Key Personality Features - Essay Example

Key Personality Features 1) Definition of Personality Personality defines characteristics possessed by an individual that provides a unique definition of his/her cognitive processing, emotions, interpersonal relationships, motivational factors and responses in different situations. It is important to note that where there are distinguished personality traits present in every individual, these behavioral patterns remain consistent and show little variation throughout the lifespan of that person however behavioral variations do take place due to extraordinary external stimuli. There is no fixed definition of personality present and there are various theories present which define personality and its development such as Freud’s theory, Piaget’s theory, trait theory etc. 2) Key Personality Features My key personality features include extroversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness (McCrae & Costa, 1997). I find it easy to deal with people and am a fair team player who does not feel much difficulty in dealing with other people. Also, I have operated in leadership roles at various situations and have an extroverted personality due to which I have healthy relationships with my peers, friends and family. If I judge myself in the light of Cattell’s 16 personality features, I find myself to be fairly practical and confident instead of apprehensive (Cattell, 1965). I am not very dominant although Cartell’s personality specification describe person to be either submissive or dominant. However, I find it easy to operate within team as well as in leadership roles. As far as emotional stability is concerned, I am fairly calm and rarely show strung behavior. I am also rather spontaneous and flexible towards changes. As far as perfectionism is concerned, I am not very demanding and do not possess a controlling behavior. I believe in concrete reasoning instead of abstract one and like to back up my arguments with the help of proper rationale. I only show conformity to the group if I believe that there is rationality attached to group thinking. I do not show dependency on others and have relatively stable degree of patience. I also believe that relationships thrive on trust instead of suspicion. 3) Key Constructs Defining Personality The most applicable constructs required to describe any personality can be Myers Briggs Type Inventory (Myers et al., 1998). It is a common personality test as well which helps in analyzing different aspects of the personality. According to this construct, extraverted vs. introverted, intuitive vs. sensing, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. process. These four dimensions provide an overall portfolio of an individual’s personality. These key concepts define personality traits which are expected to remain stable and may vary slightly dependent on aggressive external stimuli. Another major construct defining personalities can be Big Five Theory which is includes factors such as openness to experience, conscientiousness which explains the degree to which one is reliable, extroversion which explains if a person is socially active and outgoing, agreeableness which is related to trust level and degree of cooperation and neuroticism which reflects emotional stability (McCrae & Costa, 1987; McCrae & Costa, 1997). Other major construct defining [personality is Type A and Type B personality where Type A posses competitive nature and are driven by motivation where as Type B lacks ambition and drive to achieve their objectives (Friedman, 1996). 4) Consistency of Personality Features Personality is defined by traits which are expected to remain stable over time. These are the unique traits which are not expected to change or change to a minor degree. There are various theories present which define the consistent personality traits and also support a doctrine that these traits are universally common whereas their unique combination form a foundation of individual’s personality which gives him/ her exclusivity. My own personality features usually remain stable e.g. irrespective of the severity of situation, I try to stay calm and try to find out the most amiable solution. However, it is important to note that personality traits remain constant in general situations. Unexpected or highly severe stimulus has a tendency of altering individual’s behavior. Therefore, sometimes my reaction to the situation in hand varies but the chances of this varied behavior usually remain low. 5) Personality Testing Yes, I have taken Myers Briggs online personality tests quite a few times. The results did indicated general outlook of my personality which increased the reliability level of these tests for me. Furthermore, I did some research about personality tests and found that these tests are designed after decades of deliberation and thorough study; therefore they do have a scientific explanation regarding the testing methods and possible outcomes. However, I believe that where personality types govern person’s responses to general instances, situations still have a governing power to control individual’s reaction to it. I was convinced by the testing method and the outcomes, however it did not provided any guidelines about deviant behavior under influence of different situations. 6) Reliability and Validity of Personality Tests Since personalities are subject to external stimuli all the time, they are expected to change their response however general outcomes usually remain constant. A personality test is said to be reliable if it consistently measures what it intends and attempts to identify. Personality test reliability is governed by retesting i.e. test-retest reliability, which shows that same person taking personality test twice will have same categorization at the end. Secondly factors like internal consistency and reliability also act as criteria for a test to be reliable (Lawrence & Charles, 2012). A test is also said to be valid if it measures what it is intended to measure and the extent to which the subject matter being tested through this test, has a meaning. References Cattell, R.B. (1965). The scientific analysis of personality. Baltimore: Penguin Books. Friedman, M. (1996). Type A behavior: Its diagnosis and treatment. New York: Plenum Press (Kluwer Academic Press) Lawrence, G. & Charles, M. (2012), The reliability and validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument, Retrieved 15 November 2012 from http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/reliability-validity.htm McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. (1987), Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, pp. 81-90. McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. (1997) Personality trait structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, 52, pp. 509-516. Myers, I.B., McCaulley, M.C., Quenk, N., & Hammer. A. (1998) MBTI Handbook: A guide to the development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Consulting Psychologists Press. Read More