What is personality?

Personality is a versatile concept. Personality is described as a collection of ordered and relatively stable psychological characteristics and mechanisms. These traits and mechanisms influence the interaction with aspects of an individual's intrapsychic, physical and social environment. Below is a more detailed explanation of this definition.

First of all, psychological characteristics are traits that characterize a person for a longer period of time and that distinguish people from each other. Character traits are often described through adjectives such as cheerful, arrogant or chaotic. They describe the average tendency of a person. For example, very talkative people will on average initiate more conversations than people who are less talkative.

When researching the character traits of someone's personality, there are generally four questions that are asked:

1. How many traits are there?
2. How are they organized?
3. What is their origin?
4. What are the correlations and consequences of these traits?

The question of how many character traits there are is almost impossible to answer. This is because there can be a big difference in how the traits appear between individuals, cultures and sexes. Therefore, research mainly focuses on understanding the fundamental character traits. The second question focuses on the organization or structure of the attributes. The third question is about the origin of the trait. Where do they come from and how were they developed? The fourth question is about the correlations and consequences. It is intended to look at how the social network of the person works and how studying works for example.

Character traits are useful for three reasons:

1. They help in the process of 'describing' someone and thereby also better understand the differences between people.
2. Traits are useful in explaining why someone is exhibiting a certain behavior.
3. Traits are useful because they could predict certain behaviors for the future.

Psychological mechanisms are similar to traits, but the term mechanisms focuses more on the processes related to personality. Consider for example the different cognitive processes that are required for an information processing activity. Most psychological mechanisms consist of three processes:

1. The input process: where the person is confronted with a situation.
2. The thinking process: where a person considers all options and makes a decision.
3. The execution process: the process in which the person acts in the situation.

Character traits in particular, but also the psychological mechanisms, have a major influence on the way a person lives his life, sees himself, sees others and the goals that someone sets for themselves. Personality is 'in the individual'. This means that personality is 'something' that someone carries with them from one situation to another situation. Our personality is also influenced by the environment and its factors.

How are character traits and mechanisms organized?

This means that it is not just a collection of attributes, but that the traits are mutually linked. This ordering of the personality can be seen, for example, in the making of decisions. Depending on the circumstances, different decision rules are used that arise from the personality characteristics. Moreover, these traits are relatively stable, especially from adulthood. Someone who is angry, can be angry today but feel completely different tomorrow. This is more of a personality state than a trait. Personality is also said to be an influential force as it can affect other people's lives.

It is difficult to describe how personality affects others because the person-environment interaction is very complex. Interactions are for example: perceptions, selections, evocations and manipulations.

The environment can be a challenge for humans, where some things can be a direct warning or danger to life. Think for example of extreme cold or heat, drought, not enough food, heights, dangerous animals and strangers. In addition to this natural environment, the social environment also presents challenges. Think of competing with colleagues for a certain job, getting love or not, or keeping your self-confidence high.

What are the three levels of personality analysis?

In 1948 Kluckholm and Murray identified three levels of personality analysis:

1. The level of human nature (human nature level): it analyzes characteristics and mechanisms that are characteristic of humans as a species. A good example is the ability to learn a language.
2. The level of individual and group differences: some people like silence and others like bustle. There are many dimensions that make the individual differences clear, making each person different, but also similarities are present in some areas. Personality can be explored by looking at differences between groups. One group has certain personality traits that are present but different compared to another group. Differences may be caused by age or socio-economic background.
3. The level of being individually unique: this is about the idea that every person is unique.

The first level is about human nature, an example of this is language. Every person on this earth speaks a certain language, which ensures that we can learn and communicate. Therefore, spoken language is part of the universal human nature.

The second level deals with individual and group differences. Some people like a lot of people and large crowds, while others prefer to read a book alone. Some people are highly confident and daring, while others are constantly worrying and experiencing fear. Individual differences are ways in which people are alike or differ greatly from each other. Personality can also be viewed from within group differences, when a particular group exhibits the same traits that make them different from other groups.

What does the 'nomothethic method' entail?

There are two methods of researching differences between individuals or groups, namely the nomothetic methods and the idiographic method. Research according to the nomothetic method often has to do with comparing statistics from different groups. It is often used to learn about common human character traits.

What does the 'idiographic method' entail?

The idiographic method focuses on a single individual and usually results in a biography or case description of a single individual. Most of the major personality theories deal with the level of human nature, while most research today is on individual and group differences.

What causes the gap between the great theories and the contemporary research on personality?

In the field there is a bridge between the level of human behavior and the level of group behavior. Because of this, there is a gap between the great theories of personality and the contemporary research on personality. Psychologists tend to use only one perspective. These single perspectives are valuable, but no theory seen from one perspective is sufficient to explain the entire behavior of people.

What are the six knowledge domains of personality psychology?

Personality is difficult to explore because it is very complicated and extensive. To create order in this research field, personality psychology is divided into six knowledge domains:

1. The first domain is the dispositional domain. Within this domain, researchers are looking for important differences between individuals. It is investigated which disposing factors underlie these differences and how they develop.
2. The second domain is the biological domain. The basis of this domain is the idea that man is a biological system that produces behavior, thoughts and emotions with the help of, among other things, the brain and nerves. The biological domain has three research areas: genetics, evolution and psychophysiology. Psychophysiology is concerned with personality in terms of the functioning of the nervous system.
3. The third domain is the intrapsychic domain. This domain concerns the mental mechanisms of the personality. Many of these mechanisms take place in the subconscious mind. The domain is concerned with defense mechanisms and has many theories in common with Freud's psychoanalytic theory. Freud argued that sexual and aggressive instincts provide the intrinsic motivation of humans to engage in activities. Today this Freudian theory has been revised and modernized.
4. The fourth domain is the cognitive-experiental domain. This domain focuses on cognition and subjective experiences, feelings, beliefs and wishes. How we see ourselves, the self concept, is an important development. Are we nice or annoying, successful or not? Do we see ourselves getting married and having children in the future? Intelligence also plays a major role in this. How do differences in intelligence arise in people?
5. The fifth domain is the social and cultural domain. This domain states that there is a mutual influence between personality and the environment. In this domain the differences within cultures are investigated, because different personalities can lead to different social interactions. Differences between cultures are also investigated, because different personalities can arise through different cultural influences.
6. The sixth domain is the adjustment domain. The core idea of ​​this domain is that personality plays an important role in how people deal with life events. In this domain it is argued that personality is linked to health (difficult situation can lead to excessive alcohol consumption). It also belongs to this domain that certain personality traits are related to poor adaptation (for example to social situations) and are referred to as personality disorders.

What characterizes a good theory?

A good theory is characterized by having a guiding role for researchers, providing an overview of existing knowledge and making predictions. The five scientific standards when it comes to evaluating personality theories are that:

1. It is comprehensive.
2. It has a heuristic value.
3. It is testable.
4. It contains few assumptions or premises.
5. It can be combined and integrated with other domains and levels.