All people, including you and me, have a personality, and every person each has a unique personality. It is what makes us the person we are. Our personalities control our behaviour, thoughts, emotions and even our unconscious feelings. It makes it possible to predict how a person will act or react under different situations.

But what is personality?

It is the deeply fixed, consistent, distinctive and characteristic patterns of our thoughts, feelings and behaviour that define a person's own style of interacting with the physical and social environment. It is the tendency to behave in a certain way under different circumstances and across time. Personality is shown in many ways through behaviour, thoughts and feelings. It must be noted, however, that feelings, thoughts and behaviour does not make up personalities. Personality is actually the true nature that lies behind these elements. Personality signifies the uniqueness of a person, and the special characteristics that set apart that person from others.

Our personality can be molded and affected by many factors. For example, genes (biological factors) and the environment where a person grows up in can form one's personality. The factors interact to from one's personality.

Personality is like fingerprints. It emphasizes how we are unique and are different from each other. However, some of us may also share certain similarities in personality. Different personalities can be divided into types, but these can hardly be used to describe a certain person's personality exactly. Our personalities are often complex mixtures. As Paar Jack once said, "I'm complicated, sentimental, lovable, honest, loyal, decent, generous, likable, and lonely. My personality is not split; it's shredded."

Our personalities can be very complicated and many-sided. But that is what makes each one of us special.

Produced for Thinkquest Internet Challenge 2000.

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