Personality is the characteristic ways in which people behave. Personality encompasses the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate people - those behaviors that make each of us unique. It is also personality that leads us to act in a consistent and predictable manner both in different situations and over extended periods of time.

If asked to describe or characterize another person, one would come up with a list of that individual's personal qualities, as they see them. Personality psychologist has developed a model of personality characteristics known as the trait theory. Traits are enduring dimensions of personality characteristics along which people differ.

Trait theorist do not assume that some people have a trait and others do not; rather, they propose that all people possess certain traits, but that the degree to which a given trait applies to a specific person varies and can be qualified.

Theorist has concluded that there are specific primary traits among all people that are necessary to describe personality. Most contemporary trait theorist argues that five broad trait factors lie at the core of personality. The five factors, which have come to be called the "Big Five," are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism (emotional stability), and openness to experience.

Below is a detailed description of each of the five core traits and their accompanying characteristics, along with an Afromerica interpretation of each as pertaining to the behavior and attitudes of the Black community. If the Black community is categorized into these five traits of personality, we can develop a schema that would address each group of ourselves in order to harmonize our association.

For example, by dissecting the traits of extraversion into logical groups of personalities, such as the talkative, the quiet, the assertive, or the reserved, we could regulate which group would be best for which area of developing the Black community. After all groupings are put into place, and the Black community is harmonized as a whole, we could direct our unity outward to the world.

This ideology is not far fetched considering that African-Americans are actually broken into various factions anyway as a result of the slave trade. From the millions of Africans brought to America during slavery, there were a recorded 300 - 400 different tribes of African communities broken up and mixed among one another that makes up the African-American population of today.

Though not many African tribes were too far removed from another as it pertained to culture, rituals, and beliefs, there were some distinctions. Not only in lifestyle but also in personality and cognitive development. In other words, the blood of kings were mixed with the blood of African peasantry after so long a time after their arrival to America, and after the many years of separation from one another by slave masters.

In addition to the mixture of African blood and tribe cultures among the American slaves, there was the mixture of European blood into the Black blood stream also. This added mixture not only further deluded the pureness of the African bloodline, but it incorporated a whole other blood type into our system. This different blood type - with its own traits and qualities - altered the development of Black Americans and formed a new race of people. As an added substance of cultural destruction, Black America was indoctrinated mentally with the mental patterns of Europeans and many aspects of their behavior patterns. We adopted the residual of Euro-manners and have become a people with barely any genesis at all.

Therefore, we will take the "Big Five" theory of personality trait, analyze them - from a Euro-perspective - and apply that knowledge to ourselves, along with an attempted recovery of our own cultural heritage and what natural (African) traits remain within us. There is an obvious difference between us and the Euro-race and any other race in terms of the extent of personality trait development and behavior, cognitive performance, and social assimilation and adaptation. The task at hand is to find that difference and utilize it for our benefit in this society and for our future.

The Big Five

Extraversion - the extremes
Quiet			Talkative
Reserved		Assertive
Shy			Active
Silent			Energetic

Agreeableness - the extremes
Faultfinding		Sympathetic
Cold			Kind
Unfriendly		Appreciative
Quarrelsome		Affectionate

Conscientious - the extremes
Careless		Organized
Disorderly		Thorough
Frivolous		Planful
Irresponsible		Efficient

Neuroticism - the extremes
Tense			Stable
Anxious			Calm
Nervous			Contented
Moody			Unemotional

Openness to experience - the extremes
Commonplace		Wide-Interest
Narrow interest	Imaginative
Simple			Intelligent
Shallow			Original

The main objective is to first distinguish what person possesses what trait. To do this, Black psychologist of Afromerica will design and perform a psychological test on any and every individual Black person who is willing to contribute to this profound Black development project. Once all are tested and evaluated and it is determined what trait is most dominant in them, if the person is found to possess either of the weaker traits, such as carelessness, shallowness and so forth, they will participate in developmental training in which they will learn to apply the opposing, more productive trait, such as organization and origination, to their personality.

View the individual traits as it pertains to people and their personalities. If someone carries a combination of these traits, correlation of the two can resort to another trait as the most dominant one.

Understanding the Hierarchy of Black Development. If a government was put into order that relied on individual capabilities and characteristics, that society could function at a higher level of productiveness.......[more]

© 2003 by Cartel Q