The precise definition of personality has been a point of discussion amongst many different
theorists within many different disciplines since the beginning of civilisation. Personality can be
defined as 'the distinctive and characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour that define
an individual's personal style and influence his or her interactions with the environment' (Atkinson,
Atkinson, Smith & Bem, 1993: 525). It can be proposed that personality psychology has two
different tasks. 'The first involves specifying the variables on which individuals differ from one
anoth…
