Scenario 1: My dog bit another dog at a dog park not long after I adopted him. He is a pit bull, and the other dog was probably a Bichon (small fluffy and white). Because he was bleeding profusely, his owner rushed out to get him to an emergency vet immediately and we did not exchange information. I did not return to the dog park to look for the owner, nor did I try to seek him out. This is a shameful memory because I consider myself a fair and considerate person who takes responsibility for my mistakes. I was concerned about what would happen to my dog because of his breed and history, but I also made a choice not to take accountability for the fallout that I was solely responsible for. Eventually the owner did find me and I did take responsibility for the vet bill (the dog was OK but his jugular vein had been punctured and it came to over $800) but it was decidedly not because of any sense of responsibility or fairness. I was acting against my values and out of anxiety and self-consciousness. My behavior displayed a patent lack of straightforwardness, competence, dutifulness, self-discipline, and deliberation. 

Scenario 2: I consider myself extremely empathetic and compassionate, and I am very assertive about my anti-bullying stance socially. However, I acted completely against these personality traits during a get-together at my old apartment. The partner of a dear friend of mine was cheating on her with one of my roommates, which I did not approve of, and I generally did not like this person. I had not invited him to the gathering and, over the course of the evening, I made it increasingly clear that I didn’t want him there. He willfully ignored my hints while turning every topic of conversation back to him and eventually devolved into simply demanding attention. After awhile I told him to leave outright, but he seemed to think I was joking. It was at this point that I abandoned my role as a host and began expressing my displeasure more vocally. Every time he said anything, I would interrupt him saying “LEAVE THIS PREMISES”. Then I changed tactics and began spraying him with water when he spoke. He eventually left when threatened by a man much larger than himself (or myself for that matter). This behavior displayed anger/ hostility and impulsiveness and a lack of empathy, compassion, tendermindedness, order, and deliberation. 

While I do think that personality traits tend to be consistent, I also think that people express them differently, and to different extents, based upon context. This exercise certainly shows that people do act against their self-construct in certain situations.