PERSONALITY

o Comes from the latin word “persona”,

a mask that was worn by an actor
while speaking or performing on the
stage. The wearer of the mask
revealed himself through his speech
and his actions.
PERSONALITY PATTERN
1. Two components of personality:
 Objective – observable and measurable:
• Body size and physique, and factors in the
mechanics and chemistry of his body which
influence the speed and strength of his
movements;
• Aptitudes and talents, both physical and
intellectual;
• And traits, habits, behavior patterns, and
mode of action.

 Subjective – less easily subjected and

measured:
• Motives
• Aspirations
• Feelings
• Ideas
• Activities regarding self
• Convictions
• Commitments
• Purpose that give direction to the
individual’s way of thinking, feeling and
acting
2. The person’s image of himself as a self contains:
 Physical self-image.
 Phsycological self-image.

3. Concept of self is acquired in:

 Family-group environment or the primary
concept.
 Group environment outside the home or
secondary concepts.

4. Stable self-concept – which is dependent upon

consistency of treatment in the home and continuity
between the home environment and the environments
outside the home, leads to far better adjustments than
an unstable concept of self.

5. Concept of an idealized self – self-concepts which as

individuals they would like ideally to be characteristic
of them.
ADMIRED PERSONALITY TRAITS

Adult Standards

Children’s Standards

Sex Differences in Admired

Traits
 INDIVIDUALITY

A.
Four Different Personality “Types”
According to Hippocrates are:
1. Sanguine – quick and active person
2. Choleric – strong and easily aroused
persons
3. Phlegmatic – slow and stolid type
4. Melancholic – said and pessimistic
individuals
B. Heredity Versus Environment
-It is now generally believed that the
foundation of personality comes from the
maturation of hereditary traits, but these are
influenced, partly through learning in
connection with direct, social contacts and
partly through conditioning.

C. Beginnings of Individuality
-During the first ten days of life,
differences in behavior are apparent in
different babies. These differences mark the
beginnings of personality differences.
PERSISTENCE AND CHANGE IN PERSONALITY

o Persistence of personality traits is a tendency

for certain traits to remain in an unchanged,
or relatively unchanged, form even in
instances where training and social pressure
have been operative. A child who, as an
infant, showed irritability would show the
same trait as he grew older, even though his
irritability were somewhat modified and
toned down as a result of enviromental
pressures.
CRITICAL PERIOD

o Although a child remembers little of what

happened in the first five years of his life,
these years are nevertheless, “critical” years
in the development of his personality
because it is at this time that the basic
pattern of his personality is laid.
CHANGES IN PERSONALITY

• There are changes in

personality because of the
influence of environment.
There are more changes of
personality traits in younger
than older children. The
changes are for the better.
Types of Changes:

a. Quantitative – there is a weakening or

strengthening of a trait already present.

b. Qualitative – the socially undesirable trait is

eliminated and replaced by a socially more
desirable trait.
CAUSES OF PERSONALITY CHANGES

• Bodily or organic factors, as food, drugs,

infections, organic disorders, physical
maturation and decline.
• Factors of the social and cultural environment,
as education, recreation, social partipation,
etc.
• Factors within the individual himself, as
emotional pressures, identification with
people or causes, and imitation.
CAUTIONS IN PERSONALITY CHANGES

o To change one or two personality

traits of a child that would be a
social handicap to him is all right if
done properly. To revamp the
entire personality pattern of the
child is a different story.
FACTORS IN PERSONALITY

Physique
Physical Condition
Clothes
The child’s name
Intelligence
Early Experiences
FAMILY INFLUENCES
1. Family Life Pattern

2. Home Setting

3. Membership in Minority Groups

4. Influence of parents

5. Sibling influences
a. Responsible
b. Popular
c. Socially ambitious
d. Studious
e. Self-centered isolate
f. Irresponsible
g. Sickly
h. Spoiled
SCHOOL INFLUENCES

o The influence of the school in the

personality development of the child
is very great because the school
becomes a substitute for the home
and the teacher, a substitute for the
mother.
PLAYMATES AND FRIENDS

o When the child is socially accepted by the

group he would have better concept of
self and his pattern of personality
development would be more favorable
than that of those children who are
rejected by the group.
CULTURAL INFLUENCES

a. To be well adjusted in any cultural group the

individual must accept the approved cultural
norm as his own standard.

b. Basic Personality – is the organization of the

drives and of the emotions of the individual,
the deeper-lying parts of mental behavior as
compared with the more overt and visible
aspects of mental behavior. This include inner
feelings toward parents, members of the
same or opposite sex, guilt, emotional
reactivity and hostility.
LEVEL OF ASPIRATION
o When the child reaches the age of 3 or 4 years,
he begins to set standards for himself. These
standards become the “level of aspiration” or
the “level of future performance in a familiar
task which an individual explicitly undertakes to
reach”. The standards he usually establishes are
copied from his ideal person. If he fails to reach
the standards he set for himself, then this will
contribute to poor self-concept, with poor
adjustment and unhappiness on the child’s part.
LEVEL OF ADJUSTMENT

• Adjustment means the extent to which an

individual’s personality functions efficiently in a
world of other people.
• If during the process of adjustment, the child
suffers from undue distress or experiences
difficulties this will lead to mental illness in
adulthood. Good environment and better guidance
from parents are responsible for better
adjustment.
PERSONALITY MALADJUSTMENTS

Two types of personality maladjustment:

a. Behavior which is satisfying to the child but socially
unacceptable;
b. Behavior which is socially acceptable but is a source of
continuous, excessive and disturbing conflict to the
child.

Causes of personality maladjustment:

a. Thwarting of impulses and desires which lead to a
feeling of inferiority, such as feelimg of guilt because of
sex delinquencies or failure in school.
b. Undue emotional stimulation, such as some terrible
emotional shock or continued over-excitement during a
long period of time.