If you've ever had a friend set you up on a blind date, you might have heard that the mystery individual “has a great personality.” What distinguishes a great personality from a “pretty good” personality? And where does personality come from in the first place?

In the world of dating, “personality” usually refers to a constellation of desirable attributes; the person is funny, warm, a good conversationalist, caring, quick-witted, and so on. But when psychologists talk about personality they usually mean some enduring pattern of thoughts and behaviors; funny or not, warm or cold, quick-witted or dull. In fact, the “person” part of “personality” implies that there's something deep-seated, stable, and far-reaching involved—something that gets right to the very core of what makes the person who she or he is.

In this chapter we will see how psychologists study personality, and how they explain where it comes from and what contributes to it. We will begin with the oldest theory of personality, the psychodynamic view, so that you will have a sense of how influential it was, why it continues to appeal to some, and why many of its ideas have become outdated. Next, we will consider evidence for the newest theory, the genetic view. Few scientists today think that babies are tiny lumps of clay, shaped entirely by their experiences, or that parents alone determine whether their infant becomes an adventurer, a sourpuss, or a worrywart. We will then examine leading approaches to personality that are neither psychodynamic nor biological: the environmental approach, which emphasizes the role of social learning, situations, parents, and peers; the cultural approach, which emphasizes cultural influences on traits and behavior; and the humanist and narrative approaches, which emphasize self-determination and people's own view of themselves. For an overview of these many approaches, watch the video Personality Theories.