Introduction to Psychology Samples
Beyond Adjustment, or, How to Turn a Schizophrenic into an Obsessive-Compulsive
Personality Theory, A Brief Overview
Sample Journal 1 Sample Journal 3
Analysis of the Five Factor Personality Test (IPIP-NEO)
Personality is basically who you are, how you interact with
others, how you think, what you like or dislike, and so on. Essentially, it
says a lot about a person, which is why I did not think 300 simple questions
could somehow describe me as a person. In all honesty, I took the test thinking
this test would tell me something so broad, there
would be no way to make an authentic connection to a person. I’m not saying the
test was perfectly accurate, but it did get a lot of my personality traits and
that, to me, was incredibly unexpected. First, I skimmed through it and it
seemed accurate in some parts, and inaccurate in others. Then, I really took
the time to read exactly what it said about me, and I realized it got so many
facts right.
I’m very outgoing and
although I may seem shy, at times, I’m completely far from it. I love to talk
to people, small talk doesn’t bother me, and I love big parties and loud
environments. I’m the stereotypical Cuban when it comes to that part of my
character. That’s doubtlessly why I wasn’t too surprised with the outcome of
the first broad domain, which is extraversion. It said I love the company of
others, taking risks and going on thrill-seeking adventures, and being cheerful
and optimistic. Those are all ways I would also describe myself, so they get
that pat on the back. They also mention I like making friends, being close and
having intimate relationships, but at an average scale, and that is very true.
I love being around people and making friends, but I don’t tend to rush a
relationship or seek intimacy right off the bat. My assertiveness and
activity-level scores were also average, and I agree with it all. I do like to
lead, take action, and I have no issue with voicing my ideas, but sometimes I
do like to listen because I may not know much about the subject or any other
number of reasons. When it comes to my activity level, I may be busy with
schoolwork, my job, or my social life, but I do always like to take a step back
and realize that there’s no need to hurry.
Some people may see my score on agreeableness
as a score to shy away from, because it was low. I, on the other hand, am quite
proud of it. It also doesn’t mean I’m out in the world arguing with everyone,
deceiving people, and letting everyone fend for themselves. That’s not the kind
of person I am. In fact, I scored high in trust, because I do believe in human
kindness. Growing up, I learned people are genuinely good but society and,
sometimes, human need or want, guides us to do things we’re not so proud of.
You would think I’m a terrible person scoring low in morality, but that’s only
because I like to keep my personal life, well, personal. I’m not immoral, I
just enjoy having my own secrets and a very small number of people know my
secrets, but no single person knows them all and I like to keep it that way.
Then, there’s my level of altruism and cooperation, which are average and
that’s true for the most part. In other words, I do genuinely like helping
people who really need it, but I will not put everybody’s needs before my own.
If you sincerely need help and I can lend you a hand, then I’ll be the first
one there, but do not expect me to be your constant safety blanket.
Furthermore, I do like to cooperate with others to the best of my ability, but
I will not compromise my life or needs for just anyone. Perhaps, that’s part of
the reason I scored low in sympathy and modesty. Again, I simply do not let
others’ emotions affect me, because then you’d have double the emotions going
crazy. I tend to think rationally about situations and what can be done to
solve them, and that’s also the reason my friends usually come to me when they
have questions or they’re in trouble. I provide solutions, not more problems.
This may sound somewhat arrogant, but that’s not how I mean it. Although, I’m
not very good at modesty, that’s a characteristic I never studied much. I’m not
arrogant, simply proud of myself and I do love myself. As Buddha once said, “You
must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being
what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. You, yourself,
as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love & affection.”
Conscientiousness is one
domain I most definitely have to disagree about the low score it gave me. It makes
me sound sloppy and disorganized, of which I am neither. It says I have low
drive and self-control, think poorly before making decisions, and believe I
have no moral obligations. I thought about this for a while, in case the test
was right and I was just lying to myself, but I came to the original
conclusion: That’s wrong. I’m driven towards my goal, which is now finishing
school and earning my nursing degree. Believe me, I could have taken easier
paths in life were I not driven. I’m not going to lie and say I always think
about everything I do, I make mistakes and sometimes I do foolish things or go
on unplanned adventures, but when it comes to the important things in life, I
always take time to consider my options. Also, low moral
obligations sounds like a ridiculous description of my personality.
Anyone who knows me will tell you I keep my “pinky promises.” It may sound
silly, but when I tell you “pinky promise,” I really do promise and I’ve proven
it to a point where my friends don’t even smirk at the sound of that saying. However,
the other sub-domains are mostly accurate. I’m quite organized but not to the
point where I care more about organization than the work itself. I also do
strive to achieve my many goals in life, but I don’t let my desires consume my
life. Self-discipline, conversely, is something that I have slowly learned with
time. I hate to admit it, but I do procrastinate a lot. Nonetheless, I get
things done when they need to be done, it may take me a lot of Redbull and all-nighters, but I get it done and on time.
I must say I’m glad to know I’m not
neurotic. I’m really not, I don’t get stressed out easily, and when I do, it
motivates rather than scares me. I very, and I mean
very, seldom feel sad, angry, or anxious about anything. Do I often feel
ecstatic, peaceful, and excited? I most definitely do. I do want to clarify
that I do experience stress, sadness, and all these other negative feelings,
but I never let it get too far. I try stay optimistic about things and life in
general, because I find I’m able to solve a lot more with that type of
thinking. Additionally, as much confidence as I have in myself, sometimes I’m
just having a bad hair day or I woke up in a bad mood, or any other number of
reasons, so I don’t feel as confident and ready to take on the world. I do,
nevertheless, work to change that throughout my day because I hate feeling that
way. But, I’m human, and sometimes I just feel down. Speaking of being human,
I’m not surprised I scored high in immoderation, because I have a hard time
saying no to a craving. It most likely is the reason you’ll see me walking
around with two or more cans of Redbull and some very
unhealthy snacks to match the drink. I do overindulge in that and I do listen
to a Taylor Swift song until I hate it, which is very hard to do. So, yes, I’m
not neurotic, but I do have some downfalls.
I would consider myself rather open to new
experiences, ideas, and thoughts. But I do agree with the test saying I’m only
average in openness. Although I like to experience new things, I don’t
overindulge in that mentality. I do love to daydream; I do it all the time and
I have an impressive imagination. I dream of what could have been, what will
be, what might be, and all the possibilities in-between. I also enjoy nature’s
beauty and art in general, but it’s not my favorite past time. But I do love
music. I could listen to music all day long and mostly, any genre. My real past
time is adventure; all types of new experiences, places, foods, and culture. I
enjoy encountering new things in life, especially traveling to foreign
countries. One feature where I scored very low was emotionality, because I do
tend to keep feelings to myself. In fact, I hate talking about negative
feelings. I talk about my problems and such things with very few people, in
fact, only about three people would be considered close enough for me to
discuss such matters. My less close friends and even family,
are rarely aware of any issues I may encounter. I’m not sure whether that’s
healthy or not, but I’ve always had a very select group of people whom I could
talk to about any off-putting feelings I may be experiencing, and I’m very
grateful to them. They’ve held me up through good and bad, and they’re the
kinds of people that have partly shaped me through life.
After reading all this self-analysis, I
think I’ve truly learned more about myself, both the good and the bad. I’m a
very outgoing and all-around optimistic person who enjoys the company of
others. Pride is a part of who I am, but I’m still modest when I need to be and
I love helping people in genuine need. I may not be crazy, but I do overindulge
in some things and perhaps I should stop that sort of behavior. Perhaps I also
need to be more open about any troubles I have, because I tend to bottle those
up or barely share them. Overall, I think the personality test was quite
precise despite its slight errors. Mostly, I learned no human is perfect and I
suppose that’s allright, because we each have amazing
qualities that make us who we are, whether some understand us or not.
The
Five Factor Personality Test is frightfully accurate. I say this because I am
in the beginning stages of learning who I am and trying to understand why I do
the things that I do or say the things that I say. I do not quite comprehend
myself. However, here is a test, containing a series of questions, answerable
within forty minutes, and results almost instantly, telling me “this is who you
are”. Keep in mind, this is something that has taken nineteen years to conjure.
Nineteen to understand, to fully comprehend. Nineteen years and it was still
unwritten, until now.
The
test contains three hundred survey type questions that had me in awe. Each
causing me to pause and ponder. To think back on events in my life, emotional
scenarios, personal struggles, successes and failures, and to resurface the
once unspeakable. Simply put, to dig deep. Some of the questions had me
completely stumped. Because at one moment you say “Yes! This is definitely me!”
Then with further inquisition, everything completely goes left and you say
“Wait, no! That’s not me”. Then all of a sudden you’re stuck. You are
completely clueless. So you give the best answer possible “Neither accurate nor
inaccurate.” Somehow this test can
answer what you cannot. Somehow it puts together the “very accurate” the “very
inaccurate” and the overwhelming “neither nor” and pronounces you.
If I
knew one thing, it was that I am an introvert. I love being by myself and
wrapped up and consumed in my world. I believe that this is a result of how I
was raised. I was an only child for 7 years. In that time I was so sheltered
and cushioned. I didn’t need friends, I had my mother. I was home, in Barbados,
for 3 almost 4 years of my life. I hardly remember anything or anyone. Photographs were all I had to make a link to
a family. When I returned, I was told numerous stories of how almost the whole
island knew me, or babysat me, or gave me a piece of fruit. I was so loved and
protected. When my mother and I left the island, it was just us. A few people,
over the years, cared for and help us during such a difficult time but in the
end, it was just my mother and me.
Making
friends is not easy for me but I am fine with that. I don’t feel the need to have
hundreds of friends. My mother always tells me, bluntly put, that “women are no
good”. That leaves men. I have learned that once you make it clear to a guy
that you only the intension of friendship, you and he can be great
friends. I currently have 3 best
friends. The same 3 best friend since the age of 4. I also have 600 plus “friends” on Facebook.
Numerous followers on Instagram. My phone seems to light up almost every second
of the day. But this does not define me. I am a loner. There are times when my
best friends don’t know the half of what is going on with me. I get
notifications and texts but I do not reply because I don’t feel like
communicating with the outside world a lot of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I
am adventure-seeking. I love excitement, rollercoaster, loud parties,
traveling, etc. I scored an 80 out of 99. However, I prefer my alone time.
Above
all, I scored the highest in the agreeable sector. All facets of agreeableness
were above 60. I preference solitude but in the presence of others I am very
personable. I am everything that this category lists: considerate, friendly,
generous, helpful, willing to compromise. I believe in the goodness of human
beings and therefore I am wholeheartedly trusting and honest. I gravely dislike
confrontation. I would rather lose out or keep how I am feeling bottled and
sealed than confront the individual or individuals. This explains why I am so
much of a loner because I don’t like to talk about me or my feelings. I prefer
to relieve any sadness or ill feelings toward another by lying in bed and
crying and talking to myself about it. I am a strong believer of the silent
treatment. However, I am very emotional and do a very poorly in hiding my
emotions, so the person I am disagreeing with could probably see everything in
my expressions. This then leads me the Neuroticism aspect of the personality
test.
In the
presence of others I am happy. Life could not be better. It takes quite a bit
for me to become enraged, so people usually see the happy-go-lucky side of me.
At home, it is almost polar opposites. In my corner, I cry, I am sad, not
nearly depressed, but just down and out. I like so many others, suffer from a
low self-esteem. As of late primary school, I began to gain weight. My eight
grade year I was 50 pounds overweight. This took a toll on me mentally and
physically. It also explains my introverted characteristic. People were not
nice. I was subjected to bullying and teasing and as a result I kept to myself.
Physically, the weight left scars that are a constant reminder that I am
nowhere near perfect. I am uncomfortable at beach and pool outings with
friends. Often times I opt to stay home just to resist awkward situations. At
times when I see someone staring at me I think that they are looking at my imperfections,
they could not possibly be seeing anything beautiful in me. Which is why I am
so reserved and find it hard to open up.
All of
this weighs on my conscientiousness. I often times don’t believe in myself and
lack the motivation to go and get what I want. I am not a go getter. I scored a
low 16 in the overall conscientious aspect. It would have been lower if not for
the dutifulness facet. My motivation
comes from others. If someone were relying on me to do something, I would be on
top of it in an instant. Partially because it concerns me what others think of
me and because I hate to disappoint.
Last
but not least, I scored a low score of 21 in openness to experience with
outliers in liberalism and imagination. I thrive on routine and familiarity. I
do not like stepping outside of my box but strangely enough, when I do, I love
that I did.
A lot of
this is, I feel, are the makings of an old me. I feel like I still have not
come into myself. That past events and currents situations are holding me back.
I feel like a bottle of soda that has been shaken and that at any moment I am
going to explode. I can see myself changing. I am learning to no longer be this
naïve, sheltered, and scared being. In a couple of years, I plan to retake this
test, with greater self-confidence and a different outlook on life.
Example 3