Situational and Interactional Aspects of Personality - Research Paper Example

? Situational-Interactionist Aspects of Personality Introduction: In the long run of the study and researches of the of psychology, it has been observed that the importance of personality has been declining and losing its power in the field of psychology. The critique of Walter Mischel has been focused on this particular issue and he presented his views and opinions on the declining value of personality in the subject of psychology. The Critique of Walter Mischel on Personality: Walter Mischel presented his opinions and focused on the fact that the issue of personality was not much of significance in the study of psychology. According to Mischel, there were so much of behavioral variations among individuals depending on different situations that the importance of personalities seemed to diminish. This could be supported by certain argumentative experiments. For example, a study conducted by Hartshorne and May in 1928 reflected that when several small children had the chances of stealing or lying or doing something wrong, in different situations, the children would undertake a wrong measure in certain situations while avoid them in other cases (Smith, 2008, p.254). Also, studies conducted by Mischel and Peake in 1982 presented the facts that behaviors of college students also depended on different situations instead of their personalities. For example, a student could be found to be punctual and discipline with respect to attending classes on time, while in case of submitting assignments, he could be found to be late and insincere. Thus the study and the conclusion and critique drawn by Mischel had brought the psychologists to take concerns on the issues of personality since Mischel’s critique completely ignored that the fact that personality was significant in the psychology of an individual. Rather, it was a particular situation that determined the nature of behavior of the individuals (Smith, 2008, p.254). Researches after the Critique of Mischel: The criticism of Mischel led to the end of several programs and researches focused on personality. Such studies were either transformed into social programs or their importance was significantly reduced (Swann Jr. & Seyle, 2005, p.158). Ross and Nisbett in 1991 provided their researched reasoning that influence of personality on the behavior of an individual was around 10 percent while the rest of the 90 percent could be attributed to the varying situations. However, modern researches by Fleeson, Fournier, Moskowitz and Zuroff reflect the significance of both personality and situations capable of influencing human behavior. Another research that was initiated after Mischel’s critique was based on the interactionism that reflected the fact that the behavior of an individual is based on both the person who is interacting and the situations under which he interacts in a particular manner. Thus this study would take both the individual as well as the situation into consideration for a resultant human behavior (Smith, 2008, pp.254-255). Conclusion: It can be concluded from the study that the importance of personality in the concept of psychology of an individual was ignored and hence criticized by Walter Mischel that has been supported by other researchers as well. However, the criticism also led to modern researches that focused on both the personality as well as situations influencing human behavior and hence based their findings on situational-interactionism. #2) Introduction: Studies have reflected that individuals who have tendencies of developing disease also possess personalities that can predict the occurrence of such diseases. Such individuals have been found to be influenced into detrimental behaviors led by the personalities. Opposed to this are found the self-healing personalities that enable an individual to perform healthy behaviors (Friedman, 2008, p.441). Self-healing Personalities and its Broad Types: The two major types of self-healing personalities that are most significant in the discussion of personality and psychology are the active or zealous form, and the calm or relaxed type. Individuals who are in the active or zealous form tend to be extremely extrovert in nature. They are enthusiastic and unprompted in their activities. They always tend to encourage and motivate their own selves as well the individuals who surround them. The other major form of self-healing personalities involves a person being calmer in his character. These individuals are actively involved in their activities but are extremely alert as well. They respond responsively and are also philosophical in nature. Thus the nature of the person in this case can be understood to be more reserved and content in comparison to the first case. Thus healthy behaviors from this kinds of individuals would be obtained in different situations, for example, controlled actions would be better dealt with the calm and relaxed persons, while more challenging and active performances are expected to be better handled by the active or zealous individuals (Friedman, 2008, pp.441-444). Personality and Health: It has been obtained through studies that the behavior of an individual in regard to his health is to a large extent dependent on the personality of the person. Behaviors in the form of inactiveness in different forms of physical activities as well as harmful patterns of eating and drinking reflect a link between the personality and the health attitude of an individual. Other behaviors like smoking are also indicators of the personality of an individual and how that might be associated with the health of the individual. Personality and the corresponding behaviors thus might enable an understanding of the modifications that would aid in the improved behavior of an individual and hence take concern of the health diseases as well (Bogg, Voss, Wood & Roberts, 2008, p.205). Another personality that determines behaviors is the thrill seeking nature of individuals. A person possessing this personality has a tendency to attempt for risky activities. This is what makes this personality different from others. Such activities might include setting up new business ventures, or performing risky sports and other similar activities. However, too much of risky behaviors might also enable an individual to undertake negative measures (Munsey, 2006, p.40). Thus individuals need to have a proper understanding of the link between their personalities and the resultant behaviors. Conclusion: The study reflects the significance of self-healing personalities in the determination of human behavior and presents an understanding on how such behaviors can be linked to the personalities and health behaviors towards a more controlled and improved performance. #3) Introduction: This section would focus on the implicit personality theory of individuals. Every individual has some beliefs about the personality of others. This is referred to as the implicit personality of an individual. By this behavior an individual possesses a perception regarding both his and others’ personalities (Swede & Tetlock, 1986, p.617). In this context the implicit personality of US President Barrack Obama has been taken into consideration. Understanding a Real Character by an Element of Personality Theory: Perceptions of the US President Obama can be realized by his speeches that he presents in front of the people of his nation. Accordingly his decision makings are focused on the perceptions that he possesses for himself as well as for his people. If his speeches in the current year are concerned, it would be observed that President Obama believes in involving the younger generation in the improvement of the country. According to him, his decisions are based on the involvement and benefits of the young generation. Obama believes that the young generation is the ultimate strength of the country representing the country and her hopes (Jackson, 2011). His speeches were focused on the power and capability of the youth and his hopes to bring the country to a position to fulfill all dreams of the nation as a whole. Thus his works also focused over the years on providing the young with various opportunities to make them successful in their endeavors. He also made promises to his people particularly addressing the young group, that even though he had several works to be accomplished, he would keep in mind to make every decision focused on the needs and development of the young individuals. He mentioned that it is the young groups of individuals who would lead the country in the future (Jackson, 2011). Understanding the Personality: From the studies on the US President Barrack Obama, it can be realized that he possessed the implicit personality behaviors for the young individuals of the country. It was this implicit personality behavior that led Obama to have utmost confidence in the performances of the young individuals of the nation and hoped that they would become the pillars for the success of the country in the future. His perceptions regarding his own self also gets reflected in this context as he believed that his thoughts were completely on the right pathway and accordingly planned his measures keeping in mind the needs of the young generation as he mentioned in his speeches. Thus the concept of implicit personality in this respect enables to learn about the implicit perceptions of Obama on himself as well as the youth of the nation thus determining the different steps that he would take in his administration towards the welfare of the country. Conclusion: The study has clearly reflected the fact that different elements of the different theories of personality might be used in the understanding of an individual. The way an individual behaves and presents himself are resultants of the personality that he carries and hence can be associated to understand a real character being influenced through his perceptions and implicit personality behaviors. References 1) Bogg, T., Voss, M.W., Wood, D. & B.W. Roberts (2008). A hierarchical investigation of personality and behavior: Examining Neo-Socioanalytic models of health-related outcomes, Journal of Research in Personality, 42, pp.183-207, Retrieved on November 2, 2011 from: http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~broberts/Bogg%20et%20al,%202008.pdf 2) Friedman, H.S. (2008). Personality: Classic Theories And Modern Research, 3/E, India: Pearson Education India 3) Jackson, D. (2011). Obama to young people: Decisions are made ‘with you in mind’, USA Today, Retrieved on November 3, 2011 from: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/obama-to-hip-hop-nation-decisions-are-made-with-you-in-mind/1 4) Munsey, C. (2006). Frisky, but more risky, Monitor Staff, 37(7), p.40, Retrieved on November 2, 2011 from: http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug06/frisky.aspx 5) Smith, R.E. (2008). Advances in Cognitive-Social-Personality Theory: Applications to Sport Psychology, Revista de Psicologia del Deporte, 17(2), pp.253-276, Retrieved on November 2, 2011 from: http://ddd.uab.cat/pub/revpsidep/19885636v17n2p253.pdf 6) Swann Jr., W.B. & C. Seyle (2005). Personality Psychology’s Comeback and Its Emerging Symbiosis With Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(2), pp.155-165, Retrieved on November 2, 2011 from: http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/swann/docu/swann_seyle_personality.pdf 7) Swede, S.W. & P.E. Tetlock (1986). Henry Kissinger’s implicit theory of personality: A quantitative case study, Journal of Personality, 54(4), pp. 617-646, Retrieved on November 2, 2011 from: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/tetlock/Vita/Philip%20Tetlock/Phil%20Tetlock/1984-1987/1986%20Henry%20Kissingers%20Implicit%20Theory%20of%20Personality_A%20Quan.pdf Read More