UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY

universe” a part limited in time and space. He experiences
himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something
separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of
his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection
for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to
free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles
of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the
whole of nature in its beauty. Albert Einstein
We the human race have different personalities
and personality types, it is synonymous to, like our
unique figures and faces. We all have different statures,
figures and faces which are quit unique and distinguish
us from others. Our inborn nature is nurtured by the
early up bringing practices of our parents and elders,
the customs, culture and the society. Our ethnicity and
environmental surroundings has a lasting effect on our
personality development. All these early experiences
have long lasting effects on our orientation in the world
and mold our habits, temperament and define our character.
The different habits leads to traits and give arise
to our unique personality type. The Cambridge English
dictionary defines personality as “The type of person
you are, which is shown by the way, you behave, feel
and think- for example we say “She has a very warm
personality” and that “He is well qualified for the job,
but he does lack personality (= he is a boring person)”.
Understanding personality is indispensible for practicing
psychiatry. To understand, personality we need
to define the culture we are living in. Culture (WAY OF
LIFE), as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary,
the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs,
of a particular group of people at a particular time:
relating to the habits, traditions and beliefs of a society.
Culture, is the ideas, customs and social behavior of
a particular people or society. Ecology shapes culture,
while ecology is the organisms and their relationship
with the surroundings.
Approaching the question of what determines
personality from a different direction, biological and
evolutionary approaches to personality suggest that
important components of personality are inherited.
Building on the work of behavioral geneticists, researchers
using biological and evolutionary approaches argue
that personality is determined at least in part by our
genes in much the same way that our height is largely
a result of genetic contributions from our ancestors.1
The evolutionary perspective assumes that personality
traits that led to our ancestors’ survival and reproductive
success are more likely to be preserved and passed on
to subsequent generations2.
All port eventually answered this question by suggesting
that there are three fundamental. Categories of
traits: cardinal, central, and secondary.3,4 A cardinal trait
is a single characteristic that directs most of a person’s
activities. For example, a totally selfless woman may
direct all her energy toward humanitarian activities;
Central traits, such as honesty and sociability, are an
individual’s major characteristics; they usually number
from five to ten in any one person. Finally, secondary
traits are characteristics that affect behavior in fewer
situations and are less influential than central or cardinal
traits.5 For instance, a reluctance to eat meat and a love
of modern art would be considered secondary traits6,7.
Another trait theorist, psychologist Hans Eysenck
(1995)8 also used factor analysis to identify patterns of
traits, but he came to a very different conclusion about
the nature of personality. He found that personality
could best be described in terms of just three major
dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.
The extraversion dimension describes a person’s
level of sociability, whereas the neuroticism dimension
encompasses an individual’s emotional stability. Finally,
psychoticism is the degree to which reality is distorted.
By evaluating people along these three dimensions,
Eysenck was able to predict behavior accurately in a
variety of situations.
Figure 1 Eysenck described personality in terms
of three major dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism,
and psychoticism. Using these dimensions, he could
predict people’s behavior in many types of situations.
(Source: Eysenck, 1990)9
EDITORIAL
UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY
Wajid Ali Akhunzada
Head Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science