Personhood: Personality, Self, And Identity - Term Paper Example

There is a theory proposed by McAdams concerning personality: the three level personality. According to McAdams (1995), the personality is composed of three levels composed of dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and life stories. In order to fully explain McAdams’ theory, we need to explain the trait theory approach. Basically, the trait theory states that personalities are composed of traits, and the standard test for checking those traits is the Big Five Personality (Five Factor Model) exam.

It is a widely-accepted exam that shows that some traits are even genetic, like those related to political ideology. The five factors of personality according to this test are: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These factors are computed to make an aggregate composition of one’s unique personality and individuality. Mc Adam’s decided to elaborate on the current trait theory. He dug deeper and came up with his own three levels. According to Mc Adams “Reliable and valid trait ratings provide an excellent 'first read' on a person by offering estimates of a person's relative standing on a delimited series of general and linear dimensions of proven social significance”.

Then again, also according to Mc Adams, the generality of the traits are is also the one that limits a person’s understanding of an individual since it poses a picture of what the individual is supposed to be like. For him, there are three levels. The primary level is concerned about “dispositional traits” like those in the Big Five exam; these are decontextualized. The secondary level is concerned about characteristic adaptations, which are conditional and contextualized. . For him, there are three levels.

The primary level is concerned about “dispositional traits” like those in the Big Five exam; these are decontextualized. The secondary level is concerned about characteristic adaptations, which are conditional and contextualized. This includes values, defense mechanisms, attachment styles, moral strivings and even personal goals. The third level is what Mc Adams calls “integrative life stories” and these are even more personal than the second level characteristics. Integrative life stories are also more complex and difficult to quantify because it concerns one’s identity in narrative mode.

In short, this factor measures identity as how you tell people your story; how you came up to your moral and political beliefs. Although some parts of the story may not be true (as it is subjective), it would have in one way or another influence a person’s personality. This concerns one’s moral beliefs as well as political beliefs. Many psychologists argue if the third level of the personality in Mc Adam’s theory is still relevant. Many psychologists agree that the first two levels are sufficient in telling one person’s personality.

McAdams’ theory on personality is quite different from Erikson’s theory on identity. Although both refer to one’s sense of identity, they have different beliefs in how a person’s individuality is formed. For McAdams, it is both genetic and phenomenological, as shown by the importance of the narrative. For Erikson, the self (or the ego identity) is composed of one’s personal idiosyncrasies that would differentiate a person from the other one. The cultural identity comes after the ego identity, which puts one’s social roles to light. For