KEY POINTS:
We've all got one but it's hard to define exactly what personality is.
Theories about personality have kept psychiatrists and psychologists in business since Freud put patients on his famous couch.
In these days of armchair psychology and self-help books, the question of who we are and what makes us tick is more popular than ever.
Perth psychotherapist, author and motivational speaker Katie Altham has jumped on the bandwagon by identifying a list of distinct personality types, or "archetypes".
An archetype, she says, is a primal, compulsive personality characteristic.
Altham says we're born with our archetypes, which can be identified in our leaders, colleagues, friends, family - and ourselves.
The notion of archetypes is originally associated with Swiss psychologist Karl Jung, but Altham says she deliberately avoided him when developing her theory.
"I haven't actually read a lot of Jung or the other archetype authors because I wanted this to be totally original," she says.
Altham, 45, started out as a trumpet player with the Australian Youth Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
She says she became fascinated with personality differences while observing fellow band members.
"The woodwind players, they're all the bloody same, and brass players are all like this ... the string players are different again," she says.
Altham later studied music therapy in the United States, which led to a psychology degree and private practice.
In her book, which her own publishing company releases in the first week of November, Altham identifies 34 archetypes, with examples drawn from real life.
Twenty-two of them are named after ancient gods and goddesses.
Pallas Athena is the "warrior queen" ("the sort of feminist who has striven to be equal in a man's world; they are clever, analytical, good policy planners").
"Apollo" is "the successful yuppie professional", "Zeus" the "absolute king and dictator", "Dionysus" the "hedonistic bohemian" and so on.
"Each person will have six out of these 34 [archetypes] that they'll be able to say 'that's me'," she says.
Sometimes, one archetype dominates, which can be a recipe for trouble.
Troubled singer Britney Spears is "an Aphrodite, which is the sex goddess", Altham says.
"She's a great example of when one archetype gets out of balance - nothing else gets developed in that girl."
Prime Minister John Howard is Saturn ("the conservative father, teacher, boss") while his political rival, Kevin Rudd, is Uranus ("the eccentric, absent-minded professor"). Treasurer Peter Costello is Midas ("the obsessive money worrier").
Former crocodile hunter Steve Irwin and airline entrepreneur Richard Branson are Hermes ("the messenger who can sell ice to Eskimos") and socialite Paris Hilton is a Princess ("she's wealthy, expects the best, doesn't want to have to work too hard").
You might even be working with examples of Altham's archetypes, for example Queen types ("are bossy, think they're right about everything, don't like to apologise, arrogant, terrified of being executed and always on the look out for who's doing them in").
You can have hours of fun identifying archetype traits in yourself and others, but some, like Sydney-based psychotherapist Stephen Carroll, dismiss Altham's approach as lightweight pop-psychology.
"It's a bit horoscopy, isn't it?" says Dr Carroll, who doesn't use archetypes in his own work. He says approaches like Altham's simplify Jung's theories, and that relying on stereotypes can be self-limiting.
"Sure, it's fun, but don't take this as the be all and end all," he says.
"It's a little simplistic."
However, he says as a self-help book it can be a useful starting point for people who are beginning to look at who they are and where they are going.
Altham says understanding archetypes has implications for health, parenting, career choices and, of course, romance and sex.
"People can work out who they are, who their partner is, who their kids are, who a workmate is who's giving them trouble at work, their best friend or their mother-in-law.
"When we understand where people are we're much less reactive to them ... we can also support them to be more of what they are and stop trying to change them to be like we want them to be."
Pallas Athena types (like to plan) will clash with Hermes types (fly by the seat of their pants), while the chemistry can be red-hot between Aphrodite and Eros (Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina).
Altham also denies that archetypes are limiting.
"We can't change our archetypes but there's no limit to their potential," she says.
"The thing is you have a unique combination of archetypes, so that means you're naming people quite uniquely."
The good news, she says, is that there's no bad archetype.
"They can all be brilliant," she says.
* Who Are They?, Katie Altham
Publisher: Archetrek
