Personality Development

UNIT-1

LESSON 1 PERSONALITY

Definition

Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and

behaving. The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: One is understanding
individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or
irritability. The other is understanding how the various parts of a person come together as a
whole. The pattern of feelings, thoughts, and activities that distinguishes one person from
another.

Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is

an act of courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the
individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence, coupled
with the greatest possible freedom of self-determination.

The complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a nation or group;

especially the totality of an individual's behavioural and emotional characteristics

Determinants

What determines personality? Of all the complexities and unanswered questions in the study
of human behaviour, this question may be the most difficult. People are enormously complex;
their abilities and interests and attitudes are diverse. An early argument impersonality
research was whether an individual's personality was the result of heredity or environment.
Was the personality predetermined at birth, or was it the result of the individual's interaction
with his or her environment? Personality appears to be a result of both influences.
Additionally, today we recognize another factor - the situation. The problem lies in the fact
the cognitive and psychological processes, plus many other variables, all contribute to
personality. The determinants of personality can perhaps best be grouped in five broad
categories: biological, cultural, family, social and situational.

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Biological Factors

The study of the biological contributions to personality may be studied under three heads:

Heredity: Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception.

Physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes,
energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are considered to be inherent
from one‘s parents. The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an
individual's personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes.

Research on animals has showed that both physical and psychological characteristics can be
transmitted through heredity. But research on human beings is in adequate to support this
view point. However, psychologists and geneticists have accepted the fact that heredity plays
an important role in one's personality.

Brain: The second biological approach is to concentrate on the role that the brain plays in
personality. Though researchers make some promising inroads, the psychologists are unable
to prove empirically the contribution of human brain in influencing personality. Preliminary
results from the electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) research give indication that better
understanding of human personality and behaviour might come from the study of the brain.
There seem to be definite pleasurable and painful areas in the human brain. This being true, it
may be possible physically to manipulate personality through ESB.

Biofeedback: Until recently, physiologists and psychologists felt that certain biological
functions such as brainwave patterns, gastric secretions, and fluctuations in blood pressure
and skin temperature were beyond conscious control. Now some scientists believe that these
involuntary functions can be consciously controlled through biofeedback.

If personality characteristics were completely dictated by heredity, they would be fixed at

birth and no amount of experience could alter them. But personality characteristics are not
completely dictated by heredity. There are other factors, which also influence personality.

Cultural Factors

Among the factors that exert pressures on our personality formation are the culture in which
we are raised, our early conditioning, the norms among our family, friends and social groups

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and other influences we experience. Traditionally, cultural factors are usually considered to
make a more significant contribution to personality than biological factors.

The culture largely determines attributes toward independence, aggression, competition, and
cooperation. According to Paul H Mussen "each culture expects, and trains, its members to
behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group. The personality of an individual to a
marked extent is determined by the culture in which he or she is brought up. It follows that a
person reared in a western culture has a different personality from a person reared in our
Indian culture.

Family Factors

Whereas the culture generally prescribes and limits what a person can be taught, it is the
family, and later the social group, which selects, interprets and dispenses the culture. Thus,
the family probably has the most significant impact on early personality development.

A substantial amount of empirical evidence indicates that the overall home environment
created by the parents, in addition to their direct influence, is critical to personality
development. For example, children reared in a cold, un stimulating home are much more
likely to be socially and emotionally Mal adjusted than children rose by parents in a warm,
loving and stimulating environment.

The parents play an especially important part in the identification process, which is important
to the person's early development. According to Mischel, the process can be examined from
three different perspectives. Identification can be viewed as the similarity of behaviour
including feelings and attitudes between child and model. Identification can be looked at as
the child's motives or desires to be like the model. It can be viewed as the process through
which the child actually takes on the attributes of the model. From all three perspectives, the
identification process is fundamental to the understanding of personality development. The
home environment also influences the personality of an individual. Siblings (brothers and
sisters) also contribute to personality.

Social Factors

Socialization involves the process by which a person acquires, from the enormously wide
range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him or her. Socialization starts with the

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initial contact between a mother and her new infant. After infancy, other members of the
immediate family – father, brothers, sisters and close relatives or friends, then the social
group – peers, school friends and members of the work group, play influential roles.
Socialization process is especially relevant to organizational behaviour because the process is
not confined to early childhood, taking place rather throughout one's life. In particular,
evidence is accumulating that socialization may be one of the best explanations for why
employees behave the way they do in today's organizations.

Situational Factors

Human personality is also influenced by situational factors. The effect of environment is

quite strong. Knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important
modifications of behaviour. An individual's personality, while generally stable and consistent,
does change in different situations. The different demands of different situations call forth
different aspects of one's personality. According to Milgram "Situation exerts an important
press on the individual. It exercises constraints and may provide push. In certain
circumstances it is not so much the kind of person a man is, as the kind of situation in which
he is placed that determines his actions". We should therefore not look at personality patterns
in isolation.

Personality Traits

 traits and how you express them in the world. If you've never taken a personality test
or read much about your personality type, you probably rely on the feedback you've
heard about yourself from others. We take these descriptions and use them to help us
craft what we believe to be our ―personality.‖ Also, over time we learn things about
ourselves — our preferences, how we behave in certain situations, and how we
interact with others. If we pay attention to our words and actions, we can assimilate
and recognize more qualities that make up our personalities. In general, personality
consists of the recurring patterns of thoughts, emotions, characteristics, and behaviors
that make a person unique. It arises from within each individual and remains fairly
consistent and permanent throughout life. Research suggests that personality is also
influenced by biological processes and needs.. The trait theory suggests that
individual personalities are made up of broad dispositions, and many modern
researchers believe there are five core personality traits:

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  Extraversion: Including characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness,
assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.
 Agreeableness: Attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other
prosocial behaviors. A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than
suspicious and antagonistic towards others.
 Conscientiousness: High levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control, and goal-
directed behaviors. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful
of details, as well as act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than
spontaneous behavior.
 Neuroticism: Tendency to expediate

Importance of personality development

Many people still think that personality is related to the physical appearance of
a person. If a person is well-built and wearing a good dress it is said that he/she has a good
personality. But this is not a rational approach. In case the inner personality of a person is
weak he/she will lose impact as soon as he/she speaks or acts. Such a person fails to create a
lasting impression on others and rising in his/her career becomes a very difficult task.
Therefore, both the inner and the outer personality of a person should be strengthened. You
can develop your personality by practicing some interesting and easy things like- setting an
aim in life; having the power of knowledge; looking confident as it shows on your face when
you are confident of what you are doing and when you are not; speak in style because that
reflects your personality, shows how learned you are and whether you are what you are; dress
smartly because they say the first impression is the last one and people will judge you firstly
by your looks before going in for anything else. Also good dresses act as a stimulus for the
wearer. He/she feels more confident and relaxed. Some other important things are having a
healthy body and adopting good habits really nurture your inner strength. The personality
development tests that you see online or on paper are to develop these things of you don‘t
have in your general routine. When you follow the principle of think big and live big, there is
absolutely no stopping you. This is exactly where you need Personality Development.

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LESSON 2: SELF AWARENESS

Meaning

Self-awareness (sometimes also referred to as self-knowledge or introspection) is about

understanding your own needs, desires, failings, habits, and everything else that makes you
tick. The more you know about yourself, the better you are at adapting life changes that suit
your needs. Self awareness means knowledge and awareness of your own personality or
character Essentially, the more you pay attention to your emotions and how you work, the
better you'll understand why you do the things you do. The more you know about your own
habits, the easier it is to improve on those habits. In most cases, this takes a little
experimentation.

Benefits of self awareness

Self-awareness offers many benefits to help you live a happier, more fulfilling and genuine
life:

1. The ability to act consciously instead of reacting to people and events.

2. The ability to genuinely love yourself.
3. Being authentically happy rather than pretending you are.
4. Greater depth of experience and enjoyment of life.
5. The ability to redirect your negative thoughts and emphasize positive ones.
6. Behaving positively instead of creating additional obstacles.
7. Enjoying positive interpersonal relationships.
8. Being the real you.
9. Living courageously and without limits.
10. The ability to make your dreams come true.

Developing self awareness

Awareness of self and emotions can be developed. Spend some time recognising areas you
need to develop and intentionally making an effort to develop or strengthen that aspect of
yourself.

So, how can you become more aware of your strengths and areas for development?

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You could

 Rate Yourself: What do you think your strengths are?

 Ask others for feedback: Be open to hearing what others think of you.
 Complete a formal assessment test. These could include a personality test, discovering
your values, your skills, your abilities.

In reality a combination of all three of these is best.

Emotionally intelligent people plan to put time aside to build awareness. One way to do this
is to meditate or reflect daily.

This means that you plan to create a quiet space for yourself in the day, away from work or
other activities, and spend time focusing on doing something that opens your mind to deeper
thoughts.

Values, beliefs and assumptions

Values are the principles, standards, morals, ethics and ideals that guide our lives. Knowing
your values is an essential part of building awareness of yourself. Developing awareness of
the assumptions we hold about others is an important aspect of emotional intelligence. Self
awareness also means that we shouldn't ignore the assumptions we hold about ourselves.

Assumptions about ourselves can be positive or negative. Negative assumptions include

thoughts such as ‗Bad things always happen to me‘ or ‗I don‘t know enough to start my own
business‘. Positive assumptions might include thoughts such as ‗If I keep trying I will be
successful‘ or ‗People are inherently good other three parts of this assessment for a complete
awareness building exercise.

The beliefs that we have about ourselves are important as they determine our behaviour. To
have greater self awareness or understanding means to have a better grasp of reality. Dalai
Lama Self awareness is the essential building block for emotional intelligence. Becoming self
aware is a journey and we'll probably spend a life time learning about ourselves. But as we
improve self awareness we also improve our experience of life, create opportunities for better
work life balance , become aware of our emotions, and improve our ability to respond to
change.

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LESSON 3: SWOT ANALYSIS

Meaning

SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats and is a structured planning method that evaluates those four
elements of an organization, project or business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out
for a company, product, place, industry, or person. It involves specifying the objective of the
business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable
and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Some authors credit SWOT to Albert Humphrey,
who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s and 1970s using data
from Fortune 500 companies. However, Humphrey himself did not claim the creation of
SWOT, and the origins remain obscure. The degree to which the internal environment of the
firm matches with the external environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit.

 Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage

over others
 Weaknesses: characteristics of the business that place the business or project
at a disadvantage relative to others
 Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could
exploit to its advantage
 Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business
or project

Application

The uses of a SWOT analysis by a community organization are as follows: to organize

information, provide insight into barriers that may be present while engaging in social change
processes, and identify strengths available that can be activated to counteract these barriers.

 Explore new solutions to problems

 Identify barriers that will limit goals/objectives
 Decide on direction that will be most effective
 Reveal possibilities and limitations for change
 To revise plans to best navigate systems, communities, and organizations

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  As a brainstorming and recording device as a means of communication
 To enhance ―credibility of interpretation‖ to be utilized in presentation to leaders or
key supporters.

Importance

The SWOT analysis in social work practice framework is beneficial because it helps
organizations decide whether or not an objective is obtainable and therefore enables
organizations to set achievable goals, objectives, and steps to further the social change or
community development effort. It enables organizers to take visions and produce practical
and efficient outcomes that effect long-lasting change, and it helps organizations gather
meaningful information to maximize their potential. Completing a SWOT analysis is a useful
process regarding the consideration of key organizational priorities, such as gender and
cultural diversity and fundraising objectives.

Components

 Set objectives – defining what the organization is going to do

 Environmental scanning
o LInternal appraisals of the organization's SWOT, this needs to include
an assessment of the present situation as well as a portfolio of
products/services and an analysis of the product/service life cycle
 Analysis of existing strategies, this should determine relevance from the
results of an internal/external appraisal. This may include gap analysis of
environmental factors
 Strategic Issues defined – key factors in the development of a corporate plan
that the organization must address
 Develop new/revised strategies – revised analysis of strategic issues may mean
the objectives need to change
 Establish critical success factors – the achievement of objectives and strategy
implementation
 Preparation of operational, resource, projects plans for strategy
implementation
 Monitoring results – mapping against plans, taking corrective action, which
may mean amending objectives/strategies

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LESSON 4: GOAL SETTING

Meaning

Goal setting is the process of deciding what you want to accomplish and devising a plan to
achieve the result you desire. For entrepreneurs, goal setting is an important part of business
planning. This goal setting definition emphasizes that goal setting is a three part process.

Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed to motivate and
guide a person or group toward a goal. Goal setting can be guided by goal-setting criteria (or
rules) such as SMART criteria. Goal setting is a major component of personal-development
and management literature.

Studies by Edwin A. Locke and his colleagues have shown that more specific and ambitious
goals lead to more performance improvement than easy or general goals. As long as the
person accepts the goal, has the ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there
is a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.

Importance of goal setting

Provides focus

When organizations set goals for employees, it shows. Employees then know what to focus
on in the coming quarter or year, thus prioritizing projects and other tasks as they weigh how
their work will impact those goals. It also provides focus for management when deciding on
major projects and how to best divide tasks among employees.

Increase Motivation

Organizational goals give employees something to strive for in their daily tasks. For example,
instead of merely aiming for general profitability, employees can work to improve
profitability 10 percent by year-end. Most people strive to be successful, but having a specific
standard that constitutes success will especially motivate them to strive for excellence. If
goals are tied to other external awards, such as group recognition or rewards, it can further
improve the motivation level.

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Improves group cohesion

Many business goals cannot be reached unless employees of all levels work together as a
whole to reach the goals. This can improve group cohesion and collaboration when
employees realize the goals will only be reached when teamwork is present. Managers can
further enforce this through group rewards given when the organization meets its goals.

Increase employee worth

Including employees in the goal-setting process will increase their buy-in for the project and
the business as a whole. It tells them their input is valued and important, thus giving them a
sense of ownership. Consequently, the goals are no longer only managements; they are the
goals of everyone in the organization.

Offers measurability

Set goals using the SMART principle: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.
This will enable employees to gauge their progress, see how their efforts are having an
impact and assess how far they have yet to go to reach the goal.

Effective goal setting

1. Set specific goals in terms that can be measured.

Specific goals are more effective in improving performance than are general ―do your best‖
goals or no goals at all. An effective goal clearly indicates what a person needs to do to
accomplish it. This means that you must be able to measure the performance that relates to
the specific goal.

2. Set difficult but realistic goals.

Difficult or challenging goals produce better performance than moderate or easy goals. The
higher the goal, the higher the performance, as long as the goal does not exceed what the
person is capable of doing. Goals should not be so be so difficult that the person will fail to

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take them seriously or will experience failure and frustration in meeting them. It is therefore
important to set goals in relation to an individual person‘s ability.

3. Set short-term as well as long-range goals.

Breaking down any long-term goals into smaller more attainable goals helps to promote
achievement and success. Short-term goals are important because they allow pers to see
immediate improvements in performance and thereby enhance motivation. Without short-
term goals, employee can lose sight of their long-term objectives, and the sub-goals needed to
attain them.

4. Express goals in positive rather than negative terms.

It‘s best to set goals positively (e.g., number of passes made or shots-on-goal) rather than
negatively (e.g., number of mistakes reduced). Positive goal-setting helps worker focus on
success instead of failure. Moreover, positive goals usually have clues on how to attain them.
To turn a negative goal into a positive one,

5. Set goals for both practices and works.

Setting goals for practice sessions is just as important as it is for works. Practices are the
times workers develop and hone their skills. When practice becomes meaningful as a result of
being tied in with specific goals, employees become more involved in what‘s going on.
Moreover, (a) setting specific practice goals, and (b) tracking progress toward them will help
to reduce the drudgery of practice.

8. Set up a performance feedback or goal evaluation system.

Research indicates that performance feedback is absolutely necessary if goals are to enhance
performance. Therefore workers must receive feedback about how their present performance
is related to both short- and long-range goals. Without such feedback, youngsters cannot
track their progress toward goals and may be unable to see improvement that is actually
occurring

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Principles of goal setting

1. Clarity
This is where SMART goals draw most from is the concept of setting clear, ―specific‖
goals for best results. Those who set a goal of ―make more sales‖ are less successful
than those whose goal is ―make 5% more sales than last year.‖ A clear goal is easier
to measure and easier to appreciate when you reach that goal. This makes the entire
process more inspiring.

2. Challenge
Goal setting theory indicates that people are more successful when they set
challenging goals. Any initiative requires effort and discipline. When you set the goal
too low, you‘re less likely to feel like the payoff is worth that effort, undermining
motivation. By contrast, setting a challenging goal balances effort with reward and
generates motivation. Just be careful not to confuse ―challenging‖ with ―unrealistic.‖

3. Commitment
This principle particularly applies in organizational settings where the goals in
question are achieved by a group. Personal ownership is critical for success. Managers
must deliver proper preparation and gain ―buy-in‖ from each member of the team
before the task is accepted or ―owned‖ by the group. Team members who do not feel
an internal ownership may not work with the diligence required, even with external
motivation (or threats).

4. Feedback
Feedback or asking questions allows for clarification and course correction. This is
particularly important if the first principle has clearly defined. A goal might be either
too difficult or too easy. A team leader may discover that there are members who have
not bought in as needed and will need to do the work to build ownership. If all is
going well, the only feedback required might be to measure progress and confirm that
the goal is on task to be met.
5. Task Complexity
This principle takes into account the observation that some goals require more
complexity to achieve. ―Working out 3 times a week‖ is a goal that requires only
identifying a preferred place or form of exercise. ―Making 5% more sales‖ may

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 involve many more tasks to reach – marketing plans and collateral, incentive plans for
salespeople, research, lead nurturing, etc.

Goal setting at the right level

goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating
yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.

The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing
precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts.
You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

UNIT -II

LESSON 5 SELF MONITORING

It is defined as a personality trait that refers to an ability to regulate behavior to accommodate

social situations. People concerned with their expressive self-presentation) tend to closely
monitor their audience in order to ensure appropriate or desired public appearances. Self-
monitors try to understand how individuals and groups will perceive their actions. Some
personality types commonly act spontaneously (low self-monitors) and others are more apt to
purposely control and consciously adjust their behavior (high self-monitors).

High self monitor versus low self monitor

People who closely monitor themselves are categorized as high self-monitors and often
behave in a manner that is highly responsive to social cues and their situational context. High
self-monitors can be thought of as social pragmatists who project images in an attempt to
impress others and receive positive feedback.

Conversely, low self-monitors do not participate, to the same degree, in expressive control
and do not share similar concern for situational appropriateness. Low self-monitors tend to
exhibit expressive controls congruent with their own internal states; i.e. beliefs, attitudes, and
dispositions regardless of social circumstance. Low self-monitors are often less observant of
social context and consider expressing a self-presentation dissimilar from their internal states

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as a falsehood and undesirable. People who are unwilling to self-monitor and adjust their
behavior accordingly are often aggressive, uncompromising, and insistent with others. This
may make them more prone to condemnation, rejection, and the possible consequent feelings
of anger, anxiety, guilt, low self-concept, isolation, and depression. Even the occasional
indiscretion can make social situations very awkward, and could result in the loss of a friend,
co-worker, client, or even job. Those who are willing to adjust their behavior will often find
that others are more receptive, pleasant, and benevolent towards them.

A score of 0–8 on Snyder's scale indicates low self-monitoring, while a score of 13–25
indicates high self-monitoring. Some traits of high self-monitors include readily and easily
modifying their behavior in response to the demands of the situation, whereas low self-
monitors care little about modifying their behavior in response to the situation and tend to
maintain the same opinions and attitudes regardless of the situation. High self-monitors find it
much easier to modify their behavior based on the situation than low self-monitors do. High
self-monitors would be more likely to change their beliefs and opinions depending on who
they are talking to, while low self-monitors would tend to be consistent throughout all
situations. This has been studied mainly in correspondence with relationships. Compared to
low self-monitors,

Advantages and disadvantages of self monitor

First of all, self-monitoring helps to create structure. Our academic progress becomes more
concrete when observed by visible, external measures.

A second benefit is that the mere act of recording behaviors changes the occurrence of the
behavior in the desired direction. For example, studies of people trying to quit smoking show
that keeping track of each cigarette smoked decreased the total number.

Finally, self-monitoring systems form the basis for active programs to change behaviors
because your measure of progress can form the basis for programs of reward or punishment.

However, self-supervision also has its share of disadvantages. You might be wondering what
these drawbacks could be when self-supervision is a highly beneficial skill. One of the
downsides of self-supervision is the tendency of individuals to decrease their level of work
efficiency.

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