Chapter 1    Introduction to Personality Theory3
fei75766_ch01_001-018.indd 3  02/06/20 10:41 AMWhydopeople behave astheydo?Dopeople havesome choice inshaping their
ownpersonality? What accounts forsimilarities anddifferences among people? 
What makes people actinpredictable ways? Whyaretheyunpredictable? Dohidden, 
unconscious forces control people’s behavior? What causes mental disturbances? Is
human behavior shaped more byheredity orbyenvironment?
Forcenturies, philosophers, theologians, andother thinkers haveasked these 
questions astheypondered thenature ofhuman nature—or evenwondered whether 
humans haveabasic nature. Until relatively recent times, great thinkers made little
progress infinding satisfactory answers tothese questions. More than100years ago,
however, Sigmund Freud began tocombine philosophical speculations withaprimi -
tivescientific method. Asaneurologist trained inscience, Freud began tolisten tohis
patients tofindoutwhat hidden conflicts laybehind theirassortment ofsymptoms. 
“Listening became, forFreud, more thananart;itbecame amethod, aprivileged 
roadtoknowledge thathispatients mapped outforhim” (Gay, 1988, p.70).
Freud, infact,wasthefirsttodevelop atruly modern theory ofpersonality, 
based mostly onhisclinical observations. Hedeveloped a“Grand Theory,” that
is,onethatattempted toexplain allpersonality forallpeople. Asweseethrough -
outthecourse ofthisbook, many other theorists from different points ofview
havedeveloped alternative grand theories. Thegeneral trend overthecourse ofthe
20thcentury wastobasetheories more andmore onscientific observations rather 
thanonclinical ones. Both sources, however, arevalid foundations fortheories 
ofpersonality. 
What Is Personality?
Humans arenotalone intheiruniqueness ofandvariability between individual 
members ofthespecies. Individuals within every living species exhibit differences 
orvariability. Indeed, animals suchasoctopi, birds, pigs,horses, cats,anddogs
haveconsistent individual differences inbehavior, otherwise known aspersonality, 
within theirspecies (Dingemanse, Both, Drent, VanOers, &VanNoordwijk, 2002; 
Gosling &John, 1999; Weinstein, Capitanio, &Gosling, 2008). Butthedegree to
which individual humans varyfrom oneanother, bothphysically andpsychologically, 
isquite astonishing andsomewhat unique among species. Some ofusarequiet and
introverted, others crave social contact andstimulation; some ofusarecalm and
even-keeled, whereas others arehigh-strung andpersistently anxious. Inthisbook, we
explore theexplanations andideas thatvarious menandwomen havehadconcerning 
howthese differences inhuman personality come about.
Psychologists differ among themselves astothemeaning ofpersonality. Most 
agree thattheterm “personality” originated from theLatin word persona, which 
referred toatheatrical mask worn byRoman actors inGreek dramas. These ancient 
Roman actors wore amask (persona) toproject aroleorfalseappearance. This
surface viewofpersonality, ofcourse, isnotanacceptable definition. When psy-
chologists usetheterm “personality,” theyarereferring tosomething more thanthe
rolepeople play.Final PDF to printer