What is personality?

Personality is popularly understood as the set of attitudes and style of behavior of a person, or whoever set of psychological characteristics that characterize a person and distinguish it from all others. While it is popular notion corresponds largely to the truth, is really quite complex concept that psychology has been responsible approach from different points of view.

Many authors have tried to define it, and it is from this that you have categorized, even the definition of personality types. In this way, the psychology presents additive definitions that describe the personality as the sum of all those aspects that define the individual. On the other hand, we find ourselves faced definitions inclusive, which addressed the personality as an organized and structured feature set. In addition, it is possible to find hierarchical definitions, which see the personality formed by a set of dimensions, in which each impose more than others. There are other definitions that refer to the personality in terms of the importance of its characteristics to the environmental adaptation of the subject. Finally, it is possible to conceive the personality with special emphasis on the differences involved in front of others, giving the individual unique and distinctive features.

Despite this large number of ways of dealing with what is meant by personality, there are certain factors common to all these attempts at definition. Among them, we are faced with the fact that this is something that is described from inferences around the visible behavior, presenting the subject, without classified according to value judgments. This is in addition to a set of characteristics that tend to remain stable over time, so in most cases allow predictions of behavior, which includes not only the manifesto, but that what is happening in the inner world of people. These behaviors would not respond only to personal patterns, but they also would be influenced by the socio-cultural environment in which develop.

Translated for educational purposes.