# Characterology > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Characterology > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Characterology.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characterology > Source revision: 1311258703 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Academic study of character This article is about the branch of personality studies in German psychology; not to be confused with [Physiognomy](/source/Physiognomy), which is sometimes referred to in similar terms. Part of a series on Psychology Outline History Subfields Basic psychology Abnormal Affective neuroscience Affective science Behavioral genetics Behavioral neuroscience Behaviorism Cognitive/Cognitivism Cognitive neuroscience Social Comparative Cross-cultural Cultural Developmental Differential Ecological Evolutionary Experimental Gestalt Intelligence Mathematical Moral Neuropsychology Perception Personality Psycholinguistics Psychophysiology Quantitative Social Theoretical Applied psychology Anomalistic Applied behavior analysis Art Assessment Aviation Biography of famous people Clinical Coaching Color Community Consumer Counseling Critical Crowd Educational Ergonomics Fashion Feminist Food Forensic police Health History Humanistic Industrial and organizational Legal Media Medical Military Music Occupational health Pastoral Peace and war Political Positive Photography Psychometrics Psychotherapy Religion School Sex differences Space Sport and exercise Suicidology Systems Trading Traffic Concepts Behavior Behavioral engineering Behavioral genetics Behavioral neuroscience Cognition Competence Consciousness Consumer behavior Emotions Feelings Human factors and ergonomics Intelligence Maslow's hierarchy of needs Mental state Mind Psychology of religion Psychometrics Sex differences Terror management theory Lists Counseling topics Disciplines Organizations Outline Psychologists Psychotherapies Research methods Schools of thought Timeline Topics Psychology portal v t e **Characterology** (from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language) *χαρακτήρ* 'character' and *‑λογία, [‑logia](/source/-logy)*) is the academic study of character which was prominent in [German-speaking countries](/source/German-speaking_countries) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1][2] It is considered a historic branch of [personality psychology](/source/Personality_psychology), which extended into [psychoanalysis](/source/Psychoanalysis) and sociology.[3] The name dates from 1867, having been introduced by the German philosopher [Julius Bahnsen](/source/Julius_Bahnsen), though the discipline itself dates back to [classical antiquity](/source/Classical_antiquity).[4] In German psychology, the term *character* was often used in place of *personality*. As such, characterology was the study of personality, its development, and its differences between individuals. The term *personality* however, which was dominant in English use, came to be preferred after the end of [World War II](/source/World_War_II).[1] In the 1920s, the term characterology was appropriated by American writer [Leander Hamilton McCormick](/source/Leander_Hamilton_McCormick) to promote a [physiognomical](/source/Physiognomical) and [phrenological](/source/Phrenological) pseudoscience. McCormick's views have further been regarded as [scientific racism](/source/Scientific_racism).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] ## List of notable characterological psychologists - [Alfred Adler](/source/Alfred_Adler)[5] - [Julius Bahnsen](/source/Julius_Bahnsen) - [Sigmund Freud](/source/Sigmund_Freud)[6] - [Erich Fromm](/source/Erich_Fromm) - [Carl Jung](/source/Carl_Jung)[5] - [Ludwig Klages](/source/Ludwig_Klages)[5] - [Ernst Kretschmer](/source/Ernst_Kretschmer)[5] - [Wilhelm Reich](/source/Wilhelm_Reich)[5] ## See also - *[Lebensphilosophie](/source/Lebensphilosophie)* - [Personality development](/source/Personality_development) - [Personality judgment](/source/Personality_judgment) - [Personology (disambiguation)](/source/Personology_(disambiguation)) - [Physiognomy](/source/Physiognomy) - [Pseudoscience](/source/Pseudoscience) - [Psychological typologies](/source/Psychological_typologies) - [Science in Germany](/source/Science_in_Germany) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_1-1) - ["Characterology"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/characterology). *Merriam-Webster.com Medical Dictionary*. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 28 September 2020. - ["Characterology"](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/characterology). *Collins English Dictionary* (Complete and Unabridged, 12th ed.). 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via TheFreeDictionary.com. - Popov, Iu. N.; Puzyrei, A. A. (1970–1979). ["Characterology"](https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Characterology). *The Great Soviet Encyclopedia* (3rd ed.). Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via TheFreeDictionary.com. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Arens, Katherine (1986). "Schnitzler and Characterology: From Empire to Third Reich". *Modern Austrian Literature*. **19** (3/4): 97–127. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0026-7503](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0026-7503). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [24647600](https://www.jstor.org/stable/24647600). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** - Stone, Michael H. (1980). "Traditional Psychoanalytic Characterology Reexamined in the Light of Constitutional and Cognitive Difference Between the Sexes". *Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis*. **8** (3): 381–401. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1521/jaap.1.1980.8.3.381](https://doi.org/10.1521%2Fjaap.1.1980.8.3.381). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [7410148](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7410148). - Heidegren, Carl-Göran (2005). "Social Characterology". *Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory*. **6** (2): 87–95. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/1600910X.2005.9672915](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F1600910X.2005.9672915). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [144624603](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144624603). - Popov, Iu. N.; Puzyrei, A. A. (1970–1979). ["Characterology"](https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Characterology). *The Great Soviet Encyclopedia* (3rd ed.). Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via TheFreeDictionary.com. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** - Popov, Iu. N.; Puzyrei, A. A. (1970–1979). ["Characterology"](https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Characterology). *The Great Soviet Encyclopedia* (3rd ed.). Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via TheFreeDictionary.com. - ["Typologies"](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/art-and-architecture/architecture/typologies). *International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences*. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via Encyclopedia.com. A related historical tradition also going back to classical antiquity is the field of *characterology* and personality studies. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:2_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:2_5-4) Popov, Iu. N.; Puzyrei, A. A. (1970–1979). ["Characterology"](https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Characterology). *The Great Soviet Encyclopedia* (3rd ed.). Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via TheFreeDictionary.com. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Stone, Michael H. (1980). "Traditional Psychoanalytic Characterology Reexamined in the Light of Constitutional and Cognitive Difference Between the Sexes". *Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis*. **8** (3): 381–401. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1521/jaap.1.1980.8.3.381](https://doi.org/10.1521%2Fjaap.1.1980.8.3.381). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [7410148](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7410148). Authority control databases: National Czech Republic This psychology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Psych-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3APsych-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Psych-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Characterology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characterology) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characterology?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.