Personality Theories

So in my online Psychology of Personality class, our first assignment is to post messages for course discussion. We are to create our own personality theory and then respond to another classmate's theory, with a couple more responses after that. So I thought it would be cool to jog the reader's mind here as well! Please, share your thoughts too. Here is my first message:

My own personality theory in regards to basic human nature would be considered an eclectic one; combining the social cognitive and behavioural approaches (cognitive behavioural), with a mix of the humanistic view as well. You can definitely justify any part of each approach in some way, but I’ll stick with these ones for now.

I believe that our cognitive processes and our relationships definitely determine our “personality” and how we react or feel towards certain situations or experiences. The way we display (or the way we think we display) these actions/reactions, reflects our personality whether it be through our speech, mannerisms, or actions. This is where the addition of the humanistic view comes in. Acting and reacting is what we as humans do. It is the way we perceive various situations and circumstances that shapes one’s own personality (mixed with some genetic biological factors as well, of course). We learn from all of our countless daily interactions and apply what we've learned (acceptance or rejection) to our overall behaviour, which includes the way we think. Everyone perceives explanations for their relationship interactions differently, therefore resulting in various behaviours for similar situations, or different personalities. The way we react to miscellaneous stimuli, for example our preference in music, can reflect our personality as well. It is what we choose to enjoy or dislike that can determine it too.

All in all, I would say that our experiences and what we learn from them might be the most important foundation for personality. I also believe that there is a divine influence, but I’ll save that for another message! I hope this made sense; it is quite a loaded question.

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BOOM, Manuel's Life Lessons has hit 200 posts!

Thanks for reading!