Biological and Humanistic Approaches Personality Assessment

Essay by halfdidCollege, UndergraduateB, October 2008

download word file, 8 pages 5.0

People often wonder what they are made of and why they do the things they do. Are people born to do and act a certain way, or do they have a choice to act in a certain way? This paper will speak about two approaches that is said to have influence on one the turnout of one's personality. These two approaches are the biological approach and the humanistic approach. By studying these two approaches, one can identify one's personality and whether it favors the biological approach or the humanistic approach.

The biological approach to personality is that all traits can be subsumed within three personality dimensions. These dimensions are called extroversion-introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism (Burger, 2007). The extraversion personality is considered to be outgoing and exhibits the trait of sociability. The extraversion personality is the one who one would find the life of the party. The extravert has a different level of cerebral cortex arousal when in a non-stimulating, resting state (burger, 2007).

The extravert generally has a lower level of cortical arousal than introverts. The lower level of cortex arousal in extraverts causes them to seek out highly arousal social behavior. If one were to go to a social gathering such as a party, or just a group of friends hanging out, one could probably pick out the extraversion personality by the way the person acts and talks. The person with the introversion personality would be just the opposite.

The introversion personality is quieter and laid back. The introversion personality has a higher level of cerebral cortex arousal and does not need to be the life of the party or around many friends. The introversion personality is comfortable being alone and reading a book. The introversion personality prefers non-stimulating environments because he or she does not want their...