Are there people “without personality”?

Rating personality seems to be a characteristic precisely of some people’s personalities. This way, It is often said that someone has a lot or, on the contrary, does not have. Thus, it is valid to ask: do there really exist people “without personality”?

Luckily, through its studies, personality psychology has revealed a lot about this construct. However, sometimes new discoveries open more questions than they answer.

Next, in this article, you will learn more about personality and how it is configured.

What is personality?

Personality is a psychological construct, which means that its structure encompasses multiple factors. For that reason, There is no universal definition for personality and, instead, we have different theories about it..

However, most agree that it is a set of patterns that encompass thoughts, behaviors, attitudes and affectivity that end up giving shape to a more or less stable pattern that in some way identifies the person.

Following this line, There are currents that consider personality as the product of genetics. While others establish personality as a result of upbringing and social interaction. Likewise, there is a third current whose theories combine hereditary and environmental factors.

Now, in everyday life, people often say that there are those who “have no personality.” With this we point out that they are manipulable, fragile, with low self-esteem and indecisive. They would be the polar opposite of those who “have a lot of personality”, who would be strong, independent and confident.

However, based on discoveries in the field of psychology, can it be said that there are people “without personality”? To better answer this question, we will analyze some of the most important elements.

The structure of personality

As mentioned at the beginning, Personality is built from a series of different variables. Therefore, to answer the previous question, it is necessary that we see them separately, in order to understand them better.

Temper

It is a tendency in people’s behavior that is innate and can be seen from childhood. For example, we see that there are babies who are very smiling and playful, while others are calmer and quieter. In other words, it is a natural disposition that every human being has to react to their environment.

Character

Another element that we must know to know if there are people “without personality” is character. In this case, it is an element of personality that is linked to socialization. According to theories, Character develops from the awareness that we are social beings and the existence of rules. In this way, we gain autonomy over our behavior to be able to adapt to the rules.

You could say that it is a “learned” aspect of personality because it is built as we learn about social laws. Unlike temperament, we cannot fully control it.

Emotions

Emotions are transitory reactions that arise when faced with different stimuli. Like temperament, they have an innate component, since all people express them. Although, we do not experience them in the same way and we can regulate it with different learned mechanisms.

Personality traits

Personality traits are understood as patterns of thought, affectivity and behavior that are distinguished in people. It could be said that they arise from the interaction of the elements that we saw before.

Following this line, it is believed that personality traits are relatively stable over time. However, other research, such as that of Roberts, Wood and Caspi (2008), provides evidence in favor of the hypothesis that, in reality, personality traits change, even in adulthood. Again, this shows us that personality is a dynamic construct with stable and changing elements.

Are there people “without personality” or “without character”?

Starting from the above, we can get a clearer idea of ​​what personality is. On the one hand, there are genetic factors that come from our evolutionary history as a species. At the other extreme, there are the learnings that arise from socialization and that in some way shape our innate inclinations.

Taking these variables into account, It can be said that all human beings have their own personality.. We have a temperament that manifests itself from childhood, as well as innate emotional reactions. Additionally, as we grow, different experiences with our caregivers and social environment help us develop behavioral patterns.

By way of conclusion, it can be said that there are no people “without personality”. What is often called “lack of personality”, in reality, corresponds to a series of particular personality traits.

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