Saturday, August 27, 2011

Isaac Tan Yieng Ler A131415 LJ05

Good evening and salutations to everyone, this would be my final entry to my learning journal for the sixth lecture of ZZZT 2253 "Pengurusan Emosi". I was given the task to write about 3 elements of the lecture that day followed by two personality tests. 


At first we were shown a video regarding the pain and thoughts of a man's life. He wrote about his naivety of his childhood that he can believe and trust everyone. But as he grew in life, he slowly realizes that life is not just a bed of roses, it's a bed of roses with thorns. It was tough for him to know that people around done terrible things to him and to others. He continues to have his hopes and aspiration dashed and remains depressed and disappointed about life and Man. The video really struck a nerve in me as I can really relate the disappointments the author faced in his life. I realized that it not an isolated individual problem but it occurs in everyone. Some point in our lives we will lose faith in humanity and in life and lost the will to live on. But instead on dwelling negativity of this life, the author tries to make a paradigm shift in mindset. In the end, we should not live by others standards and expectation. We also do not have to follow the evil ways of other people to backstab and hurt others. As long as we stay true to ourselves to be more forgiving and to have more determination and strength and continue to hold on to our beliefs, we can face all the huddles of life and live on. 

In Anderson C.A's perspective, humans tend to hold on to their beliefs even if they shouldn't in the first place. We have the strength to hold on to one's belief even after we received new input that goes against or falsify the very basis of that belief. This could be beneficial or detrimental at the same time. Having strong faith in what principles we hold on to life gives us the strength to overcome obstacles. For example, when I did averagely in my SPM and couldn't get good results for my tertiary education, I did not think that I was a failure and I hold onto the belief that I will get it someday with enough perseverance and hard work. This belief holds true today, that with God's grace, I was able to do so after my STPM. But in the other perspective, if my belief was very negative and I hold onto it, I would be spiraling down the path of depression and worthlessness. 


The next session during the lecture was about a personality test that was supposed to be the most accurate personality test, claimed by Encik Zamri. The test splits us to  two personality of the opposing spectrum, Type A and Type B. I have heard of these personalities before and felt it does not explain the complexity of humans enough. As what I understood from the lecture, Type A personality then to be overachievers. They are high meticulous, aggressive in pursuing their goals, impatient and put high expectations on themselves.  They overvalue themselves and feel that they always lack of time. In the end, they succumb to the stress that they put themselves in the first place. In the opposing end, Type B personality people are relaxers. They tend to be easy going and always leave things to be done on the last minute. They know how to work within their limits and do not rush things. I believe I have the best and worst of both personalities. I tend to change within different situations and adapt accordingly. I'm used to be a much laid back person when doing work but if workload surmounts, I will switch to type A personality. 

Afterwards, we did another personality test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test which is originally developed by Carl Jung. I have done this test during my secondary school years as my father did it for his research. Basically MBTI sorts psychological differences into four aspects with opposite qualities. An individual is classified as extroverted or introverted (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and judging or perceiving (J or P) with a 16 possible psychological type. In the past, I was supposed to an INTJ, someone who strategizes behind the scenes. I was quite reserved and prefer to stay in the background while leading. INTJ are supposed to be analytic, knowledgeable and adaptable. We are good in bringing ideas from conception to reality. We usually expect perfection from them. INTJs can also be described as critical, unbiased, have high self-esteem, thoughtful, theoretical and realistic.  I thought it was partially accurate in the sense that we usually have a mixture of a few personalities. But ultimately we have to adapt our personalities according to situations. For example, even when I am an introvert in the sense I like to do things on my own, but I still enjoy company and value friendships. We have to maintain balance of our attributes.


Lastly, we instructed to do another personality test that is based on the Big Five Theory : Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, OCEAN in short. In this test, I scored the highest for agreeableness, which reflects one who is always under emotional instability. Agreeableness is described tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others (Friedman & Schustack, 2009). We tend to value others and try get along with others. We also understand, welcoming, openhanded, cooperative, and willing to compromise their interests with others. We tend to be optimistic of man and life. We also tend to believe people are basically honest, decent, and trustworthy. The basic principles that I hold on to are trust, morality, altruism, cooperation, modesty and sympathy. I found the result of this personality test totally gave me a different perspective of myself. I tend to really empathies people's feelings. Sometimes this trait is a disadvantage because I could be played around with. But luckily with my INTJ trait it balances this kind personality.

In summary, personalities are just labels that people put on themselves. All of us have a different aspects of all personalities wrapped around inside of our psyche. We cannot limit ourselves to one personality and allow it to be an excuse in life. Sometimes, we need to change, to better adapt to the ever changing world. If you are born an introvert, try to be more engaging. It opens up a different path in life. Life will not be boring after that.
 

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