Culture, Groups And Organizations Do Influence People’s Personalities Essays Examples

In life, I have been a member of different groups and organizations where I have been able to relate to different people at different levels. In the context of groups, I have been a member of a local church in my neighborhood for a very long time, and I have been a member of a group called Stewards. As for an organization, I have served in a non-governmental organization that seeks to help children from poor communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In our small group of stewards that has a membership of fifty people, we seek to lead life as good stewards, responsible members of our community. We are a living testimony of goodness about promoting ethical beliefs that work for the common good of our community. We also take turns in offering life skill lessons that are meant to empower young people with knowledge that will help make them responsible members of our community. In the non- governmental organization where I am a volunteer, we are twelve of us and we have put much focus on transforming poor children in an effort to change the course of their lives, making their future brighter.
Courtesy of being a member of both the group and the organization, I had to perform my roles as expected. In an organization, a person is assigned duties they are supposed to perform for the common good of the organization and their role is just part of the very many roles that work towards a common goal or mission (Jansen 2007). For instance, our organization was supposed to solicit for funds and donors who were expected to donate money, books and other things that were to be sent to the identified groups and communities. I was the secretary of the group and was supposed to keep records, write minutes and keep the members up to speed with every progress that we made. On the other hand, the group had its set out plans on how to go about our activities, and in as much as we were not assigned duties or roles, we knew that we were working towards a common goal and mission, and hence had to take part in activities that promoted that.
The two differed largely because of their way of doing things. Whereas the organization was very formal, the group conducted its activities informally and was not confined to any form of rules or code of conduct. I joined booth out of free will, but then the organization had a set of goals and mission that every member had to work hard towards achieving. The group was guided by the spirit of goodness and just wanting to follow a lifestyle worth emulating. Whereas the organization was organized in such a way that there were ranks and people occupied certain positions, our group just operated on the basis of mutual agreement. Sometimes when I did not perform as expected in the organization, because I was the secretary I felt that I was failing the rest. But when it came to the group, I never felt like I did not perform well because our mission and goals were based on character and lifestyle.
My impression of life in formal and formal settings was shaped thanks to the experiences of these experiences. The feelings and level of attachment to the two differed in a number of ways, and that helped me see life from different perspectives, and it also did shape how I approach life. When I was expected to follow certain guidelines and work towards a mission, vision and goal, I could go out of my way to perform so that I do not seem like I am drawing others back. In the group, I was a free spirit that could go about doing anything I felt like as long as it qualified me as a good steward. Of the two, I preferred the organization because it gave me a reason to work hard at everything that I did. It gave me an insight into what it means to be a part of a bigger group that is guided by principles that bring together the feelings and attitudes of different people towards a common goal.It never occurred to me that such things as group size and organizational characteristics can shape my personal experiences. In life, we are who we are because of the experiences that shape our personalities (Plotnnik&Kouyoumdjian 2013). I give credit to these associations and many more that have helped me understand that different situations in life contributes to our personality. In fact, people behave differently in different settings especially when they are in the company of others (Bradberry 2007). It is through this class that I have to appreciate the fact that formal and informal settings create in us different personalities, perspectives and ways of doing things. Under formal settings or situations that need us to play a role that contributes to the overall mission and vision of a group, a person tends to work so hard and conform to the expectations of the organization. But when it is an informal setting regardless of the number of people, people will behave differently and in many cases are not so committed like it is in the case of formal settings.

References

Bradberry, T. (2007).The Personality Code: Unlock the Secret to Understanding Your Boss, Your colleagues, Your Friends and Yourself. New York: Penguin Books
Jansen, D. (2007). New forms of Governance in Research Organizations: Disciplinary Approaches, Interfaces and Integration. New York: Springer
Plotnik, R. &Kouyoumdjian, H. (2013).Introduction to Psychology. Belmont: Cengage Learning