Personality
Underlying the concept of personality in psychology is the threefold
proposition of Henry Murray. Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other
men, (b) like some other men, and (c) like no other men.
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This neatly
captures the paradox of the similarity in humankind and the differences
between individuals. The field of personality or individual differences seeks to
explain how each person
is both like other persons and like not like other
persons.
Similarities arise so that each person is like some other people because they
share traits or dispositions (for example they are sociable or optimistic). There
are also differences between individuals. Each individual is unique individual
and different from all others in that they have different traits, they have those
traits in different amounts or they combine the traits in different ways.
While there is no agreed definition of the field of personality there is a good
working description. It is the study of the pattern of characteristics, feelings,
thoughts and behaviours of the individual that persist over time and situations
and distinguish one person from another. Since these traits or characteristics
for personality persist over time, there is stability in their behaviour. Since they
persist over situations there is consistency in their behaviour.
Character
Personality focuses on behavioural disposition. Character, by contrast, is
concerned with the moral strength or value system, which dictates or shapes a
person’s capacity to do right or wrong. It is concerned with the values that
underlie their actions. In the context of legal cases the relevant vales concern
the commission of legal wrongs. Is the person of upright character such that
they would be most unlikely to do wrong, or is the person of fallen character
so that they are liable to do bad things?
Behaviour
In many cases the disposition of a person to behave in certain way is based on
repetition of behaviour. Putting it simply, they have behaved in a certain way in
the past and there is some assumption that they will continue to behave in that
way.
Test
In a practical sense the likelihood of behaviour being repeated depends on two
factors. One is a quantitative measure –
the number of times the person has
engaged in the behaviour already. The other is a qualitative measure –
the
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Henry Murray
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