1. Personality : Meaning & TheoriesBy
Dr. Mehraj ud Din Sheikh
Assistant Professor
GDC Tral

2. Meaning & Definitions of personality
Personality derives from the Latin word persona, which refers to a mask used by actors in a play.
When we speak of personality, we refer to more than that. We mean to include many attributes of an individual, a totality or collection of various characteristics that goes beyond superficial physical qualities.
Allport, “Personality is a dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological-physical systems which determine his unique adjustment to his environment”.
Cattell, “Personality is that which permits predictions of what a person would to do in a given situation”.
Eysenck, “Personality is the sum-total of actual behaviour patterns of the organism”

3. Characteristics of Personality
Personality is dynamic
Personality is something unique and specific.
Personality exhibits self-consciousness as one of its main characteristic.
It includes everything about a person.
Personality is not just a collection of so many traits or characteristics., it includes organisation of psycho-physical systems.
Personality is the product of heredity and environment.
Personality of an individual should not take as synonymous to character. Character is ethical and personality is psychological.

4. Theories of Personality
(A) William Sheldon Personality Theory
He classified human beings into certain types according to their physical structure and attached certain temperamental characteristics to them. His analysis of the characteristics associated with different body physiques is given blow:
Personality Type
Somatic or body structure description
Personality characteristics
Endomorphic Personality
Person having highly developed viscera but weak somatic body structure .
Easy going, sociable, affectionate and fond of eating.
Mesomorphic
Personality
Balanced development of viscera and somatic structure.
Craving for muscular activity, self-assertive, loves risk and adventure energetic, assertive and bold tempered.
Ectomorphic Personality
Weak somatic structure as well as undeveloped viscera
Pessimistic, unsociable, reserved, brainy, artistic and introvert.

5. (B) Carl Jung’s Personality Theory
Jung divided all human beings basically into two distinct types- introvert and extrovert according to their social participation and the interest which they take in social activities. The major characteristics of two types are as:
Extroverts Personality
Introverts Personality
Extroverts are interested in the world around them
Introverts are interested in themselves, their own personal feelings, emotions and they are unable to adjust easily to any social situations.
Extroverts are sociable, friendly, not easily upset by difficulties
Introverts are socially and aloof and withdrawn behaviour
Extroverts are men of action rather than reflection.
Introverts are shy and reserved personality.
Extroverts are successful in adjusting to the realities of their environment are socially active and more interested in leaving a good impression on others.
Introverts are prefer to work alone and avoid social contact. They are inclined to worry and get easily embarrassed.
Teacher, Politicians, social workers, lawers, insurance agents, salesmen, etc. fall in this category
Philosophers, scientists, writers, poets etc. fall in this category.

6. (C) G.W. Allport -Trait theory of Personality
G.W. Allport define personality as, “Personality is a dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological-physical systems which determine his unique adjustment to his environment”.
According to the concept of dynamic, the personality is changing.
The term psycho-physical is used because of the importance of the unity of the mind (psycho) and body (Physical).
The unique refers to every one of us is a unique person in oneself.
Define traits as basic units of personality. He adopted trait approach for the description of highly individualised personality.

7. Allport distinguished three types of traits namely- Cardinal Traits, Central Traits and Secondary Traits.
Cardinal Traits: The most pervasive and powerful human traits which appears in most of the behaviour of the organism. It may be illustrated with the example of achievement in life. Some people are so devoted to achievement that this trait pervades the whole life.
Central Traits: Central Traits are less pervasive than cardinal traits but are quite generalised dispositions.
Secondary Traits; The least important traits, which a person may display inconspicuously and inconsistently. Secondary traits arer specific narrow traits. They are called attitudes.

8. Allport’s theory not only laid stress on traits, but also laid stress on concept like:
Functional Autonomy
Individual approach
Discontinuous nature of the development of personality.

9. (D) Carl Rogers – Self Theory of personality
Rogers' theory of the self is humanistic, existential and phenomenological.
Rogers sees people as basically good or health not bad or ill. In other words, he sees mental health as the normal progression of life, and he sees mental illness, criminality, and other human problems, as distortions of that natural tendency.
The entire theory is built on a single "force of life" he calls the actualizing tendency. He states, “The organism has one basic tendency and striving—to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism”
Rogers insisted that current feelings and emotions have a greater impact on personality.
Rogers proposed a single, innate, inborn tendency to actualize, to develop our abilities and potentials, from the strictly biological to the most sophisticated psychological aspects of our being. This ultimate goal is to actualize the self, to become what Rogers called a fully functioning person.

10. The factor that most accurately predicted later behavior was self-insight.
One’s level of self-insight was the single most important predictor of behavior. If one’s attitude toward the self were more important in predicting behavior than the external factors .
Thus, the self became the core of Rogers’s theory of personality,
Rogers believed people are motivated by an innate tendency to actualize, maintain, and enhance the self.
As the self emerges, infants develop a need of positive regard. Positive regard includes love, affection approval etc.When we experience Positive regard from other we achieve positive self-regard (Self-esteem , self-worth, a positive self-image.).
Incongruity: the gap between ideal and real self, Ideal self: something not real, something that is always out of our reach, the standard we can’t meet. (image of immediate experience of yourself), Real Self: real image of yourself.

11. Characteristics of Self-actualised Person
Awareness of all experience; open to positive as well as negative feelings
Freshness of appreciation for all experiences
Trust in one’s own behavior and feelings
Freedom of choice, without inhibitions
Creativity and spontaneity
Continual need to grow, to strive to maximize one’s potential

12. Criticism of Carl Rogers Theory
Rogers fail to explain more precisely his proposed innate potential for actualization. Is it wholly physiological or does it have a psychological component? Are individual differences possible? Rogers did not answer these and related questions.
Only way to explore personality is through person-centered therapy to examine a person’s subjective experiences. Rogers did this by listening to a client’s self-reports. Critics charge that he ignored those factors of which the client was not consciously aware but which could influence behavior.

13. (E) Sigmund Freud’s personality theory (psychoanalysis)
Basic Concepts
Instincts: Freud was the first psychologist who placed great importance on instincts as the determinant of human behavoiur. He proposed two instints : (a) Eros, the love and self-preservation and (b), thanatos, the death instinct.
Topography of mind: Sigmund Freud attribute three qualites to mental process: consciousm preconcious and unconscious.
Conscious: The conscious mind is what you are aware of at any particular moment. It includes your present perceptions, memories, thoughts, fantasies, feelings, what have you.
Pre-conscious (Sub-conscious) involves anything that can easily be made conscious. It includes memories you are not at the moment thinking about but can readily bring to mind.
Unconscious: The largest part is the unconscious. It includes all the things that are not easily available to awareness, According to Freud, the unconscious is the source of our motivations, whether they be simple desires for food or sex, neurotic compulsions, or the motives of an artist or scientist.

14. Structure of Psyche:
S. Freud also belives that the autonomy of our personality is build around three unified and inter-relaterd systems namely id, ego and super ego.
Id: According to Freud, the Id is the most primitive part of our psyche. We are born with the id and it residues within the unconscious. The id is driven by primitive animal instincts including sexual and aggressive impulses. It functions according to the pleasure principle. This seeks to maximize pleasure and minimize any discomfort. So, it is demand to take care of needs immediately. The id is illogical. It seeks pleasure without thought to what is practical, safe, or moral. Freud argued that we are not aware of the id, but it influences our behavior.
Ego: it is logical in nature. It is largely concious. it is called the “executive branch“ of personality because it makes decisions. The ego functions according to the reality principle because its job is to gratify the id in accord with reality.
It deals with reality of the environmental conditions. It acts as an intermediate between three sets of forces- instinctive pressure(id), external reality (ego) and control from superego.

15. Super ego: It is “ the moral branch“ of personality.
The superego takes into account whether something is right or wrong.
The last part of the psyche to develop is the superego.
At five or six years of age, we begin to learn about the norms, rules, and values of society.
Freud argued that children internalize these rules to form the superego, which functions as a very strict conscience.
The superego operates according to the morality principle. It seeks what is good and moral above all else.

16. Libidinal Development
The oral stage lasts from birth to about 18 months. The focus of pleasure is, of course, the mouth. Sucking and biting are favorite activities. 
The anal stage lasts from about 18 months to three or four years old. The focus of pleasure is the anus. Holding it in and letting it go are greatly enjoyed. 
The phallic stage lasts from three or four to five, six, or seven years old. The focus of pleasure is the genitalia. Masturbation is common. 
The latent stage lasts from five, six, or seven to puberty. During this stage, Freud believed that the sexual impulse was suppressed in the service of learning.
The genital stage begins at puberty, and represents the resurgence of the sex drive in adolescence, and the more specific focusing of pleasure in sexual intercourse. Freud felt that masturbation, oral sex, homosexuality, and many other things we find acceptable in adulthood today, were immature.

17. THANK YOU