Personality of individuals is influenced by various factors. Personality can be defined in terms of behavior, emotions and attitude of an individual. The environment of an individual consists of a society. The society plays a great role in influencing the behavior of an individual. The emotions of an individual influence his/her behavior (Maltby, 51). This research paper will evaluate whether social and emotional context affect the personality of an individual.
According to research by psychologists, individuals have different abilities to process emotions. In addition, the way individuals regulate their emotions such as anger and temper differs from one person to another. This is why different people behave differently when under same emotions. The emotions make an individual to behave in a particular way. The behavior of an individual forms part of his/her personality (Matthews, 56). By this, it can be seen that since emotions influence the behavior of individuals, it plays a role in shaping their individuality.
The personality of an individual is usually learnt by other people. The way an individual reacts to the people he/she lives with is mainly influenced by the influence of emotions on the individual. As an individual interacts with the others, he/she expresses some emotions through the way he talks and addresses the others (Matthews, 67). The relationship between an individual and the other people depends highly on the ability to manage the emotions. The personality of individuals is therefore developed by the ability to manage the emotions one has.
Emotions such as anger shape the response of an individual in certain environmental conditions. The presence of the emotional anger makes an individual to mobilize the resources around so that a response is made to correct the situation that has caused anger. Therefore the way one responds to emotions influences the problem solving abilities of an individual. In addition, it influences how an individual allocates resources to solve a problem (Maltby, 73). All these issues are part of personality of an individual.
Emotions of an individual are usually communicated to the environment though various methods. This could be through facial expressions and other bodily movements. These expressions become part of an individual as one grows. Therefore it is possible to identify an individual through the way he/she expresses his/her emotions. Therefore emotions influence the personality of an individual by this way.
Another factor that influences the personality of an individual is the social context. There are many factors that are common in each society. Such factors include the believes, culture and values held by a society. An individual is shaped by these factors as he/she grows hence influencing their personality. These factors influence the behavior of an individual hence the personality.
The society influences the beliefs of an individual. Some of these beliefs include the religious ones. The beliefs of an individual can make an individual to avoid doing some things in life (Phillips, 78). Religious believes for example prohibits people to act in a particular way. As a result, the people who hold such believes will shape their behaviors such that they will avoid doing the prohibited things. Since behavior is one of the elements of individuality, it can be seen that believes play a great role in influencing individuality of an individual.
Individuals will hold the values that are kept by his/her society as he/she grows. As a person grows, he/she continues to learn the values that are most respected by the society.
There are various such values. Individuals start valuing such issues and as a result, he/she behaves in a particular way in an attempt to observe the values. Therefore, the values that are held by a society play a role in shaping the individuality of an individual. This is why the personality of an individual differs significantly from individuals of one community to another.
The society that one lives in shapes to a great extent, likes, dislikes and interests of an individual. As one grows in a society, he/she develops some habits due to the interaction with the social environment. These habits are either copied from other members of the society or are developed due to the social conditions that compel them to adopt the habits (Phillips, 124). The way one communicates with the others depends highly on the society where one was brought up from. The collection of these issues forms part of the behavior of an individual. Therefore it can be observed that the society shapes the individuality of an individual.
In conclusion, there are many factors that affect the personality of an individual. There are hence many theories that have been developed to explain individuality. However, the two significant factored that affect the personality of individuals is the social and emotional context. From this research, it can be seen that the two factors play an important role in shaping the personality of individuals.
Work cited.
Phillips, Gerald M, Lynne Kelly, and Rebecca B. Rubin. Communication Incompetencies: A Theory of Training Oral Performance Behavior. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991. Print.
Matthews, Gerald, Ian J. Deary, and Martha C. Whiteman. Personality Traits. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003. Print
Maltby, John, Liz Day, and Ann Macaskill. Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
