DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY

Personality is a determinant of behavior. According to Kurt Lewin’s formula:

BEHAVIOR (B) = F[ PERSONALITY (P), ENVIRONMENT (E) ]

We can see that the determinants (causes) of BEHAVIOR can be separated into 2 classes of variables: PERSONALITY AND ENVIRONMENT. The difference is that PERSONALITY variables are internal causes of behavior (inside the skin) and ENVIRONMENTAL variables are external causes of behavior. When we ask why we do what we do (Why we behave the way that we behave?), the answers are either personality variables or environmental variables, or some combination of both.

A more complicated formula from Gustav Bergman, a logical positivist philosopher, who played with Breuer’s grandchildren.

BEHAVIOR = F[HEREDITY/PHYSIOLOGY (A), PAST LEARNING (B), FLUCTUATING LEVELS OF AROUSAL (C), AND THE ENVIRONMENT (D).

A, B, and C (above) are all internal, so

PERSONALITY variables can also be either PHYSIOLOGICAL (biological) or LEARNED.

Also, it is generally agreed that in order to be considered as a variable within the domain of personality, a personality variable must exert a relatively consistent influence on behavior over time. Thus, PERSONALITY variables are both A) INTERNAL, and B) RELATIVELY CONSISTENT OVER TIME. For this reason C above (fluctuating levels of arousal) is excluded from the domain of personality.

This leads to your instructor’s favorite definition of Personality which comes from Salvador Maddi:

“PERSONALITY is a STABLE set of INTRAPSYCHIC (INTERNAL) characteristics and tendencies that determines the psychological behavior of people. The behavior determined by personality is RELATIVELY CONSISTENT over time.”

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A GOOD THEORY

CORE: Those elements or variables in a theory, which are assumed to be common to all people. The way in which we are all alike.

PERIPHERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Elements or variables of a theory, which are closer to being observable and are generally learned, rather than inherent. We will often refer to this as the adult personality characteristics of an individual.

CORE and PERIPHERY are linked by DEVELOPMENT

We are all born with the same core, yet each person has a unique developmental course. The unique experiences each one of us has in our development forms our peripheral personality characteristics.

A good theory should describe a core (e.g., Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego). A good theory should also describe developmental experiences that may be beneficial or harmful (e.g., fixation during one of the psychosexual stages). The theory should also describe specific adult peripheral personality characteristics that would develop in individuals who have had certain developmental experiences. For example, compulsive characteristics should occur in adults that received harsh toilet training at age 2.

Even though a theory may be “good” by these standards, it does not make the theory “true” (valid).

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