Emotions And Personality Of A Human Being: A Deep Dive

Introduction to personality

Discuss about the Emotions And Personality Of A Human Being.

Emotions and personality form two important aspect of a human being. Emotions are practically the feelings that a person experiences in different circumstances. On the other hand, personality is referred to a set of characteristics or qualities that form a distinctive character of an individual. Personality of an individual plays a vital role in shaping the individual’s relationships, learning and growth. This essay throws light on various attributes of my own personality. In order to gain a deeper insight on the same, I have taken three online surveys. These surveys include MBTI test, Type A & B personality and the Big 5 personality test. All these three surveys are well known surveys and used globally by many individuals and organizations. Through these surveys I have been able to understand my personality better by analyzing my strengths as well as weaknesses. All these tests aim at defining an individual’s personality and it is imperative to identify one’s competencies as well as areas of improvement (Townley, 2014). These self-reflection activities also help individuals in defining their future course of action that suits their personality the most. In this report I have highlight about my results from the BIG 5 personality test as well as my analysis of the results. This is because from the three tests that I undertook, the results of the BIG 5 were prominently clear and helped me gain a clear insight about my personality.

The big five personality test is conducted in order to understand the personality type of an individual based on five major aspects like ‘Agreeableness’, ‘Openness’, ‘Extraversion’, ‘Conscientiousness’ and ‘Neuroticism’ (Im, Park, Choi & Park, 2015). These five aspects are largely important for shaping the personality of an individual in the workplace. These five attributes have a major role to play in defining an individual’s team building, leadership, communication and relationship management skills. Organizations have also been taking help of the Big 5 test in order to better understand the personality of the candidate applying for the job.

The first attribute that is analyzed by this test is an individual’s agreeableness. This attribute reflects upon the individual’s ability to be compassionate and coordinating rather than suspicious (Cobb-Clark, & Schurer, 2012). This attribute also reflects on the person’s nature with respect to trust and helpfulness. I have scored 3.5 in this attribute which is fairly good. This signifies that neither I am uncannily rude or suspicious and nor am I naïve to trust everyone easily. It also reflects upon my optimistic attitude especially during interaction with other people (Sharpe, Martin & Roth, 2011). In my personal life too, I try to believe the best in people. This attribute would largely help my personality in my professional space so that I will be able to build deeper relationships with my peers and colleagues. An agreeable individual has a pleasing personality and this makes it easy to work with other people within the same organization (Sackett & Walmsley, 2014). This attribute of my personality will assist me to work in a team of different individuals at the workplace leading to improved team performance and better coordination within the organization.

Big 5 personality test

Openness to experience refers to the individual’s interest in trying out something new (Turiano, Chapman, Gruenewald & Mroczek, 2015). This is very important as it is almost impossible to understand 3.3 out of 5 in this attribute which demonstrates that I am not entirely open to new experiences and that I possess a relatively lowered risk appetite. I believe I should work towards this aspect of my personality so that I will be able to handle unforeseen situations of my life better. While working in an organization, there are various stakeholders who are associated with the business. The needs, attitudes and behaviors of different stakeholders vary among each other and it is imperative to ensure the satisfaction of each of them. Similarly, an organization encounters various situations including change of product line, geographical expansion, changed leadership and unviability of resources. Such situations cannot be predicted beforehand and having an openness to experience new things will help me tackle these situations in the most effective manner.

I have scored highest in conscientiousness which reflects upon my ability to be responsible, dependable, and persistent as well as achievement oriented. I have a tendency of setting short term goals and pursue them in a purposeful way. As a person, I am largely self-disciplined and can often rely on internal motivation to stay on the right track. Strong Conscientiousness also helps me remain ethical with my decisions (Cohen, Panter, Turan, Morse & Kim, 2014). My score in this attribute is 4.2. This score also often reflects a high degree of obsession or stubbornness. I have personally experienced this in my everyday life as well. I like to do things and conduct activities in a certain manner and it bothers me if that is changed. In my professional life, there are various processes and policies that I would have to adapt to. Therefore I must work towards being more open to adapting methodologies as long as the goal is achieved.

The fourth score of extraversion reflect upon the fact that I am social and assertive. I have score 3.37 in this attribute. This is a fairly positive score. Such factors would help me build strong relationships with people in my career. At present too, I have a strong set of loyal friends and I find it easy to converse with people even if they are absolute strangers. These attributes would help me build a solid network of people and a positive positioning in the minds of my peers. My achievement orientation will also help in fulfilling organizational goals and working hard for my personal growth at workplace.

Agreeableness

The last attribute analyzed by this test is ‘Neuroticism’. I have scored the least in this attribute. My score is 3.125 which is the least in all five attributes. Neuroticism refers to the tendency of an individual to experience negative emotions (Friedman & Kern, 2014). These emotions include anger, anxiety, depression or vulnerability. My score reflects that neither am I completely unaffected by the situations around me and nor do I give relatively strong reactions or experience strong emotions. My emotions and my behavior are in control. Neuroticism often refers to the degree of emotional stability experienced by an individual.

Action plan and Conclusion

The big five personality test is essential for organizations to understand the kind of people that would be recruited within the business (Gosling, Rentfrow & Swann, 2003). It helps organizations in analyzing important attributes of candidates and hence can help them make a better choice about the most suitable candidate for the job. Through these personality tests, I have come to gain a deeper insight about my own personality and this has largely helped in analyzing my strengths and weaknesses. My plan is to work on my weaknesses and ensure that I am an efficient asset in the workplace in future. Through this course, I have been able to understand and reflect upon my personality and I would work towards strengthening the same.

I would read more managerial books to enhance my learning of today’s workplace environments. Currently, I have a relatively rigid thought process and an extremely low risk appetite. My sore on ‘Openness to experience’ is very low and therefore I need to work on that attribute. In order to achieve this I would try to be more open to new ideas and flexible in my thought process. Upon encountering an unforeseen situation, I would make a conscious effort to be patient and think rationally. This would help me improve my risk appetite and develop an open mindset.

I would continue to be an extrovert and leverage this attribute of my personality while developing long term relationships with people in my workplace. This would help me build a strong network of people. I would also work on my obsessiveness about my short term goals and try to work towards a longer term picture. Overall, the course has been a major help and this is the first time that I have reflected upon my personality is such great detail. Besides BIG 5 also, I took various tests which deepened my understanding further. Through every test, I learnt something or the other about myself and this will also help me analyze the kind of a career field that I can get into.

From the current analysis, I believe I would flair well in sales or marketing job that requires interaction with different clients as well as an agreeable nature. A sales job also requires an optimistic personality and extreme persistence. I would like to improve upon my ability to be able to handle unforeseen situations. This job prospect feels right for my personality and I would work towards finding jobs in this field. This self-awareness is empowering as well as liberating. I would continue to take these tests every few months and analyze my personality traits before deciding my career path. I would also continue to seek professional or personal help in order to address my weaknesses in a better manner.

References

Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Schurer, S. (2012). The stability of big-five personality traits. Economics Letters, 115(1), 11-15.

Cohen, T. R., Panter, A. T., Turan, N., Morse, L., & Kim, Y. (2014). Moral character in the workplace. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(5), 943.

Friedman, H. S., & Kern, M. L. (2014). Personality, well-being, and health. Annual review of psychology, 65.

Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann Jr, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in personality, 37(6), 504-528.

Im, G., Park, H. R., Choi, N. S., & Park, P. W. (2015). A study of correlation between big 5 personality traits and SRQ of brain quotient. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society, 16(6), 3760-3768.

Sharpe, J. P., Martin, N. R., & Roth, K. A. (2011). Optimism and the Big Five factors of personality: Beyond neuroticism and extraversion. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(8), 946-951.

Townley, B. (2014). Selection and appraisal: reconstituting. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 92.

Turiano, N. A., Chapman, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., & Mroczek, D. K. (2015). Personality and the leading behavioral contributors of mortality. Health Psychology, 34(1), 51.