Six Major Ideas That Make up the Basics of Personality Theory - Research Paper Example

6 major ideas that make up the basics of personality theory s This research paper aims tohighlight the basic ideas which are required to consider for developing a personality theory. A person experiences different things in his life and learn many things from those things. Personality of a person of a person depends on the things which he experiences or learns. Personal traits also influence personality. Sometimes with age the personality of a person changes. All of these concepts play a significant role in developing personality theory. This research paper will focus on sic major ideas required for forming personality theory. All of these ideas will be discussed in this paper. Introduction Personality of individuals differs from each other. Personality of a person can change many times throughout his life. Personality traits influence a lot in building up the personality. Based on different traits of human character different types of personalities are formed. Personality character means the differences on individuals regarding their thought, behavior, feelings etc. The personality theory comprises of all of these characters. Various theories of personality are present which explain and discuss the personality development processes in details. The personality of an individual varies in his different phases of life. Circumstances and situations which a person experience contribute a lot in the development of his personality. This research paper will discuss about the major ideas which make up the basic of personality theory. There are various research aims and objectives of this topic which will be highlighted in this paper. Different authors have suggested their views and opinion regarding the major ideas of personality theory. Some of these ideas will be focuses in here. Education level of a person, his background, mental state etc play a significant role in shaping up the personality of a person. Therefore all of these things are included in the basic personality theory. Research outline This research paper will follow a specific outline for analyzing this topic in details. Under several heading the research topic will be discussed. The headings of this research paper are as follows: Research aims and objectives: In this section the basic research aims will be highlighted. The major six ideas behind personality theory will be considered as research objectives. Research statement: This section focuses on the topic of the entire research paper. The paper is written on the basis of this research statement. Literature review: Different authors have produced their views regarding the major ideas which form the basis of personality theory. Six different ideas have been considered which play a major role in developing personality. Detailed illustration of these ideas will be discussed as per the views and opinions of the authors. Research methodology: The methodology which has been followed for doing this research paper will be highlighted in this section. Research methodology helps to know sources of various data and information used in the research. Analysis and findings: It is the last part of the research paper. In this section the major findings of the research paper will be discussed. Six important elements of personality theory will be analyzed here. Research aims and objectives The aims and objectives of this research paper are as follows: To identify the six major ideas which help to form the basics of personality theory To understand the contribution of six major ideas in personality theory Research Statement The research statement of this paper is, “to discuss the six vital ideas which contribute a lot in making the basics of personality theory.” Literature review According to the authors, McCrae and Costa, personal characteristics of a person help to describe his personality and nature. It is one of the important elements of personality theory. Personal characteristics focus on the behavior, feelings and thoughts of an individual. The authors state that various traits of personality contribute a lot in making the character of a person. Some environmental factors also play vital role in doing personal development. Environmental factors create short term and long term influence on the person which influences his personality traits. Therefore some personality theory includes these factors for explaining different types of personality of human being (McCrae and Costa, 2008). As per the authors, Buckner and Carroll, the self-conceptual knowledge of an individual determine his personality and personal traits. Most of the persons rely on themselves or bon their cognitive processes for fulfilling their goals and objectives. This entire process helps them to shape up their personality. These authors consider this as a very important thing for developing personality. For this reason self-conceptual knowledge of an individual is taken into account for establishing personality theory. There are some features in human mind which influence their decisions and functions. As stated by the authors a person tends to select the best possible choice or thing for him with the help of these cognitive processes. This process sometime influences the characteristics traits for a person. For this reason, personality of a person changes with his age or phases of life (Buckner and Carroll, 2007). According to the authors, Spinatha, Eckerta and Steinmayr, schooling and education level of a person contribute a lot in building his personality. Education helps to provide vast knowledge to the people and plays a significant role in their growth and development. The type of schooling experience a person receives facilitates him to shape up his character. Schooling education enhances the intelligence level and personality of a student. Differences of character as per the genders of individuals influence their performance. The differences of the character include the factors like abilities, discipline, self concepts etc. All of these factors influence the performance of a student in a school which plays a vital role in developing his personality. For this reason education and schooling is a major factor which is considered as the basics of personality theory (Spinatha, Eckerta and Steinmayr, 2014). As per the authors, Gardner, Busby, Burr and Lyon, background or origin of a person is very important in forming his personality. The family and origin influences the relationship of the person with others. Some attributes and characteristics of person are inherited from family members. Social and psychological aspects of the personality are influenced by their background and family issues. Parents create a strong impact on their children and play a vital role in shaping up the personality of their children. These authors state that parental divorce or fights create negative impacts on the personality of the children. These things result in developing bad behavior among the persons (Gardner, Busby, Burr, and Lyon, 2011). According to the author, James Grotstein, unconscious fantasy controls the personality of a person. The author stated that fantasy is a major element which helps to form basic theory of personality. Unconscious fantasies are made up of moving images which influence a person in performing various functions and activities. Every mental process is associated with unconscious fantasy. Development of personality is also a mental process which is often influenced by fantasies. The desires and wants of a person are sometimes highlighted by his fantasies. For this reason a person tries to develop that kind of personality through which he can fulfill his needs and desires (Grotstein, 2008). Research Methodology Appropriate research methodology contributes a lot in conducting a research properly. Good research report is developed on the basis of research methodology. The researchers gather several important and relevant information and data by effective research methods. There are qualitative and quantitative research methods. In qualitative research method information is gathered from various journals, books and internet sites. Different opinions and views of the researchers are analyzed in details through this research method. In quantitative research methodology data is directly collected from the field with the help of interview, survey etc. In this research method statistical tools are used for analyzing the data. In this research paper qualitative research methodology has been used for getting accurate information. Analysis and findings Personality theory tries to explain the factors or elements which play important role in developing or influencing the personality of a person. Various personalities of people are explained with the help of personality theory. There are some major things or factors which are considered for developing personality theory. These factors are as follows: Personality characteristics and development Characteristics of the personality are considered while developing personality theory. Different people have various types of personality which influences their behavior and activities. Characteristics of a person start developing from his very childhood and get mature during his adult age. At a mature stage the feeling, thoughts of a person play an important role in developing the personality. Personal characters of an individual are also dependent on environmental and biologic things. Various environmental and biological factors shapes up the strengths and psychological mind set up of a person. As per the development of a person, his personality is formed. The personality of an individual changes with time, age etc. There are different ways by which the personality of a person gets changed. These different ways and reasons which contribute in the change of personality are considered in personality theory. Mental stability influences the behavior of an individual. As per the behavior an individual will react and act in different situation with other people. The personality of the individual will be highlighted by these processes. The personality theory focuses on the behavioral factor for explaining different personalities. Personality traits There are mainly five kinds of personality traits which facilitate a person in developing his personality. These five personality traits are extra version, emotional stability, agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness. Based on these personality traits the character and personal abilities of a person are analyzed. These personality traits explain the thoughts, emotions and behavior of an individual. In personality theory, the personal traits of people hold a strong position. With the help of these factors the personality of a person can be judged efficiently. Emotional stability means the tendency of a person to deal with different negative emotions in an effective way. The trait of openness explains the curiosity, imagination and creativity. Extraversion explains the expressive or dominant character of a person. Some people have the tendency to agree with other by showing co-operative behavior which is known as agreeableness (Neyer & Asendorpf, 2001). Self-discipline and conciseness influence personal character of a person and these plays a vital role in developing personality. Analyses of all of these factors are important in making up personality theory. Education and schooling In the modern world education and schooling helps to shape up the personality and career of the students. From the very childhood the students receives vast knowledge about different subjects from schools and education system. With the help of these institutions the students come to know the important things they need to consider for achieving their goals or delivering good performances. Confidence level of a student increases by achieving his goals or by giving good performance. This contributes a lot in forming strong personality of an individual. Education level helps the individuals developing good behaviors and habits (Mroczek &Spiro, 2003). Performance is also influenced by education level. It helps the person to understand the importance of self discipline in forming and developing personality. Different in gender plays an important role in developing the personality of the people. Individuals of male and female genders have different personalities based on their behavior, attitude, performance, achievements etc. Family of origin Family and background of a person contribute a lot in forming his personality. The relationship of the family members influences a person to develop or enhance his personal qualities. On the basis of these personal qualities personality of the person is developed. Problems or difficulties in personal life create negative impacts on the personality. Good relationship with family members helps to develop strong personality. Some traits of the personality are inherited from family members. The origin of the family sometimes plays an important role forming the personality (Le, Donnellan.& Conger, 2014). Often people of the family create a strong influence in developing particular behavior or habit which helps to determine the personality of a person. For this reason the personality theory considers this factor for understanding and explaining different types of personalities of human being. With the help of this factor the theory can explain the personality traits which influence the behavior and activities of a person. Fantasy Unconscious fantasy influences the cognitive process of a person. With the help of unconscious fantasy the taste and preferences of a person can be indentifies. These factors contribute a lot in developing the personality of a person. The level of creativity and imagination of an individual is affected by his unconscious fantasy. The perception of a person regarding real things changes on the basis on his unconscious fantasy. Unconscious motivators create a positive impact on the personality of a person. With the help of imaginative power a person can strong attitude and believes towards creative things. Therefore by analyzing this factor the personality of a person can be determined. Neural substrates Personality traits and their development are dependent on the mental processes of the person. Every individual has a conception regarding them and it helps to develop their unique personalities. The self-conception of every person differs from each other. For this reason personality of a person also does not matches with others. In general cases individuals have idiosyncratic personality traits with a stable nature. With the help of this factor people feel that they can freely take action as they are the author of their own life. This type of thinking creates a positive impact on the personality of a person (Kuster & Orth, 2013). But when a person experiences negative things then his thought process create a bad impact on his personality. These processes are all controlled by neural substrates. Conclusion Personality is a very important factor for knowing and analyzing a person in details. For this reason various personality theories are developed by different people to know and understand different types of personalities. But for developing the theory of personalities various factors are needed to be considered. This research paper highlighted six major ideas that form the basis of personality theory. In this research paper these six different ideas have been discussed in details. Different authors have produced their views regarding these ideas for developing personality theory. References Boyatzis, R. E. (2008). Competencies in the 21st century. Journal of management development, 27(1), 5-12. Buckner, R. L. & Carroll, D. C. (2007). Self-projection and the brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(1), 49–57. Gardner, B. C. Busby, D. M., Burr, B. K. &Lyon, S. E. (2011). Getting to the root of relationship attributions: Family-of-origin perspectives on self and partner views. Contemporary Family Therapy, 33(3), 253-272. Grotstein, J. (2008). The overarching role of unconscious phantasy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 28(2), 190-205. Kuster, F., & Orth, U. (2013). The long-term stability of selfesteem: Its time-dependent decay and nonzero asymptote. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(1), 677–690. Le, K., Donnellan, M. B. & Conger, R. (2014). Personality development at work: Workplace conditions, personality changes, and the corresponsive principle. Journal of Personality, 82(1), 44–56. McCrae, R. R., Costa, P. T. et all.(2000). Nature over nurture: Temperament, personality, and life span development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 173–186. Mroczek, D. K.,&Spiro, III,A. (2003).Modeling intraindividual change in personality traits: Findings from the Normative Aging Study. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58(1), 153–165. Neyer, F. J., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2001). Personality–relationship transaction in young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(1), 1190–1204. Spinatha, B. Eckerta, C. & Steinmayr, R. (2014). Gender differences in school success: what are the roles of students’ intelligence, personality and motivation?, Educational Research, 56(2), 230-243. Read More