Determinants of Personality

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

The personality of an individual may be influenced by various factors such as the biologi-cal, Sociological and Psychological factors.

The major factors and their sub components that determine and influence personality are given in figure 1.

1. Biological factors

There are three biological factors playing a great role in personality development. They are

1.        Physique

2.        Chemique

3.        Nervous System

Physique: Height, weight, physical appearance, physical strength, gen-eral health, physical deformities and abnormalities are the factors that can influence the personality of an individual not directly but indirect-ly. For example: The child who is short of stature and who is physically handicapped may develop a feeling of inferiority.

Chemique: Chemique means the ef-fects of the endocrine glands on the personality development. For exam-ple: Thyroid gland secretes thyroxin which controls rate of growth which in turn is relates to the personality of an individual.

Nervous System: Sensory organs de-pends upon the w ell developed quality of the nervous system. These sensory organs are the gateways of knowledge. For example: Quickness of adjustment, the readiness of acquiring new modes of responses, our reasoning and think-ing all depend on the efficiency of the nervous system.

2. Sociological factors

Home, school, society and culture are the most important sociological factors involved in personality development.

Home

The following factors from the home can affect the personality of an individual

·           Broken home, separated (or) divorced parents, alcoholic parents, quarrel-some parents.

·           Over ambitious parents

·           Parental preferences on the sex (male or female) of the child

·           Step parents

·           Number of children in the family.

·           Educational and socio- economic sta-tus of parents

School

School factors responsible in shaping the personality of the children include:

·           Discipline of the school

·           Opportunity available for various cur-ricular and co curricular activities.

·           Size of the school

·           Organizational climate of the school.

·           Personality of the teachers

Society

The society circumstances and the envi-ronment also play a vital role in deciding one’s personality.

Culture

An individual’s personality is also deter-mined by the culture in which they are reared.

3. Psychological factors

Intelligence, motivation, attitude, emo-tion and interest are some important psychological factors