Psychologist often describes the personality of an individual in terms of Types’. As late as 400 B.C., an attempt was made by Hippocrates to classify people into four types.

Jung classified individuals into two psychological types – (i) Extroverts and (ii) Introverts. The Extroverts are those who are sociable, friendly, interested in athletics, not easily embarrassed and cool and passionate; Introverts are those people whose interest turn inward and are directed towards inner life. By and large, they are very fond of books magazine, lacks in flexibility. Attention directed inwards, inclined to worry. They are not popular with the mass of mankind and submissive, self- cantered and scrupulous.

Past experiences show that there are very few individuals who are purely extroverted or introverted. They have qualities of both type. Hence they may be regarded as ‘Ambiverts’.

Erenest Kretschmer, a German, psychiatrist classified individuals on the basis of their physical structure. His classification is as given below.

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Personality Traits :

Personality trait refers to those elements that help in the formation of personality. Good has defined trait as “a characteristic and relatively permanent mode of behaviour, the outcome of heredity and environment.”

Garrett saw personality trait as, “distinctive ways of behaving more or less permanent for given individual”.

Sociability, submission and persistence are some of the significant personality traits. The personality traits are expressed in ones behaviour. The personality traits are unstable in nature. The expressions of a trait depend on the situation. Some of the personality traits are as given below:

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1. Honesty:

In the presence of this personality trait one behaves honesty and in sincere in his work.

2. Emotional Stability:

This personality enables the individual to maintain equilibrium and mental state even if caught in adverse situations.

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G.W. Allport has defined a trait, ‘as a generalized and focalised neuropsychic system with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent and to imitate and guide consistent forms of adoptive and expressive behaviour.”

This definition given by Allport is, indeed, a comprehensive one. Traits according to him are general and enduring in nature. They are not linked with a small number of stimuli. He classified human traits as cardinal traits, central trait, and secondary disposition. Traits differ in intensity and magnitude from individual to individual. They operate in their own environment in a quite unique manner.

The traits, invariably, have certain properties. There are some traits that can be measured quantitatively. They are not static in nature. During childhood days they are flexible. With the attainment of maturity they become stable.

Even then some variables continues throughout life. Trait is also a mental set. They are organised frames of references. In the interaction of individual with the environment traits are learned. Each personality is unique in itself. Even then it has a patterning of traits. The patterning of traits has the following implications.

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a. The personality of an individual consists of the traits like physical, mental, intellectual, social emotional and spiritual.

b. The reaction of this “Pattern of traits” to stimuli may not be the same for different personalities in the same situation or even for the same personality in different situations. Consider the variations in emotional response to a frustrating situations such as this-a person is waiting to meet a friend, but the friend fails to appear. In this situation, one person is amused, another angry and a third annoyed, and perhaps a fourth indifferent!

Furthermore, in the same situation an individual may react in different ways on different days, depending on such factors as his physical well being, his general emotional tone, and his most recent experiences. In brief, even if the stimulus is apparently the same, the individual’s response to it on different occasions may be highly variable due to the uniqueness of each personality, or the uniqueness of the pattern of traits in each individual.

1. Poverty:

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Poverty of the people leaves many of their needs unfulfilled when a child or an adolescent sees his friends wearing good dress, he feels inferior to them. His achievements and needs get unfulfilled. Poverty also leads to hunger. As a result of this the child steals money to buy food to satisfy his hunger. Thus poverty is responsible for maladjustment.

2. Broken Home :

Frequent parental quarrel counts much upon the children a lot. Children of such a family, where the parents are not pulling on well with each other, the children feel really insecured. Many biological and sociological needs of these children remain unfulfilled. In families where step mothers and their children feel more insecurity. They do not get proper food to eat in a broken home. Affection becomes out of question children become unnourished. Thus they become maladjusted.

3. Rejected Child :

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If both the parents reject their children, the children in turn, become maladjusted. It so happens, when there is frequent quarrel or diverse in the family. Children also get rejected due to the wrong concept of family planning of the western civilization. Thus children who are rejected by their parents become maladjusted.

4. Over protected children :

Too much affection makes children over protected and hyper sensitive. This over protection leads to maladjustment.

5. Personal inadequacies :

Some physically handicapped children possess high ambition. When these ambition remain unfulfilled, these children become maladjusted.

6. Unhygienic school practice :

In some school certain unhygienic practices do prevail. Such practices include unwanted punishment loose manner of the teacher, unintelligible methods of teaching, heavy curriculum, lack of accommodation, ill-ventilation, immorality of the teacher, physical condition of the school and unpleasant comparison of the children with others, etc. Maladjustment take place here also. Adjustment Mechanism

Adjustment of mechanisms exists in the following kinds:

1. Sublimitation :

Thanks to the social implication, sexual, aggressive and other impulses are often denied direct expression. If unreleased, the energy associated with these repressed impulses, impulses may produce tension and personal maladjustment. A better solution consists in draining off this thwarted energy into socially approved channels. This detouring of energy is called sublimation. For example, unmarried women interested in children may give expression to their repressed maternal urges by engaging in orphanage work. A cruel and destructive child becomes a butcher (socially useful and desirable activity), sexual impulses are usually diverted into constructive artistic, literary and scientific pursuits.

2. Identification :

In some measure, it is possible to acquire vicariously the many personal qualities one desires and to satisfy varied and contradictory, ambitions by associating and identifying oneself with appropriate individuals and objects. Children identify themselves with their parents, their teachers, schools, their state and their nation adults with their clubs.

Hero worship is an obvious form of identification. One strives to become like the hero by imitating his dress, mannerisms, gestures and views, visiting pictures, reading books. The individuals identify themselves with the hero.

3. Rationalization :

To preserve, self-respect and the good opinion of associates, most persons, without conscious intent, substitute ‘good’ reasons for real reasons so that their actions may appear justified, logical and socially laudable. This window dressing of motives and actions is called nationalization.

Students attribute their low marks to lack of study sickness or lack of interest. Such popular sayings as “slow but sure”, and beautiful but dumb are rationalization utilised by slow learners and unattractive girls. Actually, rapid learners remember better than slow learners, and beautiful girls are brighter than unattractive girls.

A student who comes late to the class becomes lazy, present a perfectly plausible excuse.

4. Atonement or undoing :

Undoing is an action that is designed to atone or prevent for some unacceptable thought or impulse. Such actions are, often, repetitive. If traces its roots to childhood. Child apologize which he commits mistakes. Apologizing for wrongs, repentance undergoing punishment are all forms of undoing.

5. Emotional insulation:

Hence the individual reduces his emotional involvement in situations that are viewed in disappointing and hurtful. Example: A long continued frustration, as in chronic unemployment or prison confinement, many persons lose hope became resigned and apathetic and lead a restricted way of life. Broken individuals, non-involved, feeling isolated, etc. The boy who look forward to a date with a very attractive girl may not let himself get to excited for fear she may not like them (since many people usually learn to keep their anticipation within limits).

6. Withdrawal:

Fear of failure or criticism based on unfortunate earlier experiences, is a common cause for timidity, seclusiveness and other forms of retreat. Their characteristic responses are “I don’t know, Thats too ‘hard’, ‘I can not’. They acquire a reputation for being stupid, with proper encouragement and training they improve.

7. Repression:

This must be distinguished from suppression which is deliberate self-control to each impulse. It is a deliberate forgetting. But in repression, individual is not aware of the check. If completely successful, total forgetting. Man moving in the street without knowing his whereabouts.

8. Reaction formation:

It is sometimes possible to conceal a motive from oneself by giving strong expression to its opposite. Such a tendency is called reaction formation.

The mother of an unwanted child feels quickly about not welcoming her child, and so becomes over- protective of the child to her love and to assume herself that she is a good mother. Quite often people who speak high on morality are immoral.

9. Projection:

In projection the maladjusted personality balances other for his failure.