The Structure Of Personality Psychology Essay

The Structure Of Personality Psychology Essay Everyone is created unique and special in their own way. Everyone has a personality of their own that is developed throughout ones life. To effectively and efficiently teach and ensure that each learner grasp the concepts, the teacher needs to understand each student and their personality. Personality can be defined as the pattern of behaviour that is enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions and behaviours that differs from every individual and is used to adapt to the world. The personality of a person is forms with nature and nurture playing an integral role. With reference to the work of Child Dennis (2007:410), posited that personality involves knowledge of the total organization of humans A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat but consist of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching processes. In classroom there are so many different personalities and characters that one must understand personality so as not to discourage the students because they are different. According to Buskist William (1990:496), personality is a particular pattern of behavior and thinking prevailing across time and situations that differentiates one individual from another.  [1]  No two persons think alike, everyone is different in attitudes, interest, learning abilities as well as thoughts. The personality of each individual develops though their genetics composition as well as their interaction with the environment. Plomin et al (2002:392) stated that from a sample of 24,000 twins his evidence points to genetic factors accounting for 40 percent of the variance and environment factors the remaining 60 percent. This means that the influential environmental factors are experienced by the twins independently of each other.  [2]   The researchers intent to highlight the structure of personality, personality theories, big five factors of personality, personality and the school environment and type A behaviour of students and teachers so that the researchers can emphasis the need to promote education on personality in schools and in the society so that everyone can accept each other with their differences. THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY Personality according to Freud is made up of the Id, ego and superego. They involve in the process of shaping the individuals mind. According to Buskist William (1990:505), the unconscious mind is a perceptual battleground in which the Id, ego and superego are engaged in unending conflict. The result form the battle cause everyone to behave or react differently forming and showing a different personality. According to Freud the Id is the pleasure principal that seeks gratification and the instincts are: food, sexual pleasure and aggression.  [3]  The adolescents are often hungry and teachers would find them eating in class, fighting to get justice they think they deserve rather than complaining to the teachers. To deal with these behaviour teachers need to understand the students personalities. The ego involves cognitive thinking which allows reasoning, reality and process information about the environment. The ego links the individual and the environment and self awareness. According to Santrock (1994:31), Freud states that the Id is an absolute ruler, owed complete obedience; it is spoiled, willful, impatient and self-centered. The ego has the job of getting things done; it is tuned into reality and is responsive to societys demands. The superego is concerned with right and wrong; its role is to tell the greedy Id that nobler purposes should be pursued. The superego is the moral part of the self.  [4]   According to Santrock (1994:33)  [5]  Defense Mechanisms which are unconscious methods by which the ego distorts reality to protect itself from anxiety are: Repression is a powerful and pervasive defense mechanism since it works to push unacceptable Id impulses out of awareness and back into the unconscious mind. Rationalization is the psychoanalytic defense mechanism that occurs when the real motive for an individuals behaviour is not accepted by the ego and is replaced by a sort of convert motive. Displacement occurs when the involvement of unacceptable feelings from one object to another, more acceptable object. Sublimation occur when a useful course of action replaces and unacceptable one. Projection occurs when we attribute our own shorting, and faults to others. Reaction formation occur when we express an unacceptable impulse by transforming it into its opposite. Regression occur when we behave in a way characteristic of a previous developmental level. COMPARING PERSONALITY THEORIES INNATE VS. LEARNED FACTORS The question is; which factors affect the personality more innate or learned? Both of these factors are important in the development in an individuals personality. In the study of fraternal twin who were separated at birth proves that both twin were very different. They had the same genetic composition but their environment was different. One of the twins was in a wealthy environment with everything and the other in a poorer environment and they both turned out so different all because of the environment they were exposed to. The environment or society you belong to will influence your personality since your will be groomed and taught what that society feel is right or wrong. The richer family will provide moral, emotional support, financial security which all human beings need as stipulated by Abraham Maslow in the theory of hierarchy of needs. However, a different society or a poor society will think differently and react differently. If your change the persons environment they wil l adapt to the new environment and change their personality to adapt to their present environment. It is simply our human nature of survival. According to Santrock (1994), Skinner and social learning theorist believe personality is behaviour that is environmentally determined. However, humanistic theories believe that personality is influences by experience and can be changed and people have innate ability to self actualized.  [6]  It can be seen that both heredity and environment plays and important part in an individuals personality development. CONSCIOUS VS. UNCONSCIOUS According to Freud in Buskist William (1990:505), personalities are determined by both conscious and unconscious powers, with the unconscious exerting considerable influence on the conscious.  [7]  Therefore repressed ideas, thoughts and wished influence our conscious way of thinking and behaviour. Also repressed ideas and thoughts can surface in dreams and mistakes of speech known as Freudian Slips. The Conscious mind hold things we are fully aware of, that we can think and rationalize while the unconscious mind is the bulk of the mind. The mind suppresses the things we dont want to remember like pain, hurt, conflict, abuse and things we hid from the world that we hid it so far we ourselves do not remember. According to Freud, our deeply repressed experiences in infancy and early childhood determined what our personality will be in adulthood. While psychoanalytical theorist argues that individuals are unaware of our personality development.  [8]  Students are different and they all have different personality and to understand their needs teachers need to understand personality. Students in our classroom have pain and hurt deep within them causing them to behave reserved or misbehave and the teacher without studying the child plaster a label as indiscipline, pest, dunce without understanding or thinking about what is causing this child to behave this way. INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS The internal dimensions of personality according to Freud are the Id, ego and superego whiles the external determinants being cognitive and social learning. People are prisoners of their past since the problem may have hurt the persons ego before when a similar problem arise the individual struggles with low self esteem and low self confidence. Also the cognitive development, social learning and moral guidance help to make decisions rather than overacting with the Id but the superego controls all the extreme actions and it helps both the internal and external determinants to harmonize. According to Freud (1933:69): The poor egoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦feels hemmed in on here sides, threatened by three kinds of danger to which, if it is hard pressed it reacts by generating anxietyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Thus the ego, driven by id, confined by the superego, repulsed by reality, struggles to master it economic talk of bringing about harmony among the forces and influences working in and upon it, and we can understand how it s that so often we cannot suppress a cry: Life is not easy!  [9]   THE BIG FIVE FACTORS OF PERSONALITY Some individual have a high level of intellect or gifted while some students are slow learners. Some students are social and interact while others are reserved and quiet, some are funny and jolly while some are sad and depress and these are all personalities of people. Everyone deal with situation differently since everyone is being guided differently by their superego. Everyone is taught different values depending on their culture. According to Child (1998), Eysencks big five are Neuroticism-Emotional Stability, Introversion-Extraversion, Openness-Convergence, Agreeableness-Antagonism and Conscientiousness-Undirectedness.  [10]   Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness to experience Low Scorers Loner Quiet Passive Reserved High Scorers Joiner Talkative Active Affectionate Low Scorers Suspicious Critical Ruthless Irritable High Scorers Trusting Lenient Soft hearted Good-natured Low Scorers Negligent Lazy Disorganized Late High Scorers Conscientious Hard-working Well-organized Punctual Low Scorers Calm Even-tempered Comfortable Unemotional High Scorers Worried Temperamental Self-conscious Emotional Low Scorers Down-to-earth Uncreative Conventional Uncurious High Scorers Imaginative Creative Original Curious Table 1:1 The dimensions of personality according to Eysencks (1916)  [11]   http://alleydog.com/images/eysenek-wheel.gif Figure 1.1 Eysencks Wheel of Personality http://alleydog.com/images/eysenek-wheel.gif Temperament according to Galambos and Costigan (2003) as citied by Santrock (2005:192), is an individuals behavioral style and characteristic way of responding and it is the foundation of personality. There are three types of temperament: Easy Child: this child is generally in positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines, and adapts easily to new experiences. Difficult Child: this child reacts negatively to man situation and is slow to accept new experience. Slow-to-warm-up child: this child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative and displays a low intensity of mood.  [12]   With reference to the table and the wheel the researchers have experience with students who behave in all these ways. However, it is seen that not all the time the trouble students are poor performers but sometime the more privilege students have greater pain from pressure and high expectations that they behave differently at home and in school. They can be stable at home and at school the complete opposite and need love and attention. Students when away from home they want to be themselves and live a little and teachers need to help them by showing them how to behave an help them understand life during the period of Adolescence, that they are going through. At this point, students are forming an identity and developing a personality that will define who they are as individual. It is important that teachers understand personality, their own personality so that they can tolerate others so the students will imitate them and tolerate their peers in the classroom and this knowledge about personality can help students to avoid conflict and confrontation among peer because they will understand that everyone is different and is part of our society. PERSONALITY AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat, but consists of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching process. Personality characteristics play an important role when it comes to the learning process and the attitudes and perceptions of learning. Every student views learning differently since their parents and teachers would try to convenience them that learning is beneficial to them in the future. Some students are interested in learning one way while others are not motivated by when teachers utilize multiple intelligence methods students will find what stimulates their interest and will become interests. According to Child and Smithers (1971) reviewed and cited by Child (2007:403): Variations in performance are not entirely a question of intellect, motivation or thinking skills, but may depend on the personal attributes which can enhance or inhibit the quality of that performance. In the classroom and in the teaching profession there are individuals with Type A behaviour personality and they can be difficult individual so that is why it is often a problem that some students and teachers just cannot get along because they dont understand each other personality or even realize they have a Type A behaviour. After the work of two American Heart Specialist Friedman and Rosenman 1974 was reviewed, endorsed and cited in Child (2007:403) the characteristics of Types A behaviour are: Tries to do or think of two or more things at once, (b) Cannot sit doing nothing-feels guilty when not working, (c) Develops ticks, facial movement (eyebrow raising), (d) has a thing about punctuality, (e) gets impatient watching others doing a job he or she thinks can be done better, (f) plays to win- even when playing with children, (g) drums fingers impatiently, (h) does lots of arm waving when talking, (i) hurries others along who are speaking, (j) tries to steer conversations to her or his own interests, (k) tries to pack a lot of work into little time, (l) shows no interest in aesthetic aspect of surroundings (m) gets very cross in queues, (n) has the motto if you want something done properly, do it yourself and (o) pushes other people hard at work Students with this kind of behaviour do not usually get along with their peers since they want everything perfect and bossy. If the students are aggressive and dominant then they will be fidgety and argue with the teachers and be disruptive to prove their points. Also, it is can be very alarming if teachers have that types of behaviour since they can be cold, detach and no-nonsense person with no lenience who the students will fear and this can cause students to underperform since they do not understand what is requires of them from the teacher. These persons will have a high self-esteem and confidence and will work hard and be professions. The students will be hard working striving for only A. This type of behaviour cause stress, frustration and aggression that is not good for the students or the teachers health. Summary Personality can be defined as the pattern of behaviour that is enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions and behaviours that differs from every individual and is used to adapt to the world. A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat, but consists of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching process. The unconscious mind is a perceptual battleground in which the Id, ego and superego are engaged in unending conflict. Defense Mechanisms which are unconscious methods by which the ego distorts reality to protect itself from anxiety are: Repression, Rationalization, Displacement, Sublimation, Projection, Reaction and Regression Both heredity and environment plays and important part in an individuals personality development. The cognitive development and social learning and moral guidance help to make decisions rather than overacting with the egos but the superego controls all the extreme actions and it helps both the internal and external determinants to harmonize. Eysencks big five are: Neuroticism-Emotional Stability, Introversion-Extraversion, Openness-Convergence, Agreeableness-Antagonism and Conscientiousness-Undirectedness. Three types of temperament: Easy Child, Difficult Child and Slow-to-warm-up child. Variations in performance are not entirely a question of intellect, motivation or thinking skills, but may depend on the personal attributes which can enhance or inhibit the quality of that performance Type A behaviour personality can cause a person to be difficult to deal with and understand. Conclusion The researchers can confidently conclude that this was the most informative and beneficial researcher that they have ever pursued: understanding personality From the readings the researchers believe that there is still so much yet to uncover about personality. Understanding personality opens the eyes of an individual to accept and tolerate the behaviours, attitudes and cultures of others. The researchers being teachers looked at how the concept of personality can influence their attitudes and behaviours when dealing with the adolescents. Understanding the personalities and difference will help teachers to interact better with the students and also they are better able to counsel the students into tolerating each other and to help students and teacher to better deal with situations. Personality studies will never come to an end because each person is different, complex and sophisticated in their own way.

Macbeths Demise in Shakespeares Macbeth :: essays research papers

â€Å"Macbeth† is an age-old tragedy by, William Shakespeare, that tells the story of the disastrous down fall of Scotland and it’s Kings. The protagonist, Macbeth, starts out as a thriving Thane in Scotland, but ends up destroying his own prosperity as well as Scotland’s. Certain witches who tell people their fate convince Macbeth that he will be King and that his dear friend Banquo’s children will be kings. In an effort to be sure his prophecy is true and with some encouragement from his rash wife, he kills King Duncan, the current king of Scotland. To continue on this path of destruction Macbeth, acts on impulse and has his friend Banquo killed, because he is afraid that he killed Duncan for someone else’s fortune. Throughout the play Macbeth’s degeneration continues until the tragic ending when the country turns against him and seizes his castle. Macbeth’s demise can be attributed to his abandoning his belief in fate for a ne ed to prove his masculinity. Macbeth’s doubt in fate is not realized until later in the play. When he first meets the â€Å"weird sisters† they make prophecies that he finds impossible to be true. â€Å"But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman, and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor.†(1.3.73-75). Macbeth doesn’t believe this because he knows that the Thane of Cawdor is still alive and that King Duncan’s sons are the heirs to the throne. His need to be masculine has not yet effected his belief in fate. Once Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor he is completely convinced that the predictions of the fate sisters are true â€Å"I chance will have be King, why chance may crown me. Without My Stir†¦Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day†(1.3.145-150). This is the most trust in faith he will ever have. Shortly after Macbeth puts all his trust in fate, Lady Macbeth challenges his masculinity. â€Å" What beast wasn’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man,† (1.7.49-51). This is Lady Macbeth’s response when Macbeth tries to back out of killing King Duncan. Almost immediately Macbeth’s personality changes, he decides to go ahead with the crime as if that will make him a man. Macbeth's Demise in Shakespeare's Macbeth :: essays research papers â€Å"Macbeth† is an age-old tragedy by, William Shakespeare, that tells the story of the disastrous down fall of Scotland and it’s Kings. The protagonist, Macbeth, starts out as a thriving Thane in Scotland, but ends up destroying his own prosperity as well as Scotland’s. Certain witches who tell people their fate convince Macbeth that he will be King and that his dear friend Banquo’s children will be kings. In an effort to be sure his prophecy is true and with some encouragement from his rash wife, he kills King Duncan, the current king of Scotland. To continue on this path of destruction Macbeth, acts on impulse and has his friend Banquo killed, because he is afraid that he killed Duncan for someone else’s fortune. Throughout the play Macbeth’s degeneration continues until the tragic ending when the country turns against him and seizes his castle. Macbeth’s demise can be attributed to his abandoning his belief in fate for a ne ed to prove his masculinity. Macbeth’s doubt in fate is not realized until later in the play. When he first meets the â€Å"weird sisters† they make prophecies that he finds impossible to be true. â€Å"But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman, and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor.†(1.3.73-75). Macbeth doesn’t believe this because he knows that the Thane of Cawdor is still alive and that King Duncan’s sons are the heirs to the throne. His need to be masculine has not yet effected his belief in fate. Once Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor he is completely convinced that the predictions of the fate sisters are true â€Å"I chance will have be King, why chance may crown me. Without My Stir†¦Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day†(1.3.145-150). This is the most trust in faith he will ever have. Shortly after Macbeth puts all his trust in fate, Lady Macbeth challenges his masculinity. â€Å" What beast wasn’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man,† (1.7.49-51). This is Lady Macbeth’s response when Macbeth tries to back out of killing King Duncan. Almost immediately Macbeth’s personality changes, he decides to go ahead with the crime as if that will make him a man.

Frank Mccourt: Angela’s Ashes

In this hard world where winning is more important than participating you would sometimes almost forget to be generous from time to time. But when I read Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt I got a completely different view on generosity and the importance of it. This memoir is about the miserable Irish Catholic childhood of the writer. And I think that after this essay you will see that acts of generosity can make the lives of the poor better and that those people afterwards can also help other poor people. Firstly, it were rough times for the McCourt family.Dad -Malachy- was drinking the dole, the family lived in a bad house and children kept dying. The only way the McCourt’s could keep their heads above water was getting help from others. One thing that helped them in their struggle for survival was the St. Vincent the Paul Society. On page 79 they get help for the first time. I quote â€Å"The man in the middle says he’s giving Mam a docket to get a week’ s groceries at McGrath’s shop on Parnell Street. There will be tea, sugar, flour, milk, butter and a separate docket for a bag of coal from Sutton’s coal yard on the Dock road. In my opinion this is generous because I think that generosity means to help someone without gaining profit from it yourself and the St. Vincent de Paul Society doesn’t get anything back for this. That this gift of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is very helpful for the McCourt’s is confirmed by this â€Å"Mam wipes her face at the back of her sleeve and takes the docket. She tells the men, God bless you for your kindness†(page 79). Even though they get some support from the St. Vincent de Paul Society the McCourt family didn’t have enough to be very happy or to not have hunger.Therefore it is very good that others also helped the family sometimes. Another gift that I found generous was that some shopkeepers also gave food to the family for free. â€Å"A few shopkeep ers give bread, potatoes, tins of beans†¦ † (page 90). This, in my opinion, is very generous because those shops are there to make profit and handing out food isn’t profitable for them at all. It’s however very helpful for the McCourt’s. Further on in the book you can also read that Angela could also get credit at Kathleen O’Connell’s shop. Mam says she can now pay off the few pounds that she owes at Kathleen O’Connell’s shop†¦ † (page 133). Of course you could say this isn’t real generosity because Mam has to pay the money back, but I think it is quite generous to give credit to a family that doesn’t have a steady income. Secondly, when Frank is a little older –at the age when he can start working- you can discover a different kind of generosity. The kind of generosity that is more like giving a fishing rod instead of a fish.The first time when you will encounter this type of generosity is w hen Aunt Aggie buys the new clothes for Frank for his job as a telegram boy. â€Å"She takes me to Roche’s Stores and buys me a shirt, a gansey, a pair of short pants, two pairs of stockings and a pair of summer shoes on sale. She gives me two shillings to have tea and a bun for my birthday. She gets on the bus to go back up O’Connell Street too fat and lazy to walk. Fat and lazy, no son of her own, and still she buys me the clothes for my new job† (page 392).I think this is generosity because he now has a suit in which he of course will make a better impression at his new job and he can start making money of his own. In my interpretation Frank appreciated this gift very much because he even cries from happiness â€Å"I turn towards Arthur’s Quay with the package of new clothes under my arm and I have to stand at the edge of the River Shannon so that the whole world won’t see the tears of a man the day he’s fourteen† (page 392). Then after a while he gets fired because he has to deliver a telegram to Mr.Harrington, but he gets falsely accused for stealing ham and sherry. Because of a generous deed of the parish priest he gets his job back. â€Å"She gets a letter from the parish priest. Take the boy back, says the parish priest. Oh, yes father, indeed, says the post office† (page 416). Then when he delivers a telegram to Mrs. Brigid Finucane she asked Frank if he can write letters to her costumers to give her back the money she had leant them. This job yielded him some extra money, so his trip to America came closer and closer. She says, I’ll give you threepence for every letter you write and another threepence if it brings a payment† (page 418). I think it’s very generous from Mrs. Finucane to give this job because it brings Frank closer to his target, going to America. Because of all these acts of generosity towards the McCourt’s and especially Frank McCourt they aren’t the poorest of the poorest. Because they aren’t you can discover some acts of generosity from Frank himself. One generous gesture by him was that he gave his raisin away. I wanted the raisin for myself but I saw Paddy Clohessy standing in the corner with no shoes and the room was freezing and he was shivering like a dog that had been kicked and I always felt sad over kicked dogs so I walked over and gave Paddy the raisin† (page 148). I think it’s very generous to give your food away to someone that has it even worse than you even if you don’t have much yourself. The quote says that Paddy has no shoes. Without acts of generosity towards Frank he probably wouldn’t have them either, so he would have probably eaten the raisin himself.Something else happens much later in the book and that is that Frank throws Mrs. Finucanes’ ledger in the Shannon. This means that a lot of people don’t have to pay her back. †Aunt Aggie’s name i s in the ledger. She owes nine pounds. It might have the money she spent on my clothes a long time ago but now she’ll never have to pay it because I heave the ledger into the river† In my opinion this is a very clear act of generosity because he helps a lot of poor people with this. This is maybe a bit like Robin Hood even.Finally, now we have had a look at how acts of generosity changes the course of events and of lives I think we can conclude that generosity can really change the life of some people. Wouldn’t the McCourt family have died from starvation without generosity? Would Frank McCourt have ever gone to America without generosity? Would Frank have ever been generous to others without generosity from others? I would answer no on all these questions. I also think that generosity leads to more generosity. I hope you will understand this when you look at the last paragraph, because Frank is generous because others have been generous to him.

Nian, the Chinese Spring or New Years Day Festival

The Spring Festival is the grandest festival for the Chinese. The Spring Festival is also called Nian, but who knows the term, Nian, was once the name of a furious monster that lived on human beings in the ancient time. How the festival has some relationship with the monster lies in a story about the origin and development of the Spring Festival. The legend says, long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ugly and ferocious, which looked like either dragons or unicorns. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming. There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks for the purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it. On a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth to people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldnt stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people. Since then, people have kept the tradition by beating drums and gongs, and lighting fireworks at the coldest day in winter to drive the imagined monsters away and to celebrate the victory over it. Today, Nian refers to the New Years Day or the Spring Festival. People often say Guo Nian, which means live the festival. Furthermore, Nian also means the year. For example, the Chinese often greet each other by saying Xin Nian Hao, which means Happy New Year! Xin means new and Hao means good.