Peoples personalities and more

 Have you ever wondered how it is that different people react in the same situations completely differently? What are their personality traits?

That some people get angry while others remain impassive? That some act impulsively while others coldly calculate their next move?

What makes us dispositions to certain behaviors, ways of thinking or feeling different emotions is our character, i.e. the features of our personality.

Personality traits influence how we think, how we behave, and how we feel.

Personality is defined as characteristic sets of behavior, thinking and emotional arousal. These patterns are due to biological and environmental factors.

Personality is understood as a relatively stable structure in the course of life.

Science does not know a direct answer to the question of where our character, our personality and its specific features come from.

However, most likely, several factors have an impact on the education of our personality.

Temperament: innate (biologically based), individual differences in behavior that are relatively independent of learning, value systems, and attitudes. We can say that these are our internal tendencies and dispositions (which, however, we can control by controlling our own behavior). By examining the temperament, it is possible to determine whether a given person is rather mobile and easily stimulated, or maybe, for example, is more balanced and these processes are slower.

Parenting: is the process of teaching children. Learning takes place in many different ways - e.g. through punishments and rewards of carers, through verbal knowledge and rules, but also through observations of how others (e.g. parents, older siblings) behave, i.e. the so-called. modeling.

Environment: everything that surrounds us. The peers with whom we grew up play a large role here, as well as the general standard of living or the problems we experience.

The most widely used system of personality traits is called the Five Factor Model, or the Big Five. Its authors are a couple of psychologists: Paul Costa and Robert McCrae.

This system includes five broad features:

• openness
• scrupulousness
• extroversion
• amicability
• neuroticism

You can determine the intensity of each of the main Big Five traits for a more detailed analysis of someone's personality.

The researchers also emphasize that although the model is useful, it does not cover all possible character traits.

While preparing the Big Five theory, it was noticed that many words used to describe personality traits are synonymous or that they result from each other.

So if we want to know what a person is like, we don't necessarily need to ask if they are sociable, friendly and open.

Instead, because outgoing people tend to be friendly and outgoing, we can summarize this personality dimension in one word.

Someone outgoing, friendly and sociable, in the Big Five model we will call an "extrovert" (i.e. someone who scores high on the dimension of extroversion).

Once we know that someone is an extrovert, we can assume that they are both outgoing, friendly and outgoing, and that they enjoy being around people.

It is also worth mentioning that none of the features described in the model are "good" or "bad".

This means that it is not good to be an extrovert and a bad thing to be an introvert (or vice versa), because each of these characteristics has its advantages and disadvantages.

Traits simply describe certain preferences and patterns, making them useful in understanding a person better and predicting their possible behaviors and problems more effectively.

Let's take a close look at each of the five dimensions of personality traits of the Big Five model.

People with a high score on this trait have a wide range of interests.

They are curious about the world and other people, eager to learn new things and enjoy new experiences. They are also more daring and creative.

Such people will also be willing to seek novelty, and they will rather be disturbed by staying in a once-established routine and in one environment for a long time.

People with a low level of this trait are often more oriented towards tradition and generally accepted ways of doing things.

Such people will be reluctant to change, they will rather avoid completely unfamiliar situations.

However, they will feel better in a familiar, comfortable environment.

Standard traits of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, impulse control, and goal-directed behavior.

People with a high level of conscientiousness are usually well organized and pay attention to details.

They plan ahead, consider how their behavior affects others, and keep deadlines in mind.

People with a low level of conscientiousness, on the other hand, may be more absent-minded, but also more spontaneous, ready to change plans frequently.

People with a low level of conscientiousness will also not feel best in rigidly defined structures and schedules.

Extraversion is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness and a large amount of emotional expression.

People with a high level of extroversion are sociable and tend to "charge up" their energy in social situations.

Being around other people helps them feel empowered and excited.

Extroverts don't mind being the center of attention and they don't feel embarrassed when they meet a lot of new people. They usually have a fairly wide circle of friends and easily make new contacts.

People who are low in extraversion (sometimes called introverts) tend to be more reserved and have less energy to expend in social situations.

Social events can feel exhausting, and introverts often require a period of solitude and silence to "recharge" and take a break from people.

Introverts often prefer entertainment in solitude or in a very small circle of loved ones.

Being in a crowd for a long time can tire them out. Introverts usually don't like the attention of a group for long, and making contact with complete strangers can be problematic or simply unpleasant for them.

This personality dimension includes traits such as trust, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviors. People who are high in agreeableness are more cooperative, while those who are low in agreeableness are more competitive.

On the other hand, people with high agreeableness may have trouble taking care of their own interests and being assertive.

However, they feel great and prove themselves as guardians. Forced competition can be tiring and stressful for them.

Neuroticism is a trait characterized by emotional instability.

People who have high levels of this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and sadness.

People with a low level of this trait seem to be more stable and emotionally resistant to events that happen to them.

A neurotic, or a person with a high level of neuroticism, usually gets stressed more easily, worries about many things and quickly feels frustrated.

He also has more mood swings and more anxiety.

A person with low neuroticism finds it easier to relax. He also copes better with stress when it appears.

It's harder to get such a person off balance, and if anything, they recover faster.

Features should not be thought of in a binary way. Definitely closer to features to a certain intensity scale.

Each of us feels very different emotions, reacts differently in different situations, and also has a "worse period" and moments of weakness.

However, when these traits start to cause problems, and their intensity is unnaturally high, it can be diagnosed as a personality disorder.

A personality disorder will affect how you deal with life, how you maintain relationships, and how you feel emotions.

Your emotions can be confusing, tiring, and hard to control. This can be disturbing to you and others.

Because this condition causes anxiety, it happens that it entails further problems - for example, anxiety disorders or depression.

Another problem is trying to deal with a personality disorder on your own - unfortunately, often in an unhealthy way.

Sometimes it even leads to addiction to various substances or self-destructive actions.

Personality disorders are divided into 3 groups, depending on the type and characteristics of the disorder.

People with personality disorders in this group may have difficulty socializing with other people. Their behavior may seem strange or eccentric to others.

Paranoid personality

They become very suspicious of others for no good reason.

You can also notice emotional coldness and a very high sensitivity to disregard or criticism from other people.

Schizoid personality

In the case of a person with schizoid personality disorder, few social relationships and a preference for being alone may be noted. Reluctance can also occur towards being part of a close relationship or even belonging to a family.

Such a person may seem cold and indifferent.

Schizotypal personality disorder

It often manifests itself through strange thoughts and feelings and unconventional behavior or appearance.

It is also common to show feelings that are inappropriate to the situation. For this reason, people with a schizotypal personalities are often perceived as eccentric.

Characteristic symptoms are high impulsiveness and recklessness in decisions and actions.

Such a person may not even consider how their actions affect other people.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Difficult disorder, sometimes also called "borderline personality disorder" or emotionally unstable personality disorder.

He is characterized by extremely strong emotions, frequent mood swings and feelings that are difficult to deal with. Frequent anxiety and depression are also characteristic.

Histrionic personality disorder

This disorder is characterized by exaggerated emotional expression, theatrical behavior, and a desire to be the center of attention. Provocative behavior is also common.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder means a tendency to lack empathy, insensitivity to the perspective of others, or a great need to be admired.

Narcissistic people feel superior to others and believe that they deserve special privileges.

People with Cluster C personality disorder have a strong sense of fear or anxiety.

Dependent personality

Dependent people excessively delegate responsibility for various areas of their lives to others. It is also associated with reduced self-confidence or a lack of courage to make your own decisions.

It is also very common to put the needs of others before your own needs. A person with a dependent personality is afraid of being abandoned by loved ones.

Avoidant personality

Avoidant personality disorder is a disorder that affects people with very low self-esteem who are unable to communicate effectively with others.

Despite avoiding relationships with others (because of fear), there is a strong need for acceptance.

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality

The disorder is also known as anankastic personality disorder.

Characteristic is the orientation towards perfectionism, striving for order and giving things a specific structure. Disordered things, spontaneous decisions, etc. often cause considerable anxiety.

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder often means a lot of caution and attention to detail - from the perspective of those around it, it can look like a person who wants to exercise excessive control.

The dark triad of personality traits

The disturbing name of the "dark triad" is given to three particularly damaging personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.

People who are characterized by a high level of these features are more likely to commit crimes, contribute to serious problems, do not show empathy - but they tend to be selfish, manipulative, use people and treat them as objects.

Machiavellianism (named after Machiavelli - an Italian philosopher): the visible manifestation of Machiavellianism is the achievement of goals through manipulation, judging other people as weaker and untrustworthy, the application of the principle "the end justifies the means" and the lack of emotional involvement in the relationship and manifestations of empathy.

Machiavellians are also characterized by not taking into account the needs of the other person, a tendency to manipulate, lie, cheat and betrayal in situations when it is beneficial to them.

Narcissism: The pursuit of vanity or selfish admiration for an idealized image of oneself and one's characteristics.

It is a serious problem in the relationship of a narcissistic person with the group and in the relationship with himself.

Psychopathy: The diagnostic criteria used to define psychopathic characteristics assume the following symptoms:

• ruthlessness and disregard for the feelings of others
• lack of responsibility and disregard for generally accepted norms and social rules
• inability to maintain lasting relationships with other people - but there is no major difficulty in establishing them initially
• violent behavior - little is needed to arouse frustration or even aggression
• inability to feel genuine guilt, failure to learn from punishment
• tendency to blame others, frequent conflicts with the environment

What distinguishes us from other people is our personality and its individual features. They result from innate predispositions, but also from how we were brought up and in what environment we live.

In personality psychology, there are many models describing character/personality traits. One such model is the Big Five, a concept describing human character based on the intensity of five factors: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

Mental disorders are also associated with personality and character traits, collectively known as personality disorders.

These states are characterized by an exaggerated intensity of certain features and an inability to control them - which in turn leads to the deterioration of everyday functioning and establishing relationships with others.

Sources

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