Personality Assessment Paper

Eric Tyburski
PSY 239 AN1
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Personality is a unique structure of traits that make up certain dimensions that defines the person
you really are. Sigmund Freud beliefs and his approach to psychology of the personality was
probably the most influential in today’s modern world. Freud’s concept of personality originated
from 3 basic levels. According to Freud, we can interpret reality though our conscious,
preconscious or our unconscious state of mind. Our actual mind and the way we use our senses
determines how we perceive the world from a conscious view. As a student, I am very conscious
about my grades. I am able to view my grades on line and I able to detect how I value my
education through the grades I receive from my instructor. However, according to Freud, the
conscious mind is a limited aspect to the actual picture; because many of the ideas, feelings and
recollections are well kept from the surface of the conscious mind. The unconscious mind is the
invisible part of the mind where most of Freud’s psychoanalytic theories stem from. In order for
me to get good grades in class, I rely partly on my unconscious mind. I am absorbing the
knowledge and find that later use it towards my advantage. I am not realizing that the education
that I am receiving is helping me choose the right answers on a pop quiz or helping me converse
in debated topic. The information is held in my unconscious mind and comes to use without me
being aware that I am doing so. In between both the conscious and unconscious mind is the
preconscious. This a memory bank where we store our perceptions, feelings and ideas. This
information is not always in use; however it is material that we can easy access when needed.
Currently, I am enrolled in summer school at Sandhills Community College. I have many
responsibilities that I have to keep up with in order to maintain a good grade. Every now and
then I reach into my preconscious mind and line up my priorities based on information that I
have in my preconscious mind. I obtain feedback from others that is stored in my mind for later
use, whether it has to do with an upcoming class or regards to my future educational needs, there
is always some useful information that is easily obtainable stored in my preconscious mind.

Freud expanded on the idea of the three levels of personality. We were introduced to the three
aspects of personality. They were the id, the ego, and the superego. The id could be described
as the animal nature trait we all possess. It contains raw emotions and impulses that we utilize to
seek gratification. Id-driven behaviors are anything that can be displayed in moments of mania. I
look back at myself and think of some of the wrong decisions I have made. A perfect example
would be dropping out of college because I wanted to make money. Clearly, this mania is
characterized my reckless disregard for consequences and resulted me to returning back to
school years later. The ego makes each individual unique; it represents who we are as a person.
It is the stage of awareness in which one can reason with common sense. The opposite of the id
is our super-ego. This is where we seek out the morals in our actions as we strive for perfection
to become an individual that is viewed as socially acceptable. It controls our senses as we may
act either good or evil. At times I feel like I should take a break from school and return back to

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the work force, but I begin to rationalize my decision and let my super-ego take control. To
remain as a student is a representation of my ego and driven thought of success comes from my
super-ego. A perfect analogy of the super-ego is to think of it as a concerned parent living in
my head.
Carl Jung has made a number of significant and rewarding contributions to psychology.
According to Jung, individuation is the act of developing one's self. A good mental health status
results from the combination of all conscious and unconscious aspects of the personality. To
strive for individuation, middle-age persons must abandon the behavior and values that guided
the first half of life and confront their unconscious, bringing it into conscious awareness and
accepting what it tells them to do. (Schultz, Duane, and Sydney Schultz. Theories of personality,
chapter 2, page 115, 2009,) I believe that this would be defined as the time in life when we break
away from the values we are taught, such as realizing that our parents may be wrong about things
and not being afraid to admit that and forging a path different than the one our parents originally
set us forth on. It's the time in life when making are based on our own standards, not anyone
else’s. Basically, it’s thinking for you rather than doing what others want.

Jung concluded that there were several types of psychological types that people held. He said
that each person was made up of different types of preferences. According to Jung, some people
were either considered to be extraverted while some people were considered introverted. Their
behavior is the result of their inborn psychological types. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
is a personality test widely used to evaluate personality types in adolescents and adults. MBTI
can be administered to assess people going into different professions as well as students who
want to have a better understanding of their personality. Jung found that people processed
information differently, based on their personality. After testing through the MBTI, I found
myself placing slightly higher on the introverted side with a score of 57.58%. My extroverted
side fell at a 42.42%. These results are true and genuine to my personality. Lately, I find myself
to be more of a private person. I tend to have creative thoughts that usually set me on a path
driven by my values. I am an only child, so I find myself to be very empathetic to others and I
usually stay away from conflict or disorderly conduct. I would consider myself easy going. I am
always up for change and can adapt to new and interesting concepts. My employment
background has been in hospitality in which I have always done well in. I have a strong
compassion to help others and I look forward to getting my degree in Human Services. I tend
to be more of a follower, however I only follow in groups that I believe in and would not follow
a group just to “fit in”. I am very trust worthy. I walk into many relationships with a trusting

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attitude rather than a negative attitude. Most people enjoy being around me, I usually keep my
thoughts and ideas to myself, and add to them during my own time. I bring out my ideas to
others, when I feel comfortable enough to know how to express them within a group I feel good
around.

Abraham Maslow was a firm and optimistic believer that humans were motivated by their
unsatisfied needs, meaning that certain basic needs must be met in order for individuals to move
onto stronger more influential needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid.
Basically, the needs are arranged in order from highest to lowest. The lower needs were the
most important for basic survival. The physiological needs consisted of food, water, shelter and
health. This stage is followed by your safety needs. A person needs to have a sense of security,
safety, and some form of consistency. When this stage is met, then people are able to interact
socially and feed off onto their love needs, which in turn will provide them with a sense of self
esteem. The esteems needs enrich your personality with such traits as being skillful and having a
level of expertise. Within time, if all the other level is satisfied within Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs then one might fall into the last category which is the self actualization stage. This is the
fulfillment that one has reach during their life span. A person is free from any superficial
concerns and has reached an honest approach with life.

After answering Maslow’s inventory quiz, I came up with honest answers about which needs are
met and which needs appear to be on the low level of my individual development. Everything
appears to be accurate according to Maslow’s Inventory List. My physiological needs are
definitely met. I have a small income and combined with my father’s income we help each other
out and we make sure our physiological needs are met. My safety needs are met as well. I have
learned how to inhibit my reaction to many dangerous situations. We all definitely have a need
to be loved. I am so content on being single that my low score does not phase me. As I get
older, I am finding myself the need to give and to receive love so I can one day be satisfied in an
intimate relationship. I guess this is the reason why I scored low. I don’t want to be alone
when I get older. I think I am ways away from being satisfied with my esteem needs. I am
looking forward getting my education so I can feel more confident and more worthy in society. I
have done some good things back in the day, but I am in a new chapter in my life. A good
education and a good school are giving is allowing me cope well with life. It definitely gives me
a boost of confidence and I looking forward for the pay off.

George Kelley is the founder of the school of Personal Construct Psychology. He was an
educator as well as a clinical psychologist. Personal Construct Psychology is a psychological
study, which has been used in the aid to manage management studies. Kelly suggested that

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people perceive and organize their world of experiences the same way scientists do, by
formulating hypotheses about the environment and testing them against the reality of daily life.
(Schultz, Duane, and Sydney Schultz. Theories of personality. 2009,chapter 11; page 351). The
way we interpret history, the situations we might encounter and our social interactions guide us
to a successful state of self-efficacy. Our behavior is influenced around our abilities and the
boundaries we might come across. The ways people are different from others are a direct result
from the different ways we perceive them. When students sit in a classroom, we all have similar
behaviors. We tend to pay attention and give the respect to our instructor. These are the
unspoken rules that everyone naturally agrees upon. However when class is over, students will
interact in a social setting type of environment because we have different expectations on our
mind. After applying George Kelly’s unique Cognitive Personality Assessment test, I was able
to under how the role construct approach worked. I can understand the approach that Kelly. By
overlooking the characteristics I had written, I am able to interpret other people through my own
shared characteristics. Many of the characteristics that I had placed on my list are strong
characteristics that I own. When I initially interpret someone’s personality I tend to develop my
own hypotheses based on the characteristics above. The list of characteristics I came up with are
the first things that had come to mind, no naturally the list is going to be a reflection of my own
personal characteristics (that is a given). My subconscious mind will automatically name
characteristics that I am closely familiar with, which will most likely be my own. I am not very
confident this would be a beneficial test for everyone.
Sources:

Schultz, Duane, and Sydney Schultz. Theories of personality. 2009, 2009. Print.

Ashcraft, Donna. Personality Theories Workbook. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2008. Print.

Larsen, Randy, and David Buss. Personality psychology. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social

Sciences/Languages, 2008. Print.