Task 2. Read and translate the text “Are there Personality Types?” Are there Personality Types?

We often share personality traits with others, especially members of our own family and community.  This is probably due largely to being socialized in much the same way.  It is normal for us to acquire personality traits as a result of enculturation.  Most people adopt the traditions, rules, manners, and biases of their culture.  Given this fact, it is not surprising that some researchers have claimed that there are common national personality types, especially in the more culturally homogenous societies. 

The concept of national personality types primarily had its origins in anthropology with the research of Ruth Benedict beginning in the 1920's.  She believed that personality was almost entirely learned.  She said that normal people acquire a distinct ethos, or culturally specific personality pattern, during the process of being enculturated as children.  Benedict went on to say that our cultural personality patterns are assumed to be "natural" by us and other personality patterns are viewed as being "unnatural" and deviant.  She said that such feelings are characteristic of all people in all cultures because we are ethnocentric. 

Benedict's views were especially popular in the 1930's among early feminists such as her student Margaret Mead.  This was because if personality is entirely learned, it means that feminine and masculine personality traits are not biologically hard-wired in.  In other words, culture rather than genes, makes women nurturing towards children and passive in response to men.  Likewise, culture makes men aggressive and domineering.  If this is true, these stereotypical behaviors can be altered and even reversed. 

In the early 1950's, David Riesman proposed that there are three common types of modal personality (the most common personality type) that occur around the world. He called them tradition oriented, inner-directed, and other directed personalities.  The tradition-oriented personality is one that places a strong emphasis on doing things the same way that they have always been done.  Individuals with this sort of personality are less likely to try new things and to seek new experiences.  Those who have inner-directed personalities are guilt oriented.  That is to say, their behavior is strongly controlled by their conscience.  As a result, there is little need for police to make sure that they obey the law.  These individuals monitor themselves.  If they break the law, they are likely to turn themselves in for punishment.  In contrast, people with other-directed personalities have more ambiguous feelings about right and wrong.  When they deviate from a societal norm, they usually don't feel guilty.  However, if they are caught in the act or exposed publicly, they are likely to feel shame. 

While Riesman's analysis of personalities was insightful, critics have pointed out that individuals may have characteristics of all three of his identified modal types.  For instance, most North Americans probably do not feel guilty about exceeding speed limits when they are driving on freeways, however, they would feel very guilty hitting someone with their car and would likely call the police.  In other words, for some infractions of the law they are other-directed (or shame-controlled), and for others they are inner-directed (or guilt-controlled). 

Task 2. Match the Russian and English equivalents:

1. to claim	А. явиться с повинной
2. to have one’s origins in	B. указывать, подчеркивать
3. to assume	C. делать особый упор на
4. personality pattern	D. повернуть в противоположном направлении
5. learned	E. превышать скорость
6. to reverse	F. разоблачать
7. to occur	G. устанавливать. определять
8. place a strong emphasis on	H. иметь истоки в/восходить к
9. to make sure	I. утверждать, заявлять
10. to turn oneself in	J. предполагать, допускать
11. to expose	K. удостовериться
12. to point out	L. усвоенный в процессе обучения
13. to identify	M. тип личности
14. to exceed speed limits	N. встречаться

Task 3. Match the words and phrases with similar meanings.

1. to share something with others	A. deep
2. to adopt	B. to control
3. views	C. to look for
4. entirely	D. to change
5. to nurture	E. to have something in common with others
6. to alter	F. to suggest
7. to propose	G. to accept
8. to seek	H. fully
9. to monitor	I. to raise
10. insightful	J. beliefs

Task 4. Match the opposites.

1. natural	A. clear
2. to obey	B. submissive
3. ambiguous	C. supporters
4. norm	D. unnatural
5. critics	E. masculine
6. feminine	F. deviation
7. common	G. to break
8. domineering	H. heterogeneous
9. homogeneous	I. specific

Task 5. Derive nouns from the following verbs: to acquire; to enculturate; to punish; to socialize; to assume; to respond; to emphasize; to expose; to identify; to infract.

Task 6. Learn the following patterns:

To be likely to do sth; to be unlikely to sth; to be less likely

E.g. If they are caught in the act or exposed publicly, they are likely to feel shame.

Replace the italicized words with to be (less) un/likely to do sth:

1. If they break the law, they will probably turn themselves in for punishment. 2. Individuals with this sort of personality will hardly try new things and to seek new experiences. 3. This criminal will hardly feel guilty afterwards. 4. Most North Americans probably do not feel guilty about exceeding speed limits when they are driving on freeways. 5. Police will hardly need to make sure that they obey the law. 6. This type of personality may occur in eastern communities. 7. People will probably adopt the traditions, rules, manners of another culture if they happen to live within another society. 8. A number of environmental influences may help to shape personality. 9. In China children will hardly be allowed to act somewhat like equals to their parents. 10. If you regularly get bad grades in school, you will probably be labeled by your teachers as someone who is a failure to some degree.