Psychology of personality uses some of the highly regarded and most used trait theories to explain human traits. According to Allen and DeYoung (2017), knowledge about people’s characteristics is imperative for determining individual traits which are not directly observable. In particular, psychologists often make conclusions about an individual personality by making an inference based on observing the individuals’ habits, their preferences, social relations, and attitudes. This paper delves into understanding the psychology of personality by examining a case study of a young woman named “Lola” by applying the Five-Factor Theory and Eysenck's hierarchical model of personality.
The Five-Factor Theory by McCrae and Costa identifies the personal traits by focusing on five broad dimensions which include Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. As inferred from Allen and DeYoung (2017), individuals who are highly extraverted have been observed to be very assertive find it easy to socialize with others. A person with the agreeable trait is observed to be polite and always cooperate with their fellows. Conscientious individuals have the characteristic of being orderly and keen on accomplishing their duties. Neurotic persons are noted to have negative, emotions and can easily get irritated. Openness describes individuals open to wide array of interest and ever open to new experiences.
On the other hand, focus on identifying individual traits based on three domains which included Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Psychotic. The author’s theory is based on biological underpinnings notes that the extraverted type of person is one who has certain behaviors such as being highly sociable, overactive, careless, and jovial. In regards to his perception on Neuroticism, he categorizes people who are neurotic to be strong and emotionally labile (Allen " DeYoung, 2017). Finally, his understanding of the Psychotic trait characterizes individuals who do not care or have a feeling for other and live in solitary.
In examining Lola’s behaviors in the case study and relating them to the above-mentioned dimensions of the two theories, it becomes apparent that she is in search of her identity. Considering her family’s testimonies and that each of them has a different lens of observing her behaviors and perception about her characters, it is evident that they all do not know whom she has become and hopes she get better. The observation by Rose that she hardly gets into a longer relationship and her sister Emily wishing for a better relationship with her shows that Lola can live in solitary and does not care whether she is loved or not. As informed by Zuckerman and Glicksohn (2016), such a trait can be regarded as being psychotic.
Accordingly, Lola, as described by her mother and sister who explains that she is a kind of person who finds it difficult to get along with others and has never been in any long friendship, implies that she is reserved and finds it hard socializing with others. According to Zuckerman and Glicksohn (2016), an individual with exact opposite traits of an extravert would be regarded as an introvert. As such, she has the personality of an extrovert because she is not outgoing, conversing with her is a problem noting that she easily picks fights, and also not assertive. One can then conclude that Lola is an introvert. In reference to Eduardo her father, it can be noted that she has always been into such problems and has always come through.
Lola when describing her situation is noted to be concerned about her life and in particular her personality by asking two fundamental questions. For instance, she has been pondering and wondering where she comes from and needs to know her roots. It can be noted that Lola has been searching for her identity for a long time, thus, has been fighting the internal conflict. Since she admits not knowing her roots and where she comes from, it can now be understood why she is having mixed traits. She does not identify with any cultural background, norms, or beliefs that can shape her personality (Buss " Plomin, 2014). While parents should be there for their children, Lola narrates that family gathering and outings as a family were not part of their lives making her wonder whether they were even important to their parents. Despite trying to cope, the thought of the aforementioned areas of concerns hinders her ability to concentrate in class, hence the deteriorating performances.
Correspondingly, she finds solace in art and music to which she is open-minded and would be glad to explore what the arts have to offer. Similarly, Lola is neurotic. While she is strong, she is emotionally labile. For example, she has not yet recovered from what perceives as heartbreak for a failed relationship with her first love. Moreover, she has a negative perception of every intention and views as well as opinions that others have to say. She knows that she is beautiful but does not believe in people appreciating her because she does not believe them.
Conclusion
In summary, not knowing who you are and where you come from puts an individual to search for self-belong. During search stage, one becomes so resentful, confused, and discouraged. Not knowing what to believe in, whom to emulate and what traits to portray makes people be so hard on themselves. Nevertheless, while the two theories are important in understanding people’s traits, Five Factor theory is more important due to its ability to analyze personality traits in five dimensions as opposed only two in Eysenck theory.
References
Allen, T. A., " DeYoung, C. G. (2017). Personality neuroscience and the five factor model. Oxford handbook of the five factor model, 319-352.
Buss, A. H., " Plomin, R. (2014). Temperament (PLE: Emotion): Early developing personality traits (Vol. 3). Psychology Press.
Zuckerman, M., " Glicksohn, J. (2016). Hans Eysenck's personality model and the constructs of sensation seeking and impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 103, 48-52.
