Define personality

[zombiesinc]

I'm currently doing a Psychology course from home, and one task in my assignment booklet is to ask my friends and family what their definition of personality is. I immediately thought of asking my fellow Escapists, because I'm certain your answers will be more interesting than most people I know. Plus, I'm a little overwhelmed with the thought of creating my own definition of something I find so unique and intriguing.

A cookie and/or high-five for all those who participate!

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Kwaren]

It is just a summary of flaws.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

A mixture of genetics, environment, upbringing and personal experience all neatly brought together to form a cluster of behavioural patterns that will dictate how you react in certain situations. There is also a small, undefinable part of you that no one has really been able to research that makes two people who grew up in identical situations very different. Commonly called a soul.

Put all those together and you have a personality.

 

[El Poncho]

It's how you act.

Uhm, yeah. That's all I got.

 

[Jack_Uzi]

Whow... that's a difficult one. Not to be mistaken with MPS, I think that most people can be very different in personality, depending on who they are interacting with. For example, to my friends I'm an easy going person and try to help them out where I can. But to the people I don't like... well.. they probably think I'm an @55hole. So depending on who you ask about my personality, the outcome is different. I would like to say I'm friendly in general, but as dynamic as the interaction with people is, so am I. I hope this helps you a bit.

 

[Curious Georgie]

Your personality is your general behaviour in regards to life and society. Mine would be laid-back, but into extremes.

 

[Mechsoap]

a personality is formed by events and ideas of a individual,

and im pretty f***ed op

 

[zombiesinc]

A mixture of genetics, environment, upbringing and personal experience all neatly brought together to form a cluster of behavioural patterns that will dictate how you react in certain situations. There is also a small, undefinable part of you that no one has really been able to research that makes two people who grew up in identical situations very different. Commonly called a soul.

Put all those together and you have a personality.

You sound like a friendly version of my textbook! Fantastic. Did you create that from personal experience, knowledge or a quick Google search?

Here's a cookie!

[small]It's there, I promise[/small]

 

[Nevaehfo]

Well, it definitely can't be labeled as a human being's 'definition,' mostly because of the possibility of neurological diseases.

I would have to say that it is the human brain's way of reacting to life situations. The more a person is brought up in a materialistic world, where they get whatever they want and do not have to work for it, the higher possibility they will have a self-centered personality.

 

[Zemalac]

A personality is what happens while you're paying attention to other stuff. It's how you act when you're not thinking about how you act. It is you.

Of course, I'm probably completely wrong, but that was the first thing that popped into my head.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

A mixture of genetics, environment, upbringing and personal experience all neatly brought together to form a cluster of behavioural patterns that will dictate how you react in certain situations. There is also a small, undefinable part of you that no one has really been able to research that makes two people who grew up in identical situations very different. Commonly called a soul.

Put all those together and you have a personality.

You sound like a friendly version of my textbook! Fantastic. Did you create that from personal experience, knowledge or a quick Google search?

Here's a cookie!

[small]It's there, I promise[/small]

That was created on the spot from my own musings on this subject, as well as long discussions between the Philosophy students and Psychology students in the 6th Form common room

Mmm cookies...now I have a cookie and Espresso! The day is looking good already!

 

[zombiesinc]

That was created on the spot from my own musings on this subject, as well as long discussions between the Philosophy students and Psychology students in the 6th Form common room

Mmm cookies...now I have a cookie and Espresso! The day is looking good already!

Which class are you in? And how fantastic that sounds. I absolutely cannot wait for university, such discussions and like-minded individuals.

 

[Rachel317]

I did psychology at AS Level, so maybe I can help! Or maybe not...hehe.

Personality is a mixture of nature and nurture, nature being the way you just happen to be, and nurture being the environment you are brought up in, and how you are brought up. I don't think it's as simple or...as medical, as saying that it's a mixture of chemicals and genetic code, but I don't believe it's just a case of "luck". Personality defines who you are, and what you are; happy, sad, outgoing, insular, optimistic, pessimistic...

It's a complex mixture of behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental attributes, it's made up of experiences you have and the people around you, but I don't think it's as simple as the Type Theories which suggest that there are a limited number of personality types. People might have similar personalities, but it is something that makes every person an individual.

I don't think we'll ever be able to accurately understand or define "personality"; I don't believe there is only one particular definition. It's like trying to define what a soul is...you can point out the individual characteristics (morality etc), but you just can't sum it up. I think it transcends the human mind...

Reading that back, that didn't actually give you an answer, did it? Haha.

 

[oppp7]

A personality is what would cause them to react to something, along with how they would react to it.

 

[zombiesinc]

I did psychology at AS Level, so maybe I can help! Or maybe not...hehe.

Personality is a mixture of nature and nurture, nature being the way you just happen to be, and nurture being the environment you are brought up in, and how you are brought up. I don't think it's as simple or...as medical, as saying that it's a mixture of chemicals and genetic code, but I don't believe it's just a case of "luck". Personality defines who you are, and what you are; happy, sad, outgoing, insular, optimistic, pessimistic...

It's a complex mixture of behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental attributes, it's made up of experiences you have and the people around you, but I don't think it's as simple as the Type Theories which suggest that there are a limited number of personality types. People might have similar personalities, but it is something that makes every person an individual.

I don't think we'll ever be able to accurately understand or define "personality"; I don't believe there is only one particular definition. It's like trying to define what a soul is...you can point out the individual characteristics (morality etc), but you just can't sum it up. I think it transcends the human mind...

Reading that back, that didn't actually give you an answer, did it? Haha.

That certainly did help. Fantastic, and much appreciated!

If you care to take one, here's a cookie!

 

[mrkeebz]

Something constructed around what a person sees themselves as, whether it true or not.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

That was created on the spot from my own musings on this subject, as well as long discussions between the Philosophy students and Psychology students in the 6th Form common room

Mmm cookies...now I have a cookie and Espresso! The day is looking good already!

Which class are you in? And how fantastic that sounds. I absolutely cannot wait for university, such discussions and like-minded individuals.

I was in Philosophy, but I've gone on to do an Archaeology/ICT degree in University. Sadly, these discussions weren't in University, just our 6th Form which is the 2 years of higher education before University, not sure what they're known as outside of the UK.

In Uni the discussions are usually fairly cynical and mostly about politics

But yeah, the moment you get into more specific subjects in higher education the discussions with, as you say, like-minded individuals can be amazingly good fun.

 

[CK76]

I would describe a personality as a collection of where people fall in regards to various categories. As others have mentioned this can formed genetically and through experiences.

So, think of the categories we use to describe one another regarding our thoughts, hobbies and values.

The number of categories is pretty vast given the number of combinations, hence why humans rarely experience the same world despite it being one way.