Psy 645 Week 1 Case Study Personality

Personality
Socrates Garcia
PSYCH/645
November 3, 2014
Dr. Morera

Personality
Introduction
The personality of an individual is perceived as the characteristics that shape and distinguishes one person from another, at least from a general perspective. For instance, John may be described as quiet and decisive in the way he handles different situations. On another hand, we would have Peter who is very irrational. These two distinctive characters would describe the personalities of those two individuals. However, psychologists are more particular and define personality as a dynamic with the inclusion of an organized set of characteristics possessed by an individual that distinctively or uniquely influences his or her motivations,
cognitions as well as behavior in various occasions (Cervone & Pervin, 2010).
Various psychologists have come up with different discussions analyzing personality from a biological angle. For instance, a pioneering American psychologist used two broad categories of nomothetic and idiographic to analyze the characteristics of different individuals. Moreover, the study of personality also comes with an abundance of traditional theories (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). These would include psychodynamic, humanistic, biological, behaviorists, dispositional perspective as well as social learning. In a nutshell, the study of personality varies with the discipline that undertakes the study itself.
Objectively, this analysis takes a different approach towards personality though from a particular psychological perspective. It is in this study that the popular methods of studying personality are discussed and brought into a bright note. The methods of studying personality include case studies, correlational designs as well as experimental designs. Each method will be discussed independently with clear illustrations that bring out the aspect of personality from all angles. It would be crucial to note that these studies also have both sides of merit and demerits.
Case Study
This is the most basic method of studying personality as it bases its foundation on case scenarios and the way individuals perceive them. In most cases, this method is substantially used during the process of treating individuals as well as during developing theories of personality. Essentially, case study would involve analyzing a certain given case scenario in terms of how an individual handles the same using their respective personalities. It would be important to note that not all individuals are the same. Nonetheless, this method would be very effective and efficient when generalizing the characteristics of an individual.
This method would incorporate a variety of approaches in terms of analyzing the personality of an individual.
Key among them would include keen observation. For instance, when solving a dilemma of any sort, one weighs the disadvantages and advantages that would come with making a particular decision when compared with the alternative decision. Personality differences from a psychological perspective would be based on what decision is taken with reference to the situation. Consequently, different traits of a person would be brought out using an observation perspective.
Case study as a method of studying personality comes with various merits as well as demerits. The biggest advantage associated with this method is that it enables and takes problem solving to a higher level. This method also creates new knowledge in various dimensions as well as plays a crucial role in testing a particular hypothesis. The major disadvantage that this method would possess includes the interpretation of the scenario. Too much professionalism would misinterpret a situation leaving the obvious results unmentioned or unveiled.
Correlational
Design
This is a method of analyzing the personality of an individual as an alternative whenever the case study approach proves unreliable. It is a method related to research in the sense that individuals are given an opportunity to respond on various questions. The response is then analyzed and a reflection is made as the ultimate result of depicting the different personalities of individuals. It is very useful in addressing working or employment factors by management. Nevertheless, the method also comes with various merits as well as demerits.
Correlational method of analyzing personality adopts a questionnaire-like feature in which an individual is asked questions pertaining to a certain scenario or situation (McCrae, 2011). The questions are in most cases open-ended but in few occasions will the method adopt close-ended questions. The response given, to some extent, measures the level of personality of the responders. It is however important to note that this method of analyzing personality consumes a substantial amount of time when compared to the case study approach. While in case study one’s decisions are generally the foundation of analyzing personality of an individual, in correlation approach it could take hours or even days.
The disadvantages associated with correlational method of studying personality would most be affected by the internal and external environment surrounding the responder. The internal environment would generally include the prevailing mood the responder has at a particular time as this affects the ultimate results gathered. The external environment, on the other hand, would include the pressure from fellow colleagues which also impacts negatively on the response given. The advantage associated with this method is the fact that the variety of responses can help understand certain characteristics that shape the personality an individual.
Experimental Design
This is an approach that is more inclined towards scientific knowledge as a determining factor of personality. In other terms, laboratory studies with controlled environments as its key ingredient, aid in analyzing the personal traits shaping the personality of an environment. Just like in any scientific experiment, various hitches ought to be incurred. Nonetheless, this method involve a particular area of specialty to address personality. Nonetheless, it is a more accurate method of addressing the topic in question
The method generally enable a researcher analyze the variable of personality in relation to a given specific and controlled environment (McCrae, 2011). Moreover, that same trait is analyzed if the environment is altered. In essence, it may sound like a complex approach but is very relevant in bringing out even the minute traits of personality. Moreover, the findings of experimental design are more trusted having the basis of science and hence prove more popular than the others.
As a disadvantage, experiment design c is not in a capable position to manipulate or control some aspects of a research. Therefore, a false situation could be created confining the number or amount of findings in a given experiment. In a nutshell, this forms the major weakness of this methodology of analyzing personality from a psychological perspective.
Conclusion
As discussed in the previous analysis, each method provides a sense of specificity in the information provided with their respective advantages and disadvantages.
From an individual perspective, the case study approach provides clear information on that area. Secondly, is the correlational approach which enables researchers to identify certain variables and how each relate each other in the study of personality. Lastly, is the experimental approach which bases its findings on manipulation of certain variables. More importantly is that all these approaches result in findings on personality of individuals (Schwartz, et.al,
2012).

References
Cervone, D., & Pervin, L., A. (2010). Personality: Theory and research (11th Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Schwartz, S., H., Cieciuch,J., & Vecchione, M. (2012). Refining the theory of basic individual values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 103(4). 633-688
McCrae, R., R. (2011). Personality Theories for the 21st Century. Teaching of Psychology, 38(1), 209-214.
.