Riverview Psychiatric Center

Psychology Articles by Dr. Arthur Dingley - Thinking About Personality

Dr. Art Dingley

What is “personality”? This seems easy enough. Everyone can describe someone else in terms of her personality. She may be “bubbly”, “quiet”, “sweet”, “mean”, or have “a heart of gold”. She may have “lots of personality”. These descriptions are superficial, but provide some useful information about the person. With a little more effort, most of us can describe that same person in terms of her motivations, her “agenda”, or the things that “make her tick”. This acknowledges a commonly-understood fact about humans – they aren’t always what they appear to be. Someone who is “mean” may have “had a hard life” and, if he trusts you, “give you the shirt off his back”. A person who appears “sweet and kind” may be “looking out for number one” or “a real backstabber”. The person with the “heart of gold” may be “dumber than a bag of bolts”. Most of us understand that, although each personality is unique, personalities can be sorted out into “types”.

Although most of us understand the concept of “personality”, the word itself is hard to define. I like to think of personality as the way in which each person interprets the world and responds to it. For example, if one is prone to see the world as a dangerous place, he is apt to interpret a neutral event as threatening and respond to it with anger or suspicion. Although intelligence does matter in many ways, it doesn’t have much impact on personality type. A really smart “loner” is still a “loner”.

How do we end up with our unique personalities? It turns out that, if you want a different personality, you should pick different parents. Most of the components of our personality are genetic. Although our personalities are influenced by learning, and by important life events, we interpret those life events differently depending upon our inborn predispositions. One way to think about the interplay of biology and learning (nature vs. nurture) is to separate personality traits into two categories – temperament and character.

Temperament is almost purely biological. Life experience has little impact on it. A great deal of research, in many countries and cultures, has identified four measurable temperament traits. Everyone has each of these traits to some degree. The first trait is Harm Avoidance. People who score high in Harm Avoidance are shy, pessimistic, fearful, and easily tired. Those who score low in Harm Avoidance are optimistic, daring, and energetic. Second is Novelty Seeking. A high score describes impulsivity, extravagance, and irritability. A low score means the person will be reserved, deliberate, thrifty, and uncomplaining. Third is Reward Dependance. Those scoring high in Reward Dependence are sentimental, open, warm, and affectionate. A low score in this trait means the person is aloof, detached, cold, and independent. Fourth is Persistence. A high score describes a person who is industrious, determined, enthusiastic, and attentive to detail. A low score means lazy, underachieving, and “spoiled”.

Although this seems simple, remember that each of us has some degree of each trait and that the traits are independently inherited. This results in a lot of variation.

In addition to temperament, character is a major determinant of personality. Character is more influenced by environment than temperament. As with temperament, research has consistently identified several distinct and durable character traits. First is Self-Directedness. People scoring high in this trait are responsible, purposeful, resourceful, and self-accepting. Low scorers are blaming, goal-less, passive, and wishful. Second, is Cooperativeness. High scorers are compassionate, tender-hearted, and helpful. Low scorers are more insensitive, selfish, intolerant, and revengeful. The third character trait is Self-Transcendence. High scorers are idealistic, imaginative, and spiritual, while low scorers are more logical, doubtful, conventional, and materialistic.

Since temperament and character are independently determined, the number of possible combinations becomes quite large. There is considerable individuality, since the traits of temperament and character are not just present or absent, but are present to varying degrees.

There is another aspect of personality which contributes to the final product, and that is the use of “defense mechanisms”. These are the ways in which we defend ourselves against anxiety. We use these defense mechanisms without knowing it, although they are sometimes obvious to others. An example is “projection”, a defense mechanism favored by people with a paranoid personality style. A person uses projection when he attributes his own unacceptable impulse to someone else.

Why does personality style matter to mental health professionals? Personality is the way we interpret the world and respond to it. This means that each person’s understanding of his psychiatric illness, and his reaction to being ill, are determined by his personality style. His understanding of the recommended treatment, and his reaction to his mental health professionals, are also determined by his personality style. The famous Canadian medical pioneer, William Osler, is quoted as having said, “It’s as important to know what kind of patient has the disease, as to know what kind of disease the patient has.” This is especially true in psychiatry. For example, I may have two patients who are equally affected by Major Depressive Disorder. Both might benefit from taking antidepressant medicine. However, their interpretations of taking medicine, and the likely result, are determined, not by their depression, but by their personality styles. The first person may be suspicious. He wants to know what I’m up to. He interprets my suggestion that he take medicine as an attempt to “control his mind” or “turn him into a zombie”. The second person sees my willingness to prescribe medicine as a measure of my true concern. The more medicine I prescribe, the more he thinks I care about him. If I focus just on the symptoms of depression, and not personality style, the first person will “forget” to take his medicine, or get some “side effect”. The second person will end up with five or six prescriptions, yet never get completely well. “Symptoms” are always the least interesting things my patients share with me.

Sometimes a personality style can be extreme. This is referred to as a personality disorder. Personality disorders are persistent. Without treatment, they last for years. Because these disorders disrupt the way someone sees the world and responds to it, they are pervasive, affecting thoughts, feelings, behavior, and relationships. Personality disorders are deeply-ingrained. Someone with a personality disorder cannot just “snap out of it” or “get over it”. Personality disorders may be evident in children but are not diagnosed until late adolescence or early adult life because children’s personalities are still developing.

Personality disorders may cause serious problems with thinking, emotions, behavior, self-image, or getting along with others. When this happens, the person may believe that her difficulties are symptoms of mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, or even psychosis. If mental health professionals allow themselves to be distracted by these “symptoms” they may miss the true nature of the person’s problem. The symptoms of a personality disorder may mimic the symptoms of other disorders but do not respond well to medicines prescribed for those conditions. Psychiatrists have all seen patients who have taken 15 or more medicines for depression, anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, and psychosis, all with little or no benefit. Most of these patients have personality disorders. The treatment for personality disorders is very different.

In my next columns, we’ll take a closer look at three groups of personality disorders.

Dr. Dingley is a psychiatrist at Evergreen Behavioral Services in Farmington. He may be contacted at adingley@fchn.org

Agency information

Riverview Psychiatric Center

Psychology Articles by Dr. Arthur Dingley - Thinking About Personality

Featured links

RPC news