Personality Traits and Psychology - Essay Example

? Personality traits, psychology and me First Last number month day, year Personality traits, psychology and me Setting up a personal psychological profile means that I must explore my life. Addressing what I feel is my purpose and meaning and how it has evolved over the past five years is an important aspect. Understanding how religion, race, culture, family and gender have affected me is also important. Lastly, I will address a major event and whether or not I would keep it given the chance. The central theme of this paper is to better explain who I am and why I have become this today. According to the five basic dispositional traits listed I tend to lean towards the Extraversion trait. Extraversion is concern with what is outside of oneself versus being only concerned or largely concerned with what is within. Being more talkative than many I know this reflects in most of my life with one minor exception, work. While at work I tend to avoid long discussions or being talkative in any meaningful fashion. The use of personality traits and understanding of the same has allowed me to become a better person and coworker as a result. As a 52 year old Caucasian male born in South Georgia my cultural influences are a radical mixture of southern approach to life and my other life experiences within the Marines, as a farmer and a corrections officer. I belong to the Methodist church and believe strongly in the tenants prescribed by the church, love others as you want to be loved. As a result I would say that race, religion, culture nor gender has truly affected my ability to work with others. Aron Seigman says, “Finally, the predicted positive correlation between extraversion and anti-social behavior was confirmed in a group of male students, but not in a comparable female group” (Seigman, 2011) This is interesting in that I do not feel that I am antisocial more to the point I believe I am more social than others. Family is a different subject all together. I do wish that I could have spent more time with my boys as they grew up into manhood. My eldest son is 30 years old, married, and has one child a little girl. He is a self-employed success that owns his own home without payments and works a small farm. Ingrained in my son are the desire to succeed and a well-developed work ethic. We have always had a successful relationship as father and son; however, we also have a very close knit friendship that has endured over the years. And we have worked hard together to establish goals, parameters and a sense of pride in self. According to Laura Burk, “Identity progress in emerging adulthood requires a sense of purpose, self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to succeed), determination to overcome obstacles, and responsibility for outcomes” (Burk, 2010) My sons company currently serves a wide market spanning from Texas to North Carolina. His ability with his family is second to none, he places their well-being above even his own. If I were to decide on one major event or series of events to change it would the time I spent with my family. I firmly believe that one should care for their family, always try and do your best while working, provide a solid structured and positive work environment for employees and serve the public’s interests to the best of ones abilities. With this I do, however, wish I could have put more time in with my family. While I am grateful that they are successful this does not assuage the temporary guilt I feel when looking back at the past and the times I missed; especially, when I look at my son and his daughter playing or working together. According to an article in the Journal of Vocational Behavior, “All employees must balance the demands of their work and nonwork lives. Despite important advances in the work–family literature, two important gaps in our knowledge still exist” (Wayne, Musica, & Fleeson, 2004). I do however, firmly believe that who we are is a product of our decisions and lives and as a result am happy with where I am today both in my relationships domestically as well as professionally. Through the application of the personality types paradigm I have been able to better understand myself and what I desire in life. I evaluate my personality regularly to find and correct faults. Whether I am at work or socializing with friends when I listen to what they are saying; once understood, utilizing critical thinking I adjust my personality accordingly. My personality is one that is fair but firm when dealing with other people. I use information heard along with visual signs to respect and acknowledge their explanations of circumstances or situations that have occurred. Since learning to incorporate the tools listed above I have changed my personality to one that is fair but the firmness has become softer. This has allowed me to become more approachable from my subordinate workers, fellow officers, and inmates. According to John W. Gardner, “Failure to face the realities of change brings heavy penalties. Individuals become imprisoned in their own rigidities” (Gardner, 1995). Yes, I stand for what I believe but at the same time I have a more genuine understanding from where they are coming from or what they are stating. In conclusion I believe ones personality is established early in life from different cultures, environments, social paths, family, and educational learning. Easily the most important item that I have learned and used regarding personality traits is the ability to better understand who I am. Although we establish our core personality early in life, it changes along the way from critical thinking evaluations and decisions we subconsciously make every day of our life. Interestingly, this only means that I am able to better formulate ideas and approaches to life in general. Knowledge is always a productive acquisition when used properly and not abused. More importantly using ones profile to better understand and appreciate the complexities of the self allows a much more beneficial life be it domestic or professional. References Burk, L. E. (2010). Developement through the lifespan (5th ed.). Chicago, IL: Allyn & Bacon. Gardner, J. W. (1995). Self renewal: the individual and the innovative society. Berkley, CA: Universty of Berkley. Seigman, A. W. (2011). A Cross-cultural Investigation of the Relationship Between Introversion-Extraversion, Social Attitudes and Anti-social Behaviour. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2(3), 196-208. Wayne, J. H., Musica, N., & Fleeson, W. (2004). Considering the role of personality in the work-family experience: Relationships of the big five to work-family conflict and facilitation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64(1), 108-130. Read More