Gunn & Potter (2015) describe personality as a characteristic individual difference in regard to behavioral conduct, feeling and thinking. Gunn and Potter (2015) contend that it is an individual quality such as humor and friendliness that make a person attractive. Personality focuses on understanding characteristic individual differences such as irritability and friendliness and understanding individual body parts connection to function as a whole. Personality gives a set of qualities like emotions and behavior, which differentiate a person from others. Angry and an offensive person are considered to have an aggressive and hostile personality. A temperament personality implies the experience qualities achieved in dealing with challenging situations. Medically, personality described as a combination of complex traits that differentiates a person from others particularly in relationships. Doctors describe personality as the organization of emotional and behavioral individual traits which gives the difference to one’s attitude and habits (Gunn & Potter, 2015). This paper will discuss personality in broad context.
Historical Changes
The study by Caspi & Brent (2001) claims that personality changes and people tend to be dynamic to memories but do not often determine effective future projections because they think things will remain the same in the future. Caspi and Brent say that personality and individual traits change over time, the current personality does not reflect the past one and people expect to stay the same when they look forward describing the research they conducted of people’s self-perceptions. In the research, participants were asked their personality characteristics and their taste in the previous years compared to the present ones and then making future predictions. Surprisingly, the younger people in the study reported more change in the previous decade than did the older (Caspi & Brent, 2001).
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Prevalence Statistics
Almost one out of four young adults have discovered to have personality traits affecting their daily activities and even increase alcohol or drugs abuse. Researchers reported in the most extensive study of its kind that problems such as social behavior and obsessive which leads to violence make a person’s personality (Caspi & Brent, 2001). The research found that more than 15 percent of college students have mental problems, but this is not surprising considering previous evidence which asserts that mental problems are common particularly to college students. Caspi and Brent contend that more than 4000 young adults of 18 to 23 are affected by personality traits and school administrators need to find a way to find a solution to address the situations. Young adults are affected by education, employment, and relationships which cause stressful moments causing psychiatric problems; the reason why they are the most affected. According to the study by Caspi and Brent, 1 in 3 adults is affected by personality traits changing their personality yearly (Caspi & Brent, 2001).
Signs and Symptoms
Different personalities express different emotions and behaviors. These characteristics are considered to be detrimental or useful in sociability between friends and families. People with schizoid personality tend to avoid and withdraw from social interactions. Individuals with paranoid personality display aggressive symptoms and often think that other people around them aim to mistreat them. According to the research conducted by Matthews, Deary & Whiteman (2009), an individual personality can lead to suicide and detrimental actions. Individuals with antisocial personality express disregard rights to the feelings of the people around them and often do activities mainly for their benefit. Affected individuals of borderline personality have unstable emotions such as mood swings and people with histrionic personality express symptoms in their dramatic acts to attract attention. Other general personality symptoms include self-harm, explosive anger, chronic feelings and unclear self-image (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2009).
Diagnosis
Many people have more than one personality trait hence it’s difficult to diagnose their real personality. It is even more difficult sometimes to determine an individual personality because some personalities have similar traits. But researchers have put an effort in getting an appropriate diagnosis for personalities. Personality diagnosis can be made through physical examinations where the doctor asks the patient depth questions concerning their health. The analysis may include screening and lab tests (Gunn & Potter, 2015). Psychiatrist examination can also be used in diagnosing one's personality. The evaluation includes feelings and thoughts which are put in questionnaire form to help the psychiatrist determine the exact personality. Sometimes doctors may use the DSM-5 criteria to compare one's results to the statistical manual of mental disorder. The criteria involve the patient’s perception of themselves and their reactions to different situations (Gunn & Potter, 2015).
Personality stages
Personality stages have different characteristics. As an individual interacts with different people in the society Oral Stage is the first phase in personality. In this stage, the mouth is the main part of the body that creates trust and mistrust between the child and the people around them. The child develops trust if his wants are satisfied and if mistrust develops to people around them. The second personality is the anal stage where conflicts tend to build between the child and the surrounding. Harsh training makes the child have a respectful attitude towards authority be punctual. The child at this stage is stubborn with their belongings. Phallic stage defines the child sensitivity being concentrated around the genitals. The child experience sexual attraction, jealousy feelings and rivalry towards the peers. The latency stage is the fourth stage of personality where most sexual impulses are dormant and are often supplemented by schoolwork and hobbies. A child’s energy is directed into developmental skills and play . Genital Stage is the final stage in personality development. This is the adolescent time of experimenting and having many relationships one at a time (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2009).
Causes
The study by Matthews, Deary & Whiteman (2009) suggests that abuse and other factors have contributed to the development of obsessive characteristics and other individual personality. The study found that genetic factors are behind one's personality in that a malfunctioning gene contribute to one’s personality linking them to traits such as aggression, fear, and anxiety. Children sexual abuse can cause trauma increasing the bordering personality in them. Verbal abuse like threats can lead to obsessive and borderline personalities in adulthood. Other factors contributing to one’s personality include high sensitivity to factors such as such as noise, texture, and light and the relationship between relatives and teachers. These factors may affect an individual to develop shy and timid personalities (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2009).
Risk factors
Some of the risk factors of personality include antisocial behaviors, and self-defeating characters and people try to be avoidant and dependent on others. Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, consider this characteristic to be detrimental in sociability among friends and families Risks involved in one’s personality involves passive aggressiveness to other people around. This factors may cause detrimental effects to individuals and therefore risk seeking medical attention. Individuals go as far as having psychiatric and therapy classes to help treat their disorders (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2009).
Change
Researchers have suggested that personality is not only confined to childhood era and individual traits change over time. Caspi & Brent (2001) assert that people's personality continue to change and evolve throughout their lifetime. Caspi & Brent observed in his research that high scores of personality changes were more consistent across gender lines with young women scoring higher than young men. However, the gap between men and women declined over time. According to their research, personality changes revolve around a person’s traits, agreeableness, openness, extraversion and neurotic. Just like maturation slow, changes in the personality characteristics should also slow down. A person’s personality changes and adapts to what makes sense to a person’s role. The personality of a person grows as people mature and as they become responsible and better their skills in managing their roles and relationships. Agreeableness personality changes when one is raising a family and in nurturing (Caspi & Brent, 2001).
Personality gives a set of qualities like emotions and behavior, which differentiate a person from the other. Personality and individual traits change over time. Caspi & Brent observed that personality changes are spread across age, gender lines, except for neuroticism and extraversion. The most affected gender experiencing personality changes are believed to be young women followed by young men with children having the least score although the gap difference between men and women had gone down (Caspi & Brent 2001). Many people have more than one personality trait making it difficult to diagnose their actual personality. Personality traits such as self-harm, explosive anger, and chronic feelings may lead to harmful effects to an individual causing trauma to the family and the whole society. People should determine their personalities therefore and use them in developing their skills and in creating healthy relationships between people around them.
References
Gunn, J. S., & Potter, B. (2015). Borderline personality disorder: New perspectives on a stigmatizing and overused diagnosis. New York: Harper.
Matthews, G., Deary, I. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2009). Personality traits . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Caspi, A. and Brent W. R. (2001). Personality development across the life course: The argument for change and continuity. Psychological Inquiry 12 (2), 49-66.
