5 Curiosities You Didn’t Know About Personality Psychology
Personality is an area of study that has generated a lot of interest over time. What generates individual differences between people? Why can people in such similar environments or with life experiences become so different? Is it something that is already defined at birth or does it change over time?
Personality psychology has invested many resources in trying to answer the above questions and many others. Throughout this article We will talk about the main characteristics of personality psychology and, then, we will expose various curiosities that you may not have known about. about this branch and its discoveries.
Perhaps it is obvious from its name, but we can define personality psychology as the branch of psychology that deals with research into the characteristics of people that determine their way of acting and understanding the world. In other words, it is responsible for the study of personality and individual differences or variations.
When talking about personality, aspects and traits are included such as thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make up a person’s internal world and condition their interactions and perceptions of the external world. Most authors defend that personality is the way in which people adapt to the world around us.
Personality psychology studies all those aspects that, in one way or another, can influence the formation of people’s personalities. Aspects such as certain social, family, cultural and historical factors influence the development of people.
In short, personality psychology aims to help us have a better understanding of people’s mental processes. In this way, it is considered that patterns can be established that mark the individual differences that exist between the people who are part of a society.
1. The “Big Five” personality traits
There are numerous proposals that have been raised throughout history in relation to personality traits and styles. However, one of the most accepted and used to define individual differences is what is known as the Big Five theory, or Big Five, in English, proposed in the 1980s.
In it, it is proposed that there are five major personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). Each of them has grades and subcharacteristics. Thus, the scores in each trait, with their particularities, are what makes us unique and different from the rest.
2. The influence of genetics on personality
The studies carried out so far on personality have shown that personality has a biological basis. In this sense, it has been observed that genetics has a really important weight in the formation of personality. Based on various studies carried out with twin brothers, it is considered that between 40 and 60% of the variability between individuals can be explained by genetic factors.
Nevertheless, Despite the great importance that genetics can have, the importance of the environment in the development of people cannot be ignored.. There are more and more studies regarding the relevance of the influence of epigenetics.
3. Personality can change over time
Most people probably think that personality is a stable component, which cannot vary or be modified. While it is true that studies have observed that the tendency of personality is to be stable, it is also suggested that it can be modified.
It is considered that there are certain life events or experiences that can contribute to these changes. As an example, there are people who, after having experienced a serious illness, modify certain traits or tendencies in their personality style.
4. Personality affects physical health
The personality styles that characterize each person can have a strong impact on their health status. For example, People with more neurotic tendencies tend to have more health problems since they tend to suffer more stress, anxiety and, therefore, heart pathologies..
Some combinations of certain traits can result in more exposure to certain risks, while a greater tendency toward conscientiousness can make people more committed to healthy habits, for example.
5. “Introverted” and “extroverted” people process stress differently.
Since people with tendencies towards introversion have different internal functioning than those with a greater tendency towards extroversion, it is to be expected that their handling and processing of stress will be different.
On the one hand, introverted people have a greater tendency to manage stress internally and individually, a fact that can lead to greater rumination. On the other hand, extroverted people tend to share their worries and seek social support.
