Concept of Personality

The Meaning of Personality

The word "personality" comes from the Latin word persona — the mask worn by actors in Roman theatre to change their facial appearance. When an actor put on a mask, the audience expected that person to perform a specific role in a particular manner. But wearing the mask did not mean the actor actually possessed those qualities in real life.

For a layperson, personality usually means physical or external appearance. If someone is good-looking, we often assume they also have a charming personality. This is a superficial impression and may not be correct.

In psychology, personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and situations. People can easily describe how they respond to various situations using catchwords like shy, sensitive, quiet, concerned, or warm. These words refer to different components of personality.

Defining Personality

Personality refers to the unique and relatively stable qualities that characterise an individual's behaviour across different situations over a period of time. People do show variations in behaviour — one is not always cautious or impulsive, shy or friendly. But personality characterises individuals as they appear in most circumstances.

Consistency in behaviour, thought, and emotion across situations and across time periods characterises a person's personality. For example, an honest person is more likely to remain honest irrespective of time or situation. However, situational variations in behaviour do occur because they help individuals adapt to their environmental circumstances.

Features of Personality

1. Physical and psychological components — Personality includes both how we look and how we think, feel, and behave.
2. Unique expression — Each individual's behaviour is fairly unique.
3. Stability over time — The main features of personality do not easily change with time.
4. Dynamic and adaptive — Some features may change due to internal or external situational demands. Personality is adaptive to situations.

Why Understanding Personality Matters

Once we can characterise someone's personality, we can predict how that person will probably behave in a variety of circumstances. This understanding 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 is 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.

Related Terms

Several other terms are used to refer to behavioural characteristics of individuals. They are often used as synonyms of personality, but each has a distinct meaning.

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