Introduction
Psychology refers to the scientific study of mind and behavior a study of the mind, how it functions, and its impact on human behavior. Many people study psychology with aim of understanding the behavior of people as it helps understand psychological differences and similarities among people. The assignment discusses four personality theories by completing four portions main ideas, assessment, theory perspective, and my thoughts on the perspective.
Personality refers to the dynamic and organized individual characteristics like feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and social adjustments that determine their values, attitudes, expectations, and perceptions. Personality psychology is the psychology branch that aims at explaining people’s personalities and their variation among humans. Psychologist explains different personalities using theories such as psychodynamic, humanistic, trait-perspective, and social-cognitive perspective. The theories attempt to show how personality develops, how it changes, and also its impact on one’s behavior.
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
The psychodynamic theory explains personality traits by analyzing the impact the unconscious mind and one’s childhood experiences have on personality.
Main ideas
Psychodynamic main ideas revolve around the unconscious mind and childhood experiences’ impact on one’s personality. The theory focuses on the idea that there are various psychological forces and drives that explain an individual’s behavior and personality. Sigmund developed a structural model that states that a person’s personality is made up of three parts id, ego, and superego. Freud explained that after birth, a person’s personality develops as they grow for example a child used the id portion to ensure the satisfaction of their needs. The id part deals with needs and urges, the superego deals with ideals and morals, while the ego balances the needs of the id, superego, and reality. Erik also stated that one’s personality changes from childhood because of the various conflicts encountered. Another main idea is psychic determinism where human behaviors come from our unconscious emotional drives for example the theory states that there is no slip of the tongue because each behavior is determined by the unconscious mind.
Assessment
In summary, the psychodynamic theory states that one’s personality is shaped by past experiences which are lodged in the unconscious mind (McLeod, 2023). The theory explains the origin of human behavior as it states that personality comes from unconscious psychological processes and childhood experiences. The theory is assessed using its assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses. The theory has various assumptions, psychic determinism means every behavior has its cause like a slip of tongue, every behavior originates from the unconscious mind, and childhood experiences influence adult behaviors and feelings. The theory also assumes that the id, ego, and superego parts are in constant struggle. The theory has two major strengths; taking into account the effect of childhood experience on adult personality and mental health, and exploring innate forces that motivate human behavior. The theory’s weaknesses include that it lacks scientific validity, lacks empirical evidence, subjective to interpretation, and is deterministic.
Main issues with this perspective
The psychodynamic perspective state that adult personality is determined and depended on childhood experiences. The main issues of the psychodynamic perspective include, childhood experiences determine adult behaviors and feelings. Two, all human behavior has a cause which is the unconscious mind. Another main issue is that the three parts of the mind id, ego, and superego struggle with each other.
Your thoughts on the perspective
Though the theory faces many criticisms due to its weaknesses, my thoughts support the perspective as I believe that human personality is shaped by past experiences. Childhood experiences like abusive upbringing and traumas determine our adult behaviors. For instance, one’s fear of darkness or heights may result from the unconscious due to past experiences.
HUMANISTIC THEORY
Main ideas
The humanistic theory states that personality is determined by one’s free will and experiences. The theory’s main idea comes from two theorists Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow. Rogers suggested that people’s behavior is influenced by self-actualization, free will, and psychological growth. Maslow suggested that people’s behavior is motivated by a hierarchy of needs that’s from basic needs to self-esteem and self-actualization. Another idea is that people’s behavior depends on various personality dimensions awareness, reality, problem-centered, democratic, and acceptance (Cherry, 2023).
Assessment
The humanistic theory states that human behavior is influenced by free will, a hierarchy of needs, and personal growth. In summary, the theory states that people’s personalities depend on the tendency of self-actualization, and personal growth. According to the theory, people have the responsibility for their lives and actions therefore they can change their behavior and personality of their free will. The theory has various strengths; it gives importance to individual choice and responsibility. The theory also values personal ideals and self-fulfillment. The theory is optimistic, focus on the present and future, and emphasizes on uniqueness and validity of subjective experience. The theory faces criticism due to its weaknesses like it’s too naïve and vague because it focuses on subjective ideas which are difficult to objectify (Hogan, & Sherman, 2020).
Main issues of this perspective
The humanistic perspective explains human personality and behavior by considering basic human needs, free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization. According to the theory, people change their behavior to meet their needs. The theory focuses on issues that bring self-fulfillment which is not similar for everyone. Another major issue is that the perspective emphasizes issues like self-understanding, self-growth, and positive self-regard to explain the behavior of a whole person. Another major issue of this perspective is that its concepts are too vague and naïve because it uses subjective ideas like real experiences which are hard to objectify and one real experience for an individual may not be a real experience for others.
Your thoughts on this perspective
I agree with the perspective that human behavior is determined by personal growth and a hierarchy of needs. People’s behavior may change due to their desire to fulfill certain needs like self-esteem and self-actualization. The perspective does not fully explain human personality because it focuses on present and future behaviors while past experiences impact one’s personality.
SOCIAL-COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Main Ideas
The social cognitive perspective states that personality is influenced by observational learning, self-efficacy, situational influences, and cognitive processes. The main idea of the perspective revolves around how personality is shaped. One, personality is rooted in observation, modeling, and imitation. Two, personality comes from cognitive factors like attention, attitudes, emotion, and motivation. Three, human behavior and personality stem from their interaction with the environment and thoughts.
Assessment
The perspective states that human behavior and personality are influenced by social learning, observation, cognitive factors, and individual interaction with the environment and thoughts. According to Albert Bandura, memory and emotional forces and environment influence one’s behavior. He used a Bobo doll experiment where he showed children a video of a child beating Bobo dolls, after which he observed that the children after encountering Bobo dolls used hammers to beat the doll. The experiment showed that behavior is influenced by observational learning. The theory has various strengths and weaknesses. The strengths include its uses of instances of everyday life and have wide coverage as it considers all aspects that may influence human behavior like cognitive factors, environment, and social learning. The major weakness of the perspective is that it’s unclear to what extent each factor has on one personality and behavior. The theory also lacks a cohesive framework as it’s overly general.
Major issues of this perspective
Social-cognitive perspective states that human behavior is shaped by social learning, environment, and cognitive factors like emotions and memory. The perspective faces criticism because of its assumptions, for example, people learn by observing is a major issue because not all people learn through observation. Observation may or may not influence people’s behavior. Two, internal processes like emotions or stress influence behavior is an issue because some people suppress their internal feelings and thoughts and don’t reflect them on their behavior. Another major issue is that human behavior and personality are shaped by their goals. Another major issue is that the perspective views behavior from the social world and other people’s influence on individual behavior. Generally, learning is an internal process and it may not affect all people’s behavior.
Your thought on the perspective
According to this perspective, our personalities are shaped and change depending on those around us, our environment, and our innate factors. My thoughts on this perspective are that it can explain differences and similarities between personalities because it covers almost all aspects that determine one’s behavior. I agree with the theory because our behavior changes as we learn and judge those around us.
TRAIT PERSPECTIVE
Main Ideas
The trait perspective mainly focuses on the identification, description, and measurement of different traits that shape human personality. The theory states that human behavior is influenced by various traits. The perspective is studied by various theorists Hans Eysenck, Raymond Cattell, Robert McCrae, and Paul Costa. According to Eysenck, personality consists of three dimensions extraversion versus introversion, emotional stability and neuroticism, and psychoticism. Cattell argued that sixteen personality traits result in different personality types. Lastly, McCrae and Costa in their big five theory outlined five dimensions of personality extraversion, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. The perspective characterizes personality traits into consistency across various settings, stability over time, and individual differences (Worthy, Lavigne, & Romero, 2020).
Assessment
The trait perspective states that certain traits cause personality differences as they make people behave in certain manners. The perspective is reliable because people’s traits remain stable and consistent despite the place or time. For example, a short-tempered person’s behavior remains the same no matter the setting for instance when caught up in rain the person gets angry and walks through the rain. The theory is assessed using its strengths and weaknesses. The theory’s strengths include acknowledging biological factors and their influence on personality. The perspective acknowledges the fact that though traits are stable they cause different behaviors depending on a situation. The theory is open to bias as it’s based on self-reports findings. Another weakness is that it can’t predict individual behavior as people with certain traits may not behave that way in reality.
Major issues of this perspective
The trait perspective explains personality using certain traits like talkative, short-tempered, and aggressive. The perspective of major issues comes from the criticisms of the theory. The perspective centers on traits as the predictors of behavior which is not true as people may not behave according to the traits they possess in certain situations. Another issue is that the perspective has not specified the traits which can shape personality resulting in an endless trait list. The perspective overlooks the situation’s influence on behavior as it states that only traits determine one’s personality. Another major issue is that it only explains how certain traits are consistent, stable, and varies but does not explain how the traits lead to personality development.
Your thoughts on this perspective
My thoughts are that people have many traits which don’t reflect on their behavior thus the perspective cannot be used to understand different personalities and behavior of people.
Conclusion
Personality theories help understand variations and similarities of different people based on various factors like childhood experiences, unconscious mind, free will, personal growth, traits, and cognitive factors. Some theories are more reliable that others therefore it’s good to study and understand various personality theories.
References
. Worthy, L., Lavigne, T., & Romero, F. (2020, July 27). Trait theory. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/trait-theory/#:~:text=Trait%20theory%20in%20psychology%20rests,and%20(3)%20individual%20differences.
Cherry, K. (2023, January 10). What are the 4 perspectives on personality? Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.verywellmind.com/personality-perspectives-2795950#toc-trait-perspective
Hogan, R., & Sherman, R. A. (2020). Personality theory and the nature of human nature. Personality and Individual Differences, 152, 109561.
Mcleod, S. (2023, March 17). Psychodynamic approach in psychology. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html#:~:text=The%20psychodynamic%20theory%20states%20that,childhood%20(during%20psychosexual%20development).
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