Introduction
Personality is always presumed to be the differences in character, cognition and emotion. It is not developed external factors and is internally and gradually built into an individual. It exists as a viable response to the environment. One person’s personality is not entirely suitable for another person even under similar circumstances. However, research studies in personality psychology have identified that individual tend to develop more than one personality within them. At different times, under different circumstances, an individual may portray a personality that is extremely different to the common personality associated with the person. This paper is a literature review that seeks to build upon secondary research studies in a bid to unearth how people are capable of showing differing personalities at different times. The paper will also explore the causes suggested by different authors in relation to the topic.
Adler, Peter S. "Beyond cultural identity: Reflections on multiculturalism."Basic concepts of intercultural communication: Selected readings (1998): 225-245.
This piece explores causes of behavioral and personality differences between individuals from the cultural context. According to this article, culture determines our behaviors. Culture may influence personality from two perspectives. There is individual and societal culture. While the culture of the society on average affects every member of society. However, individual culture is shaped by the different experiences that different people go through in life. The interaction between individual culture and societal culture is the root of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is exhibited by the ability of a person to switch between cultures in accordance to the prevailing circumstances. The ability of this person to switch between cultures subsequently enables an individual to wear/portray different personalities depending on the situation or circumstances. Therefore, a person may embody two character traits because of the interaction between individual culture and societal culture.
Nass, Clifford, Katherine Isbister, and Eun-Ju Lee. "Truth is beauty: Researching embodied conversational agents." Embodied conversational agents (2000): 374-402.
In the contemporary world of movies and technology, animation has been hugely utilized, creating human like objects and characters. The entertainment industry has been revolutionized by the technology behind animation. Animation represents a typical exemplar of human-computer communication. The animations created, say, the avatars, ape the behavior and character of a certain individual while at the same time, not losing their original personality as computers. This technology is the tool behind creation of monsters, and robot-based movies. According to this article, we can thus discern a co-existence of two personalities within the same individual. In this case, the animation will show human character and the same time retains its non-human personality.
Hermans, Hubert JM. "The Dialogical Self as a Society of Mind Introduction."Theory & Psychology 12.2 (2002): 147-160.
Similar to Adler’s article, individual this article explains existence of two personalities within a single person as a result of the intersection between society psychology and individual psychology .Human beings are social beings are relocate from one place to another. Various places have different cultures and since there is a need to conform to the culture of a certain place, one may easily be assimilated. This kind of person may show or portray different behaviors when he or she moves from one place to another in order to be accepted within that society. Human experiences may also shape a person’s character to portray more than one personality. Herman recognizes the society has become heterogeneous and it is a fact that autonomy may start to develop within some members of the society. As such, the need to balance between societal and individual psychology may lead to a double personality.
O'Reilly, Charles A., Jennifer Chatman, and David F. Caldwell. "People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit." Academy of management journal 34.3 (1991): 487-516.
This article focuses on three contemporary themes that pertain to organizational behavior. The first theme is described as the “person-situation interactional construct.” This theme considers that the current situation determines an individual’s personality. On the other hand, “the quantitative assessment of culture” theme asserts that an individual will respond to an event depending on the possible benefits or risks associated to that event. The third theme, “template matching”-encompasses on the effects that the need to imitate or ape another person’s character may have on the overall personality. All these themes may explain why a person may embody more than one personality.
Dweck, Carol S., and Ellen L. Leggett. "A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality." Psychological review 95.2 (1988): 256.
In this article Dweck takes a keen look at the causes of certain responses to the event by humans. The author notes that humans have a way of gauging their level of response and it is through this metric that they are able set their personal goals and objectives. Deeper into the discussion the author argues that a repeat of a similar response builds a habitual response and the individual tend to associate more with the event. If in a case, the individual is forced to respond to two events of completely different nature on a frequent basis. Then chances are that the individual will develop two personality approaches that are each suitable to a specific vent. The author concludes by offering that the response to environmental events, as well as cognitive events, drives one be to develop more than just a single personality. The works of this author provide the ultimate key to understanding the underlying causes if individual exhibiting differing personalities at different times. In this case, the works provide a systematic approach through which we are able to understand ourselves through the levels of association we have with the environment. The author considers that the environment plays a great role in how humans develop personalities.
McAdams, Dan P. "Personality, modernity, and the storied self: A contemporary framework for studying persons." Psychological inquiry 7.4 (1996): 295-321.
McAdams in his works suggests that individuals tend to develop personalities through building a set of interrelated stories that are all destined to portray the likes and dislikes of the individual. The set of stories is then intertwined to create a single story that defines the self in person this is a process the author describes as “self-definition”. The author also notes that the environment influences also endears one to portray a certain character. The individual close to a person holds a significant level of influence in the personality that person embodies. This analysis helps us relate the self-definition technique with the environmental effects on building characters in a bid to come up with a comprehensive framework that can help unearth how a person can thus exhibit differing personalities. The environment variations and the additional personal stories that makeup the “self-definition” are all but geared towards addressing how different personalities can be exhibited by the same individual.
Anderson, Norman H., and Ann Jacobson. "Effect of stimulus inconsistency and discounting instructions in personality impression formation." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2.4 (1965): 531.
Anderson and Ann, in this journal article give a description of the possible events that can lead a person to portray different personalities. The article argues that the social cycle within the surrounding has a great level of significance to the personality of a person. In a similar approach to Dweck (A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality), the authors note that individual are forced by the environment react to varying stimuli from the environment, and this creates a series of different personalities in an individual depending on the stimuli. Certain stimuli may lead to a negative response that would portray the negative personality of an individual. On the other hand, a positive response will portray the positive personality of the individual. However, the author notes that one personality must at all times be dominant over the other. The variations in stimulus, however, cause a shift of the personalities in an individual.
Conclusion
With the differing views on scholarly matters of sociology,; I had a difficult time trying to unearth each of the theories presented by each literal work and relate it to my area of focus. Simple as it may have turned out at first, gathering a set of related secondary research material was not easy. With the acquisition of the material came the detailed analysis of each and finally designing a qualitative approach to determine the correlation of the studies.
The literatures have an overall agreement that an individual can portray two different and contrasting personalities. However, the most intriguing feature about them is that they suggest that the environment plays a key role in the development of personality in an individual. As such, there is a correlation that exists between an individual’s personality at a certain instance and the environment, and this is due to the varying responses to certain stimuli from the environment. However, there is a clear theme from all the literal works. There is a general feeling that each person defines their own personalities in relation to the environment. It begins from an opinion of which you think you are and building your personality around your personal storyline. Thus, there is a connection between the environment and that inner self-definition. Surprisingly, the literatures suggest that we all have a multiplication of personalities. However, the most dominant personality is visible under normal circumstances. Thus, the second personality is a response to certain environmental circumstances.
Works cited
Stevenson, Robert L, and Scott Brick. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Old Saybrook, Conn.: Tantor Media, 2003. Print.
