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Theories of Personality

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Theories of Personality
What is the meaning of Personality? Personality is defined as an individual’s unique and stable pattern of characteristics and behaviours. It is the essence or uniqueness of one’s behavior. No two persons are alike, even twins have different personalities. Personality comes from the two Latin words ‘per” and “sonare”, which means “to sound through.” The Romans in Greek and Latin drama referred to it as “persona” the theatrical masks worn by actors as they perform the role expected by viewers and social audience. The behavior that is manifested may differ on the situations that they are into and people have to “fit in” to those situations. There are a number of theories that attempt to account for our personalities and explain how we come to be the way we are.
Theories of Personality Theories of personality are explored in order to have a better understanding about different personalities that people exhibit. 1. Trait theories
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV-TR), personality traits are “ enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts”. Theorist assume that A) traits are relatively stable over time, B) traits differ among individuals, C) traits influence behaviour.

Gordon Allport delineated different kinds of traits, which he also called dispositions . He categorized central traits as the basis to an individual’s personality, while secondary traits are more peripheral. Common traits are those recognized within a culture and thus, may vary from culture to culture. Cardinal traits are those by which an individual may be strongly recognized. Raymond Cattell’s research propagated a two-tiered personality structure with sixteen “ primary factors” popularly known as the “16 Personality Factors and five “secondary factors”.

A different model was proposed by Hans

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