Personality

One of the enduring questions in our attempts to understand people is how we can simplify our understanding of people and also how we can categorise them, putting them into neat boxes so we can predict what they will (or at least believe that we can) and hence know how to interact with them.

Personality is: Various definitions.

Personality models

There are a range of models relating to personality. although some are more about preferences and typing than inherent personality. These include:

16PF: Cattell's sixteen basic personality factors.
Big Five factors: A simplification to five factors from the 16PF.
DISC Types: Four simple types.
Freud's Personality Factors: Id, Ego, cathexis and other classic stuff.
MMPI: Clinical psychiatric conditions.
Jungian Type Inventory: The oldest modern typing system.
Sheldon's Body Personality: You are what your shape is.
Satir's Stress Responders: Five types in response to stress.
Type A and Type B personalities: Prone to heart attacks or not?

So what?

Assessing personality of people is very useful as it helps understand them, their traits, biases and their preferences, and hence how they may be convinced (play to their preferences and traits).

The only trap of playing the personality card is if you assume that people are nothing but their assessed personality. Their preferences do change with circumstance and as people we are particularly complex animals, so you should also be flexible to handle the other person when they climb out of the box into which you have put them.

The bottom line is to always remember that this psychology stuff is just a numbers game. Understanding personality helps, but does not allow 100% predictions.

Personality

Personality models

So what?

See also