Personality

Describing Personality

• Each person has a unique personality.

• Your personality consists of the behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and ways of thinking that make you an individual.

• A psychologist studies how people think, feel, and behave.

• Many researchers use five central traits to describe peoples’ personalities

• extroversion• agreeableness• conscientiousness

• emotional stability• openness to experiences

Extroversion

• This trait describes how much you like being with other people.

• An extrovert tends to be outgoing, talkative,and sociable.

• An introvert tends to be shy, quiet, and reserved.

Agreeableness• This trait describes your tendency to relate to other people in

a friendly way.

• People who are agreeable tend to cooperatewith others.

• People who are disagreeable tend to be suspiciousor hostile.

Conscientiousness

• This trait describes how responsible and self-disciplined you are.

• Conscientious people tend to be dependable and make good decisions.

• On the other end of the scale are people who do not think through decisions, are careless, and easily distracted.

Emotional Stability• People who are emotionally stable tend to be relaxed, secure,

and calm, even during difficult situations.

• On the other end of the scale are people who are fearful, worried, and angry.

Openness to Experiences

• People who are open to new experiences tend to be curious, imaginative, and creative.

• People who are less open tend to be more predictable and less independent.

How Personality Forms

Personality traits are influenced by a combination of heredity and environment.

Heredity

Infants are born with distinct tendencies to act in certain ways.

• Traits such as cheerfulness and shyness may be inherited.

• Talents such as musical and artistic abilities may be inherited.

EnvironmentHeredity is only half the picture. Your family, your friends, and your cultural group are important parts of your environment. They all have an influence on your personality.

• Family Experiences you had as a child helped to shape your personality. Children learn about feelings, attitudes, and appropriate ways to behave from their families. As children develop, they copy the behavior of others. This is called modeling.

• Friends Starting in childhood and throughout the teenage years, friends become an increasingly important influence on personality. These friends, who are about the same age and share similar interests, are called a peer group.

• Culture Personality traits that are valued in one culture may not be as highly valued in another culture.

BLUE

Relationships

Blue Attributes Mediators

Optimistic

Caretakers

Passionate

Peacemakers

True Romantic

Need to feel “special”

Always has a kind word

Sensitive need to others

Motivate and encourage others

Cooperative rather than competitive

Blue May See Self As: Warm Compassionate Romantic Spiritual Unselfish Caretaker Likes to please others Sympathetic Trusting

Others May See Blue As: Overly Emotional Bleeding Heart Mushy Naïve Too Touchy-Feely Too nice Talks too much Pushover Too Tender Hearted

GoldDuty and

Responsibility

Gold Attributes Loves to plan

Detail oriented

Values family traditions

Helpful and trustworthy

Punctual, predictable, precise

Loyal, Responsible

Strong belief in policies, procedures, rules

Strives for sense of security

There is a right way to do everything

Conservative and stable

Gold May See Self As:

Stable Providing Security Dependable Firm Efficient Decisive Good Planner Punctual Organized Person Goal Oriented Orderly, Neat

Others May See Gold As:

Controlling Dull, Boring Stubborn Opinionated Judgmental Bossy Uptight Predictable

Orange

Freedom

Orange Attributes Playful

Energetic

Charming

Risk Taker

Tests limits

Creative, Inventive

Pushes the boundaries

Impulsive and Spontaneous

Most productive in informal environment

Orange May See Self As: Fun-loving, Enjoys life Spontaneous Flexible, Adaptable Carefree Hands-on Person Practical Problem-solver Do many things at once Curious, welcomes new

ideas

Others May See Orange As: Irresponsible Flaky Goofs off too much Disobeys Rules Manipulative Not to be trusted Uncontrollable Indecisive Obnoxious Not a team player

GreenIntellectual

Competence

(Information & Knowledge)

Green Attributes Intellectual

Perfectionists

Standard setters

Can never know enough

Work is play—play is work

Need for independence and private time

Knows how to spell and pronounce “big” words

Green May See Self As: Superior Intellect 98% Right Powerful Creative Original Rational Calm, not emotional Precise

Others May See Green As: Intellectual snob Arrogant Heartless Ruthless Doesn’t care about

people Not emotionally

controlled Critical, fault finding Stingy with praise Afraid to open up

Stages of Personality Development

Personality develops throughout life as people meet a series of challenges.

Develop Trust

Learn to be Independent

Take Initiative

Develop Skills

Search for Identity

Establish Intimacy

Create and Nurture

Look Back WithAcceptance

Stages of Personality Development

Develop Trust If needs are met, the child learns to trust other people. If needs are not met, the child learns mistrust and may withdraw from others.

Stages of Personality Development

Learn to Be Independent This is the stage when young children learn to do things on their own. If children fail to master these tasks, they developself-doubt.

Stages of Personality Development

Take Initiative During this stage, children start to plan theirown activities. If children are harshly scolded for poor initiatives, they may feel unworthy, guilty, or resentful.

Stages of Personality Development

Develop Skills These skills make children feel competent—capable of achieving their goals. Without skills,a child may feel like a failure.

Stages of Personality Development

Search for Identity As a teenager, your main challenge is a search for identity or a sense of self.

Stages of Personality Development

Establish Intimacy As a young adult, your challenge will be to establish close bonds with others.

Stages of Personality Development

Create and Nurture During middle adulthood, people need to stay productive and creative in all parts of their life.

Stages of Personality Development

Look Back With Acceptance During older adulthood, people reflect on their lives.

AssignmentAnswer each question.

1. What color is your personality?

2. List 3-4 characteristics of your color.

3. How are you like that color?

4. How are you opposite of the color?

5. What other color do you feel you have the same characteristics as? Why?