Unity of personality

In psychology, this term may be used to mean or include the following:<1. Self-consciousness, namely a subjective point of reference by virtue of which the individual feels that there is coherence between his memories of the past and his plans for the future, and a centre of an orderly psychological universe.

2. Imagination, namely the unifying capacity by which the individual plans his life and pursues long-term goals.

3. Self-esteem or egoism which focuses the emotional life of the individual and enhances the unity of his personality.

4. Intention, namely an ego-ideal governing the life pattern of an individual, may constitute the basis for unity of personality.

5. Homeostasis of the endocrines provides a biological basis for unity, preserving functional integrity in the course of growth< 6. Temperament, particularly when determined by heredity, contributes to the stabilization of the course of personality development and its internal consistency< 7. Temporary convergence occurs when psychophysical energies are mobilized in one maximally integrated activity in response to a particular environmental situation< 8. Interdependence of traits provides unity through the pattern of their overlapping< 9. Unity of personality occurs when the individual acquires a coherent self-image, namely when all perceptions of himself in relation to others are accepted into the organized conscious concept of self< 10. Personality may be viewed as a Gestalt that has greater or lesser unity, depending upon its individual nature, upon the condition of the individual and the environment within which it is behaving.

In philosophy, the term may be used to mean or include the following:< 1. Everything that an individual does or says presupposes his unity as a personality< 2. The self is a passive guarantor of personal unity throughout life< 3. The self is an agent that wills, directs and selects conduct and thus actively forges unity of personality< 4. Man strives for a higher degree of perfection and ultimate unity and, insofar as he pursues this possibility, by reason and by choice, he achieves a factual unification of his personality< 5. Unity lies in the essential systemic nature of personality< 6. Unity lies in a tendency of the personality to stability< 7. Unity lies in the tendency of human beings to grow into their perfected form< 8. Unity emerges through the process of striving towards some goal which integrates all aspects of the personality toward the achievement of that goal; ideas whose inconsistency is recognized as the personality develops in terms of that goal are not accepted.