Personality Traits
- 1. Personality Traits: Your Reaction to External and Internal Stimuli Your personality traits give people a glimpse of who you are, whether in a positive light or a negative light. These pretty much help other people describe who you are in terms of how you respond to external and internal stimuli, among other things. Usually, personality traits manifest themselves after you have been exposed to a particular external stimulus upon which you will be internally stimulated and your quick or immediate response to these stimuli highlights a specific trait. Sometimes, internal conflicts arise as one begins to analyze a situation and your reaction in response to the internal conflict, when repeated in patterns; develops into your character. Positive vs. Negative Personality Traits In any given situation, there are only two ways to respond: positively or negatively. If other people are involved, your reaction will serve as an added external stimulus to them which in turn will influence the way they will respond. Sometimes, we are not fully aware of our own personality traits because we are not looking at our reactions and each situation in an objective point of view but rather we look at these in a subjective point of view since we are directly involved. If you would like to be more aware of your own traits, make a list of personality traits, with separate columns for the positive traits and the negative traits. For instance, under the Positive column; you can write down Affectionate and a corresponding Negative trait like Distant or Cold. Think of scenarios where you were given a chance to react either affectionately or coldly and see which trait became your dominant response. Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation Abraham Maslow was an American Psychology teacher who, in his Theory of Human Motivation, came up with a hierarchy of man’s needs, starting from the basic and physical needs and going all the way up to man’s personal actualization needs. In Maslows Hierarchy of Human Needs, he illustrates how man’s needs grow as each cluster of human needs are met, going up to the next level until he has reached the most important cluster of needs which focuses on personal or self growth. In a pyramid-style demonstration of this hierarchy, Maslow lists man’s physiological needs as the most basic where food, sex and sleep are included. As these needs are met, man’s needs increases which he then lists as man’s need for the assurance of being safe in the environment, in his own body, within his family and property.
- 2. Going further up the pyramid, love and belonging become important factors in man’s psychological development and as these needs are once again met; man’s needs go one rung higher in the pyramid where self-esteem is focused on. Finally, the top of the pyramid lists man’s need for self-actualization where morality and creativity are listed. Maslow believes that people who have reached the top of the pyramid are more aware of their full potential and in being so, they can consciously work on releasing this potential for their personal growth. References: http://www.makehappiness.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-human-needs.html http://www.thelists.org/list-of-personality-traits.html