The document discusses personality and its definition from an academic perspective. It begins by defining personality and noting there is no universal definition. It then discusses the major debates around how personality is defined, such as nature vs nurture and uniqueness vs universality. The document outlines how the Big Five model has become the prominent framework used to describe personality. It analyzes each of the five traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness) and their facets in depth using examples.

1. PERSONALITY IS TO A
MAN WHAT PERFUME
IS TO A FLOWER
KUNAL BASU LLB SEM. I (CC&I)
Amity University, NOIDA
FACULTY: DR. ATUL JAIN & MS. MAHIMA BHARADWAJ
DATE: SEP 25, 2013
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2. Who said these
words?
Charles Schwab
US steel magnate who
died penniless in the
Great Depression of
1929-33
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3. What does „personality‟
mean?
 Originates from the Latin persona, which means mask
 In the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the
mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the
identity of a character, but rather was a convention
employed to represent or typify that character.
 Defined as a dynamic and organized set of
characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely
influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and
behaviors in various situations
Also refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social
adjustments, and behaviors consistently exhibited over
time that strongly influences one's expectations, self-
perceptions, values, and attitudes. It also predicts human
reactions to other people, problems, and stress
 No universal consensus on the definition of
"personality" in psychology.
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4. How has academia defined „personality‟?
DC Funder "…..individuals' characteristic patterns of thought,
emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological
mechanisms -- hidden or not -- behind those patterns.”
 This definition means that among their colleagues in other
subfields of psychology, those psychologists who study
personality have a unique mandate: to explain whole persons.
Feist and Feist: “Although no single definition is acceptable
to all personality theorists, we can say that personality is a
pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics
that give both consistency and individuality to a person's
behavior."
The multiple dimensions of personality led the US steel
magnate, Charles M Schwab to aptly remark that "Personality
is to a man what perfume is to a flower.”
 Study of personality is not a purely empirical discipline, as it
brings in elements of art, science, and philosophy to draw
general conclusions.
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5. - I
 Freedom versus determinism: Whether humans have control over their
own behavior and understand the motives behind it or if their behavior is
causally determined by forces beyond their control.
 Behavior is categorized as being unconscious, environmental, or
biological by various theories.
 Heredity versus environment: Personality is thought to be determined
largely either by genetics and biology, or by environment and experiences.
 Contemporary research suggests that most personality traits are based
on the joint influence of genetics and environment. One of the forerunners
in this arena is C. Robert Cloninger, who pioneered the Temperament and
Character model.
 Uniqueness versus universality: Discusses the extent of each human's
individuality (uniqueness) or similarity in nature (universality). Gordon
Allport, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers were all advocates of the
uniqueness of individuals.
 Behaviorists and cognitive theorists, in contrast, emphasize the
importance of universal principles, such as reinforcement and self-efficacy.
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6. personality-II
 Active versus reactive: Explores whether humans
primarily act through individual initiative (active) or through
outside stimuli. Behavioral theorists typically believe that
humans are passively shaped by their environments, whereas
humanistic and cognitive theorists believe that humans are
more active in their role.
 Most modern theorists agree that both are important, with
aggregate behavior being primarily determined by traits in
their interaction with short-term behavior, whereas situational
factors in interaction with aggregate behavior are direct
predictors of behavior on the short term.
 Optimistic versus pessimistic: Whether humans are
integral in the changing of their own personalities.
 Theories that place a great deal of emphasis on learning
are often more optimistic than those that do not.
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7. academia-I?
 Personality theory developed over the last century
 The most common models of traits incorporate three to five broad
dimensions or factors.
 All trait theories incorporate at least two dimensions, extraversion and
neuroticism
 Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different
types of people.
 Personality types are distinguished from personality traits, which come
in different levels or degrees. For example, according to type theories,
there are two types of people, introverts and extroverts.
 According to trait theories, introversion and extroversion are part of a
continuous dimension, with many people in the middle.
 Psychoanalytic theories explain human behavior in terms of the
interaction of various components of personality. Sigmund Freud was the
founder of this school of thought.
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8. academia-II?
 In cognitive theory, behavior is explained as guided by cognitions
(e.g. expectations) about the world, especially those about other
people.
 Cognitive theories are theories of personality that emphasize
cognitive processes, such as thinking and judging.
 One of the major tenets of this concentration of personality
psychology is a strong emphasis on scientific thinking and
experimentation
 Humanistic psychology emphasizes that people have free will and
that this plays an active role in determining how they behave.
Accordingly, humanistic psychology focuses on subjective experiences
of persons as opposed to forced, definitive factors that determine
behavior.
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9. academia-II?
 Evolutionary theory states that through natural
selection, organisms change over time through adaptation and
selection. Traits are developed and certain genes come into
expression based on an organism's environment and how these
traits aid in an organism's survival and reproduction.
Study of the biological level in personality psychology
focuses primarily on identifying the role of genetic
determinants and how they mold individual personalities.
 Human Genome Project allowed for a much more in
depth understanding of genetics.
 This theory examines how individual personality
differences are based on natural selection.
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10. Academia
Study of personality is based on the essential insight
that all people are similar in some ways, yet different in
others.
There have been many different definitions and theories
of personality proposed but most now converge on the Big
Five, in sum and substance that, lead back, in many ways,
to trait, behavioral and other theories of personality with
some variable(s) in combination.
Accordingly, the Big Five personality traits are five broad
domains or dimensions of personality that are used to
describe human personality.
Big Five factors are openness, conscientiousness,
extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
 Often referred by collective acronyms OCEAN,
NEOAC, or CANOE.
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11. Traits?
 None of the five traits is in themselves positive or negative
 They are simply characteristics that individuals exhibit to a greater or lesser
extent
 Each of these 5 personality traits describes, relative to other people, the
frequency or intensity of a person's feelings, thoughts, or behaviors
 Everyone possesses all 5 of these traits to a greater or lesser degree. For
example, two individuals could be described as ‘agreeable’ (agreeable people
value getting along with others). However, there could be significant variation in
the degree to which they are both agreeable.
 Thus all five personality traits exist on a continuum rather than as attributes
that a person does or does not have as the following diagram shows and the
framework that I have adopted in my companion research paper:
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12. Five?
 Each of the big five personality traits is made up of six facets
 These can be assessed independently of the trait that they
belong to as shown in the following diagram:
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13. Outline
I. What is personality?
II. Academic debate and differences over
philosophical assumptions in theories of
personality
III. Emerging convergence and consensus over
multiple dimensions of personality in the Big
Five
IV. Analysis of the Big Five traits with real-life
examples
V. Analysis of Big Five facets with real-life
examples
VI. Recent research and new vistas
VII. Conclusion – Schwab and the multiple
dimensions of personality
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14. Introvert
Extrovert Introvert
 Openness to
experience (inventive/curious vs.
consistent/cautious) reflects
degree of intellectual curiosity,
creativity and a preference for
novelty and variety a person has
Extraverts enjoy being with
people, are full of energy, and
often experience positive
emotions.
They tend to be enthusiastic,
action-oriented, individuals who
are likely to say "Yes!" or "Let's
go!" to opportunities for
excitement like an army covert
operations group leader
In groups they like to talk, assert
themselves, and draw attention to
themselves like politicians and
many godmen like Sri Sri Ravi
 Introverts lack exuberance,
energy, and activity levels of
extraverts
 Tend to be quiet, low-key,
deliberate, and disengaged from
the social world like Sri Aurobindo
 Their lack of social involvement
should not be interpreted as
shyness or depression; the
introvert simply needs less
stimulation than an extravert and
prefers to be alone.
 The independence and reserve
of the introvert is sometimes
mistaken as unfriendliness or
arrogance.
 In reality, an introvert who
scores high on the agreeableness
dimension will not seek others out
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15. - I
Extrovert Introvert
 Open personalities have an
appreciation for art, emotion,
adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity,
and variety of experience, what many
psychologists call intellect like
philosophers
 More likely to hold unconventional
beliefs, e.g. politically dissenting
artists like Marlon Brando,
entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg
and Bill Gates and non-conformist
painters like Late MF Hussain.
 Depending on the individual's
specific intellectual abilities, this
symbolic cognition may take the form
of mathematical, logical, or geometric
thinking, artistic and metaphorical
use of language, music composition
or performance, or one of the many
visual or performing arts
 People with low scores on
openness to experience tend to have
narrow, common interests such as
auditors and accountants
 Prefer the plain, straightforward,
and obvious over the complex,
ambiguous, and subtle
May regard the arts and sciences
with suspicion, regarding these
endeavors as abstruse or of no
practical use
 Prefer familiarity over novelty; they
are conservative and resistant to
change such as members of the Ku
Klux Klan and religious groups.
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16. - II
Extrovert Introvert
 Facets include friendliness,
gregariousness, assertiveness, high
activity levels, excitement-seeking
and cheerfulness
Form close, intimate relationships.
Gregarious people find the company
of others pleasantly stimulating and
rewarding like Narendra Modi and
other politicians
Enjoy the excitement of crowds.
Assertive ones like to speak out,
take charge, and direct the activities
of others
Lead fast-paced, busy lives
Love bright lights and hustle and
bustle. They are likely to take risks
and seek thrills.
 Low scorers on friendliness are not
necessarily cold and hostile, but they do
not reach out to others and are
perceived as distant and reserved
 Low scorers tend to feel overwhelmed
by, and therefore actively avoid, large
crowds.
 They do not necessarily dislike being
with people sometimes, but their need
for privacy and time to themselves is
much greater than for individuals who
score high on this scale.
 Low scorers tend not to talk much and
let others control the activities of groups.
 People who score low on this scale
follow a slower and more leisurely,
relaxed pace
 Low scorers are overwhelmed by
noise and commotion and are adverse to
thrill-seeking.
 Low scorers are not as prone to such
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17. Openness (Extravert v. Introvert) in my Family
Environment
 I speak little but keep my eyes and ears open, am not too fond of
visitors at home, seldom attend parties, am glued to the Internet and my
notebook. Abstractions do not interest me but I am conscientious as
far as my studies and personal appearance are concerned but
quite careless about my physical environment at home. I also do
not easily trust others and am always trying to best my friends and
acquaintances. Yet I have large number of friends that understand
me. While I do not discuss too many current affairs with my father
and grandfather at home, yet I listen intently when they discuss
with my mother. Only computer and automotive technology interest
me but not others.
On the contrary, my father, is outgoing, generally sociable with a
fondness for parties, fond of writing columns on contemporary events in
the print media, a voracious reader of the Internet and print media with
fairly strong opinions about a subject. He is also quite assertive and often
adopts ill-suited courses of action for which he repents later.
My mother is more laid back – midway between the two extremes. As
she welcomes visitors, she is not too enamored of parties other than
within her friends’ circle, while she is a passionate information-gatherer
from the media, yet she is generally circumspect about her opinions.
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18. Conscientiousness - I
 Conscientious people (efficient/organized vs. easy-
going/careless) have a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully,
and aim for achievement
 Show planned rather than spontaneous behavior, are organized,
and dependable.
 Tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for
achievement against measures or outside expectations
 Related to the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our
impulses.
 High scores on conscientiousness indicate a preference for
planned rather than spontaneous behavior
 Average level of conscientiousness rises among young adults and
then declines among older adults.
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19. Conscientiousness - II
Conscientious – High Conscientious – Low
Facets include self-efficacy,
orderliness, and dutifulness, striving
for achievement, self-discipline and
cautiousness.
High scorers believe they have
the intelligence (common sense),
drive, orderliness and self-control
necessary for achieving success.
Dutifulness reflects the strength of a
person's sense of duty and
obligation
Strong sense of moral obligation
but often too single-minded and
obsessed with their work
Able to overcome reluctance to
begin tasks and stay on track
despite distractions. take their time
when making decisions
Low scorers do not feel effective,
and may have a sense that they are
not in control of their lives
Low scorers tend to be
disorganized and scattered. Low
scorers find contracts, rules, and
regulations overly confining
likely to be seen as unreliable or
even irresponsible
Low scorers are content to get by
with a minimal amount of work, and
might be seen by others as lazy
Procrastinate and show poor
follow-through, often failing to
complete tasks-even tasks they
want very much to complete
 Often say or do first thing that
comes to mind without deliberating
alternatives and the probable
consequences of those alternatives.
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20. Family
For instance, my father plans our itineraries down to the last Google
directions map, restaurants, sights to see, public transportation, etc for all our
vacations, even saves all his appointments to his mobile most dutifully.
To the contrary, my mother and I go along with him since he is seldom
wrong
Yet my father is also spontaneous and is able to fit in with most audiences
with his effervescence and sense of humor. However, he is a workaholic and
seldom gets home before 8 pm after a day’s professional achievement. At
home, he loves to decorate the house and clean up the mess that I leave
behind, of course, not without chiding me, for not following his discipline.
To the contrary, my mother is none too organized, particularly when it
comes to keeping important documents in her custody and frequently
misplaces them.
In contrast, my paternal grandfather is even more disciplined as he even has
his original order of appointment to his job from 1949 – that he keeps wrapped
in a red cloth along with other important documents, many of which date back
over 50 years.
He also assiduously takes his morning and evening walks, come rain or shine.
He too has a wonderful sense of humor and is supremely proficient in both
English and Bengali, many steps ahead of my father and me.
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21. Agreeableness - I
Agreeable Disagreeable
 Show a tendency to be
compassionate and cooperative
rather than suspicious and
antagonistic towards others.
 They are therefore considerate,
friendly, generous, helpful, and
willing to compromise their interests
with others
 Have an optimistic view of human
nature like Mother Teresa
 Positively correlated with good
team work skills, but negatively
correlated with leadership skills.
Those who voice their opinion in a
team environment tend to move up
the corporate rankings, whereas the
ones that don't remain in the same
position usually labeled as the
followers of the team
 Agreeableness not useful in
situations that require tough or
absolute objective decisions like a
Prime Minister when a nation needs
to declare war or emergency to
protect its international borders.
 Can make excellent scientists,
critics, or soldiers like a dictatorial
Adolf Hitler, an intolerant Meghnad
Saha or overbearing US General
Douglas MacArthur
 Place self-interest above getting
along with others
 Sometimes their skepticism about
others‟ motives causes them to be
suspicious, unfriendly, and
uncooperative
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22. Agreeableness - II
Agreeable Disagreeable
 Facets include trust, morality,
altruism, cooperation, modesty
and sympathy
Are generally willing to assist
those who are in need.
 See no need for pretence or
manipulation when dealing with
others and are therefore candid,
frank, and sincere. They generally
find it more difficult to relate to the
low-scorers on this scale
 Willing to compromise or to
deny their own needs in order to
get along with others.
 See others as selfish, devious,
and potentially dangerous
low scorers are not unprincipled
or immoral
they are simply more guarded
and less willing to openly reveal
the whole truth. do not particularly
like helping those in need
 Requests for help feel like an
imposition rather than an
opportunity for self-fulfillment.
 Likely to intimidate others to
get their way
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23. Environment
I often ask my father to donate for a charitable cause but seldom pay out for the
same purpose from my own pocket money and do not mind if my mother gives away
my old clothes to the domestic help but do not take any initiative of my own. Yet I
participate in all team activities in College and University and generally trust about a
half of the people I meet. Often I am short-changed but I let that pass but remember it
for future relationships.
My father is as agreeable as he is disagreeable. He is prone to stifling dissent at his
place of work and drives his officers and staff to great lengths, albeit toward
professional achievement. He rewards those who succeed in keeping pace with him
while the less fortunate often get punished. At the same time he maintains an open
door policy at work and is available to all his officers and staff. Yet he also helps staff in
their distress, particularly the low-paid ones.
While my mother is a hard taskmaster, particularly for me and her domestic helps,
she cares for the indigent when she gives away my old clothes and food/sweets to her
domestic helps and their children and gifts them a token sum on every religious
occasion, including on my birthday. However, she is relatively short on her temper and
trust of others and is often not able to hold either, that sometimes costs her friends
and acquaintances.
My paternal grandfather, is deeply solicitous of the indigent and sometimes overdoes
it. He is a great conversationist that endears him to a large number of friends,
neighbors and well-wishers. Yet very precise and clear-headed when it comes to
rendering an opinion or taking any decision that invariably is in the greatest interest of
his family, including us. Like my father, he too is not very tolerant of dissent, yet
selectively antagonistic to others.
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24. Analyzing the Big Five: Neuroticism-I
 According to Eysenck’s (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism
interlinked with low tolerance for stress or aversive stimuli.
 Freud originally used the term neurosis to describe a condition marked
by mental distress, emotional suffering, and an inability to cope
effectively with the normal demands of life. He suggested that everyone
shows some signs of neurosis, but that we differ in our degree of
suffering and our specific symptoms of distress
 Today neuroticism refers to the tendency to experience negative
feelings. Those who score high on neuroticism may experience primarily
one specific negative feeling such as anxiety, anger, or depression, but
are likely to experience several of these emotions. People high in
neuroticism are emotionally reactive like actor Sanjay Dutt
 More likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor
frustrations as hopelessly difficult and impedes with personal
relationships, and apparent anxiety linked with work – a trait common to
most bosses at work.
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25. Analyzing the Big Five: Neuroticism-II
 At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism
are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. Tend to be calm,
emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings.
 May display more sensitive reactivity than those who score low on
neuroticism
 Can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think
clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress
 Lacking contentment in one's life achievements can correlate to high
Neuroticism scores and increase a person's likelihood of falling into clinical
depression such as many movie stars, singers and models when they
careers go down the hill
 Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low scorers
experience a lot of positive feelings
 Research suggests extraversion and neuroticism are negatively
correlated. Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the
Freudian sense
 Some psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional
stability to differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test
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26. III
Facets include anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness, immoderation
and vulnerability. May be afraid of specific situations or be just generally fearful.
 Persons low in anxiety generally calm and fearless
Persons who score high in anger feel enraged when things do not go their way.
Whether or not the person expresses annoyance and hostility depends on the
individual's level on agreeableness.
Low scorers do not get angry often or easily.
Depression measures the tendency to feel sad, dejected, and discouraged.
High scorers lack energy and have difficult initiating activities. Feel shy and
uncomfortable abound others and easily embarrassed that make these fears a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
Low scorers, in contrast, do not feel nervous in social situations.
Immoderate individuals feel strong cravings and urges that they have difficulty
resisting. Tend to be oriented toward short-term pleasures and rewards rather
than long-term consequences. Low scorers do not experience strong, irresistible
cravings and consequently do not find themselves tempted to overindulge
High scorers on vulnerability experience panic, confusion, and helplessness
when under pressure or stress. Low scorers feel more poised, confident, and
clear-thinking when stressed
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27. Environment
 Like my mother, I too have a short fuse and tend to lose my cool even over
insignificant things and tend to carry long-term prejudices against my family members
too even when they may not be entirely responsible for it. I am not overtly social but I
not unsocial either. I am easily dejected and disheartened by falling grades in
University and hyper-nervous on the days of my exams, even panic. Yet I was
extremely happy when my first published book was released, during family vacations,
shopping and dining out and remain thankful to my hosts for indulging me.
 My mother has characteristics similar to mine
 In contrast, my father gets extremely angry at times, even flushed, but, after
cooling down, is generally in a forgiving mood. However, it is often difficult to judge
who he forgives and those he does not, oblivious of the closeness of their relationship
with him. Yet he does not care much for what people think of him and not easily fazed
by failure. In fact, his agreeable facet more than compensates for his failings on the
neuroticism front.
 My paternal grandfather shows occasional outbursts of temper but is forever
contemplating future possible courses of action to remedy wrong or taking
appropriate decisions for the family. He is certainly dejected on some counts, viz. that
his friends (he is 91 years old now) are passing away, he is no longer as nimble and
physically strong as he was and suffers major ailments. Yet these do not faze him as he
remains a voracious reader, television addict, an addictive conversationist that attracts
new friends by the day and is a regular invitee at many senior citizens’ meets, et al.
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28. How is Personality Shaped-I*?
 Personality is shaped not only by external factors but by internalized
ones as well
 Also shaped by handed down customs and conventions, physiological
changes, maturation, physical environment, availability of resources, etc.
 Twin studies suggest that heritability and environmental factors equally
influence all five factors to the same degree
 Among four recent twin studies, the mean percentage for heritability
was calculated for each personality and it was concluded that heritability
influenced the five factors broadly. The self-report measures were as
follows: openness to experience was estimated to have a 57% genetic
influence, extraversion 54%, conscientiousness 49%, neuroticism 48%,
and agreeableness 42%
 Many studies of longitudinal data, which correlate people's test scores
over time, and cross-sectional data, which compare personality levels
across different age groups, show a high degree of stability in personality
traits during adulthood. It is shown that the personality stabilizes for
working-age individuals within about four years after starting working
* Refer companion research paper for references
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29. Was Charles Schwab Right?
 Personality combines the Big Five variables with six control variables each, all
eleven of which have billions of permutations and combinations that determine
the personality of human beings on the terra firma of planet Earth
 Akin to perfumes that blend fragrances from millions of flowers, oils and
other extracts to create mind-boggling combinations jostling for space on store
shelves
 Again, like all perfumes, no two humans are identical in their respective
personalities, not even identical twins
 Such diversity within families (such as mine by illustration) and individuals
within and outside them are the essence of humankind.
 Equally, it would violate the laws of Nature to have a unified nature of
humankind that would militate and be incapable of sustaining such population.
 As the French aviator and novelist, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry aptly remarked
“He who is different from me does not impoverish me - he enriches me. Our
unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves - in Man... For no man
seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass.”
Charles Schwab – Q.E.D.
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