Personality Traits, Research Paper Example

Introduction 

One’s personality can affect all aspects of one’s life. Personality can be defined as a set of distinctive characteristics and traits that make one unique. People are not born with specific personality traits, but they develop certain traits and characteristics over a period of time. Consequently, personality is a learned behavior that is acquired through social experiences and childhood. Likewise, life experiences can shape one’s personality just as the environment one grew up in. Humans are social by nature; they long for acceptance and friendships within the societies in which they live. However, there are some people with such strong personalities that they are not concerned with what others think or whether or not they are accepted by society. Often these people are characterized as being deviant. Some individuals have magnetic personalities; they have a charisma that seems to draw people to them. These are the type of people who often become societal leaders. The type of relationship one has with his/her family is greatly dependent upon personality as well. Family members with warm, pleasant personalities make the home environment vibrant and happy. Ones interaction with his/her partner, parents, and children is greatly affected by personality traits. Getting frustrated and giving up easily are both characteristics of personality. Meeting deadlines and being punctual are all characteristics of personality. For many years curiosity has arisen about why some people behave the way they do. What makes some people commit horrible crimes like murder, rape, etc. has been a long pondered question. It has come to the attention of researchers and psychologists that certain personality types are characterized by specific traits. For this reason, personalities have been divided into four categories: A, B, and C. The study of human personality is an important issue because it equips individuals with the tools necessary to maintain healthy relationships with other member of society. Personality is an important factor of human nature; it can affect many aspects of one’s life and the lives of people they encounter.

Background

During the early twentieth century, Sigmund Fraud divided the human personality into three major components: the id, the ego, and the superego. For years, he studied how people reacted to the world around them. He believed that one’s childhood had great bearings on their behavior later in life. In 1926, William Marston outlined the four areas of human behavior as being: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. This theory stemmed from a theory the military had used to recruit soldiers during World War II. Later, B.F. Skinner suggested that one’s environment had a great impact on the way one behaved. Finally, two cardiologists observed some strange practices in their waiting room. This led them to pay attention to the type of people they treated in their medical facility and pay even closer attention to the ailments they had. They were Friedman and Rosenman.

Personality Types

There are three major types of personalities: A, B, and C. People with Type A personalities tend to be very competitive. They continuously strive to reach goals and never feel a sense of accomplishment. Once they have reached one goal, they set their targets on achieving the next goal. For this reason, Type A people always seem to have a sense of urgency. They become frustrated when they have to deal with delays and unproductive time. They tend to multi-task a lot. For example, they may read while watching television. They are easily angered. Friedman and Rosenman, both cardiologists, discovered that people with Type A personalities are more susceptible to heart disease and high-blood pressure. (Friedman & Rosenman, 1959, p. 1290). They noticed that these people were unable to sit patiently in waiting room chairs. They usually sat on the edge of their seats and jumped up often. They conducted this study after noticing the wear pattern on their waiting room chairs. The edge and arm rest of the chairs were wearing out prior to any other portion of the chairs. This indicated to them that these patients were waiting impatiently on the edge of their seats.

Contrary to Type A personalities, Type B personalities value their family lives more than their careers. Researchers have found that 50 percent of the American population is considered Type A personalities, 40 percent are Type B personalities, and only 10 percent are intermediate, ore Type C personalities (Stone, 2006, p. 1127). Type B personalities are diligent workers, but they just don’t value work more than their private, domestic lives. Type B personalities will not sacrifice family and friends in order to make their own selves happy. They attempt to avoid circumstances or lifestyles that will conflict with family well-being and happiness. Time, prestige, and awards do not motivate people with Type B personalities. Type B personalities are more likely to show and receive affection. According to (Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, p. 359), smoking cigarettes, eating foods high in cholesterol, and participating in little or no exercise had very little effect on people who had Type B personalities. He goes on to say that these effects have no bearings on genetic make-up, but rather how these people deal with stressful situations in their lives. He feels that if Type B personality people would become more involved in leisure activities that are not goal oriented and discard their wrist watches, they would live happier, more productive lives (Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, p. 355).

Type C personalities are very sensitive people. They will put others feelings and well-being before their own feelings and well-being. However, they will secretly be angry and bitter about the situation, but would never go to the person to express what they feel. Type C personalities tend to use the silent treatment with those they are resentful of. Type C personalities are loyal and patient. People with Type C personalities are generally overworked and overstressed. They tend to have trouble communicating with other people; as a result, they usually work jobs that require very little communication and human contact. They are very cautions and will not venture into a new activity until they have thoroughly researched it. People with Type C personalities are usually overweight because they repress their emotions and use eating as an outlet. Type C personalities are driven by being right, having access to needed information, investigating problems, and being recognized and praised for specific accomplishments. According to (Paris, 2008), Type C personalities are the antithesis of Type B personalities.

Cooper and Faragher conducted a study on women with breast cancer and found that breast cancer in more prone in women with four distinct factors: time conscious, personal drive, satisfaction, and interpersonal relations. These characteristics are largely related to people with Type A personalities. Nonetheless, it was found that those women who were able to get their cancers in remission has some traits of Personality B. One of those characteristics was having deep love and commitment to family. Also, the cancer patients with Type A personalities had poor coping strategies. “They tended to bottle up their emotions, turn inward, and not seek any help or outlet for their feelings”, said Cooper and Faragher (p. 417). In conclusion, women with Type A personalities were more prone to acquiring cancer, but women with Type B personalities were more apt to defeat the disease.

Inherited or Acquired

Culture, religion, education, and family tradition can have an effect on one’s personality. Nevertheless, biological and social experiences influence personality too. Past experiences can deter present and future behavior. Traits such as hair or eye color are considered inherited, but personality seems to be a combination of several factors (Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, p. 361). Accordingly, no one factor shapes ones personality. Personality is a combination of many factors; however, genetics is one of those factors, just not the only one. Parents and the relationships one sees them display have an effect on one personality as well. Children are often reminded of how their parents would feel if they knew they were participating in certain endeavors or displaying certain behaviors. As a result, ones upbringing has a great impact on the traits of behavior he/she might display.

Healthcare Responsibility

According to Kernberg, about 50 percent of the patients that healthcare professionals encounter have been misdiagnosed (1992). He believes this is the direct result of psychiatrist having to make difficult diagnosis under pressured time frames. These time restraints often require psychiatrist to make immediate intervention plans for patients. He goes on to say, “Erroneous diagnostic conclusions have frequently been reached, particularly in the case of patients with strong negativismation about themselves, or, occasionally, may wish to exaggerate certain symptoms in order to obtain hospitalization” (Kernberg, 1992). In other words, healthcare providers are being forced to make hasty decisions about personality disorders in their patients. Healthcare providers need adequate time to observe and speak with clients in order to decide what type of disorder the client may be suffering from. He believes it is too common for healthcare providers to mistake one episode of loss of control to be confused with chronic emotional stability. As a result, there should be strict guidelines to follow when diagnosing a person with a major personality disorder. There should be a minimum amount of time spent completing observations on the person, as well as talking with family members when possible.

Conclusions

In summary, there does seem to be a link between certain diseases or conditions and a person’s personality. Nonetheless, the contraction of these diseases has nothing to do with the person’s genetic makeup, but rather with the way the person’s personality type allows them to handle life’s problems. However, contrary to some beliefs, personality is not inherited. Personality traits are formed by a combination of factors and life’s experiences is a major factor. Type A personalities seem to be more prone to disease than the other two personalities. It is believed that they are more prone because of the fast-paced, stressful lives they lead.

 References

Cooper, C.L. & Faragher, E. B. (1989). Incidence and perception of psychological stress: the relationship with breast cancer. Psychological Medicine, 19, 415-422.

Grossarth-Maticek, R., & Eysenck, H.J. (1990). Personality, stress, and disease: description and validation of new inventory. Psychological Reports, 66, 355-373.

Friedman, M.; Rosenman, R. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings. Journal of the American Medical Association, 169, 1286–1296.

Kernberg, O.F. (1992). Aggression in personality disorders and perversion. New Haven, CT. Yale University Press.

Paris, J. (2008). Treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford.

Stone, M.H. (2006). Relationship of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1126-1128.