The Difference Between Personality and Behavior

This article applies to people curious to know the differences between measuring behavior and personality.

Common Question:

What is the difference between behavior and personality?

Solution Overview:

This article will discuss the differences between personality and behavior. While personality can change as circumstances dictate, behaviors form a hard-wired foundation and remain fixed.

Details:

Behavior vs Personality

People in business often talk about and interchange the terminology Personality and Behaviors without truly understanding what differentiates them. It’s important to understand that they are not interchangeable and to recognize the clear distinction between their meanings.

Natural Behavior is fixed: it’s the core of who a person is; it’s the foundation; it’s the raw material that informs how the world is viewed; it can’t be learnt; it drives natural talents and the core of personality. It is the foundational hardwiring set from early in life.

With this definition of behavior in mind, we make the terminology more specific by describing it as “natural behavior” and “Natural DNA Behavior”

Personality is driven by natural behavior: it’s the mask worn; it’s a person’s outward character; it’s what we let others see on the surface; personality is formed and revealed from ongoing circumstances, social pressure, education, social environment, family influences that exist throughout a person’s life; it’s the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual and can change as circumstances dictate throughout a person’s life.

Having a revelation of the difference not only educates but more importantly it paves the way for leaders in business to understand what their role is in revealing behaviors which will remain constant over time. It gives insight and understanding into knowing when and what they are viewing is a mask. Behavior is the real person. Personality is the outward appearance an individual chooses to reveal at various times during their life.

Natural DNA Behavior Drives Personality

The DNA Behavior revelation and foundation of our business is recognizing and measuring a person’s natural DNA behavior set early in life and applying the insights to the make-up and on-going development of personality.

An increased understanding of natural behavioral insights will provide leaders, executives, coaches, advisors, and people generally with the pathway to being able to focus attention on the core of the “human element” when seeking to improve decision-making, increase performance and enhance relationships. The key is to look below the surface, behind the mask, to identify the natural instinctive behavioral talents that are very stable over time.

A Definition of Behavior

Behavior refers to the organized ways of thinking and acting that express a person's beliefs, opinions, attitudes, and values.

Although behavior among humans and other living organisms is something they are born with, it also is influenced by, and inherited from, parents and ancestors. In addition, based on Harvard Research Studies behavior is 85% influenced by the environment in which organisms mature from conception to the age of 3 years and then 95% by the age of 7 years.

Inherited traits and learning by early environments and experiences together have the greatest influence on behavior. Scientific research has shown that the evolution of humans and monkeys is very similar. Humans are able to think, imagine, create, and learn from their experiences—more so than any other species. From the time we are born, we humans begin learning through our sensory systems—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. So do monkeys. But humans not only receive information through these systems, they also learn about themselves and the world around them through the physical, psychological, and social context in which this experiential information occurs. That’s because they have the ability to use language and thought. http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/exploring-learned-and-innate-behavior/

Long before Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859, animal breeders knew that patterns of behavior are somehow influenced by inheritance from parents.

Understanding early life learned behaviors is also important because they also significantly contribute to a person's hard-wired behavior development and play a key role in their decision-making preferences, and overall human performance and relationship interactions.

Understanding how to manage behaviors delivers a significant level of self-awareness that enables people to modify behaviors, depending on the situation and the different individuals they are dealing with.

In other words, natural behavior is the core of who we are revealed as personality.

A Definition of Personality

Personality can be described as multiple layers arranged one on top of the other and becoming denser as you proceed deeper inside.

The term personality is derived from the Latin word persona meaning a mask. Personality is a patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual as these are organized externally into roles and statuses and as they relate internally to motivation, goals and various aspects of selfhood. http://www.sociologyguide.com/personality/meaning-of-personality.php

Recognizing the Difference Between Natural DNA Behavior and Personality

Knowing and being able to measure the “Natural DNA Behavior” of people is, by its inherent nature, equally applicable regardless of where the person comes from, the setting or environment, whether they are male or female, their age or generation, or their culture or religion.

From our perspective as stated above, a person’s natural DNA behavior is 85% set by the age of three years old, and then 95% by seven years old, based on the mix of genetics they are born with and early life experiences. We refer to this as "hard-wired" and are what we now term today as a person's DNA Behavior^®.

Thereafter from seven years old to 18 years old, the person’s personality still continues to evolve from learned behaviors based on life experiences, environments and education occurring after seven years old. The learned behaviors in these circumstances will have quite strong impact on personality development but not as impactful as the learning that takes place up to seven years old.

The learned behaviors experienced after seven years old are more capable of change through the development of new perspectives, mindsets, attitudes, beliefs, values, passions, skills and interests that come from training, coaching, mentoring and general life exposure.

Then, from 19 years old, while learned behaviors may have some impact on personality development the propensity to change their impact is relatively easier.

If you would like to more analysis, please read our in-depth booklet on this subject: The Distinction Between Personality and Behavior.

The Distinction Between Personality and Behavior.

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