← Unit 5: Agrarian Social Structure
1. Personality — Meaning and Definitions
DefinitionIn sociology, personality refers to the sum total of an individual's physical, mental, emotional and social characteristics which together determine the unique and consistent pattern of behaviour of that individual.
Personality is not merely a biological endowment. While biological factors provide the basic framework, social interaction and continuous social experiences play a decisive role in shaping personality. Thus, personality develops through the process of socialization within a cultural and social environment.
Definitions of Personality
G. W. Allport defines personality as:
"The dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment."
ExampleThis definition highlights the dynamic and adaptive nature of personality.
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Free. All OPSC Sociology Paper I and Paper II notes, with mains PYQs.
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In these notes
- Personality — Meaning and Definitions
- Freud's Theory of Personality
- Culture and Personality Approach
- Symbolic Interactionism and Personality
- Status, Role, Conformity and Deviation
- Socialisation — Meaning and Definitions
- Types of Socialisation
- George Herbert Mead — Theory of the Development of Self
- Charles Horton Cooley — The Looking-Glass Self
- Sigmund Freud — Psychoanalytic Theory of Socialisation
- Agents of Socialisation — Family and Peer Groups
- Agents of Socialisation — School and Mass Media
- Conclusion — Theories and Agents of Socialisation