ABSTRACT
The word personality is derived from the Latin word persona; it was used of the mask worn by a Roman actor to render easier the impersonation of the ‘character’ he desired to play. In accordance with this origin some modern writers would use the word to imply whatever is peculiar to, or distinctive of, a man, to the exclusion of all that he has in common with other men. On the physical plane, according to this usage, a squint or a difference of colour between a man’s two eyes would be a feature of his personality, while his possession of two eyes would not.
