Determinant of Personality

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What influences one’s personality? Is the way we express our personality in any situation due to personal dispositions or to the situation itself? I believe that an individual’s personality while innate, can also be affected by situations or the environment where the person is in. We can observe consistency in a person’s behavior when he is around the same kind of people or the same environment. Once that person encounters an environment or a situation that is different from what he is used to and is influenced by different kinds of people, he may change his behavior to one that is more acceptable or relatable to that environment . When we are young our personal dispositions and early experiences determine our personality, but as we grow older we learn to cope with the situations that arise before us. We have the capacity for change and we are capable of adaptation, thus our personality changes as we go through life and encounter new experiences. Also, certain environmental pressures can trigger certain traits or behavior, which means we tend to change our behavior if such environmental pressures are present in the immediate situation. For example, a person may be kind and gentle with his family, but becomes wild and stubborn when with friends. This shows that personality often varies from one situation to another. But there are still some people who remain consistent with their traits regardless of the changes in their environment. Personal dispositions, the general defining characteristics that are unique to an individual, have more influence on the individual’s behavior when the situational factors are less influential. Together, personal dispositions and the situation interact to determine or influence personality. Both are influential factors that shape and affect our behavior, thus they are equally important in understanding the nature of our

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