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Mollie Reiter
Mr. Polking
Comp. 101
4 December 2015
Who are you really?
Throughout our daily routines, we assess those around us, categorizing them into files in
our mind as to what kind of person we perceive them to be. Someone who talks with authority
and confidence, walks as though they own the place, and is very outgoing is categorized as a
leader. The people who are quieter and less noticed are considered to not have the traits and
qualities to be a leader, so we categorize them as followers. There are also the jocks, who play a
lot of sports, and the skaters, who may not even like skating. However, based on what they wear,
how they act, and the people they hang out with, they get categorized as something that they are
not. This can also be true for a lot of people, not just one particular group. When it comes to our
friends, we pick a variety of people with varying personalities, some similar to our own and
others the complete opposite. Little do we realize that as we are assessing others, they are also
assessing us. Everyone is assessed by they way they dress, the way they talk, the people they
hang out with, the way they act, and numerous other factors. What connects all of these traits of a
person is their personality.
Someones personality shapes who they are as an individual. A persons personality is
made of a collective pattern of their behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits
(personality). This collection of traits can include if a person is ambitious, open-minded,
honest or dishonest, loud or quiet, cruel or kind, organized or unorganized, and several others.
The word personality originated from Medieval Latin, meaning quality or fact of being a

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person. According to the dictionary, the sense of a distinctive character was first recorded by
the French in 1795, saying, Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of
a living being. It is an act of courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that
constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence,
coupled with the greatest possible freedom of self-determination (personality).
Throughout a persons life, they can create several different personalities. Everyone's
personality influences their lives, from their daily routines, their online vs. offline lives, to even
the amount of success they will have in their lives. There are two main types of people: introverts
and extroverts. An introvert is a person who is quiet, who doesnt like large social gatherings,
and prefers his or her own company. The opposite of an introvert is an extrovert, who is someone
who is very outgoing, friendly, loves large social gatherings, and seeks someone elses company.
Similar to almost all little kids, I was always considered to be outgoing and friendly in
elementary school. I still am, but not to the extent to be considered a complete extrovert.
According to Carl Jung and his research over psychological types, there are also several other
types of psychological personalities because extroversion and introversion could not completely
account for a persons differences in behavior. They are as follows: sensing vs. intuition,
thinking vs. feeling, and perceiving vs. judging ("Carl. . .). These psychological personalities
are the results of Carl Jungs research, which helps explain how people act and why they act in a
certain manner. The founder of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (the most widely used
personality inventory) ("The Story. . .), Isabel Briggs Myers, stated Psychological
type is a theory of personality developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung to explain the
normal differences between healthy people. Based on his observations, Jung concluded that
differences in behavior result from individuals inborn tendencies to use their minds in different

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ways. As people act on these tendencies, they develop predictable patterns of behavior. Jungs
psychological type theory. . . gives an explanation of how type develops (Carl. . .).
Looking into each of these types of psychological personalities, everyone can relate to at
least a few of them. With sensing vs. intuition, a person who is a sensing type will see everyone
and sense everything, can quickly adapt to any situation, is self-confident and realistic, and lives
in the here and now. On the other hand, intuitive types are mostly in the past or in the future,
worry about the future more than the present, and often have doubts ("Carl. . .).
Next, there are the thinking and feeling types of people. Someone who is a thinking type
is interested in systems, structures, and patterns. They can seem relatively cold and unemotional,
have difficulties talking about feelings, and do not like to clear up arguments or quarrels. On the
other side of thinking types, there are the feeling types. These type of people are interested in
people and their feelings, can easily pass their own moods to others, and pay great attention to
love and other emotions ("Carl. . .).
The last group of psychological personalities is perceiving or judging. A person who falls
into the category of a perceiving type will act impulsively following a situation, can start many
things at once without finishing them properly, and often act without any preparation. Judging
types on the other hand do not like to leave unanswered questions, plan ahead before they start
working on something, and easily follows rules. With all of these in mind, it is obvious that there
are indeed several different types of people in the world. A single person can have each of these
personalities throughout their life, however, as they grow and change their way ("Carl. . .).
Everyone changes over time as they find their comfort zones and cliques, and their
personalities change with them. Not only do personalities change over time, but when looking at
social media, people will sometimes start to form a new or completely different personality. In a

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report called How do Personality, Synchronous Media, and Discussion Topic Affect
Participation by Ina Blau and Azy Barak, they state that, In most cases, compared to offline
interactions, online environment provides more equal opportunities to people to voice
themselves, regardless of status, gender, race, wealth, or appearance. . . Online group interactions
diminish external and internal, real and fictitious status cues (Blau). Online and offline
personalities vary among individuals. With technology in todays world, it is easy to pretend to
be someone you are not. As little kids, we are taught to avoid giving out any personal
information to anyone that we do not know, especially online. While this is true, we are never
taught that we ourselves should try to not be someone else online. According to Blau and Baraks
research over how media affects students and their participation, many introverts adopt offline
behavior patterns of extroverts which could be reflected in more active participation in online
rather than in offline discussions (Blau).
I have found this to be true with many different people, several of which are students in
high school. When looking at social media, such as Facebook, they post an excess number of
statuses a day, seemingly very extroverted, but when I see them in school, they are the quietest
students. Social media allows them to voice their opinion and be who they want to be, creating a
comfort zone in which they are not afraid of what others think. When they step out of that
comfort zone, they feel unsure of how to act or what to say. The way that we act online and
offline is affected by what we want others to see about us. By hiding behind a screen, we can be
someone totally different than who we are in the real world. Too many times have I typed a
status for Twitter or Facebook that I thought was funny or clever, then deleted it before it got
posted, afraid of what others would think. The influence of society in our lives shapes who we
are and our personalities.

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There are many different ways that society influences us as individuals and as a whole.
Who decides what is cool, or when to change the trend in fashion? After all, everyone has their
own taste when it comes to the clothes they wear, the style of their hair, or the type of vehicle
they drive. The real question to ask yourself is if it is truly your style, or do you base your style
on what is trending around you? As a species, it is human nature to try and please others, to fit in,
to be liked, even if that means being someone that you are not. When trends and fashion change
around us, we go with the flow and change ourselves as well. In her book, Quiet, Susan Cain
makes a very valid point, saying, So if you can fake it, if you master the acting skills, the
attention to social nuance, and the willingness to submit to social norms that self-monitoring
requires, should you? (Cain). The simple answer is no; you shouldnt change who you are, even
if you are able to.
Influence from society can come in the form of peer pressure. Not only do we have to
deal with peer pressure in school, but also after school from our employees at work and other
social places. When we are peer pressured to do something, or change something about
ourselves, we dont necessarily want to listen. Yet there is that human instinct to fit in, to be
liked, and there are times where we might succumb to this peer pressure. In the movie Finding
Nemo, Nemo is peer pressured to go and touch the bottom of the boat. This little act changed him
from always listening to his dad to being a rebel and breaking the rules. There are many other
factors that can contribute to the changing of our personalities, such as our environment and the
circumstances and issues in our lives.
When people change themselves, they can change for the better or for the worse. One
particular time in my life when I have changed my personality because of changes in my
environment and the circumstances in my life at that time was in seventh grade. I had just

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changed schools at the beginning of my seventh grade year, changing from being an extrovert to
an introvert in a matter of days. I was no different than any other new kid at school, and just like
the other new kids it took me awhile to get comfortable with being myself. Not only was this
drastic change in my environment affecting me, but the same year that I changed schools, my
dad was deployed for the second time. While he was deployed, I took on several responsibilities
to help my mom with my five younger siblings. This contributed to my change in personalities.
Even though we live in a world where we have freedoms, it almost seems like we are
controlled to paint on a face of someone that we are not. We try so hard to please others, to fit in
and be liked, that we end up losing ourselves. Buried under all the painted-on-faces and acts is
our true personality, the person we are supposed to be but are afraid to be. At some moment in
life, however, we will wake up in the morning, look at ourselves in the mirror, and realize that
we are not going to cover our true selves up. We will lock away our paint brushes, and clean off
our canvas, showing who we really are. A statement in Susan Cains book, Quiet, makes us think
about who we really are as individuals and why we are the way we are. We know from myths
and fairy tales that there are many different kinds of powers in this world. One child is given a
light saber, another a wizards education. The trick is not to amass all the different kinds of
power, but to use well the kind youve been granted (Cain).

Works Cited
Blau, Ina, and Azy Barak. "How Do Personality, Synchronous Media, and Discussion Topic
Affect Participation?" Educational Technology & Society 15.2 (2012): 12. Academic
OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. New York:
Crown, 2012. Print.

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"Carl Jung & Psychological Types." MBTI Type Today RSS. A Mix of Pixels, n.d. Web. 23 Nov.
2015.
Cherry, Kendra. "What Is Personality?" About Education. Psychology.com, 2005. Web.
"personality". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 24 Nov. 2015.
<Dictionary.com.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/personality>.
Petska, Kelly S. Using Personality Variables to Predict Academic Success in Personalized
System of Instruction. Nebraska- Lincoln: Education and Human Sciences, Aug. 2006.
PDF.
Russo, Charles J., and Shohreh Kaynama. "The Impact of Personality Type and Gender on
Students' Performance in a Business Capstone Course." Academy of Educational
Leadership Journal 16.1 (2012): 49. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
"The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers." - CAPT.org. Center for Applications of Psychological Type,
n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.