These patterns or preferences provide us with a frame of reference for how we will interact in different situations. Our patterns are a reflection of our personality which distinguishes us from other individuals. Alfred Adler concluded by the age of five, most individuals have formed character traits or a "style of life," which is more or less permanently fixed. The more we understand these basic personality types, the better we are able to predict and understand behavior, our own and that of others with whom we interact.