Behavioristic and Common-Sense Conception of Per- sonality.— Again we seem to have reached a point in psychology where we can make progress most rapidly by discarding these vague conceptions of personality and starting with premises PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE 397 which will yield useful and practical results capable of being couched in the ordinary language of science. Let us mean by the term personality an individual's total assets (actual and potential) and liabilities (actual and potential) on the reac- tion side. By assets we mean first the total mass of organized habits; the socialized and regulated instincts; the socialized and tempered emotions; and the combinations and interrelations among these; and secondly, high coefficients both of plasticity (capability of new habit formation or altering of old) and of retention (readiness of implanted habits to function after disuse). Looked at in another way, assets are that part of the individual's equipment which make for his adjustment and balance in his present environment and for readjustment if the environment changes.
By liabilities we mean similarly that part of the individual's equipment which does not work in the present environment and the potential or possible factors which would prevent his rising to meet a changed environment. In more detail, we mean that we can enumerate the reasons for his present lack of adjustment in such terms as insufficiency of habits, lack of social instincts (instinct not modified by habit), violence of emotion or insuf- ficiency or lack of emotion, and that we can infer that with his present equipment and plasticity the individual cannot make a satisfactory adjustment either to his present environment or possibly to any other environment. In case his potential assets are sufficient we can enumerate and begin the inculcation of those factors which will make for his adjustment.
This way of looking at personality seems to call for a standard of adjustment and seems to imply* that such a standar^ is avail- able. Our standard at present is a common-sense and practical one. Practically we do in our daily routine of life take individ- uals with whom we are acquainted and point out the essential factors which make them occupy the place they do in social and community life. The better trained we are the more accurately we can point these factors out. The question as to whether we shall ever have scientific and accurate standards need not con- cern us at the present moment.
398 PSYCHOLOGY The Systematic Study of Personality. — At first sight we might be tempted to assume that in order to study personality one should have a microscopic view of an individual's whole life both past and present. Unquestionably the more complete our knowledge is of the present and past of any person the more accurate our analysis of his personality will be. But at best for both practical and scientific purposes we can obtain only a limited amount of data upon each individual. How then shall we proceed in studying personality? It is obvious ^that we must resort to " sampling. " What samples should be taken depends largely upon the purposes for which the study is to be made. The men working in psychiatry were first to recognize the need of a systematic sampling of activity. Through practical expe- rience they have found that if they can gain even limited data upon certain aspects of the individual's past and present life they are in a position to understand his weakness. While there is no absolute agreement among the different workers as to just what data should be gathered the general agreement is fairly close. There are a number of such "guides" to the systematic study of personality (Hoch and Amsden, Adolf Meyer, F. L. Wells, Yerkes, and others). These studies have not been worked out wholly in objective or behavioristic terms, but the results they have yielded are easily inter pretable in any objective system. Any modern method should have as its starting point the discarding of all presuppositions and the putting of the individual in front of us for study. In general we study him as we would any other practical or scientific problem. We continue this study until we can answer definite questions about the individual. If we cannot immediately return the answer to an essential question we study him until we can.
The following topics and questions are offered merely as in- dicatory of some of the more concrete and studiable factors which we should have information about whenever there is practical or scientific need for a personality judgment. The definite ques- tions asked are designed to bring out mainly those factors which common experience in dealing with human individuals from various standpoints has taught us are essential, We are merely PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE 399 putting in the form of definite questions the basis upon which so-called intuitive and common-sense judgments about personality are made.
SUGGESTIONS TOWARD THE STUDY OP PERSONALITY General Lever of Behavior.— (1) If the individual is too complex to be rated by any of the "intelligence tests" of the Binet type, what do various special tests show as regards his range of information, vocabulary, English and literary equip- ment, mathematical ability, special vocational equipment? (2) What do actual tests show concerning his learning ability in the field, both of manual activity and language activity? (3) What do actual tests show concerning his retentiveness in these fields? (4) How accurately does he make observations under simple experimental conditions?
General Survey of Instinctive and Emotional Equipment and Attitude. — Do the number and variety of drives to activity seem plentiful or deficient? Are there special lines of activity in which he takes training easily and in which retention is good? Does he display a normal amount of investigatory behavior (curiosity) with respect to new situations, systems of thought, literature? Has he any knack of doing things with his hands (manipulation)? Does he use or substitute this knack of doing things for card playing, dancing, golf and other recrea- tion outlets? What particular bents and hobbies has he exhibited from time to time? What is the history of his early (pre-adoles- cent) sex enlightenment, sex attachments, and curiosities (see also under organized sex life, p. 401)? Are there any instinctive traits especially with regard to eliminative and sex functions yet unsocialized, such for example as general bodily display, display of parts, lack of sex fixation, etc?
Are his emotional reactions well balanced or is he over- or under-emotional; liable to be easily upset, becoming angry or violent or unduly retiring when certain topics are under discus- sion or when in the presence of certain situations? If so, what situations most easily arouse emotional activity both of the primitive type, such as fears, rages, love, etc., and the more 400 PSYCHOLOGY % systematized and adult type which takes the form of attitudes? Have there been strong attachments or antagonisms for any member of the family? Have these been outgrown or have they been carried over into adult life? Would he be classed now, or was he so classed as a boy, as a sissy; was he as a lad ever taunted with being tied to his mother 's apron string? How many infantile emotional reactions and attitudes have been carried over into adult life, such as biting the nails, playing with the mouth and face, spitting? What outlets does his more organized emotional life take, e.g., day dreaming, making or writing of fanciful produc- tions? ( Consult here chapter on emotions, p. 214, and also the sec- tion in the present chapter on personal slants and peculiarities. ) General Habits of Work. — Does he complete work under- taken promptly and neatly or is he a procrastinator, a maker of excuses and in general a temperamental worker? Is he punctual at his tasks and appointments? When stuck on a given task does he give up easily with signs of emotional disturbance or does he as a rule work persistently until the difficulties are overcome? Does he work to his limit or is there a constant tendency to save himself? In leaving his work is he one of the first to drop his task or will he work later than regulations specify? Is he adverse to having extra duties put upon him? Must his duties be laid out for him by rule of thumb or need one give him only general outlines? Would you classify him as being resourceful or merely as a doer of chores and routine? Did he as boy or man ever build, design or plan any new object or write an original production? What has been the history of his vocational endeavors and achievements and what have his earnings been (or its equivalent in rank) at different ages? Is he fixed upon his present level of attainment or is he making steady or rapid progress? If not making progress, is his work suited to his attainments? Would he work better in another line, or would he rise from his present level of attainment if his responsibilities were greater and if he had more difficulties to contend with?
Activity Level. — Would you characterize the subject as being lazy, industrious, or active in manual work? Is he talkative or taciturn, slow or active in speech? Is he a story teller or PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE 401 extemporaneous speaker? Are his acts or speech, ever violent or rude? Is he given to sudden bursts of loud conversation and frequent laughter? Are his work and talk systematic and logical in character? Are his movements made in good form or is he awkward in gait, work and speech? Would you characterize him as being a man always in a hurry, restless, eager? Is he constantly talking of the many things he has to do or that he has left undone? Can he put his work aside or must he take it with him, conversationally at least, into his social life and moments of recreation?
Social Adaptability. — Does he get along well with his wife, parents or members of his immediate family, with his business associates, with his companions in recreation? What is his history with respect to association with others? How many intimate friends has he among his own and the opposite sex? Of how long standing (carried from infancy or formed in later life)? How easily does he get acquainted with people when in a new environment? How rapidly does he become settled in a new environment? How would you rate him with respect to tact- fulness, quarrelsomeness, co-operation, etc.? Apart from any money or social status that he may possess, is his society sought by others? Is he in general loyal to his friends and does he make active efforts to hold them? Has he had any history of leading men? What position of prominence in games, sports or social life has he held?
Recreation and Sports. — What are the main types of his play activities and how successful has he been in them? Is he of the one sport type (i.e., possessing a single hobby, such as golf, poker) or is he an all round sportsman? Does he sacrifice his work and responsibility to exercise his recreation and sporting tendencies? Are there special forms of play, especially of chance such as cards and roulette, which amount to obsessions and toward which he displays a lack of balance?
Organized Sex Life.— Will he talk freely of his sex life when questioned about it for scientific purposes or does he avoid reference to this phase of his life or to certain periods of it?
Has he a tendency to talk too freely about his sex experiences 26 402 PSYCHOLOGY * and to be boastful of his conquests? Obtain from him as careful a statement as possible of the chief events in his sex life and the effect they have had upon his life history. Include here the adolescent struggle, the transition to heterosexual fixation, his infatuations and the like. Does he attribute his success or lack of success to any of these factors?
If married, what has been the history of the relationship? Is he affectionate and kind or jealous, irritable and fault-finding? Is he domineering or submissive? Does prudishness, frigidity or avoidance mark the relationship? Has there been any tend- ency towards perversion in any form, cruelty, etc.? Does he show any peculiarities with respect to certain foods and odors? Have children been sought? Has any home life been established? Do husband and wife have the same friends and play the same games or are they held together merely by social pressure or the joint responsibility of children?
Reactions to Conventional Standards. — As judged by ordi- nary standards (and with special reference to the group in which he lives) is he truthful, faithful to his word, and careful of the rights and reputation of others? Is he frank in his opinions and statements, trustworthy in money matters or the reverse? Put specifically to him such questions as whether under any circumstances, it is ever justifiable to tell a lie, to steal, to cheat, to fall in love with an engaged or married woman and tell her about it? To kill another individual or to commit suicide?
Personal Bias and Peculiarities'. — Has his early home, school or religious training implanted fixed modes of reacting which are not in line with his present environment — that is, is he easily shocked, for example, at seeing a woman smoke, drink a cocktail or flirt with a man; at card playing; at the fact that many of his associates do not go to church? Have past failures in early home life, married or business life developed a " soured" disposition or attitude? Has he become a woman hater, a rebel against social law and order, and in general a' misogamist or does his general restlessness at failure take another form in which he actually attaches himself to each new movement in thought or in philos- PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE 403 ophy, religion, art, music, politics? Has the early petting or cruelty he has received at the hands of interested individuals made him boastful, timid, proud, overbearing; or is he generally balanced in these respects? Examine him especially with refer- ence to his brooding and sensitiveness. What are his chief lines of sensitiveness and how does this sensitiveness show itself? In shutting himself off and putting up a barrier against social contact or in complaints that every hand is against him? How in general have his disappointments and successes left him so far as new undertakings are concerned?
Are there peculiarities in voice, gesture, gait, physical appear- ance, defects or weaknesses in organs which arouse emotion when he is forced to face them? Have these been adjusted to and compensated for to such an extent that he will talk with you freely about them, or have they developed within him a permanent inferiority attitude with many peculiarities in behavior developed to compensate for such weaknesses? Is he, over-meticulous with reference to dirt, money matters and peccadilloes generally? Would you classify the individual as being foppish and over- dressed; does he resort to beauty treatments, perfumery, etc.? Is he lavish in his expenditures, exhibiting a tendency to show off; or is he miserly and close?
Balancing Factors. — How in general has he reacted to diffi- culties which could not be overcome? Does renunciation merely leave him unadjusted or does he attain readjustment by turning to other activities without loss of time and without serious emotional breakdown? What has been the history of some specific read- justment, after loss, for example, of position, parent, friend, sweetheart, wife or child? In general has he found satisfactory substitutes and balances for things given up and lost and for weaknesses of training and poor special equipment? For example, if he never learned to play, what does he substitute for this? If he has never married, what factors compensate? If married but with no children, what compensation has been made (pets, adoption of other children, etc.)? How do his unbalanced tendencies show: in recklessness, excesses, speed manias, the seeking of exciting situations, excessive eating, dress, etc.? Can 404 PSYCHOLOGY 404 PSYCHOLOGY he resort to games, music, theatre, dancing, and to club life when in trouble or when family relationships bid fair to remain unsatis- factory? Has he engrossing work which serves him as a balance wheel and for compensation when other things go wrong? What verbal account can he give of the things he has substituted for the things he cannot obtain — for example, one man constantly makes a poor score in golf, but he prides himself on having better "form" than any other member belonging to the club. Money suddenly acquired is often a balancing or compensating factor for lack of breeding and social position. A woman lack- ing beauty of face preens herself over her form, or lacking both, upon her hair, or even upon the size of her feet or the shape of her hand. Lack of special recognition and position of a given family is compensated for by the fact that they are relatives of some person of recognized ability and attainment.
Have religion and church work been for him a balancing factor — one upon which he loads responsibility and from which he receives authority and by means of which he obtains surcease from emotional strain in times of trouble? "Would you classify him in general as one who put his responsibilities and troubles upon the Lord or upon himself? 3 Personality Study Ultimately Belongs to the Laboratory. — In using such outlines as the above in the study of personality we may narrow the questions, make them more specific and then mark the excess of the factor in relations to the average by a + sign and its absence or deficiency by a — sign (Wells). We may obtain our data by living near the individual and observing him systematically under the routine of work and play; by syste- matically questioning him and examining into his dreams; or we may take him into the laboratory and complete our analysis by experimental methods. Unfortunately the laboratory is not 8 It will be seen that this whole questionary relates principally to the diagnosis and evaluation as we see it in everyday life. It is not planned to be searching enough to throw much light upon the etiology or causation of personality disturbance. This phase of personality, while distinctly psychological in character, at present belongs more particularly to the domain of psychiatry.
PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE: 405 yet prepared to enter as extensively into such work as is desirable, but very rapid progress is being made. During the next few years the laboratory should make such further progress that it will be capable of making by actual tests serviceable and compre- hensive surveys of personality.
Summary. — When we have faced our individual and have studied his behavior during his ordinary routine of activity by systematic questioning and by experiments where possible, and have received satisfactory answers to such questions as the above, we shall know his personality. We may make the study as complete or as sketchy as the occasion demands. For a guest at a house party all we may care to make sure of is that the person is worth while, decent, attractive, agreeable to others, that he can play and that his personal peculiarities will not unduly protrude. In trying to restore to normal a psychopathic personality the study would have to be made far more complete than we have outlined above.
While we have not emphasized the matter in the above sketch, no examination of a personality would be complete without collateral information coming from a careful study of the individ- ual's heredity, personal illnesses, use of drugs, etc. Meyer, in order to formulate these factors and to keep them in their relation to more detailed personality data, has prepared a life chart upon which the more significant personal data may be put down for each individual. It is undoubtedly advisable for each psychological student to make some such life chart of himself and even a more detailed personality study than we have out- lined'above. Self and personality under careful scrutiny cease to be mysteries and become problems which can be solved by careful observation.
Rapid Methods of Studying Personality.— That the study of personality must be a genuine research carried out in a syste- matic manner upon each individual has only recently been recognized. Almost from the earliest history of the race certain rapid methods of arriving at personality judgment have been in use. While these methods with the exception of (1) below are in general all but worthless, the public believes in them and 406 PSYCHOLOGY 406 PSYCHOLOGY lays itself open to become the victim both of unscrupulous sharpers and misguided enthusiasts. Such judgments are based upon four different sets of asserted data. (1) Voice, gesture, gait, attitude and dress group. (2) Differences in head and skull formation. (3) Differences in biological characteristics, such as eye color, color and type of hair and the shape of the fingers. (4) Differences in handwriting. So-called character ex- perts are supposed to study such differences and to pass judgment upon men and women who are to be employed by business houses. Since time immemorial such prophets have been among us. Bank- ing upon the fact that fifty per cent, of their judgments must by chance be right and that being shrewd observers they can add another fifteen per cent, of correct choices (which any individual who has wide contact with other people can do), they set up as "characterologists" and begin to fleece the public. We shall examine some of the asserted principles involved in these rapid determinations of character.
(1) Personality judgments based upon voice, gesture, gait, etc. A momentary glimpse of an individual reveals very little about his personality. Certain signs, however, have become classic as indicators of character, such as the square chin, the firm mouth, the intellectual brow, erect carriage and the like. It is often asserted that the kind of life the individual has led becomes stamped upon his face and body; that the inferior person shows inferiority in his attitude; that the discontented, complaining, hard-done-by individual has certain lines in his face such as the drooping lip by means of which he can be known. Kempf has recently given more prominence to the view that bodily attitudes reveal the "autonomic strivings" of the individual than most authors are willing to concede. In extreme cases even the static view or the photograph of an individual is sufficient to reveal many factors about personality, such for example that he is a cretin, an idiot or a certain type of schizophrenic (as revealed by the Madonna attitude, etc). But no genuine student of human nature depends much upon what can be gathered from a mere static view of the subject or an examination of his photograph. Any psychologist at the present PERSONALITY AND ITS DISTURBANCE 407 time who claims that he can pick out defective individuals from normals by means of photographs or by mere immediate visual inspection would lose the respect of his colleagues: and yet at the present moment there are many " experts" claiming not only to be able to do this, which is the first step in a character study, but also to be able to judge from the photograph or static view whether the individual is fitted for a certain type of vocation. Indeed, they have capital behind them and their advertisements are taken in reputable magazines.
When we pass from the static view to even a cursory observa- tion of behavior we are upon a different basis entirely. One can dine once with an individual and place him in a conventional social scale. Often the speaking of two or three sentences or even of a few words enables us to gather volumes about his general social and educational attainments. A ten minutes conversation skilfully conducted will bring out considerable data about a person's range of training and information and show a great deal about his general balance. The militant anti- smoker, anti-drinker, suffragette, the woman or man hater, the religious enthusiast would not let ten minutes go by without revealing the causes in life which they champion. The crank that comes in with his new philosophical theory, the new prophet, the faith healer, and the promoter of forlorn undertakings lose no time in announcing themselves. Again, the silent observation of an individual in action reveals to the well trained observer much concerning his personality, both with reference to his skill and to his emotional balance. We have already developed this aspect to some extent in the chapter on emotions. The signs of, at least, temporary distress, torture, despondency and elation do not long remain hidden. Whether the state is permanent or characteristic is not so easily noticed, but, as we have brought out, the more permanent emotional disturbances are not without distinguishing marks such as the habitual biting of nails, twitch- ing of facial muscles and other tics, stammering, and the inabilit}^ to sit still.
Since rarely do we have the time or the means for systemat- ically examining into the personality of individuals in practical 408 PSYCHOLOGY • life, it is obvious that most of our immediate inferences are based upon just sach factors as gait, dress, manners, the way the person shakes hands, the changes in his facial expression, bodily attitudes and the like, plus the specific information we gather through chance conversation about his business, sports, taste and general likes and dislikes. There is no particular scientific technique which can be employed in making such inferences and we often have to modify our conclusions. There is no question but that our reactions and attitude towards a new- comer are determined by these somewhat superficial signs. Later modifications of our judgments are often made difficult by reason of these earlier snapshot immediate estimates.
(2) Skull and head markings (phrenology). The history of phrenology is too well known to need discussion. Its adherents assert that the external markings of the skull, the over- and under-, development of certain parts are to be correlated with over- and under-development of the brain. Phrenology is based upon two misconceptions: first, that the brain conforms to the various bumps upon the surface of the skull, and, second, that the so-called faculties, such as amativeness, self-assertion, ambition, etc., are to be correlated with any particular part of the brain. Anato- mists have constantly brought out the fact that prominences upon the skull may and often are indications not of corresponding development in the underlying brain tissue but often of under- lying deficiencies. The brain in general is smooth in its contours, as we learned in our study of the nervous system. The neuro- physiologist, as has been pointed out, lays little stress upon localizations of brain function in any detailed sense. Phrenology has thus not one scientific prop to support it. Nevertheless it has had a most interesting and at times flourishing history. The only thing which can be said to the credit of phrenology is that interest in the general subject led to a scientific study of the brain — which in time completely overthrew the doctrine upon which the "theory" was based. It still plays a role in the formulae of the expert characterologist.