PERSONALITY
CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY
The term �personality� often appears in our
day-to-day discussion. The literal meaning
of personality is derived from the Latin
word persona, the mask used by actors in
the Roman theatre for changing their facial
make-up. After putting on the mask,
audience expected the person to perform
a role in a particular manner. It did not,
however, mean that the person enacting
the given role necessarily possessed those
qualities.
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For a layperson, personality generally
refers to the physical or external
appearance of an individual. For example,
when we find someone �good-looking�, we
often assume that the person also has a
charming personality. This notion of
personality is based on superficial
impressions, which may not be correct.
In psychological terms, personality
refers to our characteristic ways of
responding to individuals and situations.
People can easily describe the way in which
they respond to various situations. Certain
catchwords (e.g., shy, sensitive, quiet,
concerned, warm, etc.) are often used to
describe personalities. These words refer to
different components of personality. In this
sense, personality refers to unique and
relatively stable qualities that characterise
an individual�s behaviour across different
situations over a period of time.
If you watch closely, you will find that
people do show variations in their
behaviour. One is not always cautious or
impulsive, shy or friendly. Personality
characterises individuals as they appear in
most circumstances. Consistency in
behaviour, thought and emotion of an
individual across situations and across
time periods characterises her/his
personality. For example, an honest person
is more likely to remain honest irrespective
of time or situation. However, situational
variations in behaviour do occur as they
help individuals in adapting to their
environmental circumstances.
In brief, personality is characterised by
the following features:
- It has both physical and psychological
components.
- Its expression in terms of behaviour is
fairly unique in a given individual.
- Its main features do not easily change
with time.
- It is dynamic in the sense that some of
its features may change due to internal
or external situational demands. Thus,
personality is adaptive to situations.
Once we are able to characterise
someone�s personality, we can predict
how that person will probably behave
in a variety of circumstances. An
understanding of personality allows us to
deal with people in realistic and acceptable
ways. For example, if you find a child who
does not like orders, the most effective way
to deal with that child will be not to give
orders, but to present a set of acceptable
alternatives from which the child may
choose. Similarly, a child who has feelings
of inferiority needs to be treated differently
from a child who is self-confident.
Several other terms are used to refer to
behavioural characteristics of individuals.
Quite often they are used as synonyms of
personality.
MAJOR APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF
PERSONALITY
Psychologists interested in the study of
personality, try to answer certain questions
about the nature and origin of individual
differences in personality. You may have
observed that two children in the same
family develop dramatically different
personalities. Not only they look physically
different, but they also behave differently
in different situations. These observations
often generate curiosity and force us to
ask: �Why is it that some people react
differently in a given situation than others
do? Why is it that some people enjoy
adventurous activities, while others like
reading, watching television or playing
cards? Are these differences stable all
through one�s life, or are they just shortlived
and situation-specific?�
A number of approaches and theories
have been developed to understand and
explain behavioural differences among
individuals, and behavioural consistencies
within an individual. These theories are
based on different models of human
behaviour. Each throws light on some, but
not all, aspects of personality.
Psychologists distinguish between type
and trait approaches to personality. The
type approaches attempts to comprehend
human personality by examining certain
broad patterns in the observed behavioural
characteristics of individuals. Each
behavioural pattern refers to one type in
which individuals are placed in terms of
the similarity of their behavioural
characteristics with that pattern. In
contrast, the trait approach focuses on
the specific psychological attributes along
which individuals tend to differ in
consistent and stable ways. For example,
one person may be less shy, whereas
another may be more; or one person may
be less friendly, whereas another may be
more. Here �shyness� and �friendliness�
represent traits along which individuals
can be rated in terms of the degree of
presence or absence of the concerned
behavioural quality or a trait. The
interactional approach holds that
situational characteristics play an
important role in determining our
behaviour. People may behave as
dependent or independent not because of
their internal personality trait, but because
of external rewards or threats available in
a particular situation. The crosssituational
consistency of traits is found to
be quite low. The compelling influence of
situations can be noted by observing
people�s behaviour in places like a market,
a courtroom, or a place of worship.
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