Personality Traits and Reille Hunter

Personality Profiles and Rielle Hunter.




How can we figure out people who puzzle us for various reasons? We can start by identifying just two traits of independence and dominance. Personality traits are those behaviors that remain consistent over time and situations. If a person is dominant and independent, usually it’s an aggressive individual. We might witness self-centered behavior, attempts at manipulation of others, and a disregard about harming others. At the other end, when the person is passive and dependent, we might see more loneliness and clinging behavior. They might be afraid to offend, blame themselves and express their anger through indirect means. Knowing how a person fits on along the spectrum of these two traits can help us define an individual.

With these two measures much can be learned about someone, even if they are not an immediate acquaintance.  Let’s take Rielle Hunter, the former lover of John Edwards, for example. Does she display characteristics of dominance and independence? If so, are her behaviors consistent with helping others or are they self-focused? Is she sharing, forgiving or vengeful?  Have her behaviors been of help to the world or has she hurt others?  Does she share many characteristics with John Edwards and did this lead to their breakup?

 Knowing the two simple features of dominance and independence helps generate many questions that give us a glimpse into the personalities of others. It can be amusing and it can also help protect ourselves when we deal with life's many difficult people

Pesonality Disorders- Psych Profiling

Let's face it.  Psychological profiling is rarely done when we're satisfied with people in our lives.  It's usually called upon to answer questions about persons when they present  dilemmas.  The individual we seek to understand has enduring characteristics that cause themself or others continuous problems.  These long lasting maladaptive traits run in constellations and usually have their own distinct flavor.  Part of profiling is understanding these features and during the following days we will examine many of the concepts we call "Personality Disorders".

Five Factor Theory of Personality

Today there is general agreement among psychologists that 5 broad factors define most people along their dimensions.  These factors are neuroticism,, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.  There are many and complicated paths by which these personality components interact.  If we combine these with the personality types and the personality disorders we will be mentioning in future posts,  then the groundwork for profiling is solid.

Body Language-Lying- Eye Contact

Much has been written about eye contact and lying, but be careful.  It is thought by some that right handed persons darting their eyes to the left (vice vresa for left handed) suggest lying or avoidance of truth.  However, it might also indicate a simple distraction.  Others believe that avoiding direct eye contact hints at lying, but imight also signal compliance or submission.  In general eyes shifting rapidly back and forth sideways is a clue to lying.  However, focus on the circumstances of the conversation as the context may affect eye movements rather than lying.  As always, lying is a complex human behavior and eye movements are only a clue, not an absolute determinant.

Is Someone Lying? Body Language 1

There are many clues from body language that indicate that someone may be lying.  One of the most common signs is "shrinking" or "withdrawal."  Persons who are parsing words or fabricating the truth tend to pull back in their body language.  They want to make themselves smaller by hunching their shoulders or moving their head low, crossing their arms.  If this shrinking is acompanied by other signs of distress or worry, then it may be a clue to be careful with this person.  Think twice before trusting their words.

Here's a youtube video on body language and lying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRQyJbMhkA&feature=fvst

A Brief History of Profiling

Formal psychological profiling began during WWI.  The military required a rapid and brief system to determine which candidates were psychologically unfit for service. As a result, questionnaires were developed to help weed out those with mental health issues.  Thereafter profiling moved formally to medical evaluations, then to school based educational evaluations, and finally to industry for personnel purposes,   As it has grown throughout the mental health industry, lessons there have found their way to forensic evaluations. Here the goal is understanding and identifying criminals.

Sources of Information-Social Networking Sites

Profilers obtain information about individuals from many sources.  A rich vein of data can be mined from social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.  Here individuals reveal much about their inner lives.  They discuss interests, ambitions, romance, hobbies, pleasure seeking and other private maters.  For the profiler, this information isexamined in detail without the need to meet the person under examination.  Social networking sites play important roles if the candidate is suspected of deception.  The ability to compare and contrast the information expressed online with information expressed face to face is of substantial value.

Psychological Profiling

We all have enduring qualities, traits and behaviors that reveal much about ourselves. In fact it is nearly impossible to conceal our real selves, but rather we show our inner cards constantly by our habitual actions and words. In this blog we will explore the uses, techniques and advantages of discovering these qualities in ourselves and others. Profiling can used for personal exploration or to discover more about friends, spouses, lovers, employees, bosses, or just about anyone. It's not necessary for everyone who profiles to be a psychologist, just be a good observer of human behavior. Good luck; your thoughts and questions are welcome.