Patients who lost their ability to retrieve episodic facts (severe head injury, Alzheimer’s, stroke) were able to describe their traits despite inability to remember their lives' details

Robinson, M. D., & Sedikides, C. (in press). Personality and The Self. In P. Corr & G. Matthews (Eds.), Cambridge University Press handbook of personality (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329828901

Abstract:  People draw from the self-concept when they report on their personality traits. Accordingly, researchers should be able to understand personality traits in terms of self-related processes. This chapter addresses the interface between personality and the self, presenting an integration whereby trait-related knowledge is considered in terms of its abstract and generalized qualities.  These qualities contribute to personality stability over time, but they also allow for discrepancies between trait-related views of the self and momentary tendencies toward thought, feeling, or action. The chapter also explores ways in which individual differences in personality can be understood in terms of mechanisms postulated by self-enhancement theory and raison oblige theory. Altogether, the chapter illustrates the benefits of integrating the personality trait and self concept literatures.

Keywords: personality, traits, self, self-enhancement