Theories of Personality

At one point in life, at a young age or as a resident in an elderly home, the question of who am I will arise. It is a convoluted mesh of thoughts and feelings that a person will go through before coming up with an answer. Some people may even experience cognitive dissonance in trying to explain different stages of life, while others will be comfortable in responding instantaneously with minimal cognition. In going through this process and drawing up the ‘who am I’ and individual is further confronted with others people’s perception. Where does this lead, when presented with other’s opinion, and what is it based it on? Response from outside sources is mainly based on perspective concerning an individual’s personality.

The distinctive characteristics and qualities of any one person is one way to define personality. According to Feist & Feist (2009) personality is described as a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. These traits are the precursor of behavior as per individuality, and that of behavior that is consistent throughout life. Although a person can argue the fact that traits is a disposition of genetic predisposition of certain characteristics, the pattern in which these are characterized are different. Each person’s anatomy, intelligence, and temperament are differently and each owns a unique personality, different from parents, grandparents, and any other individual on this planet. Personality theorists’ however may not concur.

Theorists’ in this branch of psychology have not agreed on a specific definition for personality, as one theory is an onset of another. Nevertheless, the different theoretical approach...

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...theories of nature and nurture as a precursor of personality may enable an individual to obtain a clear perspective of its evolution. However, in the study of personality, it is very important to understand the different theoretical approaches within its realm. It is important for the same reason that not one person is the same and neither are personalities; and for the very same reason why personality theorist’ differ when describing the concept and nature of humanity.

Works Cited

AllPsych, Heffner Media Group, Inc. (2002). Personality synopsis. Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://allpsyh.com/personalitysynopsis/humanistic.html

Feist, G. J., & Feist, J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Olivarez, B. (2009). Personality nature vs nurture. Retrieved from http://helpingpsychology.com/human-personality-nature-vs-nurture