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Monday, December 6, 2010

What is Personality?

An authority once said, "Every man is three men: the man he thinks he is, the man others think he is, and the man he really is." Do you agree with this statement?

Do you ever wonder why one person differs from another? Why do some of your friends always seem happy and friendly? Why are others often grouchy and not much fun to be with? How else does one differ from the rest? Does he differ because of the way he acts? thinks? impresses other people? Is it personality that sets him apart from others? The answer to these last five questions is "yes." William C. Menninger, a noted doctor, defines personality as "all that a person has been, is, and hopes to be." Ernest R. Hillgard, an eminent psychologist, defines personality as "the sum total of individual characteristics and ways of behaving which, in their organization or patterning, describe an individual's unique adjustments to his environment." Joseph I. Arnold and Harlan A. Philip think of personality as "the total of the behavior patterns of a person."

Personality, therefore, consists of your physical makeup and your thoughts, memories, feelings, motives, reactions, experiences and even your dreams and wishes for the future. Every individual personality is unique. This means that it is unlike any other because it is the sum total of different environmental factors. Every personality has its own way of reacting to these factors in a way that reflects behavior unique to the individual.


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