By: Ania Syrowatka

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Personality

• By Ania Syrowatka
• March 5th, 2008

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Personality

• Who we are our uniqueness
• Influences our behavior, thoughts, moods,
  attitudes, emotions, even our unconscious
  feelings
• Is reflected in our interactions with other
  people and the environment around us
• Can predict how we would act or react under
  different situations

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Definition of Personality

• A definition of personality
•  
• Personality is a stable set of internal
  characteristics and tendencies that determine the
  psychological behavior of people. The behavior
  determined by personality is relatively
  consistent over time.
•  

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Definition of Personality

• Picking up the theme of behavior, this has two
  classes of determinants personality and
  environment  
• BEHAVIOR (B) F PERSONALITY (P), ENVIRONMENT
  (E)
•  
• Personality variables represent internal causes
  of behavior, while environmental variables are
  external causes  

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Definition of Personality

• A more detailed formula
•  
• BEHAVIOR F (a) HEREDITY or PHYSIOLOGY, (b)
  PAST LEARNING, (c) FLUCTUATING LEVELS OF
  AROUSAL, (d) the ENVIRONMENT.
•  
• (a), (b), and (c) are internal, so personality
  includes physiological learned aspects.
•  
• It is generally agreed that personality variables
  are both internal and consistent over time.

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Linking Personality to Disease

• Possible routes
• Personality directly causes the disease
  personality disorders
• Personality causes disease indirectly, mediated
  via health behaviors or exposures
• Personality moderates the link between the cause
  and the illness making the illness worse or
  better (effect modifier)

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Personality Disorders

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
  Disorders (DSM IV)
• Personality Disorders in 3 main clusters or
  groups
• Cluster A (the Odd Eccentric Group Psychotics)
• paranoid, schizoid
  schizotypal personality disorders
• Cluster B (Dramatic, Erratic Group Extraverts)
• antisocial, borderline,
  histrionic narcissistic personality disorders
• Cluster C (Anxious, Fearful Group Neurotics)
• avoidant, dependent and
  obsessive-compulsive personality disorders

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Timeline

• 1758 Franz Joseph Gall was born. He was the
  founder of phrenology, which links personality to
  head shape.
• 1848 - Phineas P. Gage was injured in a dynamite
  explosion, which blasted a rod into his brain.
  Gage survived, but his personality was
  drastically altered.
• 1902 Erik Erikson born. He created Eriksons
  stages of psychosocial development and described
  personality development from birth until death.
• 1916 - Hans Eysenck born. He created the factor
  model of personality, which includes
  Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism.
• 1921 - Hermann Rorschach's published his book
  Psychodiagnostik, introduced inkblot personality
  tests.
• 1923 - Sigmund Freud published The Ego and the
  Id.
• 1948 - Robert W. White's classic book The
  Abnormal Personality was published. It is an
  account of disordered behaviour.
• 1954 Abraham Maslow published his book
  Motivation and Personality, describing his theory
  of a hierarchy of needs.
• 1963 - Albert Bandura first described the concept
  of observational learning to explain personality
  development.
• 1980 - Carl Rogers published A Way Of Being,
  based in self-actualization theories.

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Behaviourist Theories

• Behaviourist theories propose that personality
  results from an interaction between the
  individual and the environment.
• Behaviourist theorists study observable and
  measurable behaviours. They reject theories that
  include internal thoughts and feelings.
• Behaviourist theorists include B. F. Skinner and
  Albert Bandura.

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Psychodynamic Theories

• Psychodynamic theories of personality focus on
  the influence of the unconscious mind and
  childhood experiences on personality.
• Psychodynamic theorists include Freud and
  Erickson.
• Freud introduced three components of personality
  the id, ego, and superego. The id is in charge
  of needs and urges. The superego is responsible
  for ideals and morals. The ego moderates between
  the id, the superego, and reality.
• Erikson proposed that personality progresses via
  a series of stages and conflicts arise at each
  stage. Success in each stage is dependent on
  overcoming the conflicts.

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Humanist Theories

• Humanist theories focus on the importance of free
  will and individual experience in the development
  of personality.
• Humanist theorists highlight the concept of
  self-actualization. This is an innate need for
  personal growth and serves to motivate behaviour.
  
• Humanist theorists include Carl Rogers and
  Abraham Maslow.

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Attributional Style

• Attribution
• Aspect of personality that explains how
  individuals interpret the cause of their, or
  other peoples, behavior. Can be relevant to
  interpersonal relations, and thereby indirectly
  affect health
• Internalizing vs. externalizing attributional
  styles
• Internalizing individuals adopt health-enhancing
  behaviours, take interest in health promotion
  messages, and accept control over their health
  status
• Health locus of control internal vs. powerful
  others vs. chance

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Type A Personality

• Time Urgency and Impatience,
• e.g. individuals who are frustrated by waiting,
  interrupt conversations, walk or talk very
  quickly, etc.
• Free-Floating Hostility or Aggressiveness
• e.g. impatience, rudeness, easily upset by minute
  issues, have a short fuse, etc.

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Type A Personality

• Strenuous worker
• Poor sleep pattern
• Compulsive tendencies
• Aggressive
• Depressive and neurotic tendencies
• Angry
• Impatience
• Low on introspection
• Anxious
• Hard driving
• Little time for relaxation
• Conscientious

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Type A Personality

• Physical Characteristics
• Facial Tension (Tight lips, clenched jaw, etc.)
• Tongue Clicking or Teeth Grinding
• Dark Circles Under Eyes
• Facial Sweating (on forehead or upper lip)

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Type A Personality

• Adverse Effects of Type A Personality
• Hypertension
• Heart Disease
• Job Stress
• Social Isolation

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Type A Personality

• Fixed Characteristic vs. Situational Reaction?
• Type A personality characteristics are
  considered to be a reaction to the environment.
  Hence, it may be relevant in understanding link
  between job stress and ill health
• For example,
• Many jobs put heavy demands on time
• Some workplaces put heavy penalties on mistakes
• Some jobs create forms of stress that make
  employees less patient
• Some individuals have a natural tendency of being
  more intense, this can be exacerbated by
  environmental stress, or mitigated by conscious
  effort and lifestyle changes.

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Type B Personality

• - relaxed
• - not prone to outbursts of rage or
  anger
• - non-competitive less driven
• - easy-going
• - patient
• - optimistic
• - have a sense of humor
• - at peace with their environment and
  themselves
• - able to express their emotions
  appropriately
• - pleasant demeanor
• - temporary fearlessness in face of
  trauma
• - hence able to cope with stress
  effectively
• - less susceptible to disease
• - though not driven over-achievers,
  they are often successful in their professions

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Type A/B Personality Research Article

• The Association between Type A Behaviour and
  Change in Coronary Risk Factors among Young
  Adults (Garritty et al, 1990)
• Individuals with a Type A personality had
  significant increases in
• - systolic/diastolic blood pressure
• - cigarette smoking
• Type B personality experienced no change.

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Type C Personality

• Suppression of emotion
• Depression
• Learned helplessness
• Low emotional expressiveness

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Type C Research Article

• Colon cancer personality factors predictive of
  onset and stage of presentation (Kavan et al,
  1995)
• The Type C Personality factors were significantly
  correlated with an increased risk of colon cancer
  
• The matched control sample less likely to develop
  cancer

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Type C Research Article

• Personality factors and breast cancer risk a
  13-year follow-up (Bleiker et al, 2008)
• Personality factors not statistically
  significantly correlated with increased risk of
  breast cancer, with or without adjusting for the
  risk factors
• Therefore, the cancer-prone personality was not
  related to breast cancer development.

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The Constitutional Predisposition Model
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The Personality Induced Hyper-Reactivity Model
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Precipitator Of Dangerous Behavior Model
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Risk Taking Personality Models
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Risk Taking Summary

• The perception of risk produces a cascade of
  physiological changes that cause high arousal and
  anxiety.
• Psychoanalytic theorists conclude that
  individuals who chose to take risks are illogical
  or pathological
• It can be argued that we have evolved as a
  species to take risks in order to survive
• Contemporary psychologists understand that all
  types of risk takers rate higher in the Sensation
  Seeking personality trait

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Risk Taking Research Article

• The Role of Personality Characteristics in Young
  Adult Driving (Patil et al, 2006)
• Greater risk-taking propensity, physical/verbal
  hostility, aggression, and tolerance of deviance
  predicted a competitive attitude toward driving,
  risk-taking during driving, high-risk driving,
  driving aggression, and drink driving
• Greater risk taking propensity, physical/verbal
  hostility, aggression and expectations for
  achievement predicted a higher numbers of
  offences, more serious offences, and more points
  lost

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Addictive Personality

• Impulsive behaviour
• e.g. difficulty in delaying gratification,
  antisocial personality characteristics and
  sensation seeking.
• High value placed on nonconformity and a weak
  commitment to goal achievement
• Sense of social alienation and tolerance for
  deviance
• Sense of heightened stress

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Spiral of Addictions
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Enneagram Basics

• The Enneagram is "a geometric figure that
  delineates the nine basic personality types of
  human nature and their complex interrelationships.
  "

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Evaluate your Personality

• Please take the next few minutes to fill out the
  personality test to determine your Enneagram type.

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Enneagram Types

• Type One (The Reformer) is principled,
  purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.
  
• Type Two (The Helper) is demonstrative, generous,
  people-pleasing, and possessive.
• Type Three (The Achiever) is adaptive, excelling,
  driven, and image-conscious.
• Type Four (The Individualist )is expressive,
  dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.
• Type Five (The Investigator) is perceptive,
  innovative, secretive, and isolated.
• Type Six (The Loyalist) is engaging, responsible,
  anxious, and suspicious.
• Type Seven (The Enthusiast) is spontaneous,
  versatile, distractible, and scattered.
• Type Eight (The Challenger) is self-confident,
  decisive, wilful, and confrontational.
• Type Nine (The Peacemaker) is receptive,
  reassuring, agreeable, and complacent.

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Enneagrams Applied to Health

• Type 1 The ReformerExcessive use of diets,
  vitamins, and cleansing techniques (fasts, diet
  pills, enemas). Under-eating for self-control in
  extreme cases anorexia and bulimia. Alcohol to
  relieve tension.
• Type 2 The HelperAbusing food and
  over-the-counter medications. Bingeing,
  especially on sweets and carbohydrates.
  Over-eating from feeling "love-starved."
  Hypochondria to look for sympathy.
• Type 3 The AchieverOver-stressing the body for
  recognition. Working out to exhaustion.
  Starvation diets. Workaholism. Excessive intake
  of coffee, stimulants, amphetamines, cocaine,
  steroids or excessive surgery for cosmetic
  improvement.
• Type 4 The IndividualistOver-indulgence in rich
  foods, sweets, alcohol to alter mood, to
  socialize, and for emotional consolation. Lack of
  physical activity. Bulimia. Depressants. Tobacco,
  prescription drugs, or heroin for social anxiety.
  Cosmetic surgery to erase rejected features.
• Type 5 The InvestigatorPoor eating and sleeping
  habits due to minimizing needs. Neglecting
  hygiene and nutrition. Lack of physical activity.
  Psychotropic drugs for mental stimulation and
  escape, narcotics for anxiety.

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Enneagram Application

• Type 6 The LoyalistRigidity in diet causes
  nutritional imbalances ("I don't like
  vegetables.") Working excessively. Caffeine and
  amphetamines for stamina, but also alcohol and
  depressants to deaden anxiety. Higher
  susceptibility to alcoholism than many types.
• Type 7 The EnthusiastThe type most prone to
  addictions stimulants (caffeine, cocaine, and
  amphetamines), Ecstasy, psychotropics, narcotics,
  and alcohol but tend to avoid other depressants.
  Wear body out with effort to stay "up." Excessive
  cosmetic surgery, pain killers.
• Type 8 The ChallengerIgnore physical needs and
  problems avoid medical visits and check-ups.
  Indulging in rich foods, alcohol, tobacco while
  pushing self too hard leads to high stress,
  strokes, and heart conditions. Control issues
  central, although alcoholism and narcotic
  addictions are possible.
• Type 9 The PeacemakerOver-eating or under-eating
  due to lack of self-awareness and repressed
  anger. Lack of physical activity. Depressants and
  psychotropics, alcohol, marijuana, narcotics to
  deaden loneliness and anxiety.

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Conclusion

• Personality has varying influence on
• Health and associated health behaviours in direct
  and indirect ways
• The main areas of study have been in heart
  disease and cancer chiefly Types A and C
  personalities
• IMPORTANT Personality effects do not mean that
  individuals bring illnesses upon themselves.