The personality theory that I find to be the most appealing is Allport’s theory of personality, which focuses on individual’s uniqueness, motivational, and cognitive processes. According to Allport, the personality of a human being is biologically programmed at birth (Ryckman, 2012). However, an individual’s environmental experience shapes one’s intelligence, attitudes, skills, traits, and temperament. This theory makes more sense to me than most as it explicitly highlights that the environment plays a bigger role in shaping one’s personality despite one being born with qualities that are superior biologically.
Tom is my best friend. An analysis of his traits using the big five reveals a lot regarding his personality. The first trait is extraversion. Tom is an individual who exhibits a high level of extraversion in social places as he enjoys making friends, starting conversions and being the center of attention. The second trait is agreeableness. This trait includes qualities such as kindness and trust (Cobb-Clark & Schurer, 2012). As such, Tom exhibits a high level of agreeableness as he cares about other people and the environment. The third trait is conscientiousness. Tom is a high conscientiousness individual who is keen to details and tends to exhibit a high level of organization. He always finishes tasks on time and always follows a schedule. The fourth trait is neuroticism. Emotional instability defines the trait. However, Tom is an emotionally stable individual who knows how to cope with stressful situations and does not worry much.
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When analyzing Tom’s personality using Allport’s theory, not much can be obtained regarding his personality and character development over the period I have known. Tom is an individual who exhibits intelligence and has the attributes and skills of a leader. However, the theory does not give a detailed description of an individual. Conversely, the big five-personality theory provides one with an in-depth analysis of a person’s character and reveals a lot of information regarding an individual that was previously hidden. Whereas personality qualities are ‘biologically fixed’, I am of the opinion that the environment helps to shape at least 80% of an individual’s character with ‘biology’ only providing a head start.
References
Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Schurer, S. (2012). The stability of big-five personality traits. Economics
Letters , 115 (1), 11-15.
Ryckman, R. M. (2012). Theories of personality . Cengage Learning.
