How Personal is Personality?

It is often believed that our life experiences and the interpretation of them have a profound effect on the development and progression of our personality traits, as well as the overall growth of each individual.

The diversity of each person’s distinct features and particular mannerisms in his or her behavior creates the unique qualities found within each of us.

The identification and analysis of these personality traits also help us to recognize how our personalities affect our interactions with other individuals and situations presented to us throughout our lives.

We are Unique and Have Varying Needs & Wants….The Basis of the ‘Individual Theory’

Renowned personality theorist Gordon Allport developed the argument known as the “Individual Theory”. This theory was created under the assumption that there is uniqueness within each individual, and that describing a person in general or generic terms deprived the individual of the opportunity to be seen for his or her distinctive traits and characteristics.

In order to prevent bias and encourage individual validity, Allport performed personality studies on single individuals, as opposed to the widely performed group-categorized research; Allport called his preferred type of study ‘Morphogenic Science’. The phrase Morphogenic comes from the Greek word ‘morphê’, meaning ‘shape’, and the word ‘genesis’ meaning ‘creation’; thus, translated to "the creation of shape".

Allport found morphogenic science to be more reliable in the uncovering of individual uniqueness, as opposed to ‘nomothetic’ methods which were used by most other psychologists and are often applied on groupings of people rather than a single person. Nomothetic comes from the Greek word ‘nomos’, which means 'law'; the commonly used nomothetic approach is often interested in finding patterns or laws of human personality in a general sense.

Allport’s use of morphogenic study helped to demonstrate that uniqueness can be found within an individual no matter his or her cultural influence, ethnicity, geographical place of origin, skin color, and/or gender.

Too Many to Count….

Despite his efforts, Allport resolved that an individual’s personality contains an endless array of variables and aspects which cannot be pinpointed, identified, and analyzed. Therefore, although he promoted and supported the concept of uniqueness and individualism, Allport inevitably conceded that it is better to generalize the concept of personality rather than leaving any one part out of the description; feeling the act of neglecting even the smallest portion of the concept of personality would be insulting to the uniqueness found within it.

Among Allport’s discoveries and unveilings through his studies, he concluded, however, that personality is relative to the environment, both physical and social; thus, identifying a correlation of cause and effect with interpersonal relationships. The art of human interaction poses a large influence on behavior and its characteristics, including leadership, motivation, attitudes, group dynamics, and organizational behavior, which are often impacted by personality traits.

Simply put, because human development can be shaped from the dynamic interaction between a person and their surrounding society, the uniqueness found within each individual can be considered, in some cases, a direct result of interpersonal relationships.

Have you experienced an interpersonal relationship that shaped your personality?

We All Strive for the Same Things….The Basis of the ‘Holistic-Dynamic Theory’

The Holistic-Dynamic theory was introduced by renowned American psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow developed, what has become known as, the Hierarchy of Needs (see below), in order to explain human motivation, and thus the basis of the Holistic-Dynamic theory.

His theory suggested that people have a number of basic needs that must be met before one is able to ascend the hierarchy, in order to pursue more social, emotional, and self-actualizing needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The holistic-dynamic theory assumes that the whole person is constantly being motivated by one need or another and that people have the potential to grow toward psychological health or a form of self-actualization.

Maslow’s holistic-dynamic theory, also known as personality theory, is based upon the assumption that people are continually motivated by one need or another, all people everywhere are motivated by the same basic needs and desires, and these needs and desires can be arranged in a graded pyramid, or a hierarchy.

The hierarchy-based approach to personality has become a widely accepted reference in both the physical and mental healthcare fields, as it presents valid and legitimate information regarding the physiological and psychological needs of human beings. Studies have shown that failure to satisfy these needs can lead to various forms of pathology such as malnutrition, fatigue, fear, insecurity, and even losing the will to live.

Upon Further Scrutiny….

If we break down the Holistic-Dynamic theory, the HOLISTIC aspect of the theory refers to the motivational factors of the individual as a WHOLE.

FYI: The term Holistic is often misrepresented to insinuate natural or organic; when it is simply the adjective or descriptive version of the word Whole.

Moving onto the DYNAMIC aspect of the Holistic-Dynamic theory…this part refers to the change, activity, and/or progress of the individual as they move up the hierarchy.

Fun Fact: The word ‘motivation’ comes from the Latin root ‘movere’ which means ‘to move’.

Thus, the application of the Holistic-Dynamic theory, or Personality theory, is found in the individual’s motivated behavior in order to move toward the ultimate goal of self-actualization as a whole.

Final Thoughts:

In conclusion, the comparison between Allport’s psychology of the Individual theory and Maslow’s Holistic-Dynamic theory presents with some obvious opposing conclusions, as well as some subtle similarities.

Allport’s theory ultimately describes the uniqueness found within each individual and the fact that it cannot be duplicated, whereas Maslow’s theoretical approach illustrates that motivation is the key to behavior and declares that all people are striving toward self-actualization on the hierarchy of life.

The contradiction between individualism and generalization can evidently be identified. However, the two theories are also able to demonstrate that personality, as a whole, cannot be attributed to one contributing factor, whether it is the individual or the environment. Thus, personality is a collection of emotions, cognitions, and deliberations found within each individual created through life’s experiences.

All that being said....

I encourage you to find your uniqueness and to keeping striving for self-actualization.

References

Berger, K. S. (2011). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Deckers, L. (2010). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Myers, D. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Pinel, J. P. J. (2009). Biopsychology (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Stephen, B. K. (2002). Social influences on ethical behavior in organizations. Personnel Psychology, 55(1), 233-236. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220138935?accountid=35812