TOPIC INFO (UGC NET)
TOPIC INFO – UGC NET (Psychology)
SUB-TOPIC INFO – Personality, Motivation, Emotion, Stress and Coping (UNIT 7)
CONTENT TYPE – Detailed Notes
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1. Introduction
2. Definition of Personality
3. Determinants of Personality
3.1. Biological Factors
3.2. Psychological Factors
3.3. Environmental Factors
3.4. Personality and Culture
3.5. Personality and Particular Experiences
4. Personality Disorganisation
4.1. Causes of Personality Disorganisation
4.2. Culture and Personality Disorganisation
4.3. Personality Disorganisation in Primitive Societies
5. Socio-Cultural Personality
5.1. Cultural Studies in Field of Psychology
5.2. The Challenge of Cultural Research
6. Approaches to the Study of Personality
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Psychoanalytic Theories
6.3. Behavioural Approach to Personality
6.4. Humanistic Approach to Personality
6.5. Trait Theories of Personality
6.6. Transpersonal Psychology
7. Rotter’s Locus of Control Theory
7.1. Internal vs. External Locus of Control
7.2. Applications
7.3. Origins
7.4. Measurement
8. Seligman’s Explanatory Styles
9. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
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Personality: Determinants, Approaches and Theories
UGC NET PSYCHOLOGY
Personality, Motivation, Emotion, Stress and Coping (UNIT 7)
Introduction
The term personality is often commonly understood in terms of social attractiveness. A person with a “good personality” is usually seen as someone who impresses others and gets along well with people, while those lacking these qualities are considered to have a poor personality. However, from a scientific perspective, this view is considered inadequate. Psychologists argue that defining personality based on attractiveness is limited because it (i) restricts the range of behaviours considered important and (ii) ignores individuals who may possess unique traits and abilities but may not appear socially attractive.
Psychologists explain personality through the concepts of individuality and consistency. People differ in how they think, feel, and behave, even in similar situations. These distinct patterns help define a person’s identity. As stated by Kluckhohn and Murray (1953), each individual is in some ways like all others, like some others, and like no one else.
Another key idea is consistency, which means that individuals tend to behave in relatively similar ways across different situations and over time. This consistency leads to the concept of personality traits, which influence how a person responds to the world.
By combining individuality and consistency, personality can be defined as the unique and characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that persist throughout life. In other words, personality consists of relatively stable traits and dispositions that provide continuity to behaviour, even though these traits may vary across individuals.
The thoughts, feelings, and actions associated with personality have three main characteristics:
i) They act as behavioural components of identity, distinguishing one person from another.
ii) They are largely influenced by internal factors rather than external conditions.
iii) They show a certain level of organisation and structure, meaning behaviours are meaningfully connected. However, personality is also dynamic, and changes can occur over time.
In this context, Gordon Allport (1937, 1961) defined personality as the dynamic organisation of psychophysical systems within an individual that determine their unique adjustment to the environment. This definition emphasizes the presence of an inner system guiding behaviour. Allport extensively studied personality and analyzed multiple definitions before proposing his own.
It is also important to distinguish personality from related terms like character and temperament. Character refers to moral and ethical evaluations of a person, while temperament refers to inborn traits such as adaptability or irritability. Although distinct, both character and temperament are important components of personality.
Definition of Personality
The term ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’, meaning a mask. According to K. Young, personality is a patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes, and ideas, organised externally into roles and statuses, and internally related to motivation, goals, and selfhood.
G. W. Allport defined personality as a person’s pattern of habits, attitudes, and traits that determine their adjustment to the environment. According to Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess, personality is the sum and organisation of traits that determine an individual’s role in a group.
Herbert A. Bloch described personality as the characteristic organisation of habits, attitudes, values, and emotional traits, which provide consistency in behaviour. Similarly, Arnold W. Green defined personality as the sum of a person’s values (such as ideas, power, prestige) along with their habitual patterns of action and reaction.
According to Linton, personality includes the total organised aggregate of psychological processes and status of an individual. MacIver viewed personality as the complete unity of all that an individual is and has experienced.
Lundberg and others described personality as the set of habits, attitudes, and social traits that characterize an individual’s behaviour. Ogburn defined it as the integration of socio-psychological behaviour, reflected in habits, feelings, attitudes, and opinions.
Finally, Davis regarded personality as a psychic phenomenon, emerging from the interaction of organic and social factors, rather than being purely biological or social in nature.