Exploring behavioral traits

“Travel far enough, so far that you meet yourself” said David Mitchell. There is always a hidden charm in exploring parts of an individual character that lie buried deep inside.

 

Are the traits polarized?

The characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving determines one’s personality. Personality embraces moods, attitudes, and opinions that are clearly expressed in one’s  interactions with  people. It includes behavioural characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that distinguish one person from another. The combination of an individual’s personality traits — positive and negative — work together to determine the face they present to the world.

Based on personality traits, there is a general tendency to polarize individuals into extroverts and introverts. Extroverts are enthusiastic, friendly, cheerful, with whom it is very easy to make friends.  These traits however, when exceeded, may cause one to lose control over their emotions and can become annoying. Introverts, on the other hand, are generally good listeners, thoughtful and observant. But they tend to get labelled as snobbish, are overlooked and do not always get the party invitation.

Psychologists often categorize such characters into broad domains which mark an individual’s distinctive nature. These attributes,  pivotal to the differentiation of individuals have been aptly acronymed as ‘OCEAN’ by Sir Brian Little, where

O -Open to experience against those who are not.

C -Conscientiousness approach against lackadaisical.
E– Extroverts against introverts.
A– Agreeable individuals against not agreeable
N– Neurotic individuals against stable-minded.

 

Beyond demarcation

The above attributes demarcated under OCEAN indicate the behavioral characteristics of individuals. It is mostly observed that extroverts express openness and conscientiousness, are agreeable and good to work with. As they are more communicable, it makes dealing with them simpler and more transparent. In fact, understanding the character trait of the opposite personality is important in maintaining a healthy and cordial relation with those possessing opposite character traits. Thus any relation, personal or professional, can be understood by vividly understanding the cognitive and behavioral patterns of another.

In recent times, the understanding and study of character traits has become relevant in view of the mental health recovery of Covid 19 patients. In this regard a multidimensional study for personality trait and its inclinations towards certain mental health issues stands rudimentary. Moreover, the lack of awareness on this front has been observed through a study conducted by UNICEF which reports on the mental health impact of COVID-19 in children and young people surveying across 21 nations.

Some of us express an ambivert character as well.  There are instances when some of us may feel scared to open up, perhaps with a stranger or an elder, but the same person can get become extremely friendly and amiable when he spends more time with the other.

 

Discover yourself

There will always be new ways in which we will keep discovering ourselves as we grow. The way we are in a typical situation, is our instantaneous personality. There are no ways in which one can completely discover one’s real self. At the end of the day we just need to give ourselves some time and accept the way we are.

Swami Vivekananda has most aptly wrapped up this dynamic human characteristic when he says, “We are what our thoughts have made us. So take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live and they travel far. Talk to yourself at least once in a day. Otherwise you may miss meeting an excellent personality in this world.”

 

About the authors

The article has been contributed by the following students from Our Lady Queen of the Missions, Park Circus: Asmita Chatterjee, Ayesha Hafiz, Sharanya Basak and Sreeja Dey.