Introduction
When we look at the term personality we tend to think of the aspects that makes a person likeable, the things that makes up the person as a whole but most importantly differientiates them from others and unique. Personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of our thoughts; so our personality is developed as a result of a sequence of characteristics and the way we think, feelings and behaviour are all combined together to make us who we are as a person. Personality develops within the individual and not outside of the invidual and remains fairly constant so it does not change. There are two factors that can have an influence on our personality, when we are placed in a familar environment our personality tends to stay the same; genes and traits may play a part in our personality. Some people when placed in a familar environment may change their personality and this is for the reason that they have genes that code for more than one personality.
Hollander's model![]()
Hollander suggested that our personality is a layered structure with an inner core of belief, values and attitudes. This inner core which is fairly permanent and unlikely to change affects the next layer. The middle layer shows how we would typically respond to a situation and generally gives a good indication of the inner core; different people with different inner cores may have different typical responses to the same situation. It is the outer layer that shows our actual responses to different circumstances. This outer layer is the most changeable part of our personality. Hollander stated that our behaviour will vary, depending on how we feel and the situation that we are put in.
As Hollander's work indicates that how we behave is dependent on our environment and our inner core of traits it therefore is an example of a interactionist theory. There are psychologists that say that we inherit certain traits that define our personality. However some psychologists argue and say that how we act is simply down to our environment and we learn to act in different ways in different situtations.
As Hollander's work indicates that how we behave is dependent on our environment and our inner core of traits it therefore is an example of a interactionist theory. There are psychologists that say that we inherit certain traits that define our personality. However some psychologists argue and say that how we act is simply down to our environment and we learn to act in different ways in different situtations.
