COMPONENTS OF

PERSONALITY
Personality is made up of the following traits and characteristics:
1. Physical or biological traits and characteristics
These include general physical appearance, size of the body,
height, weight, color of hair, manner of walking, health etc.
2. Capacities
Mental ability or intelligence, special abilities and talents in art,
music, science, etc.
3. Psychological traits
These refer to good manners, gregariousness, extroversion-
introversion, dominance-submissiveness, affluence, generosity,
lifestyle, patterns of adjustments, etc.
4. Spiritual and moral values
These are piety, honesty, sincerity, keeping of promise,
punctuality, responsibility, devotion to duty, absence of anti-
social tendencies, etc.
5. Temperament
The ability to keep one’s cool when under stress and
strain, the ability to control irritability and irascibility, etc.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Outstanding characteristic of individuals make them
distinctly different from other individuals. These outstanding
characteristics are the by-products of heredity and
environment.
A. Type Theories
1.Physique: Body Type. (Bodily constitution, health and
vigor associated with temperament)
a.) Kretschemer’s classification (not confirmed)
1. Asthenic- tall, thin body associated with schizophrenia or
schizothyme temperament, a mental disorder characterized
by splitting of personality, dissociation, emotional
deterioration, and out of ideational content.
2. Pyknic- short, fat body with cyclothymic temperament, a
mild manic-depressive psychosis involving recurring cycles
of exhilaration and depression.
3. Dysplastic- bodily defective and handicapped .
 4. Normal- have only mild forms of asthenic and pyknic
characteristics and have bodies and temperaments that are
appropriate and accepted as normal by the majority.
Sheldon’s classification (not confirmed)

1. Endomorphic (endomorph, n)- prominence of the

intestines and other visceral organs, round in body but weak
muscles and bones.
2. Mesomorphic (mesomorph, n)- athletic type with strong
and rippling muscles, broad-shouldered and narrow-hipped.
3. Ectomorphic (ectomorph, n)- tall, thin, stoop-shouldered,
with delicate skin, fine hair and sensitive nervous system .
 2. TEMPERAMENT TYPES, (PHYSIOLOGY:
TYPES BASED ON BODY CHEMISTRY AND
ENDOCRINE BALANCE)
a) Sheldon’s temperament types are:
1. Viscerotonic- predominantly endomorphic, loves to eat,
seeks bodily comfort, sociable, relaxed in posture and
movement, and slow in reactions.
2. Somatotonic- predominantly mesomorphic, energetic,
likes exercise, direct in his manners, and loves competitive
aggressiveness.
3. Cerebrotonic- predominantly ectomorphic, sensitive,
emotional, worries much, does not like groups and loves
solitude.
b) Greek classification usually attributed to
Hippocrates. Temperament is dependent upon the
predominant body fluid.
1. Sanguine- warm-heated, pleasant, quick to react, balanced
emotional excitement.
2. Melancholic- suffers from depression and sadness,
unpleasant, calm emotion. Pre-dominant body fluid is black
bile.
3. Choleric- easily angered and quick to react, easily excited
emotionally. Predominant body fluid is the yellow bile.
4. Phlegmatic- listless, slow, apathetic, calm emotion, weak.
Predominant body fluid is phlegm.
3. Behavior: Psychological Types. (These are Jung’s
theories)

a) Introvert- prefers to be alone, shy, withdrawn but may be

a leader in a discussion if his level of intelligence is high.
b) Extrovert- tends or prefers to be amidst people, very
sociable, conventional, orthodox, well-dressed, outgoing,
chooses an occupation that deals with people like sales or
promotional work.
c) Ambivert- the normal who is in-between the two extremes
of introversion and extroversion.
B. TRAIT THEORIES
A trait theory that describes a personality by its
position on a number of scales, each of which
represents a trait.
1. Allport’s Personal Dispositions. These are traits that are
unique for a person called by Allport as personal dispositions
and hence, cannot be used in an exact way in comparing one
person with another.
a) Secondary traits- when the traits are so many that they
merely express isolated interest or modes of responding and
are better characterized as attitudes than traits such as likes
and dislikes, positive or negative attitude towards something.
b) Central traits- when the traits are too few to describe a
person.
c) Cardinal traits- when a person is dominated by a single
outstanding trait that makes him stand out and he becomes a
reference personality whose characteristic we expect others
to know.
2. Cattell’s Theory of Surface and Source Traits
a) Surface traits- these traits are found by cluster analysis.
b) Source traits- these traits are found by factor analysis.
C.DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
Developmental theories deal with continuities, that is, one
can tell what a person will do in a given situation by what he
has done before in earlier situations that resemble the
present.
1. Psychoanalytic Theory of Developmental. The theory
holds that we undergo a maturational scheme of
psychosexual stages and at each stage, psychosocial
crises occur which if successfully met lead to maturity of
psychological development.

a) Compulsive personality- characterized by excessive

cleanliness, orderliness, obstinacy, stinginess, and
punctuality.
b) Authoritarian personality- characterized by “highly
conventional behavior, superstition, destructiveness and
cynicism, desire for power, concern over sex.”
2. Learning Theories. According to learning theories,
personality is the result of learning through reward and
punishment. The things learned and become habits and traits
that make up the individual’s personality distinct from those
of others.

3. Role Theories. Role theories “describe personality

according to the manner in which the individual meets the
various demands that society makes upon in his role as child,
parent , man, woman, worker, citizen.” There are at least five
positions and these are as follow :
a) Age-sex positions- a child should act like a child, a man
acts like a man, and a woman as a woman.
b) Occupational positions- a framer develops a farmer
personality, a doctor, a doctor personality, a lawyer
personality, etc.
c) Prestige positions- a slave has a slave personality, a
millionaire personality, a President has a President
personality, a Congressman has a Congressman personality,
etc.
d) Family, clan, household- a father has a bread winner
personality, a child is subservient to the parents, the head of
a clan must have that personality, etc.
e.) Position in association groups based on congeniality or
common interest- an orchestra member must act as such,
member of a Lion’s Club acts as a Lion’s Club member, etc.

D.THEORIES OF PERSONALITY DYNAMICS

1. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory.
The psychoanalytic theory of personality of Freud covers the
following:
a) The Id
This consist of innate instinctual drives of sexual and
aggressive in nature which seeks immediate gratification of
primitive, irrational pleasure seeking of drives such as sex,
hunger, thirst, etc.
b) The Ego
This is a personality responsible for controlling behavior
in socially approved ways: there is rational thinking.
c) The Superego
This is conscience, the sense of right and wrong, that
works according to the ideal.
2. Lewin’s Field Theory. According to this theory, the
individual is embedded in a field called his life space, which
is actually his environment, in which conflicts arise and the
alternatives open to the individual to resolve the conflicts.
E.OVERCOMPENSATION THEORY
This is a theory of Alfred Adler. This is trying to excel in
something to compensate a weakness or deficiency. Children
with some weakness or handicaps develop inferiority
complex but when they grow up they become ambitious and
aggressive in a destructive sense and develop superiority
complex.
F. NEED THEORIES OF PERSOANLITY
1. Karen Horney’s Theory of Personality. According to
Horney, a child may resolve conflicts in a harsh environment
in one of three ways:
a) Moving toward people
This is to satisfy the need for love, affection, and
approval of other people so the child or individual tries hard
to please people to win their love, affection and approval.
b) Moving against people
This is to satisfy the need for power, dominance, prestige,
admiration, financial and sexual success. The individual
works hard to attain these end to the points of becoming
ruthless and un-scrupulous.
c) Moving away from people
This is to satisfy the need for independence and self-
sufficiency. The individual hates to be tied down and so he
avoids being too close to others.
2. Erich Fromm’s Isolation Theory. According to this
theory, man has been isolated from nature and from other
men and this has given to rise to five basic needs which if
not satisfied would result in frustration and problems.
a) Relatedness
Man has lost his nearness to nature and so he has to
relate himself to others based on love and affection.
b) Transcendence
Man has to submerge his animal nature of greed so that
he becomes cooperative and productive.
c) Rootedness
Man has to satisfy his need for belongingness to a group
by brotherly love and affection and so he associates himself
with other people.
d) Identity
Man needs to feel that he is different from others and so
he tries hard to do or create something that would give an
identity to him.
e) Frame of orientation
Man needs an environments that is stable and with
consistent events to be able to understand it.
3. Maslow’s Self-actualization Theory. According to this
theory, man is innately good and self-actualization or
achievement is his goal.
a) Biological needs
These needs give comfort to the body, such as food,
clothing, and shelter and some other material needs.
b) Psychological needs
These are needs for love, affection, belongingness, safety,
cooperation, companionship, etc.
c) Self-actualization needs
These are needs for exceptional and ideal achievements
and creativity. We hear of such personalities as great
scientists like Einstein, great explorers like Magellan and
Columbus, great heroes like Rizal, great inventors like
Edison, etc.
 Prepared by:
Alcantara, Cresty Mae E.
Villamor, Lyka