Personality can be defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual. Several aspects of this simple definition need elaboration. Notice that there are two parts to it. The first part is concerned with consistent patterns of behavior. Personality researchers often refer to these as individual differences. The important point here is that personality is consistent. We can identify these consistent behavior patterns across time and across situations. We expect someone who is outgoing today to be outgoing tomorrow. Someone who is competitive at work is also quite likely competitive in sports. We acknowledge this consistency in character when we say, “It was just like her to do that” or “He was just being himself.” Of course, this does not mean that an extraverted person is boisterous and jolly all the time, on solemn occasions as well as at parties. Nor does it mean people cannot change. But if personality exists and behavior is not just a reflection of whatever situation we find ourselves in, then we must expect some consistency in the way people act. The second part of the definition concerns intrapersonal processes. In contrast to interpersonal processes, which take place between people, intrapersonal processes include all the emotional, motivational, and cognitive processes that go on inside of us that affect how we act and feel. Thus, you will find that many personality psychologists are interested in topics like depression, information processing, happiness, and denial. It also is important to note that, according to the definition, these consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originate within the individual. This is not to say that external sources do not influence personality. Certainly, the way parents raise their children affects the kind of adults the children become. And, of course, the emotions we experience are often a reaction to the events we encounter. The point is that behavior is not solely a function of the situation. The fear we experience while watching a frightening movie is the result of the film, but the different ways we each express or deal with that fear come from within. Six Approaches to Personality Six general approaches to explaining personality. These are the psychoanalytic approach, the trait approach, the biological approach, the humanistic approach, the behavioral /social learning approach, and the cognitive approach. Although the fit is not always perfect, each of the major theories of personality can be placed into one of these six general approaches. Why so many theories of personality? Let me answer this question by way of analogy. Nearly everyone has heard the story about the five blind men who encounter an elephant. Each feels a different part of the animal and then tries to explain to the others what an elephant is like. The blind man feeling the leg describes the elephant as tall and round. Another feels the ear and claims an elephant is thin and flat, whereas another, holding onto the trunk, describes the animal as long and slender. The man feeling the tail and the one touching the elephant’s side have still different images. The point to this story, of course, is that each man knows only a part of the whole animal. Because there is more to the elephant than what he has experienced, each man’s description is correct but incomplete. In one sense, the six approaches to personality are analogous to the blind men. That is, each approach does seem to correctly identify and examine an important aspect of human personality. Psychologists who subscribe to the psychoanalytic approach argue that people’s unconscious minds are largely responsible for important differences in their behavior styles. Other psychologists, who favor the trait approach, identify where a person might lie along a continuum of various personality characteristics. Psychologists advocating the biological approach point to inherited predispositions and physiological processes to explain individual differences in personality. In contrast, those promoting the humanistic approach identify personal responsibility and feelings of self-acceptance as the key causes of differences in personality. Behavioral/social learning theorists explain consistent behavior patterns in terms of conditioning and expectations. Those promoting the cognitive approach look at differences in the way people process information. It’s tempting to suggest that by simply combining all six approaches, we can obtain an accurate picture of why people act the way they do. Unfortunately, the blind men analogy can only be stretched so far. Although different approaches to a given question in personality often vary only in emphasis—with each providing a legitimate, compatible explanation—in many instances, the explanations from two or more approaches may be entirely incompatible. Thus, people who work in the field often align themselves with one or another of the six approaches as they decide which of the competing explanations makes the most sense to them. Returning to the blind men and the elephant, suppose someone were to ask how an elephant moves. The man feeling the trunk might argue that the elephant slithers along the ground like a snake. The one holding the elephant’s ear might disagree, saying that the elephant must fly like a bird with its big, floppy wings. The man touching the leg would certainly have a different explanation. Although in some instances more than one of these explanations might be accurate (e.g., a bird can both walk and fly), it should be obvious that at times not every theory can be right. It also is possible that one theory may be correct in describing one part of human personality, whereas another theory may be correct in describing other aspects. No doubt some theories will resonate with you more than others. But it is worth keeping in mind that each approach has been developed and promoted by a large number of respected psychologists. Although not all these men and women are correct about every issue, each approach has something of value to offer in our quest to understand what makes each of us who we are.