. Are you comfortable admitting your mistakes (Y/N) A3. No Q4. Do you always meet the standards and aims you set for yourself (Y/N/Sometimes/Never) A4. Yes Q5. Do you agree with this statement: "Worst advice: Be yourself." (Y/N/Don't know) A5. Yes Q6. Do you think if you disappear from the face of this earth then nobody will notice (Y/N/Don't know) A6. Don't know Q7. Do you toil to be accepted by the people around you (Y/N) A7. Yes Q8. Do you remember information more accurately when the behavior is being performed or just reading how the behavior is performed is enough for you to learn and memorize A8. Reading how the behavior is performed is enough to learn it. Q9. Do you prefer to study in the library or at home with noise and other distractions A9. Prefer the library. Q10. Do you learn things instantly by only reading them once or do you take hours to study and learn A10. Take hours to study and learn. Q11. How do you react when you are stressed out (Violently/go to sleep/drives you to work more/faint) A11. It drives me to work even more. Q12. Are you short tempered (Y/N) A12. Yes. Q13. Do you cry over emotional scenes in movies (Y/N) A13. Yes. Q14. Have you taken the Myers Briggs personality test (Y/N) If yes then state the results. A14. Yes. The results: Introvert, intuitive, feeling, perceiving (INFP). Q15. Do you feel the results are accurate Why or why not A15. Yes because it is a popularly acclaimed test which is reliable. Q16. Which experiences do you feel contributed most to your personality A16. My parents divorce, my mother's death and then going to Stanford University. Q17. Do you feel you are self-monitoring in regards to your attitudes How or how not A17. Yes because I have want to be accepted in society by everyone. Q18. What do you feel was the strongest influence on your attitudes A18. My mother's death since I was very close to her and that was the optimum point and I lost all patience so it drove me to be a rebel and make the impossible possible by getting into Stanford and now I have a very well paid job. So I turned from a happy go lucky person into an efficient and successful person. Q19. What role do you feel a person's race, gender, or ethnicity play when forming a person's attitudes and personality A19. A very essential role because my mother was Black and my parents got divorced on this basis only. Since my father was a white man so his family and friends were too prejudiced to accept her and she was low on self esteem because of it plus she always wanted to be accepted by people and in the end the stress caused a heart attack and she died. Q20. Do you feel you are better at tasks when intrinsically motivated or extrinsically motivated A20. I'm extrinsically motivated since I need situations to complement my actions. I have a need for affiliation according to David Mclelland's theory and I work best in teams. This person seems to be independent and not scared of the negativities in life. But due to certain experiences in life like his mothers death that changed him as a person have resulted in arrogance and now he ignores everything else and accepts only positive appraisals. Similarly, he has a problem admitting his mistakes and he always meets his set standards and goals. Obviously this shows he is stubborn as well. He said he believes the worst advice is to be yourself which shoes he is scared of being himself. He seems to be a sensitive and soft hearted person but he pretends to be hard hearted, insensitive and strict. He replied that he does not know if anybody would notice if he just vanished from the face of the earth and this shows he is low on self-esteem. He also told me that he toils to be accepted by the people around him. This clearly shows that race, ethnicity or color affect a person's personality because he is successful but still low on self esteem and has a need to affiliate and to be accepted whereas if he had a normal life he could have been high on self esteem and have a need of achievement. If we focus on the learning and memory process then he said he learns the behavior if he reads how it is performed plus he prefers the library that is a quiet place to study since he takes time to study and learn. His learning process is slow because he is stressed out and is very conscious of himself. His brain is not at peace and he is not relaxed which is a drawback. Since he might not have a clear conscience at times when needed and he might even go blank. As he confided in me that at times he goes blank when he has to present in some meeting for obtaining a contract for the company he works for. This learning process in technical terms is operant conditioning where behavior is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave so as to get something they want or to avoid something they don't want. (Robins and Decenzo, 2001). He has mentioned that stress drives him to work more and he is very emotional due to the bad experiences in life plus he is short tempered. He is emotional but he does pretend to be insensitive and stress drives him to work so this means he is so used to bad things in life that now they drive him to achieve his goals. He has taken the Myers Briggs personality test because it's popularly acclaimed and reliable. This shows he is a follower and not a leader. The result was Introvert, intuitive, feeling and perceiving (INFP). Such personalities are idealistic and loyal to their values. They seek to understand people and help them fulfill their potential. The personality test I took to know him gives almost the same result as Briggs test so it just proves that Brigg's test is indeed reliable. He believes that his parents divorce, mothers death and going to Stanford university are three experiences in his life that have contributed most in the development of his personality. This is true because his parents divorce embedded in him a fear of being accepted similar to that of his mother and then his mother's death who was an innocent victim of society's prejudice lead him to rebel and make sure he did not end up like his mother. He wanted revenge for his mothers death and he believed his father was the cause of her death so he decided to transcend his father and he succeeded by going to Stanford where he changed again and climbed the stairs of success. He said he has control over his attitudes and he is self monitoring in regards to his attitudes and behavior. Obviously, he has a need to be accepted so he does what everyone will accept and he will never dare to be himself or something else that people will despise. According to him the strongest influence on his attitudes was his mother's death and it seems to be true since he has a need to be accepted since that was in some ways the cause of his mother's death. Also that he found the courage to break out of the nutshell and do something extraordinary by entering Stanford since no one in either of his parent's families has ever been to university. Similarly, due to the same reasons he agrees race, gender and ethnicity play an important part in the formation of anyone's personality. Plus due to his need to affiliate and be accepted he is extrinsically motivated by good remarks from his bosses or people around him. If I compare myself with him, I am a totally different person. I don't mind living alone and I am independent. I take all kinds of appraisals and I am comfortable in admitting mistakes. I always meet my set standards and aims. I always am myself no matter what because I do not have a need to be accepted. I believe people will definitely notice if I vanish. I learn by reading how the behavior is performed and I like to study at home but I do not take hours to learn so my learning process is quick. When I am stressed out I sleep and I am not short tempered. But I am very emotional and I cry on such scenes in movies. I am a very sensitive person. I took the Briggs test because it was part of my management course and my teacher told us it is reliable and I am an Extravert, intuitive, thinking and judging (ENTJ) personality. Such personalities are frank, decisive and assume leadership. They enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. They are forceful in presenting ideas. (Robins and Decenzo, 2001). I have had bad friends all my life, they have been selfish and deceiving so I think this and my healthy experience in University has contributed most in developing my personality. Now I want people to listen to me, I am stubborn, always myself, unbreakable and a rebel. I am not self-monitoring when it comes to attitudes since I have no control over them and I'm very blunt. The strongest influence on my attitude has been bad friends so now I'm blunt and forceful. I believe race, gender and ethnicity play a vital role in forming a person's personality and attitudes since they are experiences that affect us. I am intrinsically motivated as I bring up my larger than life ideas and toil to make them a reality and I do not need situations or people to complement my actions. Thus, the test proves that personality and attitudes are affected by our experiences, upbringing and the kind of people in our lives. References Stephen P. Robins and David A. DeCenzo (2001), Myers Briggs Test. Singapore: Pearson Education pte. Ltd. Stephen P. Robins and David A. DeCenzo (2001), Learning process. Singapore: Pearson Education pte. Ltd. Read More