The 6 differences between personality, character and temperament

Is personality the same as character and temperament? What are their differences? In this article we will know the 6 differences between personality, character and temperament.

First of all, we will define, broadly, what is understood by each of these concepts, and then go on explaining in detail each of their differences.

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Personality, character and temperament: what do they consist of?

Thus, before explaining the 6 differences between personality, character and temperament, we are going to explain what each of these concepts consists of, expanding a little more on the personality due to its great importance as a "central" factor.

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1. Personality

Personality is a concept that has multiple definitions. As a general definition we can take that of Bermúdez (1996), who defines it literally as a “relatively stable organization of structural and functional characteristics, innate and acquired under the special conditions of their development, which make up the peculiar and defining team of behavior with which each individual faces the different situations ”.

Thus, personality is a hypothetical construct that we infer by observing people's behavior; In other words, it is something intrinsic but it also manifests itself in an extrinsic way. The elements that make up the personality are quite stable and consistent (these elements are the personality traits).

Personality encompasses both overt behaviors and private experiences (feelings, emotions, thoughts ...). In addition, it also includes cognitive elements, motivations and affective states.

2. Character

Character is a way of being typical of each one, which has more to do with learning and culture. You could say that it is the learned part of the personality. It is born and configured through the experiences that take place on temperament. You can have a nervous, calm, passionate character ...

3. Temperament

Temperament is a more biological concept; that is, it is a concept similar to personality, but with a more biological etiology. It would be like the biological part of the personality. It manifests itself before the personality, and is inheritable from the parents (or a large part of it).

The 6 differences between personality, character and temperament

Now yes, we are going to explain the 6 differences between personality, character and temperament. As we will see, these differences refer to different aspects of the three constructs (appearance, etiology, degree of stability, etc.).

1. Source

The first of the differences between personality, character and temperament, refers to its origin. Thus, while personality arises from the interaction of genetic, biological, social and cognitive factors, the character arises from learning (from experiences about temperament) and temperament from biological factors ( inherits).

2. Appearance

The first thing that appears, when we are born, is temperament. Little by little personality and character appear. The personality is configured over the years and the character may take a little less time, as we will see below. Thus, each of these constructs has its period of appearance (at least, the first traits), although logically this may vary slightly from person to person.

3. Consolidation

The personality is consolidated around the age of 18, approximately. This does not mean that in many people it consolidates sooner or later (that is, it is an approximate age). This is so because as we grow up, especially from childhood to adolescence, our personal characteristics change and gradually take hold.

For its part, the character can be said to consolidate a little earlier, although it may vary over time.

Finally, the temperament is consolidated much earlier (when we are small); That is why in children we essentially talk about three types of behavior: easy, difficult and slow (as we will see later).

4. Degree of stability / oscillations

Another difference between personality, character and temperament is their degree of stability. Thus, the temperament is quite stable over time. Once it is configured (at birth), it remains rather stable over the years.

Instead, the character can undergo many more oscillations, since it depends on learning, and this is more changeable. For its part, the personality undergoes few oscillations throughout life; thus, it is quite stable, especially after adolescence (before it undergoes many changes, but it is because it is not yet fully defined).

5. Types

Another difference between personality, character and temperament are their types. Thus, each of these concepts includes different types of them:

5.1. Types of temperament

The types of temperament that exist (according to the most accepted classification), characteristic of babies or childhood, are:

• Easy temperament: they are children with good humor, easy to deal with.
• Difficult temperamentThey show a more negative mood, and are more difficult to treat or comfort.
• Slow temperament: they show less intense emotions and adapt to situations slowly.

5.2. Character types

As for the types of character, the difference with respect to temperament is that there are many more types of it. Each author proposes his own. An example of typologies of character is the one proposed by René Le Senne (1882-1954), a French philosopher and psychologist.

This author groups the different types of character into 8 types: nervous, passionate, angry, sentimental, sanguine, phlegmatic, amorphous and apathetic.

5.3. Personality types

Finally, following with the differences between personality, character and temperament in terms of typologies, we find the different types of personality. There are many authors who have proposed their own classification.

Here we are going to include one of the most important: “the big 5 of personality” (Costa and McCrae's Big Five model), which talks about 5 personality factors. These are: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, cordiality (kindness), and responsibility. Each factor characterizes a personality type.

6. Degree of permeability

When we speak of degree of permeability we are referring to the degree to which a phenomenon, construct or structure is influenced by external factors (modifying its own structure).

Thus, temperament would be the least permeable construct of the three, due to its high biological component, and since it is difficult to change people's temperament; It is followed by the personality, also not very influential (or difficult to modify).

Finally, character would be the easiest to change, or the construct with the highest degree of permeability, because character essentially depends on learning and culture. This is not to say that it is easy to change someone's character, but it does mean that it is easier to change than the other two constructs.

Bibliographic references

• Bermúdez, J. (2003). Psychology of personality. Theory and research (vol. I and II). Madrid: UNED.

• Pueyo, A. (1997). Differential Psychology Manual. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

• Sánchez Elvira Paniagua, A. (2005). Introduction to the study of individual differences. Madrid: Ed. Sanz y Torres. 2nd Edition.