University Sociology: Individual Differences and Personality Changes

This essay explores the dynamic nature of personality traits and how they evolve throughout the lifespan. It delves into the sociological and psychological perspectives on personality, examining how individual differences manifest and change over time. The essay discusses the influence of factors like temperament, situational contexts, and personal efforts on shaping behavioral patterns. It also analyzes Freud's psychoanalytic theory, including the roles of the id, ego, and superego, as well as defense mechanisms in influencing personality development. The study highlights the gradual, yet significant, shifts in traits such as agreeableness and emotional stability, and how individuals can deliberately influence their personality through goal-setting and consistent effort. Overall, the essay emphasizes the interplay between nature, nurture, and personal agency in shaping an individual's personality trajectory.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
SOCIOLOGY-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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1SOCIOLOGY-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
Introduction
 Majority of the individuals tend to incline towards interpreting human behaviour in
relation to personality traits (Ford 2019).
 These traits are characteristics patterns of thinking, feeling and perceiving things which
show propensity to be constant over time and unswerving across circumstances.
The following paper will argue on the way personality traits tend to change over the life span.
Discussion
 Effects of personality individualities on human behaviour are easier to observe when
individuals are studied constantly across range of situations (Roberts 2018).
 In the view of authors, on any occasion, individuals’ behavioural traits are shaped by
temperament and the situation in addition to other reasons related to individuals’ current
thoughts, feelings and goals.
 Although personality traits are considerably consistent over time, they tend to gradually
alter across the lifespan. These changes however are considered to be for the betterment
of individuals.
 Studies of Roberts (2018) have claimed that majority of adults have become more
agreeable, reliable and emotionally irrepressible as they age. However, these deviations
tend to explain across years or periods instead of days or weeks and intense changes in
temperament are relatively infrequent.
 According to Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory, personality essentially develops from the
interactions amongst what has been proposed as three major structures of the human
mind namely, id, ego, and superego (Bollas 2017). To Freud’s understanding, the nature
of conflicts and clashes amongst id, ego, and superego alter over the time as individuals
mature from child to adult.

2SOCIOLOGY-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
 On the other hand, defence mechanisms have been considered as patterns of feelings,
perceptions and behaviour which tend to be considerably involuntary.
 These feelings as per the concept of defence mechanism arise in response to the thoughts
of psychic conflict or to unforeseen change in the internal or external setting or on the
basis of cognitive disagreement. According to Roberts (2018), these thoughts typically
obscure or reduce traumatic representations which if untainted might intensify level of
depression or apprehension within individuals.
 Furthermore, these thoughts show tendency to change individuals’ perceptions of any or
all of subject, object, awareness, or feeling. On the other hand, defences diminish
cognizance of and tend to react to unexpected changes in reality, sentiments and desires,
integrity, and connections with individuals (Bollas 2017).
 Similar to the case of physiological homeostasis, but contradictory to ‘coping strategies’,
defence mechanisms have been frequently organized outside of consciousness. Moreover,
likewise to hypnosis, the use of defence contrivances compromises other facades of
cognition.
 However, while individuals are aware of the personality change which has been
occurring, individuals have been uncertain about the causes of personality changes
(Cramer 2015).
Conclusion
 Thus, it has been noted that when individuals invest in the role of specific type of
behavioural pattern such as occupation which would demand being careful, diligent and
responsible, gradually individuals tend to develop integrity towards the personality.

3SOCIOLOGY-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
 As a result, certain people often deliberately change their own personality by means of
sustained personal efforts along with diligent goal-setting (Ford 2019).
References
Bollas, C., 2017. The shadow of the object: Psychoanalysis of the unthought known. Routledge.
Cramer, P., 2015. Defense mechanisms: 40 years of empirical research. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 97(2), pp.114-122.
Ford, D.H., 2019. Humans as self-constructing living systems: A developmental perspective on
behavior and personality. Routledge.
Roberts, B.W., 2018. A revised sociogenomic model of personality traits. Journal of
personality, 86(1), pp.23-35.