12.1 What Is Personality?

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LOQ LearningObjectiveQuestion

12-1 What is personality, and what theories inform our understanding of personality?

Personality an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Our personality is our characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. (Freud’s ideas inspired today’s psychodynamic theorists.) The humanistic theories focused on our inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment. Later theorists built upon these two broad perspectives. Trait theories examine characteristic patterns of behavior (traits). Social-cognitive theories explore the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context. Let’s begin with psychodynamic theories.