The architecture of personality

This article presents a theoretical framework for analyzing psychological systems that contribute to the variability, consistency, and cross-situational coherence of personality functioning. In the proposed knowledge-and-appraisal personality architecture (KAPA), personality structures and processes are delineated by combining 2 principles: distinctions (a) between knowledge structures and appraisal processes and (b) among intentional cognitions with varying directions of fit, with the latter distinction differentiating among beliefs, evaluative standards, and aims. Basic principles of knowledge activation and use illuminate relations between knowledge and appraisal, yielding a synthetic account of personality structures and processes. Novel empirical data illustrate the heuristic value of the knowledge/appraisal distinction by showing how self-referent and situational knowledge combine to foster cross-situational coherence in appraisals of self-efficacy.     

The personality of opera singers

Ninety-one opera singers in the London area completed a questionnaire concerning their voice type, experience, physical characteristics, performance habits and personality. They also rated the personality of one singer of each voice type with whom they were familiar, and one man and one woman who were not singers. Higher-voiced singers emerged as more emotional, difficult, unreliable, conceited and feminine than lower-voiced singers of the same sex, according to their own report and that of others. Lower-voiced singers were taller and thinner, and within the men particularly, more inclined to sexual affairs with fellow singers. These findings are seen as consistent with German research showing a higher testosterone/oestradiol ratio in lower-voiced singers.     

The Slavophile lexicon of personality

The lexeme personality and its derivatives have played an important role in the development of Slavophile teachings. Slavophilism is a comprehensive utopian project and includes philosophical, theological, social and political ideas and concepts. It intends to provide a justification for certain religious and social ideals as well as for a vision of the historical direction in which Russia should continue to develop. The article discusses the essence of this justification, its background and development through the analysis of the lexeme as used by the Slavophiles.     

The temperamental nature of personality

Historically, the terms ‘temperament’, ‘character’, and ‘personality’ have been used to refer to what we now mean by the term ‘personality’. Temperament refers to the raw material out of which personality evolves. Personality is a person's coherent manner of interacting with himself/herself and with the environment. The concept of temperament has been prominent with Eastern European psychologists and with developmental psychologists in North America. A number of developmental theories of temperament are discussed, and differences and similarities between temperament parameters and personality parameters are described. The genetics of personality are presented and evaluated. Mechanistic and dynamic interactions are distinguished, and the multidimensional interaction model of anxiety and relevant research are discussed. A preliminary interaction model of anxiety, stress, and coping is presented. Finally, the temperamental nature of personality is discussed, and suggestions for possible rapprochements between personality and temperament are presented.