What is personality?

The word ‘personality’ is sometimes used to describe celebrities. Also, you may sometimes hear people described as having lots of personality. This can give the misleading impression that the rest of us do not have a personality, or if we do, we do not have much of it. In reality, what is being described are certain traits or characteristics of a particular person. The ‘lots of personality’ person may be outgoing and enthusiastic for example. All of us have a personality that is unique, complex and interesting.

We are made up of a complex set of characteristics that define who we are. Personality can be said to consist of our thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes and behaviours. Our personality may be reflected in the goals we set ourselves.

Popular theories of personality

There are many theories of personality. I have provided a brief summary of some of the most popular theories. Most theories have an associated personality test which are widely used, often as part of the recruitment process so you may be familiar with them. Many theories can be described as being either a type theory or a trait theory and I have outlined the difference below.

Types and traits

There is a long history of people being classified into particular types. Maybe such classifications help us make sense of a complex world. People have been classified based on body shape as well as facial characteristics. Ever heard the comment, 'his eyes are too close together'? Or 'the jolly fat man'? Some prominent theories of personality are type theories. Type theories have the difficulty in that they do not account for the multitude of characteristics that make up who we are.

Trait theories in contrast suggest that people have a whole host of unique characteristics, or traits that people display in varying degrees. Theories vary in terms of which traits they deem most influential to personality.

Eysenck

According to Eysenck, people can be placed on a continuum of two dimensions:  introversion-extraversion and neuroticism-stability. It is a trait theory of personality. People will differ to the extent that they exhibit these characteristics. Most people can be found in the middle of these two dimensions, with a few at the extreme.

Extraversion is associated with sociability, risk taking and a need for human contact. Extraverts may be unreliable, optimistic and restless. Introversion in contrast is associated with seriousness, pessimism and caution. Introverts are reserved and prefer lone activities, rather than being with the group.

Neuroticism refers to a person’s degree of anxiety and  worrying. A high neurotic may not sleep well or eat well. Stability in contrast refers to the ability to remain calm and even tempered. Stable people are less likely to implement action based on their emotions.

Eysenck also introduced a third dimension, psychoticism. People rated highly on psychoticism are impulsive, aggressive, impersonal and lack empathy.

Eysenck’s Personality Inventory is used to determine  extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism levels.

Jung

Jung was a type theorist and argued people can be divided into two types, based on their attitude to and interaction with the world. The two types are extravert and introvert. Extraverts are motivated by their relationships with others and are focused on the external world. Introverts by contrast are more reflective and prefer privacy. They are more interested in the internal world. Jung emphasised that one type is no better than the other.

Jung then went on to describe four functional types of the  psyche:

Thinking: involves the logical assessment of the world.
Sensing: using the senses to understand the world.
Feeling: using value judgements to evaluate the world.
Intuition: using intuition to understand the world.

We all have these functions, but to differing degrees. If we can obtain a balance between the four we are psychologically complete – this is the challenge to us all.

Myers-Briggs test
The Myers-Briggs is a widely used test which incorporates Jung’s work on extraversion and introversion and the four functions. 16 personality types were developed based on strengths in the following four components:

Extraversion – Introversion
Sensing – Intuition
Thinking – Feeling
Judging – Perceiving

Cattell

According to Cattell, personality is made up of at least 20 traits. Through the administering of questionnaires, Cattell came up with 16 factors (known as q data) and this led to the development of the widely used 16pf questionnaire. Cattell also conducted tests to understand people’s behaviour in different situations. From this he determined 21 factors (known as t data). Although Cattell saw traits as fairly stable, he noted that they could be susceptible to changes based on environmental influences.

Allport

Allport proposed a trait theory which was developed in the 1930s. He was concerned with developing a whole description of the person. According to Allport, people have a number of traits which remain consistent across different situations. Traits can take one of three forms:

Cardinal traits: those which have a great influence on  personality.
Central traits: these are basic characteristics within a  person which indicate how that person generally deals with life.
Secondary traits: these refer to preferences and attitudes within particular situations. They are less consistent than cardinal and central traits.

Kelly

Kelly used the term ‘constructs’ as opposed to traits or  types. According to Kelly, people make assumptions about the world and these are known as personal constructs. Such constructs are made up of pairs of opposing dimensions – for example, regarding others as either friendly or unfriendly. These constructs underlie how we experience the world and perceive other people. We are probably not consciously aware of them. It is also possible that experiences can change our constructs.

Kelly developed a repertory grid to find out about people’s constructs. A person rates people in his or her life using pairs of constructs. Constructs are devised by the individual rather than being given to them, already written. The higher up a construct is, the more central it is to that person.

Freud

Freud developed a psychoanalytic model of personality.  Although no longer popular, his work has been very influential.

According to Freud, personality consists of the id, ego, superego and each has its own function. The id consists of instinctual drives – sex and aggression - and works on the pleasure principle. It is concerned with obtaining pleasure and avoiding pain and is irrational. The ego operates on the reality principle, giving in to needs when it is more appropriate. It provides a balance between id and the world. The superego is essentially our conscience. It is concerned with what is right and wrong and is mostly unconscious. Personality involves an ongoing struggle between the three.

Personality was regarded as a developmental process where children go through a number of stages. Success or otherwise in working through these stages will shape the person’s personality. If you have ever wondered where the concept ‘anal personality’ comes from – it’s Freud. The idea is people with difficulties during the anal stage of development (eg, conflict with parent, leading to strict toilet training), result in a person who is orderly, rigid, obsessive and controlling.

Projective tests
Projective tests are based on psychoanalytic theory, and involve people responding to ambiguous stimuli. It is asserted that the person will project aspects of their personality onto the stimuli and the tester interprets their responses. Two popular tests are the Rorschach test and Blacky pictures.

The Rorschach test (also known as the ink-blot test) presented the person with ink blot pictures and the person must state what they see. Their responses are scored and interpreted.

Blacky pictures are used to uncover psychosexual stages and as such are mainly used on children. Pictures of Blacky the dog are presented in a number of family situations and the child must describe what is happening in the picture. Responses are said to indicate if the child is fixated on a particular stage of development.

Five factor model

The five factor model was developed in the 1990s and is based on the work of Norman. Various researchers have supported the idea, Digman and Goldberg  amongst others. It is also known as The Big Five. According to the model, personality consists of five domains and each has a set of associated traits. These domains are:

Extraversion (traits include sociable, assertive and  outgoing)
Agreeableness (kind and trusting, altruism)
Conscientiousness (organised and thorough, impulse control)
Emotional stability (calm)
Intellect or openness (imaginative, creative, intelligent)

The NEO PI-R test is used to measure traits within the five  factor model.

Can personality change?

Some research suggests personality does not change after the age of 30. However, others believe it can change throughout life. It may be that life events and environment can impact on our personality.

Recent research by Ramirez-Esparza et al (2006) found that bicultural people’s personalities slightly changed depending on the language they conducted the personality test in. Participants were assessed on The Big Five, and when carried out in English, participants scored slightly higher on extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness and slightly lower on neuroticism compared to when the test was conducted in Spanish. This may be due to differing interpretations of the world and suggests personality is not fixed and can be influenced by the environment.