INTRODUCTION

TO SELF UNDERSTANDING
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”.

Personality have no single definition since different

personality theories have different views on how to
define it. However, the commonly accepted definition of
personality is that it is a relatively permanent traits and
unique characteristics that give both consistency and
individuality to a person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek,
2008).
Personality plays a key role in affecting how people shape
their lives. It involves the complex relationship of people
with their environment, how they cope and adjust through
life, and how they respond to demands of physical and
social challenges.

Personality is the overall pattern or integration of a

person’s structure, modes of behavior, attitudes,
aptitudes, interests, intellectual abilities, and many other
distinguishable personality traits. Personality is the
conglomeration of the following components: physical
self, intelligence, character traits, attitudes, habits,
interest, personal discipline, moral values, principles and
philosophies of life.
DETERMINANTS
OF
PERSONALITY
 Environmental Factors of
Personality.
The surroundings of an individual compose the
environmental factors of personality. This includes
the neighborhood a person lives in, his school,
college, university and workplace. Moreover, it also
counts the social circle the individual has. Friends,
parents, colleagues, co-workers and bosses,
everybody plays a role as the determinants of
personality
 Biological Factors of Personality

This further includes:

1) Hereditary factors or genetic make-up of the

person that inherited from their parents. This
describes the tendency of the person to appear and
behave the way their parents are
 Biological Factors of Personality

This further includes:

2) Physical features include the overall physical
structure of a person: height, weight, color, sex,
beauty and body language, etc. Most of the physical
structures change from time to time, and so does
the personality. With exercises, cosmetics and
surgeries, many physical features are changed, and
therefore, the personality of the individual also
evolves;
 Biological Factors of Personality

This further includes:

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.
Situational Factors of Personality

Although these factors do not literally create and

shape up an individual’s personality, situational
factors do 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. The culture within a person
is brought up, is very important determinant of
behavior of a person. Culture is complex of these
belief, values, and techniques for dealing with the
environment which are shared among
contemporaries and transmitted by one generation
to the next
 The Five Factor
Model of Personality
 EXERCISE

WHO AM I? I
• 1. _______ Am the life of the party (E)

• 2. _______ Sympathize with others’ feelings (A)

• 3. _______ Get chores done right away (C)

• 4. _______ Have frequent mood swings (N)

• 5. _______ Have a vivid imagination (O)

• 6. _______ Don’t talk a lot (E)

• 7. _______ Am not interested in other people’s problems (A)

• 8. _______ Often forget to put things back in their proper place (C)

• 9. _______ Am relaxed most of the time (N)

• 10. _______ Am not interested in abstract ideas (O)

• 11. _______ Talk to a lot of different people at parties (E)

• 12. _______ Feel others’ emotions (A)

• 13. _______ Like order (C)

• 14. _______ Get upset easily (N)

• 15. _______ Have difficulty understanding abstract ideas (O)

• 16. _______ Keep in the background (E)

• 17. _______ Am not really interested in others (A)

• 18. _______ Make a mess of things (C)

• 19. _______ Seldom feel blue (N)

• 20. _______ Do not have a good imagination (O)

ACTIVITY #1
THANK YOU!