Personality refers to an individual's unique combination of emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. Different theorists have proposed various definitions and theories of personality based on their perspectives. Psychologists such as Freud and Erikson have attempted to develop comprehensive theories of personality. Personality can be measured through tests and questionnaires that assess traits, temperaments, and characteristics. The study of personality began with theories of the four humors or temperaments in ancient Greece. Modern conceptions of individual personality emerged during the Renaissance as social roles became less defined by kinship and community. Biology and genetics are also thought to influence aspects of personality.

1. Personalityisthe particularcombinationof emotional,attitudinal,andbehavioralresponse patternsof
an individual.[vague] Differentpersonalitytheoristspresenttheirowndefinitionsof the wordbasedon
theirtheoretical positions.[1] Psychologists suchasFreud,andErik Eriksonhave attemptedtocome up
withpersonalitytheories.[furtherexplanationneeded] Contents[hide] •1 Psychology•2 Measuring
personality•3 Beginningof personalitystudy•4 Extraversionandhappiness•5 Cross-cultural studies•
6 Historical developmentof the conceptof individualpersonality•7 Biologyof personality•8 See also•
9 References•10 FurtherreadingPsychology[edit] Someideasinthe psychological andscientificstudy
of personalityinclude:•Personalitychanges•Personalitydevelopment,the conceptthatpersonalityis
affectedbyvarioussources• Personalitydisorder•Personalitygenetics,ascientificfieldthatexamines
the relationbetweenpersonalityandgenetics•Personalitypathology,characterizedbyadaptive
inflexibility,viciouscyclesof maladaptive behavior,andemotionalinstabilityunderstress•Personality
psychology,the theoryandstudyof individual differences,traits,andtypes•Personalityquizaseriesof
questions(usuallymultiple-choice,ratingscale,orTrue/False) intendedtodescribe aspectsof an
individual'scharacter,thoughts,andfeelings•Personalitystyle•Personalitysystematics,among
subsystemsof personalityastheyare embeddedinthe entire ecologicalsystem•Personalitytest,
exampleswouldinclude the MinnesotaMultiphasicPersonalityInventory(MMPI-2),RorschachInkblot
Test,and ThematicApperceptionTest(TAT) •Personalitytype,referstopatternsof relativelyenduring
characteristicsof behaviorthatoccur withsufficientfrequency•Personalitytrait,referstoenduring
personal characteristicsthatare revealedinaparticularpatternof behaviourina varietyof situation
Measuringpersonality[edit] Personalitycanbe determinedthroughavarietyof tests,suchas the
MinnesotaMultiphasicPersonalityInventory(MMPI-2),RorschachInkblottest,orthe Thematic
ApperceptionTest(TAT).[2]Themostpopulartechnique isthe self-reportinventory - a seriesof answers
to a questionnairethatasksparticipantstoindicate the extenttowhichsetsof statementsoradjectives
accuratelydescribe theirownbehaviorormental state.[2] Beginningof personalitystudy[edit] The
studyof personalitystartedwithHippocrates'fourhumoursandgave rise to four temperaments.[3] The
explanationwasfurtherrefinedbyhissuccessorGalenduringthe secondcenturyCE.The "Four
Humours"theoryheldthata person'spersonalitywasbasedonthe balance of bodilyhumours;yellow
bile,blackbile,phlegmandblood.[4] Cholericpeople were characterizedashavinganexcessof yellow
bile,makingthemirascible.Highlevelsof blackbile wasindicativeof melancholyandpessimism.
Phlegmaticpeople werethoughttohave anexcessof phlegm, leadingtotheirsluggish,calm
temperament.Finally,peoplethoughttohave highlevelsof bloodwere saidtobe sanguine andwere
characterizedbytheircheerful,passionatedispositions.[4] Extraversionandhappiness[edit]Ithasbeen
suggestedthatthisarticle be mergedintoExtraversionandintroversion.(Discuss)Proposedsince
December2012. Personalityisusuallybrokenintocomponentscalledthe BigFive,whichare:openness
to experience,conscientiousness,extroversion,agreeableness,andneuroticism(oremotionality).These
componentsare generallystable overtime andappeartobe attributable toa person’sgeneticsrather
than the effectsof one’senvironment.[5] Some researchhasinvestigatedwhetherthe relationship
betweenhappinessandextraversionseeninadultscanalsobe seeninchildren.The implicationsof
these findingscanhelpidentifychildrenthatare more likelytoexperience episodesof depressionand
developtypesof treatmentthatsuchchildrenare likelytorespondto.Inbothchildrenandadults,
research showsthatgenetics,asopposedtoenvironmental factors,exertagreaterinfluence on
happinesslevels.Personalityisnotbelievedtobecome stable until approximatelythe age of thirty,and

2. personalityconstructsinchildrenare referredtoastemperament.[6] Temperamentisregardedasthe
precursorto personality.[6] WhereasMcCrae andCosta’sBig Five Model assessespersonalitytraitsin
adults,the EASmodel isusedto assesstemperamentinchildren.Thismodel measureslevelsof
emotionality,activity,sociabilityandshynessinchildren.The EASmodel isbelievedtobe the equivalent
of the BigFive model inadults.Findingsshow thathighdegreesof sociabilityandlow degreesof shyness
are equivalenttoadultextroversion,andalsocorrelate withhigherlevelsof life satisfactioninchildren.
Anotherinterestingfindinghasbeenthe linkfoundbetweenactingextrovertedandpositive affect.
Extrovertedbehaviorsinclude actingtalkative,assertive,adventurousandoutgoing.Forthe purposesof
thisstudy,positive affectisdefinedasexperiencesof happyandenjoyable emotions.[7] Thisstudy
investigatedthe effectsof actingina waythat is counterto a person’sdispositional nature.Inother
words,the studyfocusedonthe benefitsanddrawbacksof introverts(peoplewhoare shy,socially
inhibitedandnon-aggressive) actingextroverted,andof extrovertsactingintroverted.Afteracting
extroverted,introverts’experience of positiveaffectincreased[7] whereasextrovertsseemedto
experience lowerlevelsof positive affectandsufferedfromthe phenomenonof egodepletion.Ego
depletion,orcognitive fatigue,isthe use of one’senergytoovertlyactina waythat iscontrary to one’s
innerdisposition.Whenapersonactsina contraryfashion,he divertsmost,if notall,(cognitive) energy
towardregulatingthisforeignstyleof behaviorandattitudes.Because all available energyisbeingused
to maintainthiscontrarybehavior,the resultisaninabilitytouse anyenergytomake importantor
difficultdecisions,planforthe future,control orregulate emotions,orperformeffectivelyonother
cognitive tasks.[7] One questionthathasbeenposediswhyextrovertstendtobe happierthan
introverts.Twotypesof explanationsattempttoaccountfor thisdifference:instrumental theoriesand
temperamentaltheories.[5] The instrumental theorysuggeststhatextravertsendupmakingchoices
that place theminmore positive situationsandtheyalsoreactmore stronglythanintrovertstopositive
situations.The temperamental theorysuggeststhatextrovertshave adispositionthatgenerallyleads
themto experience ahigherdegree of positiveaffect.Intheirstudyof extroversion,LucasandBaird[5]
foundnostatisticallysignificantsupportfor the instrumentaltheorybutdid,however,findthat
extravertsgenerallyexperience ahigherlevel of positiveaffect.Researchhasalsobeenconductedto
uncoversome of the mediators[disambiguationneeded] thatare responsibleforthe correlation
betweenextroversionandhappiness.Self-esteemandself-efficacyare twosuchmediators.Self-efficacy
has beenfoundtobe relatedtothe personalitytraitsof extroversionandsubjective well-being.[8] Self-
efficacyisone’sbelief aboutabilitiestoperform uptopersonal standards,the abilitytoproduced
desiredresults,andthe feelingof havingsome abilitytomake importantlifedecisions.[8] However,the
relationshipbetweenextroversion(andneuroticism) andsubjective happinessisonlypartiallymediated
by self-efficacy.[8] Thisimpliesthatthere are mostlikelyotherfactorsthatmediate the relationship
betweensubjective happinessandpersonalitytraits.Anothersuchfactormaybe self-esteem.
Individualswithagreaterdegree of confidence about themselvesandtheirabilitiesseemtohave both
higherdegreesof subjectivewell-beingandhigherlevelsof extroversion.[9] Otherresearchhas
examinedthe phenomenonof moodmaintenance asanotherpossible mediator.Moodmaintenance,
the abilitytomaintainone’saverage levelof happinessinthe face of an ambiguoussituation(meaninga
situationthathasthe potential toengendereitherpositive ornegativeemotionsindifferent
individuals),hasbeenfoundtobe a strongerforce inextroverts.[10] Thismeansthatthe happiness
levelsof extrovertedindividualsare lesssusceptible tothe influence of external events.Another

3. implicationof thisfindingisthatextroverts’positivemoodslastlongerthanthose of introverts.[10]
Cross-cultural studies[edit]There hasbeensome recentdebateoverthe subjectof studyingpersonality
ina differentculture.Some people thinkthatpersonalitycomesentirelyfromculture andtherefore
there can be no meaningful studyincross-culture study.Onthe otherhand,othersbelieve thatsome
elementsare sharedbyall culturesandaneffortisbeingmade todemonstrate the cross-cultural
applicabilityof “the bigfive”.[11] Historical developmentof the conceptof individual personality[edit]
The modernsense of individual personalityisaresultof the shiftsinculture originatinginthe
Renaissance,anessential elementinmodernity.Incontrastthe Medieval European'ssense of selfwas
linkedtoa networkof social roles:"the household,the kinshipnetwork,the guild,the corporation-
these were the buildingblocksof personhood",StephenGreenblattobserves,inrecountingthe recovery
(1417) and careerof Lucretius'poemDe rerumnatura: "at the core of the poemlaykeyprinciplesof a
modernunderstandingof the world."[12] "Dependantonthe family,the individualalone wasnothing,"
JacquesGélisobserves.[13] Biologyof personality[edit] The biological basisof personalityisthe theory
that anatomical structureslocatedinthe braincontribute topersonalitytraits.Thisstemsfrom
neuropsychology,whichstudieshowthe structure of the brainrelatestovariouspsychological
processesandbehaviors.Forinstance,inhumanbeings,the frontal lobesare responsibleforforesight
and anticipation,andthe occipital lobesare responsible forprocessingvisual information.Inaddition,
certainphysiological functionssuchashormone secretionalsoaffectpersonality.Forexample,the
hormone testosterone isnecessaryforsociability,affectivity,aggressiveness,andsexuality.[14]
Additionally,studiesshowthatthe expressionof apersonalitytraitdependsonthe volumeof the brain
cortex it isassociatedwith.[15] See also[edit] LookuppersonalityinWiktionary,the free dictionary.•
Cultof personality,political institutioninwhichaleaderusesmassmediatocreate a larger-than-life
publicimage • DavidC. Funder• Differential psychology•Human variability•Offenderprofiling•
PersonalityandIndividual Differences,ascientificjournal publishedbi-monthlybyElsevier•Personality
crisis(disambiguation) •Personalityrights,consistingof the righttoindividualpublicityandprivacy•
Personalitystyle References[edit]