Personality Traits

Personality Traits

Before you can define who you are, you have to understand your personality. Ask yourself a question, such as “What do I like to do?” or "who am I?" When you can answer that question, then you can use the information to discover what your personality is.

Personality Traits

There are many different personality types, and it is sometimes difficult to classify a person into a single type as there are many different personality traits you can possess.

Positive Traits

Some personality traits are positive:

·         Being honest no matter what the consequences are is one personality trait people should aspire to.

·         Having responsibility for all of your actions and being a little bit of a perfectionism are also personality traits.

·         Adaptability and compatibility are great and can help you get along with others.

·         Having the drive to keep going, and having compassion and understanding are positive personality traits.

·         Patience is a virtue and also another trait.

·         Getting up the courage to do what’s right in those tough situations and loyalty to your friends and loved ones are laso personality traits.

Determining Personality Types

Your personality type can be determined by many factors. You can approach it the scientific way, by testing yourself and having a psychologist analysis you. A personality test is rather simple. By answering a few questions about your likes and dislikes and where you would like to go in life, a professional can give you a report detailing the type of personality you have.

The Big Five Dimensions of Personality

Today, many researchers believe that they are five core personality traits. Evidence of this theory has been growing over the past 50 years, beginning with the research of D. W. Fiske (1949) and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987).

The "big five" are broad categories of personality traits. While there is a significant body of literature supporting this five-factor model of personality, researchers don't always agree on the exact labels for each dimension. However, these five categories are usually described as follows:

Extraversion:  This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.

Agreeableness: This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors.

Conscientiousness: Common features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.

Neuroticism: Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.

Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.

Your personality test assesses how much of each of these five factors you possess.

Another way of determining your personality type is to just take a long and deep look at yourself. Asking questions is a great way of discovering who you are and what you are. Ask things like: “If a child is hurt and alone, what would you do?” The main thing you want to know is if you are a good person.

Your personality is entirely up to you. It is in the actions you take and the decisions you make. Either you are a patient person, or not; a responsible person or not. The only way to change your personality is to take active steps to become the person you want to be.

Taking up a hobby is a great way to become well rounded and improve your personality. Sports can make you stronger, arts and crafts can make you patient, volunteering can make you caring. Even just reading a book can push you to be better. 

Can My Personality Affect Others?

Being positive and upbeat can influence everyone around you, and so can negativity. For example, a friendly smile to a stranger can brighten up their day, as a glare can frighten them and cause their mood to drop. Like the famous quote, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you”.

While you may not be able to help it if you are having a bad day or if you don’t like doing a particular thing, changing your attitude changes everything. Complaining and sulking will only make time drag on when doing an unpleasant task. Singing a song in your head or even humming makes it just a little easier to deal with. Being a pleasant person helps every day.

Understanding examples of personality traits is a great way to start the journey into self discovery. Remember, if you’re up for the challenge, you can make positive changes to your personality type.