Difference between 性格 and 人格

[valth]

Hi people, so I’m doing my new vocabulary lessons and got to this words:
性格 ：Personality, Character.
人格 ：Character, personality

Reading the context examples i see that i could use any of those words for those examples. is there a real difference between them?
Is there a real life situation where is more appropriate to use one or another?

Thanks!

[seanblue]

This Japanese page is very descriptive.

Overall, 性格 describes the nature of a person, including things that are innate (they’re born with) and things that are acquired from the environment they were raised in. That page says:

「性格」とは、 ある対象が先天的、あるいは後天的に備えた性質 のことです。

It also says that 性格 can be used for inanimate things, like water.

たとえば、『水は4℃で密度が最高になり、そこから温度の上昇に伴い徐々に密度が小さくなる、という性格を持った物質である』という風に、水が生来持つ性質を表す場合などに用いられます。

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On the other hand, 人格 seems to be used in a broader sense.

「人格」とは、 広義的な性格 を意味します。

It doesn’t include just the nature of the person, but also their thoughts and state of mind.

つまり、ある個人が持つ特徴(=性格)だけではなく、思考や心理を含めた、より深く広い範囲を表すのが「人格」です。

Then there’s a part I don’t quite get (though it relates to 人格 having a broader usage), and ends the explanation with

このように、他者や周りとの関わりの中で形成される人間性を、「人格」と言います。
たとえば、『人格者』という言葉はありますが、『性格者』という言葉は聞いたことがありませんよね。

And you even see 人格者 in the third example sentence for 人格.

And similarly,

つまり、個人を表す言葉のレベルとして、性格＜人格 と捉えることができるのです。

「性格が良い人」と言われるよりも、「人格の優れた人」と言われた方が、その人が素晴らしく徳のある人物であるというイメージを持つのもそのためです。

(that’s a less than symbol, not a く by the way)

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There’s plenty in here I still don’t understand the nuance of, and maybe this wasn’t that helpful to you either. But hopefully it helps at least a bit, and maybe someone will come by later who has a better understanding than I do. Here’s the summary at the end of the article (which includes 気質):

• 性格 ：対象の持つ先天的、後天的な性質
• 人格 ：個人全体の在り方を表す/性格よりも程度が深い
• 気質 ：対象の持つ先天的な性質/性格の基礎となる

[valth]

Thanks a lot Seanblue!!!
It helps a lot! as you say not 100% sure but it helps me identify at least some difference between them and possible applications of each of them when writing/speaking.