Nature Of Personality

The Nature of Personality

Personality is possibly the most important part of what makes us individuals. It's said that no two people look exactly alike; the same can be said about personality; no two personalities are exactly alike. For hundreds of years theorists have tried to figure out the mind and how it works when it comes to personality. They have devoted their lives to fitting our vast human personalities into groups defined by certain characteristics we all have in common. (A2zpsychology.com 2002-2004 Ð'¶3) Environment, instincts, and experiences in life all contribute to who we are and who we grow to become.

The nature of personality is really a unique system of defining how one expresses themselves through emotions and actions. How we think, what our needs are, how we feel, and what we do is a priority to us and our individual plan to get through life successfully. Our personalities must always struggle to keep up with evolution, as well as the ever changing aspects of life and the issues which confront us everyday. How our minds react to the world around us is a direct reflection of who we are as individuals. The nature of our individual personalities is what separates us from each other. Everyone's personality is made up of a unique pattern of traits; these special traits impact how we think, feel and react on an everyday basis.

There have been many early theories on personality. Even ancient Greeks tried to figure out how our minds work. A Greek doctor Hippocrates divided people into "cheerful" groups (sanguine) and "depressed" groups (melancholic). (A2zpsychology.com 2002- 2004 Ð'¶4) He believed one group had more "happy" blood then the other. There was also the Swiss psychologist Carl Young who created the theory of introverts and extroverts, people who are generally out spoken and those who are generally shy. (A2zpsychology.com 2002-2004 Ð'¶6) Sigmund Freud went further into the exploration of the mind and set out to define personality differences by stages in life. He explored the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. Unfortunately trying to fit all personalities into these simple units is not as appealing as it may sound.

With every theorists attempt to define the boundaries of personality it seems it becomes more difficult to understand where individuals unique and diverse behaviors fit in. Many schools of thought have been developed over the years. Some theorists believe the way people process information, such as memories and images in society, shape a person's personality. Others, such as Sigmund Freud, believe instincts and mental motivators play a major factor in a person's personality development. The behavior and social school of thought is also interesting, this school of thought believes personality is completely learned through life experiences.