IAP Final Assignment

Personality perspectives refer to the various ways of categorizing people’s behavior. People’s behaviors are categorized into various groups, and each person falls under either of these groups. As a matter of fact, people behave differently to various situations while some people behave in a certain way that others do not. There are those that may be emotional than others; others are people-oriented while others are task-oriented. All these differences are categorized into specific groups by psychologists. This essay discusses the various personality perspectives among them the biological, cultural, trait and learning perspectives.

Trait Perspective

The traits perspective is generally concerned with the deposition of certain trains on an individual. The trait perspective argues that there are certain levels or the degree to which a certain trait exists in every individual.  It is based on the degree of existence of a certain trait. There are those whose certain traits exist excessively while others they exist in smaller portions. For instance, cowardice or shyness exists at different levels of each person. There are these who are brave while others are extremely fearful. 

Phenomenology Perspective

This perspective argues that people have certain behavior because of the various situations that they have been subjected to in life. It is concerned with the conscious part of the brain where experiences and occurrences in the past are stored.  Phenomenology is based on various principles. Firstly, it is the intentionality. The intentionality principle suggests that fantasy and memory of the conscious may influence a person’s behavior. The conscious does not only have the experiences but also some fantasies and perception in the conscious may make one behave in certain ways. The second principle is the intuition whereby one is influenced by what is there and can be seen at that moment. The other principle is evidence. The evidence is whereby an object is present and the conscious strives to achieve the truth. The object is present in the intuition and present in the real sense.  The Noesis and the Noema are also principles in phenomenology perspective whereby the Noesis gives a certain act various characters may be loving or hating the act. The noema, on the other hand, is the real meaning of that particular act.

The Biological Perspective

This perspective suggests that an individual’s behavior is largely influenced by genetic factors. The perspective is based on the perspective that the biological aspects such as hormones and genes largely contribute to a person’s behavior.  People inherit behaviors from their parents. If the parent is an alcoholic, then people who take alcohol a lot have inherited it from their family.

Learning Perspective

The learning perspective of personality can be described as the behavior that is adopted through experiences and interaction with a particular environment. The learning perspective is based on assumptions that an individual’s personality is shaped by the environment surrounding them. The primary principle that guides the learning perspective includes attention. The observers cannot learn unless they are attentive to the occurrences that happen around them. This process is usually developed by the characteristics of a particular model. Secondly, motivation is another principle that informs the learning perspective. An individual will only show the interest to learn when they are motivated to do so. Thirdly, retention is also a critical aspect of learning perspective. This aspect depends on the ability of the learner to retain the information and mentally rehearse the same behavior. Finally, production is also another significant principle that determines the ability of the learner to produce the same information when needed. This aspect depends on the intellectual and physical capabilities of the learner. 

Social learning Perspective

In social learning perspective, personality entails the learned tendencies that have been acquired from the social influence. The social learning perspective builds on the behavioral theory that depicts people’s cognitive as an influence that learning entails observing a particular behavior. The social learning perspective is based on the principles that learning takes place by observing the results of other people’s behavior.  Secondly, it is not a guarantee that social learning can lead to a change of behavior. Psychologists have argued that learning through observation alone may not influence behavioral change. Another principle guiding this perspective is that learning takes place within a social context. Additionally, the awareness and expectations of the future reinforcements usually have a significant influence on the behavior depicted by a certain individual.  Reinforcement and punishments are also considered as the primary contributors to the social learning perspective. The leading proponent of this perspective in personality is Albert Bandura who proposed the social learning theory.

Cultural Perspectives

The cultural perspective of personality is based on how individuals are represented psychologically. This aspect is usually based on the beliefs of particular groups of people. The cultural perspective is usually informed by the existing cultural ideas regarding a particular behavior. The primary principles that guide cultural perspective include the moral standings and the beliefs. To enhance cultural relevance, the aspect of incorporating the cross-cultural training is critical. An individual’s cultural background will also determine how they will behave in a different setting and can easily tell the personality. For instance, Indian culture views tobacco smoking as a religious practice while in some culture it is highly prohibited. Therefore, when assessing an individual’s personality, it is significant to pay attention to such details.

In conclusion, everyone has a specific way in which they behave. It is impossible to find people who behave the same way in every aspect of life. Therefore, each behavior can be described in either of the perspectives that have been put forth. Additionally, certain behavior can be described by all the perspectives existing.