Personality Meaning and Nature

The Term "personality" stems from the Latin word persona,which was the name given to the masks actors wore and the characters they portrayed.The meaning of the word personality in practice has changed little since classical time for it is still quite common to hear the comments such as "I do not know what he sees in her,she has a very poor personality ".

A Personality is a thing or quality that is possessed by all of us and we can paste such labels as fine,good or poor on it on the basis of the physical markup,manner of their walking,talking,dressing and a host of other similar characteristics processed by individuals.

Watson the father of behaviorism,taking clues from his behavioral studies,to conclude that "Personality is the sum of activities that can be dis covered by actual observations aver a long enough period of time to give information".(1930)

Morton Prince said to "Personality is the sum total of all the biological innate dispositions,in pulses,tendencies.appetites and instincts of the individual and the dispositions and tendencies acquired by experience".(1929)

Cattell remarked: "Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation".(1970)

Eysenck said to,"Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organisation of a person's character temperament,intellect and physique which determine his unique adjustment to the environment". (1971)