A comparative study of ego traits as a function of gender culture and locale

INTRODUCTION Personality psychologist has defined personality as the scientific study of the psychological forces that make people unique in themselves. In a comprehensive, manner we can say that personality has eight key aspects, which together help us understand the complex nature of the individual. Firstly, the individual gets affected by unconscious aspects, forces that are not in awareness moment-to-moment. For example, we might say or do things to others that our parents used to say or do to us, without recognizing that we are motivated by a desire to resemble our parents. Secondly, the individual is affected by the forces of ego that provide a sense of identity or "self". For example, we often strive to maintain a sense of mastery and consistency in our behavior. Thirdly, a person with a unique genetic, physical, physiological, and temperamental nature is a biological being. Over millions of years the human species has evolved, yet each of us is a unique biological system. Fourth, people are shaped and conditioned by the experiences and environments that surround them i.e. our surrounding sometimes train us to respond in specific ways, as we grow up in different cultures. What we are today is a product of culture. Fifth, cognitive dimension is there in people, thinking about and interpreting the around them, people construct the happening around them in different ways. Sixth, each individual is a collection of specific traits, skills, and predispositions. There is no denying that each of us has certain specific abilities and inclination. Seventh, a spiritual dimension is there in human beings to their lives, it enables them and prompts them robots programmed by computers. They seek happiness and self-fulfillment. Eighth, and finally, the individual's nature is an ongoing interaction between the person and the particular environment. 2 1.1 DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY Personality is a dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create the person's characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts and feelings. Allport, (1961). More or less stable, internal factors . . . make one person's behavior consistent from one time to another, and different from the behaviour of her people would manifest in comparable situations. Child, (1968). Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organization of a person's character, temperament, intellect and physique that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. Eysenk, (1952). Personality is generally defined as individual's unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts and emotions. Baron, (1993). Personality usually refers to the distinctive patterns of behavior (including thoughts and emotion) that characterize each individual's adaptation to the situation of his or her life. Mischel, (1981). Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation. Cattell, (1950),