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Personality

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Lady Gaga dazzles millions with her unique musical arrangements, tantalizing outfits, and provocative performances. In shows around the world, Lady Gaga’s most predictable feature is her unpredictability. She has worn a meat dress to an awards show, sported 16-inch heels to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama (who later described the interaction as “a little intimidating”), and wowed Super Bowl viewers with her performance of the national anthem.

Yet even Lady Gaga exhibits distinctive and enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Her fans and critics can depend on her openness to new experiences and the energy she gets from the spotlight. And they can also rely on her painstaking dedication to her music and performances. She describes herself in high school as “very dedicated, very studious, and very disciplined.” Now, in adulthood, she shows similar self-discipline: “I’m very detailed—every minute of the show has got to be perfect.” This chapter focuses on the ways we all demonstrate unique and persisting patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving—our personality.

Much of this book deals with personality. Earlier chapters considered biological influences on personality; personality development across the life span; how personality relates to learning, motivation, emotion, and health; and social influences on personality. The next chapter will study disorders of personality. This chapter focuses on personality itself—what it is and how researchers study it.

We begin with two historically important theories of personality that have become part of our cultural legacy: Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and the humanistic approach. These sweeping perspectives on human nature laid the foundation for later personality theorists and for what this chapter presents next: newer scientific explorations of personality. We’ll look at the traits that define our uniqueness. We’ll see how biology, psychology, and environment together influence personality. Finally, we’ll note how our concept of self—that sense of “Who I am”—helps organize our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.