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What is Personality – Free Study guide

Definition of Personality


“Personality can be described as how a person affects others, how he understands and views himself and his pattern of inner and outer measurable traits”

Personality Determinants
There are several factors that determine the formation or shaping of our personality. Among them the three major factors are: Heredity, Environment and Situation.

i) Heredity

The genetic components inherited from our parents at the time of conception determine strongly the personality characteristics of an individual. The color, height, physical statutory, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition, inheritable diseases etc are considered to be inherited from our parents.

ii) Environment


The culture in which people are brought up in their lives and they type of socialization process such as family’s child rearing practices, socio economic status of the family, number of children in a family, birth order, education of the parents, friends and peer group pressures, religious practices, the type of schooling and recreational activities, pastime behavior etc play a critical role in shaping our personalities.

iii) Situation


The type of specific situation which a person encounters also equally shapes the type of personality characteristics. For example, an individual’s exposure to a job interview and the type of experiences encountered during that time will shape certain personality characteristics. Similarly, going for a picnic with friends and encountering the type of experiences whether pleasant and unpleasant will shape the personality characteristics of individuals.

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