In some ways we, Humans, are all the same. We all have the same Human nature. We share a common Humanity. We all have human bodies and human minds, we all have human thoughts and human feelings.
Yet in other ways we are all completely different and unique. No two people are truly alike. No two people can ever have the same experience of life, the same perspective, the same mind.
Even identical twins are unique in this respect: twin number 1 will always be twin number 1 and will never know what it is actually like to be twin number 2, to experience life and see the world through number 2’s eyes.
Yet in other ways we are all completely different and unique. No two people are truly alike. No two people can ever have the same experience of life, the same perspective, the same mind.
Even identical twins are unique in this respect: twin number 1 will always be twin number 1 and will never know what it is actually like to be twin number 2, to experience life and see the world through number 2’s eyes.
Somewhere between these two — our common humanity and our unique individuality — lies personality.
Personality is about our different ways of being human. How we are all variations on the same themes. How the human nature we all share manifests in different styles of thinking, feeling and acting.
Recently, psychologists have come to see 'Personality' as a product of nature interacting with nurture. Or to put it another way:
Personality = Temperament + Character
Personality = Temperament + Character
- Temperament refers to our nature — our inborn characteristics, our ‘factory settings’, how we are wired. Even at birth, we can see individual variations on the human theme. Some infants, for example, are naturally timid while others are naturally bold.
- Character refers to how we develop as individuals, how we learn to deal with life since we were born. Character is our acquired characteristics, our ‘custom settings’. Our character is also the sum of our virtues and vices. A person of good character, for example, has high integrity; a person of bad character does not. It helps to be a good judge of character.
Here is a formula from Pastimespace:
Note that, our Character is built upon our thoughts, feelings, attitude, behavior and habits.
Temperament is built upon our instincts and talents. Attitude is built upon our values and beliefs.
So, Personality = Temperament (Instincts + Talents) + Character ( Thoughts + Feelings + Attitude (Values + Beliefs) + Behavior + Habits).
Temperament is built upon our instincts and talents. Attitude is built upon our values and beliefs.
So, Personality = Temperament (Instincts + Talents) + Character ( Thoughts + Feelings + Attitude (Values + Beliefs) + Behavior + Habits).
It has been said that temperament is something we share with other animals, while character is, perhaps, uniquely human.
If you believe in a mechanical universe in which people are merely puppets driven by their genes, their brains, and their environments, then the personality is simply temperament: it’s a set of hard-wired behavioral tendencies forged by all those genetic, biological, and environmental factors.
If you believe that people can forge themselves to some extent, then personality is more to do with character: a set of strengths and virtues, as well as weaknesses and vices, that each individual develops through life, and sometimes struggles to get to grips with.
Author and Credits:
Barry
Editor - Pastimespace
If you believe that people can forge themselves to some extent, then personality is more to do with character: a set of strengths and virtues, as well as weaknesses and vices, that each individual develops through life, and sometimes struggles to get to grips with.
Author and Credits:
Barry
Editor - Pastimespace