Personality, character and temperament: how are they different?

Personality, character and temperament are 3 concepts that are often used synonymously, although the part of their definition that distinguishes them is important. The confusion is understandable. In fact, Not even personality psychologists can agree to define their object of study.

The terms character and temperament refer to concepts related to or related to personality., although, for example, temperament is related to the most biophysical dimension of the subject. These and other issues will be explained below, after trying to understand what that word that we use so much, but with a complicated definition, means: personality.

The study of personality: in search of a definition

There is no shared definition of personality. In fact, not even the great intellectuals of this scientific branch have been able to reach an agreement. Allport (1960) considered that personality was a set of additive, integrative, hierarchical, adaptive and distinctive variables.. Each of these variables has a response function to the specific environment of each subject.

Eysenck (1987), on the other hand, understood personality from an additive definition:

The adaptive definition given by W. Mischel (1987), professor at Stanford and Columbia University, of personality is:

Pelechano (1973), on the other hand, understands personality as what gives identity to the subject throughout its life cycle, while Guilford (1975) believed that this was a unique pattern of traits. Both definitions are based on the distinction variable that Allport exposed in his theory.

General personality characteristics

Despite the lack of consensus, three basic principles that can be applied to personality have been identified in the different theories. These principles are:

Whole: no system is the same as another due to the interaction of all its elements. As the Gestalt law says, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Therefore, personality is understood as an organization. Through the interaction of human beings with their environment, new dynamics and trends appear that are capable of responding to their demands. The principle of totality also states that one of the most important aspects of personality is the singularityand that the more complex that system is, the more need for uniqueness that system will need.Feedback and self-organization: to maintain internal identity in the face of constant external change, there are personality self-regulation processes. It does not refer to a simple homeostasis process to maintain balance. The personality is in constant contact with the environment, combining change and balance. However, despite these changes, Self-regulation processes guarantee a constant identity and personality.Indeterminacy: personality is indefinite and open since the initial real state of its elements cannot be determined. The system, or personality, can act in an indeterminate way toward certain stimuli and vice versa. Therefore, there are very different responses to a word, a behavior or a gesture.

Different authors have intermixed the 3 concepts that concern us. For example, this is the case of Eysenck and Pavlov, who developed personality theories based on biology.

Temperament: the biophysics of the person

Personality, character and temperament are not the same. Although there does not seem to be an agreement to define personality, It is known that temperament refers to the biophysical dimension of the subject. The part most conditioned by biology, by genetics.

In the times of Hippocrates, temperament was understood as the predominant humor in an individual’s personality. To know this humor, the presence of blood, bile, water and phlegm was searched in the saliva; Each element refers to one of the four fundamental temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic or phlegmatic. These humors are defined like this:

Sanguine humor: people with variable moods and many ups and downs.Melancholic: sad but smiling and dreamy individuals.Choleric: impulsive feelings and iron will.Phlegmatic: slow, apathetic, but cold-blooded.

Rothbart, Posner and Hershey (1995) define temperament as a response to changes in the environment, a response that can be somatic and autonomous. Temperament also includes fear and inhibition of novelty, impulsivity, positive or negative mood, general level of activity, or constant attention.

Some, like Izquierdo (2002), understand temperament as a broad concept related to the different dimensions of behavior, which arises in childhood and lays the foundation for the future personality. He also considers that temperament is quite stable over time, compared to other components of behavior. However, he does not understand temperament as a closed and immovable concept. Temperament can be modified through educational practices and the environment.

How does temperament influence personality?

Temperament can be considered the basis of personality development as it is what inclines a person’s choices towards one thing or another. Depending on this choice, the person will develop in a different way or another, allowing the personality to be built in one environment or another..

Thus, for example, a person with a sociable temperament will lean their choice (it does not have to be consciously) towards certain activities that involve the company of others. Furthermore, the initial characteristics of a child entail a reaction in your environmenta reaction that could have been different if those characteristics were also different. The child interacts in a very particular environment, a microcosm.

The same authors who speak of temperament as a factor with a certain weight in achieving a stable personality in turn they flee from deterministic positions. Although temperament was previously understood as invariable, it is now defined as relatively stable.

Character: where the social is expressed

Character is the learned component of personality, created from the experiences that the subject lives. The essential role of social interaction in this training process is highlighted.

The term character It comes from the Greek world, and therefore is closely related to ethics. Thus, authors such as Hogan (1973), steeped in this perspective, defined character as the motives, objectives and dispositions that give a certain stability to the social behavior of the individual. The character of the person is related to five social dimensions:

Knowledge of social rules. The degree of respect for norms, values ​​and prohibitions as a personal mandate. empathy.The autonomywhere the responsibility for actions is one’s own. moral judgmentthe degree to which the person engages with his or her personal consciousness.

The difference between character and personality is that personality is often defined by absolutist adjectives such as “strong”, “bad”, “nice”. The character is related to that information from continued observation of the person’s behavior. G. Berger (1971) understood that character was a part of personality, more linked to moral and social behavior than to the physiological aspects of the person.

Personality: the sum of everything

Although there is not much consensus to define personality, character and temperament, It does seem clear that personality is made up of the interaction of everything stated above.. Thus, personality, character and temperament cannot be understood on their own.

The different personality types are defined by particular coalitions of one system or another, which of course include the constructs of character and temperament. Separating them does not make sense as the development of one precedes and follows the other, and many times it is very difficult to know which came first.

Differences between personality, character and temperament

Finally, we will summarize the most notable differences between personality, character and temperament in 5 categories.

1. Origin

The first of the differences between personality, character and temperament is the origin. Thus, while personality arises from the interaction of genetic, biological, social and cognitive factors, Character arises from learning and temperament from biological factors.

2. Appearance

At birth we already have a temperament. Then, progressively, the personality and character appear. Personality is shaped over the years and character may take a little less time. Although, it is pertinent to keep in mind that this may vary slightly from person to person.

3. Consolidation

Personality is consolidated approximately at the end of adolescence. This does not mean that in some people it consolidates sooner or later. For its part, the character is established a little earlier, although it may vary over time. Finally, temperament is set much earlier, in childhood.

4. Degree of stability

Another difference between personality, character and temperament is their degree of stability. Thus, temperament is very stable over time. On the other hand, the character can oscillatebecause it depends on learning.

For its part, personality undergoes few oscillations throughout life, is quite stable after adolescence. Although, this does not mean that it does not change over time.

5.Degree of permeability

Permeability refers to to the degree to which a phenomenon, construct or structure is influenced by external factors (modifying its own structure).

Having said that, temperament would be the least permeable construct of the three, due to its high biological component. Then comes the personality, which is also not very influential (or difficult to modify).

As you can see, character, personality and temperament are similar concepts, intermingled by the philosophy of many authors who included them in their theories, but with notable differences between them. The great complexity of this topic lies in the difficulty of defining personality, a deep, changing and at the same time stable part of our being.

You might be interested…