Personality Overview

Study Notes

Personality is defined as the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors.
It's the dynamic organization within an individual of psychophysical systems that determine his/her unique adjustment to the environment.
Personality reflects individual differences, consisting of a unique combination of inner characteristics.
No two individuals are exactly alike. Some may be venturesome (like scuba diving or rock climbing) while others are not.
Marketers use personality traits to categorize consumers into different groups.
Personality is consistent and enduring.
Mother-child relationship shows enduring personality traits.
Personality changes with major life events like birth of a child, death of a loved one, significant career promotions, etc.
Personality also changes through the process of maturing.
Women's personality generally changes quicker compared to men. (indicative of a general trend)
Several factors influence personality development.

Biological Factors: Physique, chemistry, nervous system.
Sociological Factors: Home, school, language, culture.
Psychological Factors: Intelligence, motivation, emotion, attitude, interest, sentiment.

Type Theories:
- Bodily Characteristics: Hippocrates' Four Temperaments (sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric), Sheldon's Types (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph), Kretschmer's Types (pyknic, athletic, asthenic, dysplastic).
Trait Theories: Gordon Allport's Trait Theory, Raymond Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor, The Five-Factor Theory.
Psychoanalytic Theories: Neo-Freudian Theories, Freudian Theories.
Behavioral Theories: Behavioral Theory of Personality.
Phenomenological/Humanistic Theories: Phenomenological or Humanistic Theory of Personality.
Cognitive Perspectives: Cognitive Perspectives on Personality.
Social Cognitive Theories: Social Cognitive Theories of Personality.
Life-Span Approach: Life-span Approach.

Prakruti: Unique combination of natural energies (Doshas) present at birth. The Doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. The concept of prakruti is similar to a person's DNA.
Vikruti: Changes in the balance of the Doshas due to factors like diet, lifestyle, season, and stress (imbalance state). Leads to variations from one's baseline personality (Prakruti).
Additional types of personality based on the trigunas: Sattvic, Rajasic, Tamasic.

Empathy is the capacity to understand another's state of mind or emotions, often characterized as "putting oneself into another's shoes."

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict.
Four components of EI: Self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management.

Values: Principles, beliefs, standards, and ideals that are important and considered right. Shape our attitudes and motivate our actions. They are like fingerprints, unique to each individual, but influence all we do.
Ethics: Principles defining behavior as being right, good, and proper, with well-defined standards around right and wrong. Prescribes how humans should act.