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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2019 WWW. UNWLA .ORG 33 WHAT IS PERSONALITY? by Ihor Magun, MD, FACP From time immemorial people have wondered “ What makes us think and act the way we do? ” The secondary questions that evolve from this are whether we perceive others the same way we per- ceive ourselves and whether we can really change who we are. T hese questions have always baffled experts , and to this day, experts cannot come up with a single corr ect answer or a consensus on this issue . In fact, no officially accepted definition of personality among experts in this field exists . To explore this confusing phenomenon, we need to begin at the beginning and that means a virtual trip to ancient Rome. T he word “ per sonal- ity ” is derived from the Latin root “persona” — a word that originally referred to a theatrical mask worn by actors to disguise their identity or to pro- ject a role. The official modern English dictionary definition is “ the quality or state of being a person; the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual; the totality of an individual’s behav- ior and emotional charac teristics. ” Evolving from this modern definition, it seems that it would be quite simple for each of us to ch aracterize our own personalit y ; after all, it is we who have the most direct access to our own thoughts and feelings. But the obstacle here is that we are actually mistaking familiarity with knowledge , and much of what we think we know is simply the prejud ices and biases that we have ad o pted and adapted to over the years. M any theories have been proposed to char- acterize and explain personality. One frequent ly used model incorporates five core aspects of an in- dividual , which can be broken down into the fol- lowing traits: conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, openness to experience , and agreea- bleness. Let’s look at these five traits individually: • Conscientious ness constitutes a reliable, atten- tive attitude to comp l ete any task in a timely fash- io n. • Extroversion defines individuals who are out- going and energetic. They have many social con- nections and enjoy human interaction. • Neuroticism is viewed as a tendency toward self - doubt, shyness and anxiety. • Openness to experience involves six dimen sions : intellectual curiosity, aesthetic sensitivity, atten- tiveness to inner feelings, fantasy and preference for variety. • Agreeableness incorporates a warm, friendly and optimistic view of human nature. Biological and environmental influences both play a role in forming personality. Every indi- vidual’s behavior involves an interaction between his or her underlying personality and the particu- lar situation the person is in at any given time . In most cases, the response is consistent with an un- derlying perso nality trait. Knowledge of what an individual might have been through in life may help us understand his or her actions and expres- sion of personality. Research has been conducted to determine whether nature and nurture play a significant role in the devel opment of the five core factors listed above . The n ature component refer s to our genes and heredity , and the nurture component encom- passes the environmental variables that impact who we are, beginning with childhood experiences (including how we were raise d), social relation- ships, and surrounding culture ) . This brief article on personality addresses only a very limited glimpse of this aspect of our hu- man behavior. It is also important to note that p er- sonality traits are not set in stone and are subject to change. Such changes may come during major life events like marriage, career change, birth of a child , or death of a loved one. A car accident, albeit not necessarily resulting in major loss of limbs or mobility, can lead to future fear of drivi ng in simi- lar circumstances. This may take years to over- come or may never be erased from our memory. A basic understanding of some personality theories can help us understand people better and may help prevent unnecessary friction . It can also help us rea lize why individuals behave the way they do , and i t may even help us understand our- selves in a different, more analytical way . Even a rudimentary knowledge of these things can make you better informed about what makes you you .
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