Personality at 10 is the key to success in adult life
Researchers have identified personality traits in 10-year-olds that can determine how successful they may be as adults. Contrary to these expectations, children who were often worried, played on their own, cried a lot had the tendency to develop into successful adults. As an adult, a person was not expected to smoke or commit a crime. The researchers explained that solitary children could make up their minds and not to be influenced by others.
The research showed that children who destroyed their toys, were disobedient and bullied the others could be dissatisfied with their adult life.
Children who stole, got into fights, told lies had a great chance of being out of work, smoking.
Children who had plenty of self-esteem and had good friendships with other children had better chances of success as adults.
Emma Cahill, 28, who recently founded her own publishing company, said she had a good social life at the age of 10. “I have never felt foolish in front of my friends and my parents always wanted to listen to my ideas. I hated quarrels and avoided them.”
Roy O’Neill, a 40-year-old, said that at 30 he was suffering from depression and his wife wanted to divorce him. He says: “When I was 10, I used to set fire to my toy soldiers. I was fighting and I was a liar. I look miserable at all photos”.
Boys who blamed the others for their problems were likely to enter adult life with poor qualifications and have low income. Good maths skills in girls and good reading skills in boys were connected with greater happiness in adult life. Friendship with other children meant less chance of depression later in life.
Other research showed that the way teenagers spend their time can influence their later lives, no matter what the social class of their parents is.
PEOPLE MEET PEOPLE
How different are the attitudes of different people to other people! One person, during a long train journey, will not observe other travellers. The other will analyze their character, try to guess about their circumstances, even discover secret histories of some of them.
Some people find almost everybody boring, others develop friendship. Take again such thing as travelling: some people will travel through many countries, always going to the best hotels, eating exactly the same food as they wood eat at home, meeting the same idle rich people, discussing the same topics. When they get home, they feel happy that this boring journey is finished. Other people will meet local people, observe what is interesting historically or socially, eat food of the country, learn the customs and the language, and come home with new impressions and ideas.
In all these different situations the person who has the curiosity and interest in life has the advantage over the person who has none.
PERSONALITY QUIZ. HOW EASILY ARE YOU TEMPTED?
- Your definition of temptation is:
a) the root of all evil;
b) your best friend’s boyfriend/ girlfriend;
c) Tom Cruise, Belgian chocolate, apple pie.
- You go into your sister’s bedroom to borrow a cassette. Under a pile of magazines you see her diary. You:
a) don’t touch it. If she caught you she would kill you;
b) take a diary to your room and read it from start to finish. She has a poor memory, she’ll forget where she’s put it;
c) read a few pages, then get out of the room very fast.
- You open the fridge and come face to face with a huge chocolate cake. You know it’s tonight’s dessert so you:
a) take it out of the fridge and cut yourself a nice big slice. What’s the difference when you’ll eat it?
b) make sure nobody’s looking and take a bit;
c) think about cutting yourself a slice, then change your mind.
- You pay for your shampoo with a $10 note. You can hardly believe your eyes when the assistant puts $18 change. He thinks you gave him $20. You:
a) give him back the extra money immediately. You wouldn’t like him to lose his job;
b) take the change and wander about the shop while you decide what to do, then go back and give the change;
c) take the change and get away fast.
- You’ve got to write an essay tonight but an interesting film is on TV.
a) promise yourself you’ll watch 10 minutes, then turn it off;
b) watch the whole film. You can not miss it;
c) write an essay.
- You mate’s girlfriend/ boyfriend asks you out. Although he/ she is very nice, you know it’s wrong, so you;
a) accept anyway. When will you get another chance like this?
b) give him/ her a cold look and promise to tell your mate;
c) think about the invitation for a few minutes and decide against it.
Scoring: 1. a) 0 b) 3 c) 6 2. a) 0 b) 6 c) 3 3. a) 0 b) 3 c) 6 4. a) 0 b) 3 c) 6 5. a) 3 b) 6 c) 0 6. a) 6 b) 0 c) 3 | 24-36: Mr/ Ms Temptation. Do you ever say “no” to anything? Our advice: next time you are going to do something – think first. 12-21: Naughty but nice. Like most of us you’re only human. That means there’s plenty of room for improvement. 0-9: Made of iron. You really know what is right and what is wrong. |
PERSONALITY QUIZ. ARE YOU PREJUDICED?
1. You school arranges an exchange with an English school. You meet the English boy who is going to stay with you for the first time. He is not attractive and his clothes are not fashionable. What do you think?
a) This person isn’t cool enough to stay with me;
b) If she/he is a nice personality, I’ll enjoy spending time with him/her;
c) Is this what English people look like?
- You have a new chemistry teacher. He speaks with a very strong accent. How do you react?
a) Wait until you are outside the classroom then copy his accent;
b) Think, ”How am I supposed to believe anything he says?”
c) You notice his accent but it makes no difference to you at all.
- You get on a bus. There are only two seats left. One is next to an old lady and the other is next to someone who looks about 40. What do you do?
a) Sit next to the one who is nearest to you;
b) Sit next to the 40-year-old because the old lady may talk rubbish;
c) Sit next to the old lady. She reminds you of your grandmother.
- You go with one of your parents to the garage because your car is broke. You discover the mechanic is a woman. What is your reaction?
a) We’d better go somewhere else. She might not be good enough;
b) That’s unusual;
c) It’s good to see that men and women are doing the same jobs.
- Imagine that you are the boss of a company and you need to employ a receptionist. You are sent two CVs. One of them is from a wheelchair-user. Which person do you employ?
a) The person who is not the wheelchair-user;
b) It depends on their experience, ability and personality;
c) The wheelchair-user.
- Your friend is going out with someone of a different race. What’s your attitude?
a) Worried;
b) Pleased that your friend has a new boyfriend;
c) You don’t care if he is not fat and doesn’t have terrible clothes.
- A new person joins your sport class. Everyone knows that his/her family don’t have much money. During the game your watch is stolen. What is your first reaction?
a) You have a mental picture of what the thief is like;
b) You are angry that you weren’t careful enough to hide it;
c) You think the poor boy/girl took it.
Scoring: 1. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 2. a) 2 b) 3 c) 1 3. a) 2 b) 3 c) 1 4. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 5. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 6. a) 3 b) 1 c) 2 7. a) 2 b) 1 c) 3 | Answers: 7-10: No, you’re not prejudiced. You’re a very fair person who treats everybody with respect. You get to know people before you judge them, because prejudice is based on ignorance and fear. 11-16: You are not prejudiced. However at times you notice differences between people and find them strange and amusing. You may have some stereotypes. But you don’t discriminate people. 17-21: Oh dear! You are prejudiced. You judge people before you know them. Try to give people more chance before you criticize them. The world is made of different types of people. |
INTELLIGENCE
intelligence – розум, інтелект
problem-solving skills – вміння вирішувати проблеми
Mental age (MA) – розумовий вік
thinking – мислення
reflection – міркування
reproduction – відтворення
retention – зберігання (у пам’яті)
observation – спостерігання
analysis – аналіз
imagination – уява
creativity – творчість
short-term memory – короткочасна пам’ять
long-term memory – довготривала пам’ять
habits and skills – уміння та навички
Multiple Intelligences theory – теорія Множинного Інтелекту
logical- mathematical intelligence – логіко-математичний інтелект
spatial intelligence – просторовий інтелект
verbal abilities – вербальні здібності
IQ (Intelligence Quotient) – коефіцієнт
EQ – емоційний інтелект
empathy – емпатія
learning difficulties – труднощі навчання
dyslexia – дислексія
mental retardation – розумове відставання
to measure knowledge – вимірювати знання
to recall – згадувати
to memorize – запам’ятовувати
to draw conclusions – робити висновки
to compare – порівнювати
to perceive – сприймати
to forget – забувати
to concentrate on the problem – зосереджуватися на проблемі
to retain – утримувати у пам’яті
to acquire – набувати
to observe – спостерігати
to reinforce – підкріпляти
to analyze – аналізувати
THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence is based on verbal ability, problem-solving skills, and the ability to learn from and adapt to the experiences of everyday life. A major question related to intelligence is “does intelligence consists of a single core factor or does it consist of many separate, unrelated abilities?” The theories of intelligence are:
The theory | Representatives | Main points |
Single-factor theory | Binet | There is one general capacity that is used in all situations requiring intelligent behaviour. |
Two-factor theory | Charles Spearman | Intelligence consists of g-factor (general mental energy or ability) and s-factors (specific factors needed for specific tasks). |
Multiple-factor theory | L. Thurstone | Deny the existence of “general intelligence”. There are original primary mental abilities (PMA): number ability; memory; word fluency; verbal meaning; spatial relations; reasoning; perception |
Multiple Intelligences theory | Howard Gardner | There are 7 different components: logical-mathematical; linguistic; musical; spatial; bodily-kinaesthetic; interpersonal; intrapersonal. |
Triarchic theory | Robert Sternberg | Intelligence consists of 3 cognitive skills: - contextual (practical and social intelligence); - experiential (applying intelligence to new tasks); - componential (cognitive processes). |