Analysis of an Individuals Personality

Personality Profiles

There are several theoretical approaches that are utilized in explaining personality based on the different traits relating to an individual. These theoretical approaches are divided into two major categories i.e. the five domains and complex models domains. The five domains (psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, trait and type, and learning) are approaches that focus on how individual traits are developed and how behavior is formulated. On the other hand, the complex models domains basically focus on how traits could impact an individual\'s personality. These two categories can be utilized in developing a personality profile of an individual based on interactions with him/her and the information on he/she posts on social media.

TinaShazzy\'s Personality Profile

The chosen theoretical approach that I will utilize in developing TinaShazzy\'s personality is the behavioral domain, which suggests that an individual\'s behavior is a reflection of his/her personality trait since personality is behavior (Phelps, 2015). Additionally, this perspective of personality holds that an individual\'s environment influences his/her behavior, which in turn determines personality. Therefore, an individual\'s environment plays an important role in determining personality through influencing his/her behavior.

I have known TinaShazzy for the last eight years. She comes from a dysfunctional family and a hostile home environment that has seemingly affected her growth and development. TinaShazzy\'s parents separated when she was 12 years because of his father\'s alcoholism and abusive tendencies. Her mum works at a local grocery store and struggles to provide for the family though she is also an alcoholic. TinaShazzy tends to avoid social interactions and would mostly prefer being alone. During her schooling years, TinaShazzy would demonstrate occasional bursts of anger when interacting with her classmates. Additionally, she was occasionally rude and defensive when relating with her teachers, which affected her learning outcomes. During our interactions, TinaShazzy tends to be defensive and angry, especially when she encounters something that does not please her. Nonetheless, she works very hard and gives 100% to everything that she does. She constantly expresses her desire to become successful in life and help her siblings as well as other children who come from hostile home environments or from dysfunctional families. TinaShazzy believes that everyone child deserves a suitable home environment that enable him/her to prosper and work towards realizing his/her dreams in life.

Based on these attributes, TinaShazzy seemingly has a self-absorbed personality that has been influenced by her home environment and strained relationship with her parents. Using a behaviorist approach, TinaShazzy\'s personality is a reflection of patterns of learned behaviors that she has acquired based on the conditions in her family and at home. The behavioral theory of personality suggests that personality is a by-product of a pattern of learned behaviors (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant & Ramo, 1996). In addition to being reserved or self-absorbed, TinaShazzy is also sensitive given her tendency to experience unpleasant feelings easily i.e. anger, which makes her defensive (University of Minnesota, n.d.). TinaShazzy\'s sensitive personality trait is influenced by the negative impacts of her dysfunctional family and hostile home environment. On the other, she is determined to be successful because of the family\'s failure and struggles.

TinaShazzy\'s Online Personality

On her Facebook profile, TinaShazzy describes herself as a social and outgoing person who likes to hang out with her friends. However, she has less than 100 friends on her Facebook page and would rarely update her status or comment on her friend\'s pages. One of the outstanding things on her page is her tendency to upload pictures of people who are punished for wrongdoing regardless of whether she knows them or not. Secondly, she is a member of two closed groups named \'I Don\'t Give a Damn\' and \'Care for Children.\' Third, apart from posting pictures of individuals who are punished for their wrongdoings, TinaShazzy posts inspirational quotes regarding success in life. Using a behaviorist approach, TinaShazzy\'s is reserved given the relatively few number of friends and rare postings despite describing herself as a social and outgoing individual. Additionally, she is sensitive based on the groups she follows and advocacy for punishment for wrongdoing.

Similarities and Differences between the Two Profiles

The similarities and differences between TinaShazzy\'s personality profiles can be explained through the hypostatic model of personality, which is an approach that suggests that people present themselves in different aspects (Tapu, 2014). This approach is one of the domains in the complex model of personality and postulates the individuals can appear and behave in different ways. In this case, TinaShazzy portrayed herself differently to different people i.e. her close friends and those on social media. For her friends, she was a self-absorbed/reserved individual whose family situation and home environment influenced her behaviors. To those on social media, she described herself as a social and outgoing person, which was contrary to her reserved and self-absorbed nature. However, TinaShazzy\'s reserved nature was still evident in her social media behavior as well as her real world behaviors.