BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES - Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie

2.1. Human Personality
Behavior and Personality
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Chapter 2
"Personality is the supreme realization of the innate
idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is an act of courage
flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation
of all that constitutes the individual, the most
successful adaptation to the universal
conditions of existence, coupled with the greatest
possible freedom of self-determination."
C.G. Jung, 1875-1961
Almost every day we describe and assess the personalities of the
people around us. Whether we realize it or not, these daily musings on
how and why people behave as they do are similar to what personality
psychologists do. While our informal assessments of personality tend to
focus more on individuals, personality psychologists instead use
conceptions of personality that can apply to everyone. Even there is no
consensus concerning the definition of personality to understand what is
meant by the term personality it is the first step into the field of personality
psychology.
The term "personality" originates from the Latin persona, which
means mask. Significantly, in the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking
world, the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a
character, but rather was a convention employed to represent or typify that
character. Now day most people, when they think of personality, are
actually thinking of personality differences - types and traits and the
like. Scientists define personality as a dynamic and organized set of
characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her
cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations. In other
words personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts,
feelings and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to this,
personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent
throughout life.