Commonly used as synonyms, The terms “personality” and “character” are as different as their lexical construction And this is because their etymological origin, that is, the use for which they were created, was different.
Each of these words had a specific meaning, although the evolution of language has diluted and merged them over time. We are going to try to explain the psychological relevance of understanding this subtle difference, and the practical use it can have on our internal well-being.
Personality: that character we play
The term “personality” has the same genealogy as the words “person” or “character.” They all come from Latin person, which in turn arises from the expression “per sonare” (to resonate, to be heard louder), and was used to designate the masks used by theater actors in ancient times, and which had a small box of resonance so that his voice could be heard more intensely. By extension, the term began to be used to describe the specific character being played.
This way, Personality was understood as “what we show to the outside”, that is, the role we play in a certain social context. Therefore, this representation can be modulated by the place we are, the people we interact with or the mood we are experiencing at a certain moment. Character, however, encompasses more specific aspects of each one.
Character: what we have recorded
This term comes from the Greek kharakterwhich designates “what is recorded” or the “subject who records or prints something”, and was used, for example, in the brands that were placed on cattle to designate them as property. From this perspective, the word character, in its use towards human beings, would be what we imprint on ourselves, and that shapes our cultural heritage and our own thought patterns. The word “characteristic” comes from the same origin as the word character, since character is, precisely, what characterizes each of us in a specific way, differentiating us from others.
Character is created and “imprinted” over the years, and we could consider it as “what we really are”, regardless of how we behave in society, how we enjoy leisure time or how we make decisions. But in all these acts there is, or should be, an influence of our own character, of our internal register.
What is the purpose of differentiating character and personality?
Personality is something that psychology has been studying for many decades. Sometimes in an academic and rigorous way, such as the explanatory model of “the 5 great general traits”, and other times less scientific but widely disseminated, such as the 9 typologies of the enneagram. In all of them common personality types are shown and in which many people can be included, since almost all of us tend to display behavior similar to other individuals, even if our characters are different.
That’s why, The origin of neurotic behavior can be identical in two people with totally different life paths since the personality they show is modulated by the society in which they live, although internally they are radically opposite.
The act of showing a certain personality responds, from this perspective, to the desire to play a specific role, and which may be motivated by specific personal objectives, to achieve acceptance in a social environment, or by the way of adapting to a context. concrete.
This “character” that we adopt can be the same in almost all the situations we experience or different, which explains why we can behave very differently at work, at home with family, or with our friends. But in all these scenarios, the character shown is usually conditioned by our specific way of being. That is, character influences the various personalities displayed. However, what happens when that is not the case, and some personality has nothing to do with character?
When personality supersedes character
If someone behaves in an unnatural or forced way, it draws our attention and makes us think that their behavior is artificial or false. Sometimes we even appreciate, for example, a desperate attempt to be liked, to try to be nice, or to pretend to connect with someone. Somehow, We sense that he is playing a role that does not represent what he really is, nor what you really think or feel. That is, he is displaying a personality that he understands is useful to him at that time and in that place.
In this sense, if we go to a sales course in which they teach us how to treat a potential client, they will try to teach us to display a personality that is convincing, that does not seem artificial and that transmits confidence. The psychological risk of adopting such a powerful and structured personality lies in the fact that it can cause the character to supplant the individual, the personality to usurp the position of the character, and we continually display behavior that has little to do with who we really are.
This happens a lot to actors, singers or people in the media, who have chosen to play a role that brings them success at work and social recognition, but from which they have not known how to free themselves in their private life. That is, the character has annulled the human being, and this causes restlessness, anxiety, frustration and a deep feeling of loss of identity.
Representing what you are not can be exhausting, especially if you don’t know how to define the specific area in which to display a certain personality. Because at some point, we need to take off the mask and be ourselves. This simple analysis can explain the origin of some of the most common personality disorders such as narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive or antisocial. Characters who try to adapt to a complex society, but who end up representing very codified and common behaviors, which nullify the individual himself.
What are my characters and who am I?
A practical proposal to understand the interpretive game that each of us plays consists of delimiting our usual social contexts, for example: work, family, sentimental and leisure. It is very likely that in some of these contexts we will not use expressions that we do use in others, that in some we will say bad words and in others we will not, or also that the disposition to affection will be different, which will generate a different body attitude.
The next step would be to define how many of those things we really identify with and which ones we don’t The objective is not to eliminate what we find incompatible with what we really are, that is, with our character, but only to be aware that there, and only there, we are playing a role with specific objectives to adapt to that environment, although it is not a reflection of our character.
We all tend, for example, to behave in a measured and responsible manner at work, even if we are more chaotic and disorderly in other contexts. Therefore, we can represent all the characters we want or think we need, but it is important to know who we really are, or in short: what our character is and what our personalities are.