What's the difference between :a strong personality" and " a strong character"?

Question

What's the difference?She has a strong personalityShe has a strong character

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Strictly in terms of common usage, the first one is bad and the second one is good.

A strong personality is like a strong smell. It's something that drives you away. It's offensive.
(I'm sure not everyone will agree.)

Character is something you build over time to make you able to deal effectively with life. (I hope I didn't say that.)

It's internal. People don't see it directly, but judge you by what you accomplish and how you treat people.

To psychiatrists and psychologists, personality is a very techincal concept, but to the average person it's simply the face we show to others. We say things like, "She has a nice personality." She's easy to get along with. She's fun to be with. She doesn't try to put you down, etc.
That is, we like people who do not have "strong" personalities. And we admire people who have strong character.

I don't mean to say we're attracted to weak, spineless individuals. I mean that we're put off by people who are confrontational, and those are the people whom we often describe as having "strong" personalities.

What's the difference between :a strong personality" and " a strong character"?

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