Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSo, What’s the Difference Between Character and Personality?Unpacking What Character and Personality Truly MeanHow Character and Personality Impact Us on a Psychological LevelWhich Is More Important, Character or Personality?How Can We Identify Our Character and Personality?

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

So, What’s the Difference Between Character and Personality?

Unpacking What Character and Personality Truly Mean

How Character and Personality Impact Us on a Psychological Level

Which Is More Important, Character or Personality?

How Can We Identify Our Character and Personality?

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We often use the wordscharacterandpersonalityinterchangeably. For example, when we’re talking about the way a person behaves or how we perceive them, we may throw around adjectives like honest, integral, funny, or outgoing in an attempt to describe someone’s character,personality, or both.

Character can shape personality, but personality also influences character.

Although both character and personality involve the expression of someone’s inner qualities, research shows that they are two very different things.

Verywell Mind spoke toLeMeita Smith, PhD, MLPC, a therapist who helped break down the differences between character and personality:

tl;drWe typically considercharacterandpersonalityto be the same things, but they’re totally different. While character and personality influence one another, character refers to our values and personality describes how we behave.Making ourselves aware of these differences can help us understand why we are the way we are.

tl;dr

We typically considercharacterandpersonalityto be the same things, but they’re totally different. While character and personality influence one another, character refers to our values and personality describes how we behave.Making ourselves aware of these differences can help us understand why we are the way we are.

We typically considercharacterandpersonalityto be the same things, but they’re totally different. While character and personality influence one another, character refers to our values and personality describes how we behave.

Making ourselves aware of these differences can help us understand why we are the way we are.

Character is an intrinsic part of a person’s makeup; personality involves the way our character is expressed.

“Character refers to the person’s moral and ethical qualities. It consists of beliefs and moral principles that can guide their behavior in discrete ways. Personality is the sum of a person’s physical, psychological,emotional, and social aspects that are manifested through behavior and actions,” saysTara M. Lally, PhD, the supervising psychologist at the Department of Psychiatry at Ocean University Medical Center.

Real-Life Situations Can Help Explain the Differences Between Character and Personality

The following real-life scenarios can help us get a better understanding of how character and personality differ:

What Makes Character and Personality Similar?

5 Reasons Emotions Are Important

Both character and personality are expressed physically, mentally, and emotionally. So, it stands to reason that they both have a significant impact in the areas of psychology,personal development, and even social interactions.

Tara M. Lally, PhD, PsychologistCharacter refers to the person’smoraland ethical qualities. It consists of beliefs and moral principles that can guide their behavior in discrete ways. Personality is the sum of a person’s physical, psychological, emotional, and social aspects that are manifested through behavior and actions.

Tara M. Lally, PhD, Psychologist

Character refers to the person’smoraland ethical qualities. It consists of beliefs and moral principles that can guide their behavior in discrete ways. Personality is the sum of a person’s physical, psychological, emotional, and social aspects that are manifested through behavior and actions.

Research shows that psychologically, character is the part of ourselves that houses morals and ethics.It’s significant in this space because it is a driver and predictor of decisions you’ll make, which defines your personal development and how you relate to others.

Personality has a similar impact.

“Within psychological arenas, theIDrepresents [our] personality and directly represents the needs of an individual. In psychology, the study of personality provides insight into how specific traits and mannerisms develop and change over time. Personality is significant to personal development and social interactions as certain traits can cause distress and present challenges,” tells Dr. Smith.

Id, Ego, and Superego: Freud’s Elements of Personality

Character and personality go hand in hand. Each impacts the other, and both impact your thoughts,behaviors, and actions.

Some experts say character is more important because it is what drives an individual’s decisions. Those decisions are predictors of actions. Other experts argue that personality is more critical because it is the demonstration of a person’s beliefs. So, basically, it’s hard to say which one is more important.

Tara M. Lally, PhDCharacter is born from caregiver development and what we see as valued both intrinsically and others. Personality emerges in response to situations and our interacting with others.

Tara M. Lally, PhD

Character is born from caregiver development and what we see as valued both intrinsically and others. Personality emerges in response to situations and our interacting with others.

Ultimately, both matter, and are critical links to understanding a person mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Now that we know how character and personality differ from one another, how do we identify our own traits?

Let’s go back to those two example scenarios from earlier. Think about how you’d respond if you walked into work and saw a cash register open. What might your internalreactionbe? If you think you’d feel the urgency to do something about it this may indicate that you have an honest and ethical character.

What This Means For YouAll of us can benefit from understanding ourselves a bit better because it can help identify our strengths and weaknesses. We can then use that information togrow and evolve as we move through life.If you’re trying to get a better understanding of your personality traits and your character, think about how hypothetical situations would make you feel (this would reveal your character) and how your would express your feelings (this would reveal your personality).To help put alabel on your feelingsand reactions, it can help to look up adjectives that describe personality and character. Or, you can always ask those closest to you about how they would describe you to someone else. Any of these exercises can provide you with valuable insight into who you truly are.

What This Means For You

All of us can benefit from understanding ourselves a bit better because it can help identify our strengths and weaknesses. We can then use that information togrow and evolve as we move through life.If you’re trying to get a better understanding of your personality traits and your character, think about how hypothetical situations would make you feel (this would reveal your character) and how your would express your feelings (this would reveal your personality).To help put alabel on your feelingsand reactions, it can help to look up adjectives that describe personality and character. Or, you can always ask those closest to you about how they would describe you to someone else. Any of these exercises can provide you with valuable insight into who you truly are.

All of us can benefit from understanding ourselves a bit better because it can help identify our strengths and weaknesses. We can then use that information togrow and evolve as we move through life.

If you’re trying to get a better understanding of your personality traits and your character, think about how hypothetical situations would make you feel (this would reveal your character) and how your would express your feelings (this would reveal your personality).

To help put alabel on your feelingsand reactions, it can help to look up adjectives that describe personality and character. Or, you can always ask those closest to you about how they would describe you to someone else. Any of these exercises can provide you with valuable insight into who you truly are.

10 Fascinating Psychology Facts About Personality

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dametto DM, Noronha APP.Study between personality traits and character strengths in adolescents.Curr Psychol. 2021;40(5):2067-2072.Character development and self-esteem: Psychological foundations and educational implications.International Journal of Educational Research. 1998;27(7):539-551.

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dametto DM, Noronha APP.Study between personality traits and character strengths in adolescents.Curr Psychol. 2021;40(5):2067-2072.Character development and self-esteem: Psychological foundations and educational implications.International Journal of Educational Research. 1998;27(7):539-551.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Dametto DM, Noronha APP.Study between personality traits and character strengths in adolescents.Curr Psychol. 2021;40(5):2067-2072.Character development and self-esteem: Psychological foundations and educational implications.International Journal of Educational Research. 1998;27(7):539-551.

Dametto DM, Noronha APP.Study between personality traits and character strengths in adolescents.Curr Psychol. 2021;40(5):2067-2072.

Character development and self-esteem: Psychological foundations and educational implications.International Journal of Educational Research. 1998;27(7):539-551.

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