DEFINITIONS OF

PERSONALITY
Sana Bashir
Roll no 02
ORIGIN

 The term personality is derived from the Latin word persona

meaning a mask.

 Personality is a Stable Pattern of habits, traits, attitudes and

ideas of an individual as these are organized externally into
roles and statuses and as they relate internally to motivation,
goals and various aspects of selfhood.
APA’S DEFINITION OF
PERSONALITY
 TRAIT THEORY OF
PERSONALITY
 In the Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, personality is “the relatively
enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish individuals from
one another.”
According to the big five model, personality is composed of five broad dimensions.
Agreeableness: trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors
Conscientiousness: high levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control
Extroversion: sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and excitability
Neuroticism: sadness, moodiness, emotional instability, worries
 Openness: creative, open to trying new things, happy to think about abstract concepts
ALLPORT
 Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristics
behavior and thought” (Allport, 1961, p. 28).
 INTERACTIONIST DEFINITION
 Personality is defined as the characteristic sets of behaviors,
cognitions, and emotional patterns that evolve from biological and
environmental factors.
 Biological model reflects underlying biological processes. Distinct
genetic, neurochemical and neuroanatomical correlates are shown
to be responsible for each temperamental trait.
 Personality traits are more malleable by environmental influences.
One study that has shown how the home environment, specifically
the types of parents a person has, can affect and shape their
personality.