The concept of personality refers to a set of personality traits and characteristics of a person that determine their behavior and way of acting in different situations and, in addition, allows them to differentiate themselves from other people. If you want to delve deeper into this concept and learn about the main characteristics of personality, do not hesitate to continue reading this Psychology-Online article: 15 personality characteristics.
What is personality
Personality is understood as the particular diversity that characterizes each person and differentiates them from others. It will be an individual psychological variable formed by a set of psychological and internal traits and particularities of each personand this fact determines people’s actions and ways of adapting to different life circumstances.
Although each individual has their own personality and there is no personality identical to another, we must emphasize that there are a series of exact characteristics for all personalities. In addition, these common factors can help us better understand the concept of personality. Below we explain the 15 main characteristics of personality that you should know.
1. Personality as a whole
This personality characteristic refers to the conception of personality as the construction of a set of personality traits and characteristics of a personwhich give rise to an internal organization that allows us to determine the way of acting of each person depending on the situation and the context in which it originates.
2. Individualistic personality
Although personality is defined at a global level, it should be noted that its definition is individualistic. The general definition shows that the set of people’s traits and characteristics is what makes up the personality, but individualism takes the main role when these people’s traits and characteristics are broken down and adapted to each person based on what they demonstrate. with their actions and behaviors in different situations. That is to say, Some traits or others will predominate in each person and to different degrees, giving rise to unique personalities..
3. Consistent personality
Another of the common characteristics of personality is its persistence and constancy, that is, it personality lasts over time. Personality remains more or less stable throughout a person’s life, although changes can always occur as time progresses. Furthermore, the fact of remaining more or less constant implies that, on some occasions, it is possible to predict the way in which each person will act or behave.
It should be noted that some personality traits may predominate and manifest themselves occasionally or temporarily depending on the characteristics of the situation in which the person finds themselves. On the other hand, there are other traits that are permanent and stable that occur regularly. That is to say, sometimes people face unexpected and spontaneous situations that make them act improvised, giving rise to temporary and specific traits.
4. Differentiating personality
Personality is also characterized by being the mark of identification of each individual, giving rise to a differentiation between people, since, as we have said previously, there are no two exact personalities. Therefore, personality is an element that allows us to differentiate people from others. In short, personality is what allows us to identify each individual as unique and exclusive people.
5. Evolutionary personality
We must also take into account evolution as a personality characteristic. Thus, although personality is a stable component over time, changes and variations can arise. Sometimes, as time progresses, personality also advances and changesand these changes may be due to the maturation of the individual, age, environmental factors and experience, among others.
6. Non-predictive personality
Previously we have commented that on some occasions, thanks to the stability of personality, we can predict people’s behaviors in different situations. Well, on the contrary, the non-prediction of personality is also one of the characteristics of personality. Well, the combination of the person’s traits, behaviors and characteristics, makes it difficult to predict the response of each person in different situations.
7. Adaptive personality
Another of the great characteristics of personality is its adaptation to the environment. That is to say, personality allows people to adapt and adjust to different life situations and circumstances. Thus, personality allows people to solve their problems by responding to them in a way adapted to the circumstance in which they arise. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that if there are alterations or difficulties in the adaptation of people in relation to their environment, it may be due to some type of .
8. Personality and thoughts
We must also take into account the role of thoughts when we talk about personality characteristics, since personality is influenced by ways of thinking of individuals. Thoughts related to one’s own abilities and one’s own idea of ourselves as individuals in general, are the thoughts that can influence the construction and changes that occur in personality traits. For example, if a person thinks that he is not capable enough to do things well and always has thoughts in mind that make him doubt his decisions and actions, this can affect the personality, giving rise to a person who is insecure and which, therefore, the personality trait predominates at high levels.
9. Personality and culture
Culture is a factor that can greatly influence the personality of individuals. It is common that the result of Education and cultural patterns affect the construction of personality in the first years of people’s lives. Furthermore, personality determines people’s actions and behaviors, a fact that can be interfered with by culture, which is a limiting factor in the way people act.
10. Personality and biological influences
Another personality characteristic that we must take into account is the role they play biology, heredity and geneticssince these factors They are decisive when it comes to building personality. Personality is not determined solely by genetics, but it is a factor that influences it to great extents. Therefore, we must know the term temperwhich refers to the behavioral styles and emotional relationships that appear from childhood, since it turns out that people’s temperament is due to biological influences.
11. Personality and experience
Personality develops as time passes. For this reason, the experiences that are lived, especially in childhood, are decisive in the construction of personality. Thus, each person lives different experiences and faces them in different ways, so experiences allow people to develop towards their own personality.
12. Personality and social construction
When we propose to define a person based on their personality, even if this is an internal concept, we are preparing to describe them from an external perspective, that is, from what the person shows us with their attitudes and behaviors. Besides, personality allows us to enter an interpersonal dimension and relate to other people, since depending on your personality you may have more or less affinity with certain personalities of other people. Thanks to an affinity between personalities, we can share concerns, achievements, tastes, among others, with all those people around us with whom such affinity is demonstrated.
13. Abstract personality
Another characteristic of personality is the fact that it is an abstract concept. He is difficult to define and delimit Since it is something abstract, which we cannot see or touch, we can simply deduce what the personality of each individual is like based on the observation of their behaviors and attitudes when they respond to different stimuli and situations.
14. Measurable personality
Personality is also characterized by being measurable, that is, there are different instruments that can assess personality, personality traits and characteristics of a person. Personality is usually evaluated in job interviews to find out whether or not the candidate is suitable for the job (through questions, tests…), it is also evaluated to determine if a person suffers from some type of personality disorder, among others. . If you want to evaluate your personality traits you can do this.
15. Personality based on five dimensions
One of the most prestigious and used instruments to evaluate personality is the so-called NEO-PI-R. This assessment instrument includes five major dimensions that determine the personality of individuals and has become one of the most supported and used personality assessments by most specialists. This personality test is based on the , which are explained below:
- Neuroticism. The first dimension to take into account allows us to observe the individual’s tendency to experience feelings and , among which we find melancholy, shame, anger, guilt, disgust, among others.
- Extraversion. They are sociable people, who like excitement and stimulation, they tend to be happy, they are spirited, energetic, optimistic, etc.
- Opening. The third dimension refers to characteristics of people such as the search for sensations and the search for new experiences.
- Kindness. Fourthly, we find the personality dimension, which allows us to observe the interpersonal tendencies of individuals. This dimension aims to evaluate aspects such as altruism, sympathy with others, the predisposition to help others, among others.
- Responsibility. Finally, we find the personality dimension that tries to evaluate whether the individual is willful, determined, has the will to achieve, among others.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Costa, P. T, and McCrae, RR (sf). NEO PI-R. Neo Personality Inventory – Revised.
- Cloninger, S. C. (2002). Personality theories. 3rd…