Dispositional and Learning Theories
Introduction
Disposition refers to a tendency or habit adapted by individuals depicting an added inclination towards various dimensions of life. Natural and are inborn causes have been attributed to being the critical predisposing factors for disposition hence rarely affected by environmental factors. The process of acquiring, expanding and changing an individual’s pool of information popularly known as learning incorporates the emotional, cognitive and environmental aspects of an individual to ensure that learning is continuous.
Individuals presenting situational behavior often depict flexible personalities that lack the genetic component as research has shown that situational behavior depends on the present environmental of an individual. Hence judging personality in relation to the situational behavior proves quite challenging. Interpersonal relations aspects portrayed by the theories are dependent on the personality presents exclusively by the individual.
Discussion
The role of personality on affecting situational behavior
Personality has a critical role to play in situational behavior as individuals tend to react to the prevailing circumstances dependent on their personality. This statement argues that individuals depict different personality traits in relation to the current environment they have been exposed to in the course of daily activities (Westen, 2002).
Individuals who are generally friendly and approachable often end up making more friends and acquaintances than those who lack the friendly trait. Hence when mingling during social gatherings, the friendly guy attracts more attention from the host such that the individual dos not need to feign friendliness to feel in place. On the other hand the unfriendly visitor will have to seek ways of gaining approval even if it entails lowering their ego to match the atmosphere presented in the room.
In such a scenario, the not-friendly individual is forced to modify the personality trait by the current situation that calls for everyone to be friendly while the one with favorable traits does not need any modifications. Therefore, the situation at hand determines the personality trait that will be portrayed for that specific event hence a stranger may be subdued to imagine that the individual is always friendly which may not be the case (Miltenberger, 2004).
Another example of the role of situational behavior being influenced by personality could be explained in the rate at which students learn new concepts in class. Learners who have failed subsequently when attempting to read new words will place more effort in the learning process, in addition to, requesting the teacher for personalized assistance regardless of their shy nature. In such a case, out of fear of failing and in the quest of striving to learn new things so as to be at per with the others, the shyness will be clouded by the situation which demands that every learner should learn to read the new words.
Consequently, the pressure and satisfaction derived from learning new concepts may be intense to an extent that the timid learner overcomes their originally shy personality and thus adopts new traits. A situational behavior calls for individuals reacting to the prevailing condition even if the person will take up a completely new trait as a way of solving the current problem (Bouchard, 1998).
Personality characteristics attributed to the theories
The personality characteristics attributed by the dispositional theory are constant such that changes in the environment and occurrence of unexpected do not trigger any modification. The innate traits have been prevalent and present in the individual for long such that ay any given situation, they are always in a position to react effectively. Consequently, individual’s personality has been equated to dispositional traits as these traits have been consistently being portrayed by the person ever since the early years. The personality trait of a high IQ is dispositional, in addition to, being heritable such that young learners with parents who depict high IQs will most probably possess the same trait from childhood.
Therefore, those who acquire the trait from their parents have a brighter start as compared to those who have acquired the personality trait due to exposure to appropriate environments. Nurtured high IQ as a personality trait occurs later on in life after the individual has been to class and thus been exposed to challenging situations. In such a scenario, the trait has been modified in that at some pointing of the individual’s life they change their personality relative to the prevailing environment which demands that learners develop advanced learning abilities (Snyder and Lopez, 2007).
Research has portrayed situational or learnt behavior as being irrational and short-term as the individual reacts dependent of the current situation. Hence this makes it unrealistic due to the fact that the individual has to be exposed to an appropriate environment and it enables a person to fit. Consequently, the human mind has been found out to be relatively receptive to changes aimed at making an individual adapt more comfortably in the prevailing environment. The conditioning of the human mind results in personality characteristics which are suitable for specific environments only such that when the individual moves to a new environment, they have to modify their traits. Therefore, learnt behaviors or those which are dependent on the situation fail to make lasting impacts on the overall traits of the individual hence they cannot be used to determine the personality of a person (Miltenberger, 2004).
However, a close link between the dispositional theory and learning theory shows that children in the early stages of growth especially twins share quite a lot of personality traits. The similarities have been attributed to common genetic make-up, as well as, living and sharing the same environment. The integration of these factors depict a close resemblance of infancy traits but later on in life as the twins proceed to various learning institutions, in addition to, meeting news friends who possess various traits, the similarity in ceases. Therefore, the environment can be attributed to imposing significant effects on the dispositional traits thus modifying them to incorporate the learnt theories such that adults attribute most of their traits are obtained from experiences and encounters (Bouchard, 1998).
Interpersonal relational aspects associated with the theories
Personality traits brought about by situations or those that are inherited from parents are significant in establishment of relationships, as well as, in choosing careers later on in life. This has been exhibited by the close family ties that are present among children when they are growing up as there are so many similarities in behavior that are shared. The occurrence of similar hereditary traits lays a foundation for the young children on the nature of relationships that they are bound to find themselves in later on in life (Westen, 2002).
Consequently, the basis of identifying individual weak and strong points depends on the personality traits which parents instilled early in life. Hence when the individual will encounter a challenging situation in their daily activities, the first instinct will be directed towards the innate behavior before encountering a situational trait. The other phenomenon regarding learnt behavioral approach reflects on the relationships which are not only cordial but mutual as the parties will have gained an insight into the reactions and personality traits of their counterparts. Individuals exhibited different personality traits at different scenes such that it becomes difficult to predict the next move hence interpersonal relations demand that friends get time to analyze the diverse personality traits of their colleagues (Snyder, 2007).
Conclusion
The dispositional and learnt theories affect personality traits in different capacities such that at some point in the life of the individual they interact and result in new behavioral traits. Therefore, gauging the personality traits of an individual on the basis of their reaction in times of danger and unusual situations is disastrous as the wrong information will be obtained. This has been verified by the prevailing research that has depicted that individuals can change their behaviors dependent on the external stimuli present in their vicinity. Relations among peers have been affected positively or negatively depending on the nature friends exhibiting the contrasting traits, as well as, those who portray divergent traits when faced with certain situations.
References
Bouchard T. J. (1998) Genetic and environmental influences on adult intelligence and special mental abilities. Hum Biol. Apr: 70(2):257-79
Miltenberger, R.G., (2004). Behavior Modification Principles and Procedures (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning
Snyder, C.R and Lopez S. J. (2007). “Positive psychology: the scientific and practical explorations of human strengths.”Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 297–321
Westen, D. (2002) Psychology: Brain, Behavior & Culture. Wiley & Sons.
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