What Is Personality?

Psychologists have varied ways to view and study personality—our characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. The humanistic theories focused on our inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment. Later theorists built upon these two broad perspectives. Trait theories examine characteristic patterns of behavior (traits). Social-cognitive theories explore the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context. Let’s begin with psychodynamic theories.

This is a painting of a man with gray hair and a white beard wearing glasses looking at the viewer.

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) “I was the only worker in a new field.”