The Word: Personality
Life is a learning experience. The complexity of human behaviour is finely related to the several mechanisms which define how, what and when we learn about the world. People devote varied levels of energy to observe, memorise and recount the ongoing stimuli around them – and that focus is the magical touch which produces the fascinating ambiguity of mankind. In the realm of behavioural science (and also common sense), there is one word which is vastly used to define such effect: personality.
What is Personality?
‘Personality’ is a word originated from the Latin persona, which means ‘mask’. “Significantly, in the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a character, but rather was a convention employed to represent, or typify that character.” (Wikipedia).
Personality is a broadly used term which meaning can be sought through popular knowledge. Most people use the word as a reference to the collection of characteristics which define how a person sees and acts upon the world – something like a mix of their thought processes and behaviour. In psychology, it could be defined as the emotional, cognitive and behavioural patterns unique to an individual, learned and incremented through experience, and relatively consistent over time.
Overview of the Personality Framework
The study of personality has developed relatively parallel to the evolution of psychology as a science. The perspective on human nature has been floating between nature and nurture throughout the years, with researchers constantly finding evidence to support and validate both determinants. Thus, many theoretical concepts of personality were based on the perspective that psychologists and behavioural scientists had of human nature at a certain period in time.
“Over the years, numerous personality theories have been proposed, and they can be classified within several major approaches, each assuming its own model of human nature. Personality psychologists within each approach emphasise different aspects of personality, favor different research methods, and use different standards to evaluate sufficient explanations.” (Peterson 1997)
Understanding personality involves not only analysing the individual as a whole, but considering individual behaviour in a particular social context. Culture plays a major role in defining the variants between individuals. For instance, western civilisations tend to encourage individuality – which increases the incidence of people that present unique behaviour with the aim of standing out. Being distinctive in our society is normally a social benefit. In other societies – such as Japan and China – uniqueness can play a divergent role: standing out is not socially sanctioned and therefore not admirable.
Theories of Personality
“The major theoretical approaches to personality are akin to great schools that dominated psychology throughout the early part of the twentieth century”. (Peterson 1997)
Psychodynamic Theory
Encouraged by Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, psychodynamic theories emphasise motivation and emotion as the major dictators of personality, along with the presence of unconscious divergences of individuals. In such theory, libido (defined by Freud as a ‘psychological energy’) is the primary determinant of our behaviour. This perspective concentrates on the conflict between an individual’s biological motivation (instincts) and the social rules which guide common individual behaviour. In the psychodynamic theory, the structure of personality is described in terms of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious (id, ego and superego). Other major contributors of this theory were Carl Jung (collective unconscious), Alfred Adler (compensation for inferiority) and Erik Erikson (psychosocial development).
Trait Theory
The trait approach is derived from Darwin’s theory of evolution and the emphasis on individual variation within a species, defining the function of that individual in the social setting. This theory is mainly concerned with the heritable traits which determine behaviour and result in particular characteristics and types of individuals. Such theory began with Gordon Allport around 1937. Allport defined a trait as “a neuropsychic structure having the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide equivalent (meaningfully consistent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior.” (1961)
The Big Five is a model of personality that describes five defining personality traits. They were originally described by Warren Norman (1963) and consist of: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness.
Phenomenological Theory
The Phenomenological approach stresses the importance of the cognitive side of human behaviour – therefore – what and how people think. Phenomenological theory dictates that conscious thoughts and beliefs are the major determinants of personality. This approach puts individuals in the role of scientist: analysing the world and themselves within a social context to reach conclusions about the formation and display of personality traits. George Kelly, a clinical psychologist, developed the concept of ‘personal constructs’ which refers to the “categories with which we interpret our experiences” (Peterson 1997). The personal construct theory suggests that our interpretations of the world around us create our personality. Therefore the concept of personality is a flexible one.
Phenomenological theory was further developed by Carl Rogers’ self-actualisation concepts. According to Rogers, the drive towards self-actualisation (familiar to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) was the major determinant of an individual’s personality. This humanistic and optimistic approach was also the basis for Rogers’ client-centred therapy.
Social Learning Theory
Finally, the social learning theory focuses mainly on the influence of social dynamics and learning. This approached is based on behaviourism and it stresses the importance that the human learning process has in the formation of personality traits. In social learning theory, the most important psychological process is learning. The pioneering theorists of this approach were John Dollard and Neal Miller, authors of the book Personality and Psychotherapy (1950). According to them, people learn behaviours that decrease their physiological drive.
Albert Bandura also played a key role in the development of this theory. Bandura affirmed that people learn through modelling, and such modelling becomes the main determinant of personality. The concept of self-efficacy, the belief that one can perform a given behaviour, creates an immediate mechanism in which people modify behaviour in order to improve performance in life.
The Human Perspective
Personality is not only part of the realms of scientific research and behavioural studies. In order to better understand the world, we tend to create patterns – to classify everything we can into groups based on common characteristics. This learning process seems to work effectively with our brain structure, and also to improve the interpersonal communication process and to define roles in a social setting. It is normal that we analyse other people’s behaviours and physical appearance based on predefined ideas which are enforced by our experiences, culture, inherited traits and social setting.
A common example of such effect is found in the perspective towards personality: there are hundreds of popular measurements of personality available through varied media and in different formats. Horoscopes, personality and intelligence tests, amongst others, are all part of our own way to view the world and to place individuals on common ground. It seems almost natural to categorise ourselves and others in an attempt to make sense of the world. Perhaps this evidence indicates that Kelly’s argument is particularly accurate: in a social setting, aren’t we all scientists?
Content Sources
1. Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality.
2. Peterson, C (1997) Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach. Addison-Wesley, New York.
© Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. If you wish to republish or reproduce this article, please include this information in the end of the article. For more information about the Institute – please visit www.aipc.net.au/lz. To access our Article Library, visit www.aipc.net.au/articles.
Burnout and Counsellor Self-Care Strategies
Self-care is an intrinsic, continuous and highly important activity performed by any professional, particularly those involved in health care. Also called the 'inner therapy', this practice aims to ensure that both mental and physical health of the professional is in good shape. So why is self-care for Counsellors important? Essentially, Counsellors have a clear responsibility: their clients. If a Counsellor is not mentally and physically healthy, his/her ability to provide support to clients is limited.
So what are the strategies for self-care in the counselling profession? There are many strategies which vary according to each person's state of mind. Irrespective of the strategy being used, a Counsellor's self-care activities are in place for a single purpose: that is, ensuring daily work stress does not result in burnout.
The Problem: Burnout
Burnout is the consequence of excessive work, stress and other related factors. Although the concept of burnout can also be applied to other contexts, for the purpose of this article we'll stick to the work environment. Many people suffer from burnout for various reasons, and usually the problem is related to several prominent areas of an individual's life: happiness, health, success, and others.
"Burnout is not simply excessive stress. Rather, it is a complex human reaction to ongoing stress, and it relates to feeling that your inner resources are inadequate for managing the tasks and situations presented to you. The signs and symptoms of burnout are similar to those of stress, but burnout includes an emotional exhaustion and an increasingly negative attitude toward your work and, perhaps, your life." (Help Guide Mental Health)*
This concept is well-known in mental health disciplines, particularly counselling. For this reason, many counselling courses include the topic in their training schedule: a measurement to ensure that each prospective professional is aware of their own limitations.
Burnout in Counsellor Training: The Principles
According to Corey, "burnout manifests itself in many ways. Those who experience this syndrome typically find they are tired, drained, and without enthusiasm. They feel unappreciated, unrecognised, and unimportant, and they go about their jobs in a mechanical and routine way." (Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy)**
Counsellor education generally introduces the concept of burnout to students, aiming to provide sound theoretical material that will help future counsellors to prevent, understand and act upon such a problem. The material commonly refers to the causes, remedies and prevention methods of burnout.
Causes
As cited previously, burnout is the result of a complex human reaction to stress. Such reaction can be so diversified among people that it would require highly advanced mathematical algorithms to actually derive all the possible cause combinations of burnout, and the influence of each of these causes. However, despite the unpredictability of individual responses to stress, there is a set of causes which are common to most people:
- Performance of repeated activities over time which seem to be insignificant; - Lack of appreciation for a certain task or overall effort at work; - Strong pressure to perform at work; - Excessive conflict in work relationships; - Lack of opportunities for expression and improvement; and - Presence of unresolved personal conflicts outside of the work environment.
Recognising such causes is the first step to understanding a series of events that may lead to burnout. The next step would involve the person's particular responses to mental stress and their capability to recognise certain physical traits that could indicate over-stressed responses from the body.
Remedies
Burnout remedies for professional counsellors will vastly diverge between individuals. Resembling the causes, remedies are effective according to individual traits, particularly when referring to the level of stress each person can deal with.
Some people prefer to deal with their stress-related problems by increasing or decreasing certain individual activities, such as increasing the amount of time exercising and/or decreasing the amount of time working in the office. Interactive individuals may prefer to work through their issues with others, such as participating in workshops, consulting with their supervisors or simply allocating time to talk to a friend or colleague. Many Counsellors would mix individual and group activities to reduce incidence of stress and attempt to eradicate burnout.
Counsellors may also diverge in their perspectives towards stress and burnout. Some people are naturally passive and tend to surrender to their own circumstances, generally putting themselves in the position of victims. This assumption leads to feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, which increases the difficulty of dealing with stressing factors, resulting in either a delay in eliminating burnout, or increased intensity. However, there are also Counsellors who are proactive towards stress. Such people have a different perspective towards stressful events - they recognise the individual traits which are affecting them, and actively attempt to resolve them through a mix of introspection and scenario analysis. This approach - or active stance - is desired in order to improve stress management skills and avoid burnout.
In an industry where human relationships are so intrinsically related to work, it is sometimes inevitable to experience distress and burnout. On these occasions, it is important that Counsellors effectively remediate burnout in order to invoke balance in both professional and personal lives.
Prevention It is better to prevent rather than remediate - this saying illustrates the need for preventing burnout before it happens. Most people ignore the first signs of excessive stress, and by doing so, become vulnerable to further pressure from work. At some point, Counsellors may find it very difficult to attend counselling sessions, to get to work, and to perform in several other areas of life. Preventing burnout is simply a necessary task to anyone aiming for a balanced and fulfilling career (and life).
There are several burnout prevention principles which can be divided into three categories: physical, mental and strategic.
Physical
Stress is a pattern of physiological responses which are caused by specific events in people's lives. Such responses include an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels and re-direction of blood flow to major organs. With such a complex set of events, it is reasonable to assume that maintaining good health will reduce the incidence of 'undesired' stress (distress). In fact, it is more than reasonable. Because stress causes such 'explosive' reactions in the body, a healthier body is vastly more capable of dealing with excessive amounts of stress than an unhealthy body.
How do you improve your health? Exercising will play the leading role in improving and maintaining a 'healthy status', allowing your body to be ready for the energy boost caused by stress. A balanced diet will ensure that the body has all nutrients necessary to perform daily activities, including regular stress-related responses. A balanced diet includes avoiding excessive intake of particular stress-related substances, such as caffeine and sugar.
Mental
Relaxation techniques such as imagery, meditation and breathing can at first conjure up feelings of inaction and statis. Music and introspection are also a good combination for improving the state of mind of a person. These are commonly used techniques, however any mental exercises that draw attention away from stressful events, and provide a 'relaxed' state to the individual, are useful. Such exercises will depend on the personal preferences of each Counsellor, and the resources that are available at the time.
Furthermore, the role of perception is extremely important in determining the health issues associated with the incidence of stress. Sometimes Counsellors perform a kind of mental 'self mutilation' in which they take responsibility for anything that goes wrong in a counselling session, or with a client. In this context, feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness will remain obstacles and can perpetuate to the Counsellor's personal life. In these instances, the Counsellor needs to re-assess their perception towards certain events: you may call it a self-directed cognitive behaviour therapy.
Strategic
Probably the most prominent cause of burnout in a workplace is the inability of an individual to meet certain deadlines and achieve particular goals which are simply impossible to achieve in the first place. Applying strategy as a form of burnout prevention means ensuring that goals are achievable.
This way, Counsellors will not put themselves under unnecessary pressure. Furthermore, strategic thinking also allows individuals to recognise their personal and professional limitations, and work effectively with those limitations in order to achieve a balanced (and successful) counselling career.
The First Steps: Shaping a Career
In the beginning of their counselling careers, most individuals are much more sensitive to burnout than experienced Counsellors. Why is that? Because their levels of anxiety are peaking as they are about to find out whether this profession is really for them, and if they can handle their clients and support them by effectively applying the theoretical concepts they have learned.
Dealing with the normal anxieties of the first few sessions is part of the process of inner development that the counselling profession requires from all its peers. The fact that it deals with human beings, which can be vastly unpredictable, will affect the Counsellor's confidence to some extent. The nature of a counselling session, which can have a major impact in a client's life, also evokes doubts in the Counsellor's mind. It is important for the Counsellor to simply recognise such doubts as a normal part of their own behaviour, and to understand the feelings which are associated with them. Beginning Counsellors can be so overwhelmed by their anxieties that they will fail to really 'see through' the situation. This inability to deal with a client could result in stress and possibly burnout.
Professional Insight: Strategies from Counsellors
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of strategies that can help a Counsellor with self care. Each individual differentiates in the strategies used, and the need for them. Therefore, we've decided to get a first hand insight on burnout by asking two experienced professional Counsellors what were their opinions and strategies towards the problem.
"If there are challenges at work, talking with somebody (anybody) immediately after is called de-briefing, and may result in problematic issues not manifesting within the body and causing frustration, anger, hurt, and even illness. For difficult clients, supervision is imperative to access a mind to break the difficulties into manageable parts.
Outside of work, personally, what works for me is to have a regime of care for my body by attending a wellness centre where I involve myself in a class of Aqua Fit and Yoga every week. Massage when I can - preferably once a month or even a facial is good.
Because of Yoga, I have learned the art of switching off in a meditative mode very quickly, so the minute I walk outside of work I am in another area of life (i.e. the going home mode). I look forward to time spent with family and good friends or attending a movie and eating pop corn - to me, that is bliss. Then by the time I go back to work I feel as if I've been away for a week. This works really well for me - the art of deceit of your own mind." (Kathleen Casagrande, AIPC Education Adviser)
"To function effectively as a Counsellor we need to be in good shape personally - physically, mentally and emotionally.
Given that, just like everyone else, we will have times of difficulty in our own lives, it is particularly important for us to recognise the danger signals and take action to deal with any undue stress quickly.
Like many of my colleagues I have a number of tried and tested remedies for keeping my life in balance.
A quick fix which I can use anytime and in any stressful situation is to concentrate on my breathing rhythm and deliberately make it slower and deeper.
Listening to music is a sure-fire way for me to de-stress, as are walking on a beach, playing tennis, being out on the water or getting involved with a good book.
On the subject of reading, I work on maintaining and upgrading my skills and knowledge - having confidence in one's ability is an important element in avoiding workplace stress.
And my very favourite way to look after myself? A glass of wine on a sunny afternoon with my partner somewhere by the water." (Wendy Mead, AIPC Senior Education Adviser)
Sources
*Help Guide Mental Health (www.helguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm).
** Corey G (1996) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (p. 44).
© Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. If you wish to republish or reproduce this article, please include this information in the end of the article. For more information about the Institute – please visit www.aipc.net.au/lz. To access our Article Library, visit www.aipc.net.au/articles.
Get The Best Deals When It Is Time To Buy Text Books
One the most expensive aspects of college life is the need to buy text books. I used to dread the beginning of each semester because I knew that I have to obtain textbooks to get a passing grade on all my classes.
If a student is unable to find used copies of text books, they can spend as much as $100 or more for every book. There are also other items that professors require the students to buy such as, study guides and workbooks.
Every time a student has to buy text books, it puts a huge dent in his or her budget. A decade ago when I was still in college, there were no alternatives to the campus bookstore.
There were one or three independent bookstores where students could buy textbooks, but these were usually too far and you had to compete with thousands of students. These days, on the other hand, students have a lot more options when it’s time to buy test books.
Most of these alternatives are inexpensive and more convenient then paying for text books on the campus bookstore.
Discount websites are one of the alternatives that students these days can benefit from. These websites are dedicated to supplying college textbooks, and often offer these materials for notably less than campus bookstores prices.
Students who have tried this option to buy text books have claimed to have saved up to 20 to 70 percent. These discount websites will also conveniently deliver your orders to your dormitory or home.
The drawback that comes with the option to buy text books from a website is that you will be unable to inspect the merchandise before you purchase them. The text books that will be delivered may have missing pages, misprints, and tattered covers.
You might also get the wrong title which can be really difficult to exchange for the correct book. Fortunately discount websites are generally accurate in supplying students who ordered text books from them.
If you are having problems with the expensive costs that come with having to buy text books, I recommend that you hop on the Internet and browse through several discount sites.
This can really help you save money and can make your college life more enjoyable.
About the Author:
Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Buy Text Books. Visit our site for more helpful information about Buy Text Books and other similar topics.
