PEOPLE - Top 10 Different types of Personalities

Article by Ayushi Khemka, March 2, 2014

You are so romantic! You are such a jerk! You are so kind hearted! You are so bossy! Everybody on this planet gets to hear something of this kind or the other. We all have heard lectures about improving our personality at some point or the other in our school lives. We are judged by the people on the basis of our personality. Our personality traits etch out our identities and we often end up in good or bad circumstances, due to these traits of ours only. We too form our opinions on the basis of the way people behave, talk and react to day-to-day situations. The very intrinsic and inherent qualities,whether good or bad, make up a person’s personality. In this article of ours, we are going to familiarize you with the different types of personalities. The top ten  types of personalities are:

10) The Kind One

The people who are associated with this type of personality are the ones who are always in the good books! And why should they not be? These are the kind hearted ones. These people are calm and composed in their general behaviour. They tend to forgive people easily. They do not hold grudges against anybody. These are the people who are also termed as “sweethearts” in colloquial terminology. For instance, that girl in your office who stays back to help you out in your work is a kind hearted one. The boy who performs the mammoth task of teaching you the entire syllabus one night before the examination is a kind hearted sweetheart. These are the people whom you never want to do away with.

9) The Mean One

These come up together and form an entity that we know as “more than half of the world” or more fondly, the jerks. These people are completely opposites of the kind hearted sweethearts. These are also known as selfish drudges. They are strong followers of Nietzche and the likes. The mean ones always put themselves before anybody else, in all cases, except dying (much to our misfortune). They use the people around them and believe in the policy of utilitarianism more than Mill. The mean ones are the ones that our moms always ask to beware of. This trait of the mean people makes them quite infamous. They are hated by all except the people belonging to their mean clan. We strongly urge our readers to stay away from such people as far as possible.

8) The Shy One

That girl who always hides her face in the library behind books. That guy who has a blush on his cheeks each and every time a girl talks to him. These are the people that generally define the word “shy”. These people are also introverts at times. They get quite uncomfortable when talking to somebody. They are said to be pretty wild from inside, which comes to the surface when they are with the people who make them super comfortable. However, many times misfortune falls upon them and they are taken to be arrogant people like Mr. Darcy.

7) The Bully

Remember the stock character of huge bully in high school comedies? The bullies are generally identified with the features like abnormal sense of ego and pride. They are the true sadists of the world. These people are out there to make the life of innocent ones even worse than hell. Such people, on a more psychological level, are said to have faced the same problem of being bullied by someone or the other at some point of their lives. Psychoanalysis shows that when people bully others, that act is an act of revenge on their part, which they are seeking against the society. These people however make the basic living conditions like breathing, eating and peeing turn into nightmares. They seem to be devils incarnate for the victims and their presence is generally marked by the famous evil laugh in people’s heads.

6) The Happy One

Harvey Ball would undoubtedly be the best example for this one. He is the guy who invented the famous yellow coloured circle with two dots and a curve, representing a happy human face, in short, the smiley. The happy people are the most infectious of all. Their reflective, dazzling smile and cheerful nature is ought to wipe away your blues. These happy people have the lowest risk of heart diseases. They are true optimists and do not worry for petty things. We strongly urge you to find such company, in order to live a life full of zeal, zest and fervor. They can even act as stress buster for all those grudging, cribbing souls!

5) The Melancholic One

Remember the famous Jacques of Shakespeare’s As You Like It? The person who was always sad and upset about life. These people are at an all time low in their behaviour and attitude. For them, getting high is as significant as an infant crying in the operation theatre. Nothing in this whole wide world seems to be working in their favour, according to them. They are bitten by the perpetual bug of gloom and darkness. Their world is monotonous. They keep whining and are a huge turn off for the people around. These too, like the happy ones, are very infectious. However, unlike the latter, we urge you to stay away from such personalities. They can be seen around anywhere in the contemporary world. Just open your eyes and there you have them! We just hope you do not find them in the mirror though. *fingers crossed*

4) The Wannabes

People like to call these people by various names. However, the popular survey showed that the term “wannabe” is the most preferred one. As the term suggests, these are the people who “want to be”, as in, these are the ones who have a low sense of Self and deal with extreme levels of inferiority complex. They want to adorn the personality of somebody who they think is cool and famous. In a more judgmental way, we can say these are the ones who have no individuality and all the concepts of self worth and self-esteem are Greek to them. Such people are terribly annoying and you would definitely want to stay away from them, lest you should be a bully. *evil laugh*

3) The Agony Aunts

We all read or have read those articles/blogs where people pour their heart out to some stranger and ask for a wholesome solution to their problems. The person who solves or at least tries to solve them, no matter how chaotic and neurotic the one seeking help gets, are known as agony aunts. This term is gender specific. However, in today’s world where hearts are getting broken and mended in a jiffy, the male and trans-gender are not behind too. This problem or rather “duty” is a universal problem. Some people just assume these duties and are out there to lecture you on your relationship problems and how immature and stupid you are. This can also be termed as “the agony aunt’s burden”.

2) The Loud Mouth

That one person who speaks anything and everything without giving it a nano second of thought is known as a loud mouth. The silly statements passed by such personalities become so redundant that they are not even paid heed to. These people are caught in a foot-in-mouth condition n times, where n tends to infinity. The person who said that the person, who is not well informed, is not entitled to have an opinion has clearly not met such people. These people break all the so-called norms of thinking and reflecting upon one’s own words. Due to such an attitude, they always manage to be in the spotlight, though only for the negative reasons.

1) The Charming One

Yes this phrase just creates a real/imaginary face in front of us and we are left to make googly eyes at them. Such people cannot be characterized. They have an aura of their own. This is not gender specific. The charming personality is the ideal compliment for anybody on this planet earth with sane thoughts and mind. Such people are attractive in the very basic essence and make anybody go weak in the knees. The kind of flamboyance and elegance of their nature or the toughness of their character, anything can make a person charming for the other person. The concepts of charming personality are very subjective in nature and no matter the plethora of variations present in the human market, this type of personality is to die for. Hence, the top most position in our list goes to the charming one.

Source: http://listdose.com

PEOPLE - Top 10 Different types of Personalities

Article by ayushi khemka, March 2, 2014

You are so romantic! You are such a jerk! You are so kind hearted! You are so bossy! Everybody on this planet gets to hear something of this kind or the other. We all have heard lectures about improving our personality at some point or the other in our school lives. We are judged by the people on the basis of our personality. Our personality traits etch out our identities and we often end up in good or bad circumstances, due to these traits of ours only. We too form our opinions on the basis of the way people behave, talk and react to day-to-day situations. The very intrinsic and inherent qualities,whether good or bad, make up a person’s personality. In this article of ours, we are going to familiarize you with the different types of personalities. The top ten  types of personalities are:

10) The Kind One

The people who are associated with this type of personality are the ones who are always in the good books! And why should they not be? These are the kind hearted ones. These people are calm and composed in their general behaviour. They tend to forgive people easily. They do not hold grudges against anybody. These are the people who are also termed as “sweethearts” in colloquial terminology. For instance, that girl in your office who stays back to help you out in your work is a kind hearted one. The boy who performs the mammoth task of teaching you the entire syllabus one night before the examination is a kind hearted sweetheart. These are the people whom you never want to do away with.

9) The Mean One

These come up together and form an entity that we know as “more than half of the world” or more fondly, the jerks. These people are completely opposites of the kind hearted sweethearts. These are also known as selfish drudges. They are strong followers of Nietzche and the likes. The mean ones always put themselves before anybody else, in all cases, except dying (much to our misfortune). They use the people around them and believe in the policy of utilitarianism more than Mill. The mean ones are the ones that our moms always ask to beware of. This trait of the mean people makes them quite infamous. They are hated by all except the people belonging to their mean clan. We strongly urge our readers to stay away from such people as far as possible.

8) The Shy One

That girl who always hides her face in the library behind books. That guy who has a blush on his cheeks each and every time a girl talks to him. These are the people that generally define the word “shy”. These people are also introverts at times. They get quite uncomfortable when talking to somebody. They are said to be pretty wild from inside, which comes to the surface when they are with the people who make them super comfortable. However, many times misfortune falls upon them and they are taken to be arrogant people like Mr. Darcy.

7) The Bully

Remember the stock character of huge bully in high school comedies? The bullies are generally identified with the features like abnormal sense of ego and pride. They are the true sadists of the world. These people are out there to make the life of innocent ones even worse than hell. Such people, on a more psychological level, are said to have faced the same problem of being bullied by someone or the other at some point of their lives. Psychoanalysis shows that when people bully others, that act is an act of revenge on their part, which they are seeking against the society. These people however make the basic living conditions like breathing, eating and peeing turn into nightmares. They seem to be devils incarnate for the victims and their presence is generally marked by the famous evil laugh in people’s heads.

6) The Happy One

Harvey Ball would undoubtedly be the best example for this one. He is the guy who invented the famous yellow coloured circle with two dots and a curve, representing a happy human face, in short, the smiley. The happy people are the most infectious of all. Their reflective, dazzling smile and cheerful nature is ought to wipe away your blues. These happy people have the lowest risk of heart diseases. They are true optimists and do not worry for petty things. We strongly urge you to find such company, in order to live a life full of zeal, zest and fervor. They can even act as stress buster for all those grudging, cribbing souls!

5) The Melancholic One

Remember the famous Jacques of Shakespeare’s As You Like It? The person who was always sad and upset about life. These people are at an all time low in their behaviour and attitude. For them, getting high is as significant as an infant crying in the operation theatre. Nothing in this whole wide world seems to be working in their favour, according to them. They are bitten by the perpetual bug of gloom and darkness. Their world is monotonous. They keep whining and are a huge turn off for the people around. These too, like the happy ones, are very infectious. However, unlike the latter, we urge you to stay away from such personalities. They can be seen around anywhere in the contemporary world. Just open your eyes and there you have them! We just hope you do not find them in the mirror though. *fingers crossed*

4) The Wannabes

People like to call these people by various names. However, the popular survey showed that the term “wannabe” is the most preferred one. As the term suggests, these are the people who “want to be”, as in, these are the ones who have a low sense of Self and deal with extreme levels of inferiority complex. They want to adorn the personality of somebody who they think is cool and famous. In a more judgmental way, we can say these are the ones who have no individuality and all the concepts of self worth and self-esteem are Greek to them. Such people are terribly annoying and you would definitely want to stay away from them, lest you should be a bully. *evil laugh*

3) The Agony Aunts

We all read or have read those articles/blogs where people pour their heart out to some stranger and ask for a wholesome solution to their problems. The person who solves or at least tries to solve them, no matter how chaotic and neurotic the one seeking help gets, are known as agony aunts. This term is gender specific. However, in today’s world where hearts are getting broken and mended in a jiffy, the male and trans-gender are not behind too. This problem or rather “duty” is a universal problem. Some people just assume these duties and are out there to lecture you on your relationship problems and how immature and stupid you are. This can also be termed as “the agony aunt’s burden”.

2) The Loud Mouth

That one person who speaks anything and everything without giving it a nano second of thought is known as a loud mouth. The silly statements passed by such personalities become so redundant that they are not even paid heed to. These people are caught in a foot-in-mouth condition n times, where n tends to infinity. The person who said that the person, who is not well informed, is not entitled to have an opinion has clearly not met such people. These people break all the so-called norms of thinking and reflecting upon one’s own words. Due to such an attitude, they always manage to be in the spotlight, though only for the negative reasons.

1) The Charming One

Yes this phrase just creates a real/imaginary face in front of us and we are left to make googly eyes at them. Such people cannot be characterized. They have an aura of their own. This is not gender specific. The charming personality is the ideal compliment for anybody on this planet earth with sane thoughts and mind. Such people are attractive in the very basic essence and make anybody go weak in the knees. The kind of flamboyance and elegance of their nature or the toughness of their character, anything can make a person charming for the other person. The concepts of charming personality are very subjective in nature and no matter the plethora of variations present in the human market, this type of personality is to die for. Hence, the top most position in our list goes to the charming one.

NARCISSISM - Narcissism and the inability to admit when wrong, apologise and lying

There are different traits within narcissism, and we all have varying degrees of it, but the most common traits in people with high levels of narc traits, is the inability to accept they are wrong, and inability to see they need to change.

Pride, insecurity, lack of insight and self reflection – common narc traits, along with lying, deflecting, attacking.

I have encountered so much of this in life now, that I can sense it and spot it a mile away.

My parents were narcissists, unable to take responsibility for wrongs and abuse caused to their own children. They lied about things all the time, blamed, projected issues, and chose a scapegoat, me. I was an easy target.

My mother used to say that her husband was a man of pride. He wasn’t, he was a man of deep insecurities and very questionable character, who’s group of friends were all weirdo’s – all into either guns, abusing children/teenagers, or both. Far too many perverts for friends, but of course, that would never be admitted. And my mother knew what these ‘friends’ were like. But, she would never admit she knew they were weirdo’s either. Even after she saw her husband talking with the paedophile ‘friend’ who already sexually abused her children.

My mother would ‘never’ admit her role, enabling of abuse and lack of love for her children. It was ‘all about her’ and what she needed.

The levels of the abuse I endured due to my mother and step father’s narcissism, was severe. Being blamed at 12, for my siblings abuse, by one the pervert paedophile family friend/neighbour, was a truly severe level of abuse, that caused considerable psychological damage.

Being blamed for everything else that went wrong in my mother and step father’s life, was also due to their narcissism. Lack of ability to admit failure as business owners, lack of courage to admit working for himself was a big mistake, their business going bankrupt, home being repossessed, all my fault, according to them. It wasn’t, it was all their fault. Entirely. I know that now.

All of my abusers have been unable to take any responsibility for what they did being wrong.

Recently, a pastor at a Church I attended, has been completely unable to admit wrongs, unable to admit lies and is either clearly in such denial, or is so ‘scared’ of admitting how wrong he has been, he can’t cope. Either way, complete lack of courage, lack of decency, lack of self reflection, lack of love and huge amounts of pride, ego and preserving of image.

Him and his wife love being the ones that tell everyone what to do, that’s why he’s a pastor. They love the adoration and need people around them who ‘feed’ their ego. Their closest friends are those who tell them how wonderful they are and ‘need’ them and they lap it up. I knew this a long time ago about them and used to joke with my husband that the quickest way to get their attention, was to tell them something nice about them like ‘I need your wise advice’. They love it, revel in it. They pretend not to, but I have seen it over and over. I see most things about people that others miss.

What I didn’t know was the extent to which they would get nasty when challenged and would outright lie and attack, even when they were completely in the wrong and caused hurt and harm. But, now I do know the extent of their insecurities and nasty side.

Again, their narcissism getting nasty, like my parents.

I even see narcissism in people I know about minor things, they don’t like taking advice, and won’t admit that their chosen decision, was wrong. Instead make excuses or explain it away, which I can see straight through.

I don’t think I have enough narcissism. I don’t believe I know everything, I want to gain more wisdom, I don’t like the spotlight, I don’t have a need to tell people what to do, I don’t lie, I am honest and I can apologise, easily.

I know throughout my life, I have accepted guilt, shame and blame for many things in my life, that weren’t mine to own.

I still blame myself for things that I am told I am not to blame for.

I can apologise when I am wrong, even my husband (who admits himself isn’t good at admitting when he’s wrong either), says I am always quick to admit when wrong about something. In fact, he thinks I am too quick to take the blame for things.

It takes courage, inner wisdom, strength, lack of pride and ‘good mental health’, to admit when you are wrong.

It takes a lack of pride to own up to failures.

It takes a really strong secure person, with inner wisdom, to know they are wrong, admit it to themselves and to others. And I can do this.

Despite all I have been through, my mental health is strong, my inner security is strong, my inner wisdom, self reflection, insight, courage, honesty are all deep.

But so many people don’t have these to any depth.

So many people are shallow, insecure and have far more narcissism than is healthy.

Narcissism is a society wide issue that exists to a far greater extent than most people realise.

I have narc ‘radar’ and I see clearly how badly it affects these narc people’s ability to see themselves clearly.

Narcs, are dishonest and insecure at the root of their being.

I don’t like narcs, and yet I have to co-exist with them all around me.

Source: http://healingfromcomplextraumaandptsd.wordpress.com

PEOPLE - Top 10 Different types of Personalities

Article by ayushi khemka

You are so romantic! You are such a jerk! You are so kind hearted! You are so bossy! Everybody on this planet gets to hear something of this kind or the other. We all have heard lectures about improving our personality at some point or the other in our school lives. We are judged by the people on the basis of our personality. Our personality traits etch out our identities and we often end up in good or bad circumstances, due to these traits of ours only. We too form our opinions on the basis of the way people behave, talk and react to day-to-day situations. The very intrinsic and inherent qualities,whether good or bad, make up a person’s personality. In this article of ours, we are going to familiarize you with the different types of personalities. The top ten  types of personalities are:

10) The Kind One

The people who are associated with this type of personality are the ones who are always in the good books! And why should they not be? These are the kind hearted ones. These people are calm and composed in their general behaviour. They tend to forgive people easily. They do not hold grudges against anybody. These are the people who are also termed as “sweethearts” in colloquial terminology. For instance, that girl in your office who stays back to help you out in your work is a kind hearted one. The boy who performs the mammoth task of teaching you the entire syllabus one night before the examination is a kind hearted sweetheart. These are the people whom you never want to do away with.

9) The Mean One

These come up together and form an entity that we know as “more than half of the world” or more fondly, the jerks. These people are completely opposites of the kind hearted sweethearts. These are also known as selfish drudges. They are strong followers of Nietzche and the likes. The mean ones always put themselves before anybody else, in all cases, except dying (much to our misfortune). They use the people around them and believe in the policy of utilitarianism more than Mill. The mean ones are the ones that our moms always ask to beware of. This trait of the mean people makes them quite infamous. They are hated by all except the people belonging to their mean clan. We strongly urge our readers to stay away from such people as far as possible.

8) The Shy One

That girl who always hides her face in the library behind books. That guy who has a blush on his cheeks each and every time a girl talks to him. These are the people that generally define the word “shy”. These people are also introverts at times. They get quite uncomfortable when talking to somebody. They are said to be pretty wild from inside, which comes to the surface when they are with the people who make them super comfortable. However, many times misfortune falls upon them and they are taken to be arrogant people like Mr. Darcy.

7) The Bully

Remember the stock character of huge bully in high school comedies? The bullies are generally identified with the features like abnormal sense of ego and pride. They are the true sadists of the world. These people are out there to make the life of innocent ones even worse than hell. Such people, on a more psychological level, are said to have faced the same problem of being bullied by someone or the other at some point of their lives. Psychoanalysis shows that when people bully others, that act is an act of revenge on their part, which they are seeking against the society. These people however make the basic living conditions like breathing, eating and peeing turn into nightmares. They seem to be devils incarnate for the victims and their presence is generally marked by the famous evil laugh in people’s heads.

6) The Happy One

Harvey Ball would undoubtedly be the best example for this one. He is the guy who invented the famous yellow coloured circle with two dots and a curve, representing a happy human face, in short, the smiley. The happy people are the most infectious of all. Their reflective, dazzling smile and cheerful nature is ought to wipe away your blues. These happy people have the lowest risk of heart diseases. They are true optimists and do not worry for petty things. We strongly urge you to find such company, in order to live a life full of zeal, zest and fervor. They can even act as stress buster for all those grudging, cribbing souls!

5) The Melancholic One

Remember the famous Jacques of Shakespeare’s As You Like It? The person who was always sad and upset about life. These people are at an all time low in their behaviour and attitude. For them, getting high is as significant as an infant crying in the operation theatre. Nothing in this whole wide world seems to be working in their favour, according to them. They are bitten by the perpetual bug of gloom and darkness. Their world is monotonous. They keep whining and are a huge turn off for the people around. These too, like the happy ones, are very infectious. However, unlike the latter, we urge you to stay away from such personalities. They can be seen around anywhere in the contemporary world. Just open your eyes and there you have them! We just hope you do not find them in the mirror though. *fingers crossed*

4) The Wannabes

People like to call these people by various names. However, the popular survey showed that the term “wannabe” is the most preferred one. As the term suggests, these are the people who “want to be”, as in, these are the ones who have a low sense of Self and deal with extreme levels of inferiority complex. They want to adorn the personality of somebody who they think is cool and famous. In a more judgmental way, we can say these are the ones who have no individuality and all the concepts of self worth and self-esteem are Greek to them. Such people are terribly annoying and you would definitely want to stay away from them, lest you should be a bully. *evil laugh*

3) The Agony Aunts

We all read or have read those articles/blogs where people pour their heart out to some stranger and ask for a wholesome solution to their problems. The person who solves or at least tries to solve them, no matter how chaotic and neurotic the one seeking help gets, are known as agony aunts. This term is gender specific. However, in today’s world where hearts are getting broken and mended in a jiffy, the male and trans-gender are not behind too. This problem or rather “duty” is a universal problem. Some people just assume these duties and are out there to lecture you on your relationship problems and how immature and stupid you are. This can also be termed as “the agony aunt’s burden”.

2) The Loud Mouth

That one person who speaks anything and everything without giving it a nano second of thought is known as a loud mouth. The silly statements passed by such personalities become so redundant that they are not even paid heed to. These people are caught in a foot-in-mouth condition n times, where n tends to infinity. The person who said that the person, who is not well informed, is not entitled to have an opinion has clearly not met such people. These people break all the so-called norms of thinking and reflecting upon one’s own words. Due to such an attitude, they always manage to be in the spotlight, though only for the negative reasons.

1) The Charming One

Yes this phrase just creates a real/imaginary face in front of us and we are left to make googly eyes at them. Such people cannot be characterized. They have an aura of their own. This is not gender specific. The charming personality is the ideal compliment for anybody on this planet earth with sane thoughts and mind. Such people are attractive in the very basic essence and make anybody go weak in the knees. The kind of flamboyance and elegance of their nature or the toughness of their character, anything can make a person charming for the other person. The concepts of charming personality are very subjective in nature and no matter the plethora of variations present in the human market, this type of personality is to die for. Hence, the top most position in our list goes to the charming one.

PERSONALITY - Personal Appearance

Personal appearance is an often disregarded part of communication and presentation skills. 

When you are speaking in public you may be representing your organisation or just yourself, but it is still you in the front line.  It is you that the other person, group or audience sees and before you have time to open your mouth and give an account of yourself, certain assumptions, both consciously and subconsciously, have been made.

First impressions are very important - they can be about attitude as well as dress.

Visual impact is at least as important as verbal impact, people will very quickly make assumptions based on your facial expressions, the clothes you wear, how well groomed you are and your body language.

Facial Expressions

Little can be done to alter your face but a lot can be done about the expression that is on it.  However the day started and whatever minor crisis has occurred along the way, people have not come to meet you with a dark expression on your face.  It is your duty - to yourself as well as to the organisation that you represent - to convey a calm, friendly and professional exterior, despite how you may feel inside.  Smile and appear optimistic.

Personal Image:  

The reflection that stares back at you from a mirror is not necessarily a true likeness of the face known to family, friends and colleagues, because they will see you off-guard, in repose, concentrating on a task or listening to them.  How many people can honestly admit to looking in a mirror without altering their expression?  It is quite natural to ‘play to a mirror’ possibly by raising an eyebrow, pulling a face or smiling at the reflection.  This is why people often feel self-conscious when they see a ‘bad’ photograph of themselves.

The Real You: 

It is human nature to make compromises.  All individuals change their approach depending on the people they meet and what they feel is expected from them.  Your 'on-duty' self, the one who functions in public, is different from your 'off-duty' self, the one concerned with home, family and friends.  Everyone has many and varied roles in life.  You can be one person and be a parent, son/daughter, brother/sister, friend, adviser, patient, client and consumer all in one day. 

These differing roles all require their own particular qualities and skills in personal communication and can also call upon different requirements of attitude and appearance, i.e., of visual image.  Your external image (appearance) is how you are seen by the world, whereas the real you (not a role model or the person you would like to be) is someone who is honest with themselves.

Clothes and Grooming

What sort of external image is appropriate to the organisation you represent? 

Only you can answer this question.  Due to the nature of the work, some organisations are happy for people to be casually dressed, whilst others may expect smarter attire.  It is important to be suitably dressed within expected limits. 

Nobody expects you to be packaged into something you are not, but your appearance is a reflection of your own self-esteem and you should aim to present yourself to your best possible advantage.  Whilst you might be casually dressed when working within your organisation, a more formal approach may well be preferable when representing your organisation at an external meeting. 

Good grooming and a tidy appearance is preferable, whether casually or more formally dressed.

Body Language

Understanding body language is one of the most important aspects of personal presentation.  The image conveyed by the physical self should support and enhance what is being communicated verbally.  If the visual image differs widely from the spoken message, it is often the non-verbal account that is believed.

The way you sit, stand, your gestures and mannerisms and your facial expressions will say far more about you and how you are feeling at any given time than the words you are using.  When individuals are nervous or uneasy, their behavioural 'bad habits' become more pronounced. 

Awareness of your body language, of how you behave under pressure, what signals you are unconsciously giving, how nerves and stress affect you physically, can help you understand how you 'come across' to others.  It can also explain how the wrong impression is sometimes given and how confusion can occur.

Working on body language is a way of improving personal presentation.  For example, when concentrating on something rather hard, your expression may look troubled, when in reality you are not anxious at all, merely absorbed.  This does not mean you should go around with a fixed smile on your face, but just be aware that your physical self might send one set of signals when your mind is involved elsewhere.

Body language can also be used as a mask to convey contrary feelings.  How often have you nodded firmly when you did not understand a word, smiled when your instinct was to scowl, clapped enthusiastically at the end of a talk that nearly put you to sleep?  In these cases you were not being hypocritical, but using body language positively as the mechanism of good manners.

The gestures of individuals are part of their personalities, a part of how they express themselves.  Hand and arm movements can add emphasis, aid explanation and convey enthusiasm.  They only become a negative signal when repeated so often that they become irritating to the observer.  Listeners can become so side-tracked by the sight of someone constantly playing with his/her hair, tapping on the table with a pen, etc., that they no longer listen to the spoken word.  Thus the negative signal has broken down the chain of communication.

Positive Body Language: 

Positive body language includes:

• Maintaining eye contact with the person to whom you are speaking.
• Smiling (if appropriate) but especially as a greeting and when parting.
• Sitting squarely on a chair, leaning slightly forward (this indicates you are paying attention).
• Nodding in agreement.
• A firm handshake.
• Presenting a calm exterior.
• Looking interested.

Negative Body Language:

Negative body language includes:

• Not looking at a person when speaking.
• Tapping a foot, fingers etc.
• Rocking backwards and forwards.
• Scratching.
• Continually clearing your throat.
• Fiddling with hair, ear lobes, jewellery, jacket, glasses, etc.
• Picking at fingers or finger nails.
• Yawning.
• Repeatedly looking at your watch or a clock in the room.
• Standing too close to others.
• Inattention to a person speaking.

Source: SkillsYouNeed.com

PERSONALITY - Hierarchy of Needs

The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

What motivates behavior? According to humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow, our actions are motivated in order achieve certain needs. Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" and his subsequent book Motivation and Personality. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs.

This hierarchy is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. Needs at the bottom of the pyramid are basic physical requirements including the need for food, water, sleep, and warmth. Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs, which are for safety and security.

As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Soon, the need for love, friendship, and intimacy become important. Further up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Types of Needs

Abraham Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs (also known as D-needs), meaning that these needs arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

Maslow termed the highest-level of the pyramid as growth needs (also known as being needsor B-needs). Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

Five Levels of the Hierarchy of Needs

There are five different levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

1. Physiological Needs
   These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food, and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met.


2. Security Needs
   These include needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health care, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment.


3. Social Needs
   These include needs for belonging, love, and affection. Maslow described these needs as less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments, and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community, or religious groups.


4. Esteem Needs
   After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition, and accomplishment.


5. Self-actualizing Needs
   This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested fulfilling their potential.

Criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

While some research showed some support for Maslow's theories, most research has not been able to substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy. Wahba and Bridwell reported that there was little evidence for Maslow's ranking of these needs and even less evidence that these needs are in a hierarchical order.

Other criticisms of Maslow's theory note that his definition of self-actualization is difficult to test scientifically. His research on self-actualization was also based on a very limited sample of individuals, including people he knew as well as biographies of famous individuals that Maslow believed to be self-actualized, such as Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt. Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represents part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow's humanistic psychology was focused on the development of healthy individuals.

While there was relatively little research supporting the theory, hierarchy of needs is well-known and popular both in and out of psychology. In a study published in 2011, researchers from the University of Illinois set out to put the hierarchy to the test. What they discovered is that while fulfillment of the needs was strongly correlated with happiness, people from cultures all over the reported that self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled.

What Is Self-Actualization? The Role it Plays in the Hierarchy of Needs What exactly is self-actualization? Located at the peak of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy, he described this high-level need in the following way: "What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualization…It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." While the theory is generally portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy, Maslow noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow this standard progression. For example, he notes that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs. Characteristics of Self-Actualized People In addition to describing what is meant by self-actualization in his theory, Maslow also identified some of the key characteristics of self-actualized people: Acceptance and Realism: Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. Problem-centering: Self-actualized individuals are concerned with solving problems outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the external world. These people are often motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and ethics. Spontaneity: Self-actualized people are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open and unconventional. Autonomy and Solitude: Another characteristic of self-actualized people is the need for independence and privacy. While they enjoy the company of others, these individuals need time to focus on developing their own individual potential. Continued Freshness of Appreciation: Self-actualized people tend to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. Even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure. Peak Experiences: Individuals who are self-actualized often have what Maslow termedpeak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. After these experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed. Learn more in this article about the characteristics of self-actualized people. References: Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50, 370-96. Maslow, A.H. (1943). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper. Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row. 4 Wahba, M.A. & Bridwell, L.G. (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance , 15, 212–240.