What is character and is it possible to change it?
Find out what character is, how it affects your life and whether it can be changed. Our practical advice on psychology will help you in these matters and show you the direction you need for self-development and improving your personality.
Each of us ever thinks about his character: most often he wants to change in order to become better. But for some reason it is too complicated, and in some cases – almost impossible.
In order not to torment myself with remorse “Well, why am I like that!!.” – ask yourself, what is character and what does it depend on? The answers to these questions and our practical advice on psychology will help you clarify a lot in this vague question.
What is character?

The question without enlargement is vague, because even the “sovereign of human souls,” the Queen of Psychology, sometimes cannot accurately determine the essence of this concept. Psychologists, of course, derive the definition:
“Character is a certain structure of fairly persistent, in most cases permanent mental properties and functions that determine the characteristics of the emerging relationships and behavior of each individual individually.”
If you are not a psychologist and understand little in scientific terms, it is possible to explain what character is with simple human language:
- it is your attitude to life and to people around you;
- this is the degree of your upbringing;
- this is your behavior;
- it is your reaction to what is happening around you;
- these are your beliefs and values;
- it is your attitude to yourself;
- in part – this is your temperament and psychotype.
All these factors together are your character, which may not suit you, but delight others and vice versa. Knowing what character is, you will now think about whether you can change all these fad and become ideal.You will have to think about it even more when you find out what exactly character depends on.
What determines the character?
The question of what causes this or that character can be answered easily and succinctly: 50% – genetics, 50% – education. It is surprising that on many psychological sites such a formula is given. The questions immediately arise: why, in this case, children from the same family are often obtained with diametrically opposite characters? And sometimes children are completely different in this regard from their parents. This means that not everything is so simple, and there must still be terms in the formula that determines what character is. Indeed, the factors that influence character formation are numerous and ambiguous.
Genetics
definitely affects your character. If both of your parents are extremely stubborn and are not used to giving in to anything to anyone, you are unlikely to grow up as a flexible and gentle person. Although if one of the grandmothers is a real angel in the flesh, you have some chances to get this golden gene as a gift and become a pleasant exception in your complex family.

Education
also “sculpts” (or “sculpted” once) your character. A girl in whose house it is customary to communicate in accordance with a culture of behavior, which attends art clubs and schools that studies etiquette, will be able to present herself in society in the future. We are now talking about a healthy, normal family situation without any excesses and fanaticism, excessive stiffness and far-fetched nobility.
The life situations
that you once fell into, also seriously affect your character. If a guy cheated on with his best friend, qualities like suspicion, suspiciousness, and unreasonable jealousy may develop in the future. If at work you, clever woman, constantly weave your tail because only “thieves” make their way, you will have envy and a heightened sense of justice.
Temperament
has a considerable influence on character: the dynamics of your mental processes will determine your basic character traits. It is difficult to imagine choleric as slow and passive, and melancholic as unbalanced and explosive.
The personality psychotype
which determines not dynamics, but directly the mental processes themselves, also directly affects character. The psychotype Dostoevsky will have one set of qualities, and Stirlitz will have a completely different one.
All these concepts make us understand what nature is and how complex this phenomenon is. Almost none of these factors depends on you, and all this speaks only about one thing: the character cannot be changed. But take your time to draw conclusions: we left a little hope for you – that light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to which you can still get better.
Work on yourself
continuous self-development also affect the character of a person. If you learn to control your emotions, engage in self-education and really want to change something in your character, it is up to you.
After such hope, it remains to find out what traits of character exist in people.
Main character traits
It has already been said that character is a set of certain traits and properties. But which ones?

Attitude to society:
- sociability;
- responsiveness;
- sensitivity;
- respect for others;
- isolation;
- rudeness;
- callousness;
- contempt for people.
Attitude to work:
- hard work;
- creation;
- good faith;
- responsibility;
- perseverance;
- purposefulness;
- initiative;
- laziness;
- dishonesty;
- irresponsibility;
- passivity.
Self-Relation:
- self-esteem;
- modesty;
- self-criticism;
- conceit;
- impudence;
- arrogance;
- vanity;
- touchiness;
- shyness;
- egocentrism and selfishness.
Attitude to things:
- accuracy;
- sloppy
- greed;
- generosity;
- thrift;
- negligence.
Of course, these are just a few features inherent in people, but one of the most basic. Now, knowing what character is, you will be able to decide on what traits of your character you can emphasize, and with which you need to work and work. And just the fact that you thought about this issue does you honor.
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