This book is different from most books on personality development because it looks at differences in personality acquirement from an evolutionary perspective. Why should people have different personalities? The reason, it states, is that at different times during our evolutionary history certain personality styles have been more advantageous to have as compared to others. For example, sometimes it would have been advantageous to be neurotic and act in a cautious manner, but sometimes it would have been advantageous to be an extrovert and act daringly.
Once a certain type of personality style evolved during the course of human evolution, the genes responsible for that personality style were maintained in the gene pool (the entire genetic composition of a species) by natural selection, if indeed that personality style was advantageous to the survival of the individuals who possessed it. For example, why should certain people have a neurotic personality style when, at least from a social point of view, neuroticism is not associated with having a winning or advantageous personality? The answer is that the way neurotic people behave has been beneficial to their survival (or from an evolutionary perspective, the way neurotic personalities behave at certain times has caused them to have more offsprings during the course of evolution and outcompete other individuals with a different personality styles who may not have had as many offsprings).
The above assertion is based on the concept of "fluctuating selection". From a behavioral perspective, during the course of evolution (of various species on earth), natural selection does not constantly favor the same type of individuals who behave a certain way; if it did, all individuals in that species eventually would behave the same way. The way that the natural selection works [or the way that it picks individuals to represent their genome (the genetic composition of each individual) in the next generation] fluctuates due to environmental conditions. For example, sometimes it would have been advantageous to wonder off a long distance from the base camp to hunt animals, the way an extrovert might do things, because the human predators were low in number, and there was a little chance to encounter them. However, some other times it would have been better to hunt around the base camp, the way a neurotic may act, since there were a large number of human predators around. During the latter time, if the extroverts were acting the way that they usually do, they may perish (and not have any opportunity to reproduce). From the above discussion, we can conclude that because natural selection has been fluctuating, it maintains many different types of behaviors and personalities in human populations.
Another conclusion is that personalities have a genetic basis rather than an environmental one. This has been supported by identical twin studies. When behavior scientist would like to distinguish whether a trait has a genetic or environmental basis, identical twins are used. The reason is that identical twins have identical genomes so if a trait is different among them it can be attributed to the possibility that they had a different environment. Often, in genetic-behavioral studies, identical twins that were raised in different families (and had no contact with each other) are used because the experimenter wants to know if they behave differently because they grew up in different families and environments. The so-called "identical twins reared apart" experiments that have been conducted so far mostly indicate that personality styles are actually genetic since the twins that are raised apart still have the same personality.
How can environment not have any effect on personality development? The whole field of analytical psychology is based on the assumption that it is your parents and environment that have shaped your personality and if you can understand your environment in the past, you can understand your personality better and that would serve as a basis to cognitive, emotional, or behavioral change, if such is required. However, the above conclusion with the twins does not mean that you cannot change your personality once you understand yourself better, but it does mean that your genetics determines your personality not your environment. That is still a conclusion that does not make sense. What about all the experiments that do show that environment have a drastic influence on personality development, not to mention our own personal experiences with our environment that we have assumed have shaped our personalities. I think it is still too soon to conclude anything from the above twin experiment. Maybe the effect of the environment was somehow lost due to the twin populations that were supposedly chosen randomly or the way the experiments were designed. I think we should wait to draw conclusions after further studies have been conducted the may clear the above results.
The rest of the book concentrates on explaining the five-factor model of personality. This personality model was based on a statistical method called factor analysis. Research scientist studying personality took thousands of adjectives and words that describe different personality traits and saw that using statistical correlation they are able to place these personality traits into only five major personality style categories. In other words, they saw that many of the personality traits can be correlated with each other, are redundant, and describing the same personality style. For example, they saw that the personality traits such as outgoing, social, talkative, competitive, enjoys a lot of sex and romance, interested in travel could be all correlated with behaviors that a person who is extraverted would exhibit, thus they made "extraversion" into one of the five personality style categories.
The five personality styles and their description are:
1- Extraversion: A personality style possessed by someone who is usually enthusiastic, energetic, talkative, outgoing, adventurous, risk-taker, outwardly focused, loud and talkative, self-confident, very interested in sex and romance, a leader, active in sports, ambitious, competitive, usually looking for fame, fortune, and status, interested in travel and leisurely pursuits, and impulsive and spontaneous. Generally, an extravert has many positive emotions and is usually optimistic.
2- Neuroticism: A personality style possessed by someone who is usually emotionally reactive, a worrier, prone to stress, anxiety, and depression, not emotionally stable, insecure, inwardly-focused, sensitive, feeling guilty, aloof, quiet, and self-conscious and shy. Generally, a neurotic person has many negative emotions and is usually pessimistic.
3- Conscientious: A personality style possessed by someone who is usually organized and likes order, self-disciplined, detail-oriented, a planner, careful, achievement-oriented, self-directed, dutiful, and controlling. Conscientious individual may have a tendency for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
4- Agreeableness: A personality style possessed by someone who is usually cooperative, trusting, empathetic, compassionate, friendly, generous, helpful, willing to compromise, and optimistic.
5- Openness: A personality style possessed by someone who is usually imaginative, inventive and creative, curious, art-enthusiast, seeker of various experiences, aware of their feelings, self-reflective, eccentric in some views, and a user of complex words.
It is important to mention that individuals often possess all of the five personality styles but to different degrees. It is very rare that a person could be described by only one personality style.
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Top reviews from other countries
Patrick M.
A great book on understanding personality (5 factor model)
Reviewed in Canada on June 14, 2021
Adam Carlton
Profound and accessible scientific review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2013