Personality and Social Psychology

1.
Each one of us has something we’re known for. Most commonly noted are achievements and social notoriety. They give us a reputation, social acceptance, and a self-identity. What most commonly get taken for granted, however, are our own individual personalities. Through observation and inquiry we discover the vast and minute differences between each individuals unique personality.
The pattern of thinking, feeling and acting that an individual consistently follows in their day-to-day life is called their personality (p.531). When describing personality, the book gives us a handful of different theories on its approach. These include the psychodynamic, humanistic, trait and social-cognitive theories, and a look at the self. In the psychodynamic sect there is a division between social and sexual influences on personality development, however, both having the same general principal that our personalities are a product of influences as a child. A perspective of personality with the humanistic approach gives insight to self-actualization. This is the more accepted account in psychology today.
2.
My friend Trent possesses many outstanding qualities and characteristics that make him someone I truly look up to. One of his greatest qualities is his charismatic attitude that draws you in. Trent possesses three personality strengths. He is an extrovert, an intuit, and a relater. His desire to always be around people and never stir conflict always amazes me. The genuine interest that he takes in every person he meets is astounding. Trent is a computer science major. His intuit abilities go above and beyond the call to solve complicated issues. Not only is he able to solve problems, but also he is able to present concepts within a topic that most people wouldn’t even think about. As a relator, he is able to consider the feelings of everyone in the room. In topics of deep discussion he knows just how far to push our comfort zone without crossing the line. Its like he can sense exactly what everyone is feeling. These extraordinary characteristics give him the ability to lead and learn while doing so. The friendship that we have developed will, without a doubt in my mind, last a lifetime. A particular instance where Trent’s consolidation showed his true colors was when my relationship with my dad had taken a turn for the worst. I have been trying to establish a legitimate father-son relationship with my dad ever since I became a Christian. After much disappointment I told my dad that he was a joke of a father out of anger.
When I approached Trent about this he told me simply to pray and apologize to my dad. He then went even further as to get to the heart of the problem with me. After a few hours we came to the conclusion that I was expecting my dad to put in all the work in the relationship. I needed to meet him half way. Trent challenged me to take the first initiative in all situations to establish peaceful and loving conversation with my dad. In the course of the next month of diligently pursuing my dad our relationship not only turned around but also has continued to grow every day since then. That was six months ago. I could only wish to put in the amount of love and dedication that he puts into every friendship and relationship that he has.
3.
Human beings, as social creatures, need social interaction. To understand why it is important to learn about social processes we need to look at our psychological traits that arise within all situations. A lot of people would say that humans have “generally good” motives. Why is this? Why is it that even the most cynical people would still be willing to perform genuine acts of kindness and humility? The general principal in understanding social processes is to know how we think about, influence, and relate to one another (p.571).
A.) As it was stated before, we are creatures of social interaction. It is important to observe social processes within the company of a group. Here you will see different influences and how these influences will affect the behaviors of each individual. A common flaw in our nature is that of conformity. We conform within a group because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves for reasons that others may look negatively upon us. This can affect our knowledge and common sense decisions on a daily basis. An easy situation to fall in to would be an informational social influence in the classroom. When someone may seem pretty smart and uses big words to answer questions we could be quick to conform to their opinion rather than sticking to our original stance. We struggle as a species to stand our ground when things get uncomfortable. B.) People, being relational and social creatures, need to associate and have close relationships with others. Why? In times of great success it helps and motivates us even further to have a friend to rejoice right along side of us. In a way that sex manifests love and exploitation, the need to belong feeds both deep attachments and helps prevent menacing threats. This could explain why Dwight from “The Office” hasn’t killed anyone yet. Situations that arise negative connotation, it becomes increasingly more important to have good healthy relationships. When we all first came to college it was uncomfortable to meet new people and we probably experienced periods of loneliness and a need for acceptance. After adjusting to new people and situations and making new friends our feelings of acceptance and connection increase along with self-esteem, positive feelings, and desires to help rather than to harm (p.451).