Characterology (from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ 'character' and ‑λογία, ‑logia) is the academic study of character which was prominent in German-speaking countries during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
[1][2] It is considered a historic branch of personality psychology, which extended into psychoanalysis and sociology.
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.
[1] In the 1920s, the term characterology was appropriated by American writer Leander Hamilton McCormick to promote a physiognomical and phrenological pseudoscience.