Five major personality traits and what they say about you

A happy couple dancing. (Courtesy/iStock)

In common day talk we use the word personality often, ostensibly to describe characteristics that we like or dislike about other individuals. But is personality an enduring pattern of behavior or fleeting reaction to an occurrence?

Personality refers to the unique and relatively stable patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviour that characterise a person and influence how he or she perceives the world.