Importance of Personality and the Characteristics of Personality

“What is personality and how does it shape who I am?” This is a question someone may ask themselves. While there is no simple answer, it can certainly be addressed. Just like fruit, all things can be compared and analyzed. Personality supposedly defines who we are. It determines whether we like attending parties, how we tolerate uncomfortable situations, and how much we procrastinate. Dissecting the concepts of determinism and free will, depending on which one you believe in, can give us a basis for understanding what personality is and how final and oppressive these natural inclinations can be.

A being’s personality is a set of characteristics or unique defining qualities that are viewed and filtered under the proper category, scientifically determined, giving your individual personality the most justice. It’s a mixture of biology, genetics, psychology, and countless other factors typically influenced by the external world. Human beings are shape shifters in a more mentally focused way, continually conforming to its surroundings, especially when it comes to living in a society built from complete narcissism. While there is no set definition of personality, this what I believe to be an overview of it. The characteristics of personality can be inherited or molded from your previous experiences in life, whether it was from something that happened during your childhood or something that occurred yesterday. Understanding my definition may be broad and vague, I defend it saying that is merely because something as complex as personality, with such a large web of various factors that shape it, can’t be described in a few words or two paragraphs or even a six hundred word essay. While pondering, in order to build even the simplest of structures, a basic foundation is required allowing for an infinite number of possible extensions and potential outcomes all birthed from a single idea or seed.
These views are a combination of both determinism and free will. Things don’t make much sense when believing entirely in either theory, but they begin to clear up and practically complement each other when you start combining the two. To further explain, while I lean towards determinism, there is plenty of evidence giving reason to consider free will. Life itself is not set in stone or predetermined, but as human beings, we have brains that have been programmed by genetics. Our brains follow what they are being told by DNA, but because personality is also affected by our external environment, free will comes into play. We are not just primates; we are functional human beings that live in a societal environment that requires us to constantly perform and interact with others. This human contact has a huge impact on us. Simple experiences, whether positive or rather unfortunate, can be impactful even if they don’t involve others. Something such as constructive criticism can alter someone’s way of thinking. This theory creates thoughts and studies testing how much self-esteem and self-worth are actually self-controlled.

If a personality consists of everything from quirks to likes and dislikes, then it definitely has the potential to change throughout one’s life. As for things such as temperament, I think it is possible for one to change, but not entirely. Practices such as meditation can teach someone to be calmer, more open to change, or even to handle uncomfortable situations better than they usually would have without the guidance and focused mental training. These are key values for someone who struggles with their temperament. These changes definitely don’t occur overnight, and it may take someone years to change something about their personality, if they’re successful at changing it at all. Human beings are complex creatures, and there are so many factors that go into what shapes us as who we are. These factors can be environmental, societal, or even genetic. All metaphorical cards dealt by life go into the equation that separates you from your sister and your next-door neighbor. I don’t think the question is that simple, so the answer won’t be either. My ambiguous conclusions could also be the result of my ambiguous views on free will and determinism, so use your lifelong developing view and decide for yourself.

Without personalities, there wouldn’t be excitement or variation in life. Everyone would be the same, and we’d be dull duplicates of one another. Beautifully, there are so many differences found among people. We are ourselves, continually and uniquely being shaped by every new season life smacks us in the head with. Theories of free will and determinism may lead us to the answer concerning whether who we are is pre-determined and unalterable, or if we truly evolve as we grow and have a choice in this process and the direction in which we change. We may or may not be able to change distinct qualities ingrained within us, but surely some things can be altered or slightly smoothed out on a small scale. The qualities we cannot change should be embraced, because, after all, that is who we are.

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