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The Importance Of Personality In Education

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Personality is a unique expression of individual differences in behavior and experience (John & Srivastava, 1999). Dornyei (2005) states that it is such an important aspect of psychology that all the other main components of psychology have tried to contribute to it. Among variables affecting human behavior, personality is the most general characteristic of individual differences (IDs). Personality, based on Scharle and Szabo (2000, p. 7), is understood as a “dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create a person’s characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings”. According to Cook (1991), “there are three reasons for being interested in personality. They are; first, to gain scientific understanding, second, to access people and next, to change people” (as cited in Erton, 2010, p.3). For Cook, the first one is theoretical while the second and the third ones are applicable (Erton, 2010). Social psychologists like Holt (1971) argued that personality is merely a matter of social recognition. Therefore, it is meaningless to speak of anyone 's personality without considering the particular people who interact with him or her, get impressions about him or her, and use trait terms in describing him or her (as cited in Lew, 1977). Considering teaching, it is then not meaningful to speak of teachers’ personality without considering their students who have interaction with them and get impressions about them. Dornyei (2005)
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