Costa and Robert McCrae's Baltimore Study is perhaps the most definitive study involving personality traits. The researchers observed the personalities of sampled individuals aged between 19 and 80, over a period of twelve years, specifically measuring their conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, extroversion, and neuroticism levels -- in an attempt to determine whether these remained stable or changed during the course of an individual's life (Santrock, 2010)
Numerous personality traits have been identified in the past. However, in an attempt to ease the description and analysis of personalities, researchers have in recent times identified several generalized personality traits (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2007)
Studies show that high-scorers are ambitious, assertive, and competitive. They are also sociable, physically active, as well as sexually motivated (Buss & Hawley 13)
While they are outgoing and often highly expressive, they may not always recognize their own personal needs (27). Agreeableness The personality trait of agreeableness was not considered a "supertrait" like introversion or extroversion until rather recent history (Leary & Hoyle 47)
People who have high levels of agreeable traits are often good-natured, cooperative and trustful (119). Individuals who are high in agreeableness enjoy helping people, a nurturing quality, and they often tend to be self-effacing and modest; those who have high levels of agreeableness are more likely as well to become dependent and have dependent disorders (McCrae & Costa 41)
They may also provoke fewer conflicts because their behavior is usually more controlled, organized and responsible (372). Neuroticism Neuroticism can be defined as the "overactivity of negative emotions" (Nettle 49)
We think of people who are "extraverts" as being concerned with the external realities of life, while the "introverts" are more concerned with the inner realities of their own selves. However, extraversion can also be considered self-oriented in a very primitive form because it prompts one to make a place for himself or herself in light of others' expectations and responses (Thomsen 29)
In the first half of the twentieth century, developmental biology and genetics were separate disciplines. The word epigenetics was coined by Waddington to link the two fields; epigenetics could be broadly defined as the sum of all those mechanisms necessary for the unfolding of the genetic program for development (Holliday, 2006)
The mother mouse looks up and says, "Hey, geniuses tell me how my son got into this sorry state." "Bad inheritance," says Darwin. "Bad mothering," says Freud (Hurley, 2013)
The physiology and cultural-based research on traits such as intelligence, for example, frequently use experiment designs such as twin studies. One study attempted to further knowledge concerning the nature and nurture of intelligence by scrutinizing how heritability coefficients vary across specific cognitive abilities both theoretically and empirically (Kan, Wicherts, Dolan, & Maas, 2013)
Even economists have weighed in on the nurture and nature divide by looking at siblings and their ability to participate in the economy. In one study, economists examined the relationship between different kinds of siblings and earnings and find that both nature and nurture matter: full-siblings are equally negatively related to earnings regardless of whether one grew up with them or not (Lampi & Norblom, 2012)
DNA methylation has been associated with age-related disease. An intra-individual change in gene-specific DNA methylation over time in a community-based cohort is just beginning to receive research attention (Madrigano, et al
These two poles have led to a polarized discussion of human development from either a biologically mechanistic or social perspective. Some describe the rhetoric used in the nature/nurture debate without a focus on a 'single, well-de-ned and meaningful question' of "confounding statistics and mechanisms" (Stoltz, 2012)
Epigenetics has provided evidence that environmental events can directly modify the epigenetic state of the genome. Studies with rodent models suggest that during both early development and in adult life, environmental signals can activate intracellular pathways that directly remodel the "epigenome," leading to changes in gene expression and neural function (Zhang & Meaney, 2010)
Hopwood embarked upon a study chronicled in the journal Abnormal Psychology entitled "The stability of personality traits in individuals with borderline personality disorder." The central hypothesis of the study was that apparent inconsistencies in personality traits of BPD patients is not an indication of a problematic or inaccurate definition of the personality disorder but rather is part of the illness (Hopwood 2009, p
The longitudinal nature of the study and the multiplicity of the inventories argue in favor of the researcher's thoroughness. Still, it is questionable how much this adds to the existing literature upon BPD, given that the current criteria for diagnosis are: "instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts" (Oldham 2005)
And O. sometimes do not" yet the concepts themselves still seem to exist cross-culturally (McCrae, n
Diversity in the workplace refers to employees' individual differences. Diverse factors among human resources include personality, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, income, marital status, and socio-economic status (Esque & Gilmore, 2003)
Agreeableness & Workplace Diversity Agreeableness and Workplace Diversity The Big Five framework of personality traits is a common psychological categorization of very broad dimensions of human personality (Hurtz & Donovan, 2000)
In terms of workplace effectiveness, agreeableness is helpful in teaming scenarios, but not necessarily in leadership situations that may require objectivity, decisiveness and assertiveness in the face of competing opinions and many viable options. The values that agreeable people bring to working environments include fairness, modesty, honesty, empathy, a sense of morality, trustworthiness and a calming influence in challenging situations (Westerman & Simmons, 2007)