Page 21 - Biblical Counseling II-Textbook

Study Section 4: Personality
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way
no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11

4.1 Connect
There are quite a few young children on campus. Think about children you know who are
around the age of two years old. What are their personalities like? Can you see traits like timid
or outgoing? Fearless, trusting, imaginative, confident, or helpful? We will refer to two, two-
year-old boys, Steven and Joshua, during this section. Steven is curious about the world
around him. He is outgoing and smiles at everyone, even strangers. Joshua is shy and hesitant
in new situations. He is timid and stays close to his parents and smiles only at those he knows.
What makes one child’s personality different from another even at the age of two? Is it that way he was
born (nature) or the way he has been raised (nurture)? Think about your personality compared to a
close friend or sibling. How did you develop into who you are today? What about your friend or sibling?

4.2 Objectives
1. The student should be able to describe the biological and behavioral approaches to
personality.

2. The student should be able to identify their own personality traits that will help them
counsel others.

3. The student should be able to explain how personality theory can help them counsel others.

4.3 Personality
According to authors and professors Dr. Harry Shields and Dr. Gary Bredfeldt (2001),
“Personality is a term used by researchers in human development to describe the
constellation (group) of characteristics that define an individual. Personality involves the sum
total of physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and spiritual qualities. It is the product of our
physical strengths and limitations, our innate temperament, our upbringing, our personal
choices, our life experiences and the larger cultural and historical context in which we live.
Personality is the complete individual, the whole person – material and immaterial. Scientifically
speaking, we are a personality; we do not possess a personality” (p. 144).
“Personality is a term psychologists use to describe individual differences in people. Over the years,
researchers have debated how to study personality, how best to understand personality, how
personality develops, and how personalities can change” (p. 144) As you can imagine, this has led to
many discussions, debates and research! We will not spend time on all of these theories, but I’d like to
cover a few so that you can identify your personality traits and think of how these traits impact you and
those around you. Personality can be defined as an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking,
feeling, and acting.

Today psychologists study the basic dimensions of personality, the biological roots of these basic
dimensions, and the interaction of persons and environments. They also study self-esteem, self-serving
bias, and cultural influences on one’s sense of self. And they study the unconscious mind (Myers, 2009).
There are many different approaches to understanding human personality development. We are going
to take a look at summaries of two: the biological approach and the behavioral approach. You will see

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