Personality differences in relationships can cause enormous challenges if the partners don’t take time to understand each other’s perspective. But what exactly is ‘Personality?’ Personality is the name given to the consistency of one’s behaviour, attitudes, orientation and way of looking at the world – over time and situations. Contrary to public opinion, ‘personality’ isn’t something we have or don’t – but it is something that makes us recognisable over time and situation.
There are many personality differences and psychologists have developed many personality measures to try and assess the type and extent them. One major measure is one of extroversion or introversion. Extroversion doesn’t exactly mean the person is a socialite – nor the introvert unfriendly. It refers to where people get their energy from – the extrovert tends to obtain their energy and inspiration from others or interactions whereas the introvert goes inside to work through things before sharing them with the world.
These and other personality dimensions, if not identified and understood, cause frustration and misunderstanding in relationships. Couples counselling is a good way to identify the different ways in which different personalities process information and thus not react in ways that their partners might misinterpret.
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