EDU 02-DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE LEARNER

                                                                     UNIT 4 

                       PERSONALITY OF THE LEARNER

CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY

Personality is made up the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and

behaviors that make a person unique. It arises from within the individual and remains

fairly consistent throughout life. While there are many different theories of

personality, it is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychosocial

systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. It is the total quality

of an individual's behaviour as it is shown in his habits, thinking, attitude, interests,

manner of acting and personal philosophy of life. Personality is more than the sum

total of an individual's traits and characteristics.

Characteristics of Personality

In order to understand the psychology of personality, it is important to learn some of

the key characteristics of how personality works.

 Personality is organized and consistent. We tend to express certain aspects

of our personality in different situations and our responses are generally

stable.

 Although personality is generally stable, it can be influenced by the

environment. For example, while your personality might lead you to be shy

in social situations, an emergency might lead you to take on a more outspoken

and take-charge approach.

 Personality causes behaviors to happen. You react to the people and objects

in your environment based on your personality. From your personal

preferences to your choice of a career, every aspect of your life is affected by

your personality.

Definition of Personality

According to Gordon Allport (1937), “Personality is the dynamic organisation

within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determine his unique

adjustment to his environment”.

Revised Definition of Gordon Allport (1961), “Personality is the dynamic

organisation within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determine

his characteristics behaviour and thought”.

According to Munn (1965), “Personality is the most characteristics integration of an

individual‟s structure and activities”.

TYPE APPROACH

According to Morgan and King, “ A type is simply a class of individuals said to share

a common collection of characteristics.” It means that people are classified into

categories according to the characteristics they share in common. For example, some

people prominently show tendencies of being outgoing, happy-go-lucky nature,

mixing with people, less task orientation etc. These people are classified as extrovert.

A number of thinkers have given their typological models to explain personality,

some of which include (i) Hippocrates‟s typology (ii) Kretchmer‟s typology (iii)

Sheldon‟s typology. The Four Temperament Types of Hippocrates: Greek

physician Hippocrates (c. 400 B.C.), characterized human behavior in terms of four

temperaments, each associated with a different bodily fluid, or "humor." The

sanguine, or optimistic, type was associated with blood; the phlegmatic type (slow

and lethargic) with phlegm; the melancholic type (sad, depressed) with black bile; and

the choleric (angry) type with yellow bile. Individual personality was determined by

the amount of each of the four humors.

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            UNIT 4- Personality of the learner