POWER OF PERSONALITY

HEROIC PERSONALITY

Read the three short descriptions. Which of these people do you think are heroes? Why/Why not? Discuss
how their personality is.

PERSONALITY POWER

1. What are some characteristics of your personality?

2. Do you think you have some so-called ‘heroic’ personalities?
3. Do you think your personality affects how you actually treat other people?
Reading – PERSONALITY POWER

Kerry Clark was sitting in the backyard of his farm when he saw a small plane crash in the nearby woods. He
rushed over there immediately and started to rescue people, even though the plane was on fire an might
explode any minute.
‘Somebody needed to help,’ Clark said afterwards. ‘You do it because you have to.’
But if you saw a crash, would you risk your life to help? Was Clark crazy or unusually brave? Researchers at
Berkeley University have spent the last five years studying what exactly makes people act heroically.
They have made some fascinating discoveries:
 One in five people have done something heroic, such as helping another person in a dangerous
situation, or being honest when they find out about something unfair, even if it risks their safety or job.
 The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be a hero.
 Kind, generous people are more likely to be heroes. One third of the heroes in the study also
volunteered up to 5-9 hours a week.
 Men reported heroism more than women. However, this may be because women can be a bit
embarrassed about their heroic actions.
 Having been lucky enough to survive a disaster yourself makes you three times more likely to be a hero
or a volunteer.

CULTURE AND PERSONALITY

Read the quotes below. What do you think they mean?

1. Do you think there is actually any relation between someone’s personality and his culture?
Why?
2. Give an example of your country’s culture/ethnic culture that affects your personality.
LISTENING

Rory and Abidemi talk about what they would like to change about their personality.
https://soundcloud.com/elllo-todd/1398-power-of-personality

Complete the sentences.

Abidemi: So Rory, in the last conversation we were talking about changing your personality and you never said
what you thought of that.

Rory: Well, I think, I think when you learn a language often your personality does change. I notice with my
students that they often seem quite different when they speak English to when they speak Japanese. I’m not
sure if that’s a language thing or a cultural thing. But I mean you speak more than one language.

Abidemi: Yes, I do.

Rory: Do you think your personality is different in each language?

Abidemi: That’s a really good question. Just thinking of it right now, I think maybe for me it’s more a question
of the culture because I think when I am in an environment where I’m expected to be
more ________________, I tend to try to live up to that.

Rory: Right.

Abidemi: I tend to try to be more ______________, more open, more friendly or friendlier, I should say. But
when I’m somewhere where I know that it’s expected of me to be quieter, I do tend to become more quiet.

Rory: Right.

Abidemi: So I don’t know. That’s a really good question.

Rory: And do you think there might be something in languages which make them like a more extroverted
language or a more introverted language? Like I think about Italians – maybe it’s a stereotype of Italians, but
they seem to be very extroverted and the language seems to help them in that extroversion.

Abidemi: That’s true. That’s very true. That’s a good question because I’m just trying to think of culture and
languages in general, and there’s that debate of how cultures and languages are _____________. Is it the
culture that came first or is it the language that made the culture the way it is? So I don’t know. I really don’t
know. But I would love to read more research and find out.

Rory: Yeah. I mean, I noticed since I moved to Asia, to countries like Japan and Korea, the people do seem
more ______________ and the language also seems more introverted. So I wonder if the language or like you
say, I wonder which came first, the language or the culture?
Abidemi: And I think to add on to that, when I think of Asian students that I’ve noticed speaking English, which
to some people is a more extroverted language, they always seem more confident.

Rory: Yeah.

Abidemi: They seem friendlier. They seem more open to talking about themselves, their family life. But when
you talk to them in their native language, it seems like they ______________ to their _______________ which
would probably be less…

Rory: Right, yes.

Abidemi: Yeah, so maybe there is something there.

Rory: Yeah. And I guess the culture over here in Asian countries is people are less likely to share information.
There’s less – I mean, in the West especially recently, there’s quite a pressure on you to be more open.

Abidemi: That’s true.

Rory: Whereas maybe in Korea, Japan and China, people are more closed and just have different boundaries.

Abidemi: I’m just trying to think of African countries, like being a Nigerian myself, we’ve had the issue of
colonization and where the Western British culture is colorized. So coming from that aspect, I wonder before
how we were. Were we more introverted? Because in a lot of ways we’re very similar to Asian cultures and
Asian values. We have a lot of that as well.

But now it’s true that being able to speak English and express yourself in a more Western way is a lot. It
weighs a lot. It means a lot, so people really enjoy that. People really take their value from that. So yeah, I
think it’s a really interesting topic.

Rory: Because I mean people often see England or British people as a bit introverted and a bit quiet, a bit cold
and yet we share the same language as America. And people tend to think that people from North America
are quiet brash and extroverted.

Abidemi: That’s true.

Rory: So like I said it’s more cultural than language-based.

Abidemi: Yeah, maybe. Maybe we’ve come to a solution then. We’ve found it. It is the culture more than the
language then.
COMPREHENSION QUIZ

1. They say people from ___________ seem to be introverted.

a. Europe b. Africa c. Asia
2. You seem extroverted if you ___________.
a. speak softly b. talk with your hands c. make eye contact
3. In the West there is pressure to be _____________.
a. open b. closed c. intrusive
4. British people seem more ____________ than Americans.
a. extroverted b. introverted c. honest
5. People from North America can seem ______________.
a. Quaint b. brash c. cold

VOCABULARY BUILDING

Extroverted 1. People who are more shy and do not talk as much as extroverted people.

Cheerful 2. Are linked together and support each other.

Introverted 3. When something goes back to a previous form.

Cultural Norm 4. Is very happy and smiles a lot.

Revert back 5. People who are more shy and do not talk as much as extroverted people.

Intertwined 6. Is a way people from one culture do things, which is often different from other cultures.

VOCABULARY QUIZ

1. The two countries’ histories are _______________.

2. She is always happy and _____________________.
3. Shy people are ___________________.
4. It is easy to _____________ to bad old habits.
5. Outgoing people are __________________.
6. Shaking hands in the _________________ in America.
PERSONALITY QUOTES

How can you relate to the following quotes?

READING
PHRASAL VERBS
PERSONALITY and BEHAVIOR

WRAP- UP QUESTIONS

1. What do you think are the factors that shape a person’s personality?
2. Do you think personality traits vary between countries?
3. Do you think personality tests and assessments can accurately categorize a person?
4. If you could remove one aspect of your personality, what would it be?
5. Do you think birth order makes a difference in your personality?
6. In what way had your personality changed? Why has it changed?
7. Do you think people misunderstand your personality? Why?
8. What personality trait would you like to develop?
9. Are genes more powerful than how you were raised? Why do you think so?