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Core and Surface Characteristics of Personality

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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Abstract

Each personality model or theory requires units to describe individual differences. These can be captured with a limited set of deeply anchored core characteristics that are necessary to sufficiently describe complex personality differences. A larger set of surface characteristics may develop out of these core differences as individual expressions of either specific or diverse core characteristics in particular environments. Core characteristics can be differentiated from surface characteristics by five criteria: They are (1) observable earlier in life, (2) more stable, and (3) less environmentally malleable than surface characteristics; (4) they cause surface manifestations and (5) account for genetic variance in them. In this entry, the concepts of core and surface characteristics of personality will be introduced along with cogent examples.

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Acknowledgments

The authors received support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft KA 4088/2-1.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Christian Kandler & Alexandra Zapko-Willmes

  2. Department of Psychology, Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Christian Kandler & Alexandra Zapko-Willmes

  3. Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Angelika Penner

Authors
  1. Christian Kandler
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  2. Angelika Penner
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  3. Alexandra Zapko-Willmes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Kandler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

    Anna Czarna

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Kandler, C., Penner, A., Zapko-Willmes, A. (2020). Core and Surface Characteristics of Personality. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_2287

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