Character Analysis
Analyze a television or book character. Discuss the character's personality in relation to one of the personality development theories covered in this chapter. Support your analysis with specific examples from the character's life and from the textbook readings.
Walter White began as a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher trying to make ends meet by providing for his family despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Here we can already see him exhibiting traits associated with FFM's Neuroticism Dimension such as anxiety, worry, vulnerability, and emotional instability due to his health concerns about himself and his family’s future without him-- all characteristics consistent with relatively low levels of Emotional Stability (McCrae & Costa Jr., 2008). This uncertainty typically leads a person to experience negative affect more often than positive affect which was evident in Walter’s tendency towards pessimistic thinking rather than optimism at this point in time.
At first glance, it is easy to detect Walter’s Extraversion Dimension trait since he seems quite sociable around people like Skyler, Jesse Pinkman and other members of their business team but when further examined it becomes apparent that while he values interacting with others he prefers working autonomously instead of being tied down by someone else's agenda-- suggesting lower levels of Positive Emotionality (McCrae & Costa Jr., 2008). Additionally, Walter also displays qualities associated with Agreeableness as seen through how genuinely concerned and caring he is even though often times those emotions get overshadowed by fear or anger; especially later on in the series when he holds grudges against certain characters like Gus Fring after they cross him over money or vow revenge against anyone who gets between him and what needs done --particularly reflecting Openness To Experience trait levels higher than average since these actions were not characteristic of earlier episodes where Walter was still developing into who he would become near the end (McCrae & Costa Jr., 2008).
In conclusion, throughout Breaking Bad viewers observe firsthand how drastically different character development theories can help explain various aspects about individual personalities; particularly if there are changes occurring within said personalities during story arcs such as Walters'. The Five Factor Model provided here helps us understand why Walt did what acts that some may have found incredibly shocking even looking back now because theoretically speaking it makes sense given how complex each dimension currently stood prior to any event ever taking place on screen. From interpersonal relationships affected by extraversion/agreeableness traits to decision-making influenced by neuroticism/openness scores; this model offers insight into how a person will likely react depending on current settings at hand making it essential for analyzing influential figures like Heisenberg aka Mr. White whose progression has showcased both sides for better or worse regarding personality development theory outcomes alike one could say!