Personality [week7]
‘’Personality may be viewed as consisting of stable characteristics that explain why a person behaves in a particular way.’’ [Mullins] Personality is made up the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviour that make a person unique. Personality comes from within an individual and remains the same throughout their life.

Differences between nature and nurture
Nature is differences in the genes of the individuals [mind tools]. For example, if my mother and grandmother where both good singers then chances are I would also be a great singer myself, because genetically, it is in my lineage and the chances of it being passed on to me are very high.

Nurture is differences in the environments people were raised in [mind tools]. Nurture is when people invest time and effort into something that they can be good at even if it is not in their lineage or they have not started out with the potential to be good at it. For example both my parents did not speak any English therefore didn’t teach me how to speak it, however as I was raised in England at the age of 5 I had the opportunity to learn the language at school.

Both genetic and environmental factors play a part in determining differences between people [mind tools]. The weight that I am is influenced by the environment in which I grew up in. All characters to do with body size are influenced by the amount of food one happens to have in their life. Nature is mostly inherited traits, while nurture relies mostly on time spent improving a skill set.

The psychometric approach to personality compares individuals in terms of traits or dimensions common to everyone. Nomothetic and idiographic are terms coined by Kantian philosopher Wilhelm Windelband to describe two approaches to knowledge, each one corresponding to a different intellectual tendency [Wikipedia]. The two different views as to whether all traits exist in all people are:

Idiographic [Nurture]: people have unique personality; this can be influenced by society and culture, therefore some traits are more important in understanding some people compared with others.

Nomothetic [Nature]: people's unique personalities can be understood as them having relatively greater or lesser amounts of traits that are consistently across people. The Nomothetic approach to personality can be related to biology.

I think there are traits from both types of personality in everyone. People are born with certain traits in their personality and from their experiences in life they adapt their personality. For example I am similar to my parents, brothers and sisters in certain ways but very different to them in other ways e.g. we don’t like the same type of music but we all like curry. This is because we have all had experiences with each other and because we have had experiences different to each other. I also think that someone who relies a lot on their parents is more likely to have a similar personality to them compared to someone who in independent as they will then get some of their personality traits from other influences in their life.

A number of different theories explain different aspects of personality. Some theories focus on explaining how personality develops; others are concerned with individual differences in personality. The following are a few of the theories of personality traits proposed by different psychologists:
Gordon Allport’s dispositional perspective
Hans Eysenck’s three-trait model
Myers-Briggs Types
“Big Five” Personality Dimensions

Evidence suggests that five dimensions capture distinct differences between people. Traits known as the Big Five are:
Extraversion/ introversion: This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness and other emotional expressiveness.
Agreeableness/ hostility: This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, kindness, affection etc.
Conscientiousness/ heedlessness: Common features of this dimension include thoughtfulness and goal directed behaviours.
Neuroticism/ instability: Individuals who have this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.
Openness/ closed mindedness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those who have this trait tend to have a broad range of interests
[Mullins]

http://wilderdom.com/personality/traits/PersonalityTraitsIdiographicNomothetic.html

These characteristics could occur together in some people for example, someone who is sociable tend to be talkative. However, these traits do not always occur together for example someone could be affectionate sometimes and moody other times. Each person may have several different behaviours from each dimension.

My Personality
In my opinion both nature and nurture shaped my personality. However from my own experience of life I think nurture has influenced my personality more than nurture. I think this because all my brothers and sisters have different personalities even though we where brought up the same way. We all have different personalities as we all had different experiences and influences in life that shaped our personalities and made us who we are. As a child nurture was more dominant in my life because I relied on my parents, but slowly it switched over to nature as I aged I wanted to strike out on my own to experience my own environment and build my own ego. I think my personality has been influenced by people around me such as friends, family, people I worked with, people I studied with etc. I also think that with more experiences and different influences my personality will continue to change as it has over the years.

Personality Tests
TEST 1:
Naimah Yasmeen, your tendency is to favour: LOGIC, ORDER, PROACTIVITY and INSIGHT . Because you employ it more often, a mind frame in your comfort zone will strongly influence your behaviour. You'll find using it comfortable and enjoyable, so anything you handle in your comfort zone will be done with more enthusiasm and persistence. Whatever you get involved in, you'll do it well and accomplish a lot.

You're less likely to use: CHARISMA, SENSITIVITY, SOCIABILITY and CONTROL .Regardless of the job or task at hand, you won't be able to operate in your comfort zone all the time. So when the situation requires it, use one of the mind frames outside your comfort zone—even if you have to "stretch" to do so.

I completely agree with this test as I defiantly think in a step by step manner when trying to solve a problem and I am at my best when in my comfort zone. I also act in advance when I know I may be facing a difficulty and like to have a clear understanding of a situation. Therefore I do favour logic, order, proactively and insight. I also agree with the second part of the test although I am a sensitive and sociable person in my personal life I tend not to be when there is a task at hand.

Test 2:
Key
Unlikely to be a strength- 1
Less likely to be a strength - 2
Moderately likely to be a strength -3
Quite likely to be a strength -4
Very likely to be a strength -5

Great 8 Competency areas
Leading and Deciding -3
Supporting and Cooperating -2Interacting and Presenting -2
Analysing and Interpreting -5
Creating and Conceptualising -3
Organising and Executing -3
Adapting and Coping -2
Enterprising and Performing -4

I do not agree with this test entirely as I always get told I can co-operate well even with difficult people and situations and I am supportive towards other people as I like to help other people. I agree that I am able to analyse well as I can quickly discover the important features or meaning of things. I am not sure that I agree with the test when it says I am not good at adapting and coping as I feel I have adapted well at work to new tasks and situations and coped well with difficulties throughout my life. I can be shy when around people I don’t know well or don’t spend a lot of time around so performing is defiantly not my strength like the test says it is. This test also suggest that I am moderately likely to be organising and executing however I feel that this is the biggest strength in my personality as I like everything I do to be a success and I am good at controlling my performance, so this is defiantly not correct.

There are differences as well as similarities in the results of both tests. Test 1 suggest that I am less likely to use sensitivity and test 2 says I am unlikely to be supporting although I disagree with this both tests are suggesting the same trait in my personality.

Test 1 says I use logic and order and test 2 says I am good at analysing and interpreting which is again a similar trait that both tests suggest. There are also differences in what the tests show as test 1 says that I am not good at performing outside my comfort zone however test 2 shows performing is my strength. Test 1 also says I am less likely to use control but test 2 says I am likely to lead and decide again both saying different to each other.

Should it be as a selection tool?
When completing these test I thought of many situations I have been in at work, school, around friends at home etc in order to answer the question accurately. This is because I act differently to a situation depending on what it is and who is involved. Therefore I believe these tests can not judge how one would react or show their traits in all situations they may be in. Therefore I think it is not fair to use these tests to judge whether one fits into the organisation or job role. Someone who does not fit the required traits and does not get the job may be able to do the job perfectly fine or better compared with someone who does fit the traits and does get the job.

I do think that personality tests have their benefits because by using these tests organisations can build more effective teams, or adapt their approach knowing that a particular employee is likely to react in a certain manner. For example if they have an employee who is wary of change and they know that they need to take on new duties the employer and co-workers may have to give them the time and space to adjust to these changes. Or on the other hand, if a personality test shows that someone thrives on a quick pace and constantly moving from one task to the next leaving behind loose ends employers might want to have them work with someone who is more methodical and pays close attention to details. Also some personality types don't mix well with other types, therefore employers are able to use the test to their advantage as this will help them employ people that will get along, have a variety of skill and make a good team.

Conclusion
In conclusion I have found each individual is different and possesses a different recipe and mixture of personality traits including myself. The personality tests have helped me understand my own personality and made me aware of the different traits. I think ones personality traits can change over time which makes these tests pointless if employees are trying to determine who will best fit the role. However they also have their benefits as the test will help an employer by assessing their employees or potential employees for a range of personality traits and aptitudes.

Refrences
McCrae, R. (1987) Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. London
McCrae, R. (1997) Personality trait structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, USA.
Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. Essex: Pearson Education
Abdala, P, [2009] Personality traits. [online]. ACLU. Available from: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/new [Accessed on 29 January 2010]
(Anon.), (n.d), (s.l), (s.n) Personality test (online). Available from: www.initforlife.com/home/tm.asp (Accessed 28th January 2010)
(Anon.), (n.d), (s.l), (s.n) Personality test (online). Available from: http://www.shldirect.com/practice_tests.html (Accessed 28th January 2010)
(Anon.), (n.d), (s.l), (s.n) ‘’Big Five’’(online). Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits (Accessed 29th January 2010)