Psychology Essay: Personality Theories, Influencing Factors & Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of personality, exploring various theories such as the psychoanalytic theory, Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the Big Five Personality model. It discusses the factors that influence personality development, including genetic factors, early experiences, primary groups, and culture. The essay also examines the different levels of personality traits, including neurotic, psychotic, and borderline levels, highlighting their characteristics and impact on behavior. Furthermore, it includes a practical perspective through a personality test conducted on an individual, demonstrating the application of MBTI theory and providing insights into their personality type. This resource is perfect for students seeking to understand the complexities of personality and its impact on individual behavior and social interactions. Desklib provides a platform to access this and many other solved assignments.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Introduction
Personality is considered as a combination of qualities as well as characteristics that
define the attitude and the behaviour of an individual. In the words of Buss & Plomin (2014),
personality can be considered as a set up various habits that an individual possess by which a
character can be defined. The essay discusses the concept of personality and the issues that
are normally related to the topic. Various questions emerge from personalities such as the
difference between two human beings and the dimension that differentiates their behaviour.
The essay talks about such issues and focuses on related theories that help in understanding
the concept in a better manner. Apart from this, the factors that affect the personality of an
individual is also defined that highlights the identifiable traits based on which personality can
be defined. The essay analyses the personality traits of an individual to understand the effect
personality have on the life and behaviour of the person.
Discussion
According to Hancock (2016), personality can be defined as a characteristic that
individuals possess that evolve from the exposure to biological and environmental factors. It
is a set of habitual behaviours, cognitions and emotional patterns that are based mainly due to
the behaviours that an individual is exposed to. It can often be referred to as characteristics or
thinking pattern of individuals that help to distinguish one person from another. Jones &
Paulhus (2014) stated that while studying personality, psychologists have to keep in mind a
couple of areas. The first of these areas include understanding the differences that individuals
have related to a particular characteristic. These characteristics include the ability of an
individual to be sociable and the ability of an individual to be irritable.
Such characteristic trends are imposed on an individual by the society by analysing
the level of interaction that is maintained. The other area that psychologists focus is about

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understanding the manner in which an individual develops itself in the society. The behaviour
and attitude of an individual are analysed to conclude regarding this area of personality
development. In this regard, certain scholars argue that personality may arise in an individual
from the exposure it has with the society (Parks-Leduc, Feldman & Bardi, 2015). However,
an argument has been made against this statement, stating that personality of an individual is
subject to change with the change in environment (Mõttus et al., 2017).
In this regard, it can be said that personality can also be defined as the study that aims
to explain the tendencies behind the certain behaviour of individuals. The learning,
motivation and interaction that they have with the environment often play a key role in
defining the personality trait of an individual. Hence, personality raises certain questions that
need to be solved so that the issues that are related to it can be analysed in a proper manner.
In this regard, it can be said that the issues related to personality can be defined in a broader
manner that highlights the necessary questions while understanding the personality of
individuals.
As observed by Judge & Zapata (2015) the personality of an individual can be a
subject to various questions that need to be solved in order to conduct a perfect analysis. The
difference in a human being is one such question that needs to be defined while analysing the
personality of the individuals. Individuals tend to change their behaviour with the changes in
the situation. It is to be noted that every behavioural trait of an individual is largely based on
the stimulus it receives from the environment. The manner in which the people are treated in
a social environment plays a key role in the development of personality of every individual.
Spielberger et al., (2017) is of the view that family behaviour also plays an important role for
developing the personality of the individuals.

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The two dimensions of family and social environment provides psychologists with the
idea to assess the personality characteristics of the people. The difference in the behaviours of
the people is attributed to the treatment that they receive. For example, a person growing up
in an abusive and hostile environment both socially and in terms of the family may have an
angry and hostile personality. This behavioural trait may lead the person to be an outcast in
an environment that is friendly and casual about life. In this, case, however, Soto, Kronauer
& Liang (2015) stated that the personality of the individual may change as being a part of a
society is one of the motivational factors that drive a human being.
Hence, it can be said that the consistency of the human behavioural differences cannot
be measured as such due to the variety of factors that are needed to be considered. These
factors help in analysing the personality traits and provide an overview of the requirements
that psychologists need to analyse to understand the personality of the individuals. It is to be
noted that the questions related to the personality of the people may often lead to the factor
that helps in influencing the personality of an individual. Hence, analysis of the factors can
help in determining the causes behind the existence of various personality traits among
individuals.
Debates exist about the place in which the personality of an individual develops. The
maturity level of a child, the interaction with the society and the experiences encountered by
an individual are some of the factors that lead to the growth of personality (Piedmont, 2014).
It has been seen that stable ways exist in the environment that triggers the growth of thoughts,
feelings and behaviours of an individual.
Generic factors: Most scholars consider heredity as the major factor that leads to the
growth of personality. It has been stated that the manner in which an individual interacts with
the family members help in the development of personality. Studies have also shown that

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15% to 50% of the personality traits in an individual are inherited from the parents (Judge et
al., 2014).
Early experience: Like in the development of children, the early stages of growth act
as a triggering factor in the personality of an individual. The experiences individual witness
from an early childhood period accounts for the development of personality traits within an
individual. The experiences can be in the form of social-environmental factors as well as
experiences gained within the family.
Primary groups: O'Boyle et al., (2015) found that family involvement plays a crucial
role in the development of personality of an individual. This is mainly because of the fact that
children spent most of their time with the family rather than the outside social environment. It
has been seen that some of the hostile personality that has been developed within individuals
have been due to traumatised childhood experience. This leads to an emotional imbalance
between individuals.
Culture: The cultural factor can be considered as a social trend that aids in the
development of personality. It is expected that individuals need to behave in the manner
demanded by the society. A prime example of this is the behaviour showed by boys and girls.
However, criticism has been made that defines the un-uniform manner in which cultural
differences exist in an individual.
In order to understand the effectiveness of personality, it is important to analyse the
theories related to the concept. One such theory that can be related to personality is the
psychoanalytic theory. According to Choi, Oh and Colbert (2015), this theory tries to explain
the behaviour of individuals based on the interaction of different components. The human
personality can be divided into three components such as id, ego and super ego. The id is
defined as the principle that demands gratification no matter the situation that is at hand.

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The ego of an individual is developed to find out the reality of the issue and the
manner in which it can be aligned with the demand in the changing market. The super ego
also called the conscience imposes moral judgements and social rules on the ego of an
individual. According to Salem et al., (2015), the interaction of these three components
makes up the personality of an individual. Apart from this theory, the Myer-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI) is one a way of measuring the personality of an individual. This theory
together with the Big Five Personality model complements one another in understanding the
personality of an individual. The characteristics that these two models focus on are almost
similar to one another.
A questionnaire is provided to the individuals that are collected in the form of a
survey. Based on the answers provided by the individuals, five traits are identified. These
traits include openness, neuroticism, consciousness, agreeableness and extraversion. In the
MBTI model, the traits that are used to analyse the personality traits include the level of
extraversion and introversion, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling along with judging
and perceiving. The traits are interrelated to one another and a test result suggests major
differences among people. In the words of Nielsen, Glasø & Einarsen (2017), the Big Five
model and the MBTI model together provide an effective way of analysing the personality
and finding out the three levels that exist in the analysis of the concept.
According to Sutin and Terracciano (2016), every individual has different levels of
personality that define the behaviour and thought process of the person. The three levels that
mainly define the personality of people can be analysed and the best personality practice can
be traced after the analysis. The levels include:
Neurotic level: It is considered as the healthiest level of personality trait that can be
present among an individual. People that have strong neuroticism have intact reality thinking

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and are always aware of the presence of other people. These people are also self-conscious
and rely on defence mechanisms that are more matured and calculated. As observed by
Barnett et al., (2015) these type of people can distinguish between the real world and the
virtual world in a clearer manner. These people can analyse their strengths and weaknesses
that lead them to be more effective in terms of having a strong personality.
Psychotic level: This level is at the opposite level of the dimension. The psychotic
level is often termed as a personality trait that promotes disorganised behaviour. These people
compromise reality and have an inconsistent awareness about self and others. Like the
neurotic level, people belonging to this level also use defence mechanism for their argument.
However, the maturity level of the arguments is weak and people remain delusional about the
environment that is around them. The biggest disadvantage in this level is that people do not
have a clear sense of the nature of their strengths and weaknesses.
Borderline level: This exists in the middle of the dimension. People possessing this
type of personality are cautious and the level of reality testing of an individual is generally
intact. According to Nolen-Hoeksema and Rector (2015), people in this level have a
fragmented image of self and others. This leads them to have a fragmented view of
themselves and fail to understand the strengths and weaknesses that exist in their personality.
Thus, the three levels of personality broadly define the dimensions in which human beings
can be classified. Based on the three levels an analysis can be made of the personality of an
individual.
To gain a more practical perspective about personality I had conducted a personality
test on my friend. The test was based on the MBTI theory and a questionnaire was provided
to my friend. The results of the personality showed that my friend had an ENTP type
personality. ENTP denotes Extravert, Intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving. The result of the

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test shows that my friend prefers to be more extroverts to an introvert. This suggests that he
can be described as an outgoing and talkative person. Larsen et al., (2017) opined that an
extrovert person likes to have a fast-paced life and interact more with the others. My friend
possesses such a quality as he often tries to work with other people while solving problems or
for doing any work.
Figure: Test result of MBTI
(Source: Created by author)
My friend is also more intuitive than sensing which signifies that he can imagine the
possibilities of the way things can be. One of the talents that an intuitive person possess is the
fact that they can notice the big picture and understand the manner in which it connects the
people and the things (Revelle, 2017). My friend also likes to provide a description of events
and things but in a more poetic manner. This helps him to make ideas and concepts for the
sake of balancing work and life. Apart from this, the test result shows that my friend prefers
to think rather than feel things. This signifies that he makes decisions using logical manner in
an impersonal manner.
This result suggests that he provides value to justice and fairness and enjoy finding
flaws in the work done by other people. Beck, Davis & Freeman (2015) termed this

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characteristic trait as levelheaded and reasonable. The final analysis that can be made based
on the test is that he is more perceiving rather than judging. He prefers to have matters settled
in a subtle manner. He is of the view that rules and deadlines need to be respected and
everything needs to be done in a detailed manner following every step. Hence, it can be said
that such a personality can have certain effects on personal life as well as professional life.
The effectiveness of the ENTP personality trait on the lives of an individual can be
both positive as well as negative. The positive factor of this trait in life is that people are
knowledgeable and thereby does not pass over any opportunity that provides a learning
experience. The information that the people seek is not for a planned purpose. These people
like to keep a record of things that they have learned and use them in a way that defines the
level of creativity that exists among them. According to Morey (2015), the flexible minds of
the people help them to cash-in on the knowledge that they possess and use it against any
people opposing them.
Another positive influence that an ENTP personality trait provides is that these people
are excellent analysts. They have the tendency to analyse a situation from every possible
angle and find the best solution that is suitable for the particular situation. They tend to
combine the originality as well as the knowledge they possess in solving a situation.
However, according to Pervin (2015), people with the ENTP personality reject the opinion of
other people in a remorseless manner. Most scholars are of the opinion that despite such
remorseless attitude, ENTP is considered as the best analysts during any analytical situation.
ENTP people are also energetic. They jump at the opportunity to use their talents and
gain opportunities to increase their knowledge. The fact that these people are witty and have a
way with words makes them an intriguing factor among other people. This helps them to be
enthusiast and full of energy. They do not complain if they have to work for long hours, as

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long as the work suites their personality. The urge of finding a proper solution to a particular
problem keeps these people motivated. They may end up making innovative things that may
help in their work life. Having an ENTP person around in an organisation provides for these
types of advantages. However, there are certain disadvantages as well that may get the ENTP
people in trouble.
One of the disadvantages of this type of personality is the fact that they are quite
argumentative. As stated by Cervone & Pervin (2015) this particular characteristic of the
people may be because they are more knowledgeable than the other types of people. These
people consider the arguments as a form of mental exercise that helps them to gain more
knowledge by communicating with others. The ENTP people intimidate the personality types
that possess the qualities of conscious approach. The fear of being shut down makes it
difficult to work with these types of people in an organisation. At the same time, ENTP
misjudges the feelings of other people as they remain rational and focus on the reality of an
event.
Such argumentative nature leads the ENTP people to be intolerant as well. This
creates a huge problem for the people working the ENTP has most of the times, the ENTP
tend to lose their calmness. Tyrer, Reed & Crawford (2015) stated that an intolerance attitude
is a form of mental sparring that takes place between the people possessing such a personality
trait with those that are not. They have a tendency to dismiss the ideas as well as the people
suggesting the ideas on the grounds of unrealistic approach. This leads the ENTP people to
lose focus on a topic instantly. Thus, this can be a challenging factor for the people with this
personality type.
Conclusion

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Hence, it can be said that personality of an individual varies due to the exposure of the
individual in the social and economic life. Debated remain whether personality is derived
from the social context or individuals are born with it. However, it cannot be denied that
personality is an important characteristic that defines an individual. The issues faced while
analysing personality can be solved with the application of the theories. It has been seen that
the application of Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Big Five Personality Traits can help
in finding a response to the questions and analyse the characteristics of an individual in a
proper manner. The analysis of the individual suggested that a good personality plays an
important role in life. Most people are judged by the personality that they possess and it is
important that individuals maintain a personality that is aligned with their personal nature and
the requirements of the society.

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