Nature,

Nurture, and
Personality
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
PERSONALITY IS INFLUENCED BY BOTH NATURE
(HEREDITY OR GENETIC MAKE-UP) AND NURTURE
(ENVIRONMENT). THERE IS NO SINGLE GENE THAT
CREATES A TRAIT. IT IS ALWAYS A COMPLEX
COMBINATION OF GENES, ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
AND EXPERIENCES, AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS.
THERE ARE COMMON PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT CROSS
MANY CULTURES.
A G R E E A B L E N E S S A N D O P E N N E S S TO E X P E R I E N C E S A R E S O M E
E X A M P L E S O F T H E S E C R O S S - C U LT U R A L T R A I T S . T H E R E A R E ,
H O W E V E R , O T H E R P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T S T H AT A R E M O R E P R O M I N E N T
I N O N E C U LT U R E T H A N A N O T H E R .
EXAMPLE:
A S I A N E X H I B I T S T R O N G “ I N T E R P E R S O N A L R E L AT E D N E S S “ O R H O W
T H E I R B E H AV I O R I M PA C T S R E L AT I O N S H I P S , C O M PA R E D TO
W E S T E R N E R S W H O L O O K AT T H E I R B E H AV I O R A N D I T S I M PA C T O N
THEIR PERSONAL GOALS.
A N A S I A N W H O I S P U R S U I N G A C A R E E R B Y M I G R AT I N G TO A N O T H E R
C O U N T RY W I L L A LWAY S C O N S I D E R H O W T H I S W I L L A F F E C T H I S FA M I LY
A N D S O C I A L T I E S AT H O M E . A W E S T E R N E R , O N T H E O T H E R H A N D , W I L L
S E E W O R K I N G O V E R S E A S A S A C A R E E R M O V E T H AT W I L L E N H A N C E
CAREER GROWTH.
Trait
Theories
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Trait Theories
-ONE GENERAL POINT OF VIEW EXPLAINS THAT
PERSONALITY DEALS WITH TRAITS, AND THAT TRAIT OR
DISPOSITION IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN PERSONALITY. TRAIT
THEORY IS AN APPROACH IN IDENTIFYING TYPES OF
PERSONALITIES BASED ON CERTAIN TRAITS OR
ATTRIBUTES, WHICH VARY FROM ONE PERSON TO THE
OTHER (TRAITTHEORY.COM). THIS THEORY WAS
DEVELOPED OVER THE PAST 60 YEARS, STARTED BY D. W.
FISKE (1949) AND LATER PURSUED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS
INCLUDING NORMAN (1967), SMITH (1967), GOLDBERG
(1981), AND MCRAE AND COSTA (1987) (K. CHERRY, 2018;
JOHN, NAUMANN, & SOTO, 2008).
 LOW SCORES HIGH SCORES
1. EXTRAVERSION LONER JOINER
QUIET TALKATIVE
PASSIVE ACTIVE
RESERVED AFFECTIONATE
2. AGREEABLENESS SUSPICIOUS TRUSTING
CRITICAL LENIENT
RUTHLESS SOFT-HEARTED
IRRITABLE GOOD-NATURED
3. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS NEGLIGENT CONSCIENTOUS
LAZY HARDWORKING
DISORGANIZED WELL-ORGANIZED
LATE PUNCTUAL
4. NEUROTICISM CALM WORRIED
EVEN-TEMPERED TEMPERAMENTAL
COMFORTABLE SELF-CONSCIOUS
UNEMOTIONAL EMOTIONAL
5. OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE DOWN-TO-EARTH IMAGINATIVE
UNCREATIVE CREATIVE
CONVENTIONAL ORIGINAL
UNCURIOUS CURIOUS
-PSYCHOLOGISTS COSTA AND MCRAE (1996)
DEVELOPED A CATEGORIZED SCHEME THAT DESCRIBED
PERSONALITY. BASED ON THEIR RESEARCH, THEY
DISCOVERED THE EXISTENCE OF FIVE UNIVERSAL AND
WIDELY AGREED-UPON DIMENSIONS OF PERSONALITY.
THEY CALLED IT THE BIG FIVE OR FIVE-FACTOR MODEL.
THESE DIMENSIONS OR TENDENCIES ARE: OPENNESS
TO EXPERIENCE, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, EXTRAVERSION,
AGREEABLENESS, AND NEUROTICISM. FOR IT TO BE
EASILY REMEMBERED, IT USES THE ACRONYM OCEAN.
THESE DIMENSIONS MAY BE DESCRIBED USING ITS
MOST POSITIVE TRAITS:
- OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE – CURIOUS, INTERESTED
TO NEW IDEAS, IMAGINATIVE, AND CREATIVE
- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS – PLANNING, ORGANIZING,
HARDWORKING, CONTROLLING, PERSEVERING, AND
PUNCTUAL
- EXTRAVERSION – SOCIABLE, TALKATIVE, ACTIVE,
OUTGOING, AND FUN-LOVING.
- AGREEABLENESS – FRIENDLY, WARM, TRUSTING,
GENEROUS, AND KIND-HEARTED.
- NEUROTICISM- CALM, RELAXED, AND COMFORTABLE
Personality
Traits
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
PERSONALITY TRAITS
- PERSONALITY TRAIT IS A DISPOSITION TO BEHAVE
CONSISTENTLY IN PARTICULAR WAY, WHILE
PERSONALITY IS A BROADER TERM THAT COMPRISES
TRAITS, MOTIVES, THOUGHTS, SELF-CONCEPT, AND
FEELINGS. EXAMPLES OF PERSONALITY TRAITS ARE
SHYNESS OR SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS, LOYALTY, AND
HONESTY.
Measuring
Personality
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
- THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO MEASURE
PERSONALITY. ONE IS BY OBSERVING PEOPLE’S
BEHAVIOR. THIS IS QUITE LIMITED AS OTHER PEOPLE
MAY NOT BE ABLE TO OBSERVE ALL ASPECTS OF
PERSONALITY SUCH AS LONELINESS, WHICH IS
INTERNAL AND IS OBSERVED BY OTHERS VERY
SUBJECTIVELY.
- PERSONALITY CAN BE MEASURED USING DIFFERENT
KINDS OF TESTS LIKE THE RORSCHACH INKBLOT
TEST, THE MYERS BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI),
AND THE KEIRSEY TEMPERAMENT SORTER.
- MANY ONLINE TESTS ARE PROVIDED FOR FREE,
PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO FIND OUT THEIR
PERSONALITY TO ESTABLISH THEIR CAREER PATHS.
- ONE EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE ALBERTA LEARNING
INFORMATION SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA
IN CANADA , IN ITS CAREER INSITE: KNOW YOURSELF WEB
LOG (ALBERTA LEARNING INFORMATION SERVICE ,N.D.).
- AN EXAMPLE OF POPULAR PERSONALITY TEST USED IS
THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI). KATHERINE
BRIGGS AND ISABEL BRIGGS MYERS DEVELOPED THE
MYERS-BRIGGS PERSONALITY MODEL BASED ON FOUR
PREFERENCES OF INDIVIDUALS.
E OR I (EXTRAVERSION OR IS HOW AN INDIVIDUAL PREFERS TO
INTROVERSION) CHANNEL HIS OR HER ENERGY WHEN
DEALING WITH PEOPLE, WHETHER IT IS
INWARD (INTROVERSION) OR OUTWARD
(EXTRAVERSION)
S OR I (SENSING OR INTUITION) IS HOW ONE PREFERS TO PROCESS
INFORMATION, WHETHER THROUGH THE
USE OF SENSES SUCH AS BEING ABLE TO
DESCRIBE WHAT ONE SEES, OR INTUITIVELY
LIKE DEALING WITH IDEAS.

T OR F (THINKING OR FEELING) IS HOW AN INDIVIDUAL PREFERS TO MAKE

DECISIONS, EITHER THINKING OR USING
LOGIC AND ANALYSIS, OR FEELING WHICH
USES THE COGNITIVE SENSES BASED ON
VALUES OR BELIEFS.

J OR P (JUDGEMENT OR PERCEPTION) IS HOW AN INDIVIDUAL PREFERS TO

MANAGE ONE’S LIFE, WHETHER THROUGH
JUDGING, WHICH MEANS A PLANNED AND
ORGANIZED LIFE, VERSUS PERCEPTION,
WHICH HAS A MORE FLEXIBLE APPROACH
TO LIVING.
- THE COMBINATION OF THESE FOUR PREFERENCES
PRODUCES 16 TYPES OF COMBINATIONS OF PERSONALITY
TYPES, USUALLY REPRESENTED BY THEIR FIRST LETTERS.
THERE IS WEB PAGE WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE 16
COMBINATIONS AND THEIR DESCRIPTIONS:
- HTTPS://WWW.PERSONALITYPERFECT.COM/16-PERSONALITY
-TYPES
.
- AND IF YOU ARE CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR OWN PERSONALITY
TYPE ACCORDING TO THIS TEST, YOU MAY CHECK OUT THIS
WEB ADDRESS:
- HTTPS://WWW.PERSONALITYPERFECT.COM/TEST/FREE-PERS
ONALITY-TEST
.
- ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WHEN TAKING THESE TYPES OF
ONLINE TESTS, THEY ARE NOT THE REAL TESTS BEING
GIVEN OUT, AND THEREFORE, INACCURATE. YOU MAY WANT
Thank you
for
listening.
I HOPE YOU LEARN SOMETHING.