Module 1:

UNDERSTANDING
THE SELF
Introduction to Self Understanding

Self-understanding:
(1) provides sense of purpose;
(2) leads to healthier
relationships;
(3) helps harness your natural
strength; and (4) promotes
confidence.
Personality

The etymological derivative of

personality comes from the word
“persona”, the theatrical masks
worn by Romans in Greek and
Latin drama. Personality also
comes from the two Latin words
“per” and “sonare”, which literally
means “to sound through”.
Determinants of Personality
Environmental Factors of Personality
The surroundings of an individual compose the
environmental factors of personality.

Biological Factors of Personality

1) Hereditary factors or genetic make-up of the
person that inherited from their parents
2) Physical features include the overall physical
structure of a person: height, weight, color, sex,
beauty and body language, etc.
3) Brain the preliminary results from the electrical
stimulation of the brain (ESB) research gives
indication that better understanding of human
personality and behavior might come from the
study of the brain.
Determinants of Personality
Situational Factors of Personality - alter a
person’s behavior and response from time to
time. The situational factors can be
commonly observed when a person behaves
contrastingly and exhibits different traits and
characteristics.

Cultural Factors - Culture is traditionally

considered as the major determinants of an
individual’s personality. The culture largely
determinants what a person is and what a
person will learn.
Personality Traits
• Personality traits reflect people’s
characteristic patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors.
• Personality traits imply consistency and
stability—someone who scores high on
a specific trait like Extraversion is
expected to be sociable in different
situations and over time.
• Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea
that people differ from one another in
terms of where they stand on a set of
basic trait dimensions that persist over
time and across situations
The Five-Factor Model of Personality
Research that used the lexical approach showed that
many of the personality descriptors found in the
dictionary do indeed overlap. In other words, many of
the words that we use to describe people are
synonyms. Thus, if we want to know what a person is
like, we do not necessarily need to ask how sociable
they are, how friendly they are, and how gregarious
they are.

The most widely accepted system to emerge from this

approach was The Big Five comprises five major traits
shown in the Figure 2 below. A way to remember
these five is with the acronym OCEAN (O is for
Openness; C is for Conscientiousness; E is for
Extraversion; A is for Agreeableness; N is for
Neuroticism). The table below provides descriptions of
people who would score high and low on each of
these traits.
“The Big Five” or “Five-Factor Model”
(Goldberg, 1990; McCrae & John, 1992; McCrae & Costa, 1987).

Big 5 Trait Definition

Openness The tendency to appreciate new art,

ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors.
Conscientiousness The tendency to be careful, on-time for
appointments, to follow rules, and to be
hard working.
Extraversion The tendency to be talkative, sociable,
and to enjoy others; the tendency to have
a dominant style.
Agreeableness The tendency to agree and go along with
others rather than to assert one owns
opinions and choices.
Neurotism The tendency to be frequently experience
negative emotions such as anger, worry,
and sadness, as well as being
interpersonally sensitive. Table 1. Descriptions
of Personality Traits
 Table 2. Example behaviors for those scoring low and high for the big 5 traits
Big 5 Trait Example Behavior for LOW Scorers Example Behavior for HIGH Scorers

Openness Prefers not to be exposed to
alternative moral systems; narrow
interest; inartistic; not analytical; down-
to-earth
Conscientiousness Prefers spur-of-the-moment action to
planning; unreliable; hedonistic;
careless; lax
Extraversion Preferring a quiet evening reading to a
loud party; sober; aloof; unenthusiastic
Enjoys seeing people with new types of
haircuts and body piercing; curious;
imaginative; untraditional
Never late for a date; organized;
hardworking; neat, persevering;
punctual; self-disciplined
Being the life of the party’ active;
optimistic; fun-loving; affectionate

Agreeableness Quickly and confidently asserts Agrees with other about political
own rights; irritable; manipulative; opinions; good-natured; forgiving;
uncooperative; rude gullible; helpful; forgiving

Neurotism Not getting irritated by shall Constantly worrying about little things;
annoyances; calm, unemotional; insecure; hypochondriacally; feeling
hardy; secure; self-satisfied inadequate