Personality theories are
mainly concerned with the structure of the human mind or psyche, which subsumes
explaining how individual psychological processes are organized and made
coherent. As such, personality theories serve as the basis and synthesizing
element for many other fields in psychology.
Each of the following grand theories provides an overarching framework
within which most psychological research is conducted. Each of these theories
has a different point of emphasis when approaching the core psychological
questions of why, how, and what.
Most personality theories
can be classified in terms of two broad categories, depending on their
underlying assumptions about human nature. On the one hand, there are a group
of theories that see human nature as fixed, unchanging, deeply perverse, and
self-defeating. These theories emphasize self-understanding and resignation; in
the cases of Freudian psychoanalysis and existentialism, they also reflect a
distinctly tragic view of life—the sources of human misery are so various that
the best that can be hoped for is to control some of the causes of suffering.
On the other hand, there are a group of theories that see human nature as
plastic, flexible, and always capable of growth, change, and development. Human
nature is basically benevolent; therefore bad societies are the source of
personal misery. Social reform will produce human happiness if not actual
perfection. These theories emphasize self-expression and self-actualization—in
the cases of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, they reflect a distinctly
optimistic and romantic view of life.
Classes of Theories
Biological Theories
Biological
approaches focus on the biological underpinnings of behavior and the effects of
evolution and genetics. The premise is that behavior and mental processes can
be explained by understanding human physiology and anatomy. Biological psychologists
focus mostly on the brain and the nervous system. Research on heritability
suggests that there is a link between genetics and personality traits.
One of the best
known biological theorists was Hans Eysenck, who linked aspects of personality
to biological processes. For example, Eysenck argued that introverts had high
cortical arousal, leading them to avoid stimulation. On the other hand, Eysenck
believed extroverts had low cortical arousal, causing them to seek out
stimulating experiences.
Behavioral Theories
Behavioral theories
suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and
the environment. Behavioral theorists study observable and measurable
behaviors, rejecting theories that take internal thoughts and feelings into
account.
These theories
emphasize the role of previous learning experiences in shaping behavior.
Behaviorists don't traditionally focus on mental processes because they believe
that mental processes are too difficult to observe and measure objectively.
Behaviorism is involved, for example, in the ongoing controversy of the
influence of television and videogame violence on children.
Advocated by famous
psychologists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, behavioral theories
dominated psychology during the early half of the twentieth century. Today,
behavioral techniques are still widely used in therapeutic settings to help
clients learn new skills and behaviors.
Psychodynamic Theories
Psychodynamic
theories of personality are heavily influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud,
and emphasize importance of unconscious mental processes and early
child-development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes,
immature desires, and the demands of reality. Psychodynamic theories include
Sigmund Freud's psychosexual stage theory and Erik Erikson's stages of
psychosocial development.
Freud believed the
three components of personality were the id, the ego, and the superego. The id
is responsible for all needs and urges, while the superego for ideals and
moral. The ego moderates between the demands of the id, the superego, and
reality.
Erikson believed that
personality progressed through a series of stages, with certain conflicts
arising at each stage. Success in any stage depended upon successfully
overcoming these conflicts.
Humanist Theories
Humanist theories
emphasize the importance of free will and individual experience in the
development of personality. Humanist theorists emphasized the concept of
self-actualization, which is an innate need for personal growth that motivates
behavior. Humanist theorists include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive theories
focus on the mental processing of information, including the specific functions
of reasoning, problem solving, and memory. Cognitive psychologists are interested
in the mental plans and thoughts that guide and cause behavior.
Albert Bandura and
Walter Mischel offer theoretical analysis of personality, highlighting
cognitive variables, because they emphasize the human capacity to think as the
cornerstone of the personality.
Trait Theories
The trait theory
approach is one of the largest areas within personality psychology. According
to this theory, personality is made up of a number of broad traits. A trait is
basically a relatively stable characteristic that causes an individual to
behave in certain ways. Some of the best known trait theories include Eysenck's
three-dimension theory and the five factor theory of personality.
Theorists have not
agreed so far on the basic set of fundamental traits of personality, so the
theoretical debates are still open on the framework for these theories.
Socio-cultural Theories
Socio-cultural theories focus on the social
and cultural factors that affect our behavior. The tattoo phenomenon of the
1990s is a good example of the power of socio-cultural events. Before the
1990s, people who got inked were seen as acting outside of the status quo.
Nowadays, tattoos are widely accepted.
Feminist Theories
Feminism focuses on the
political, economic, and social rights of women and how these forces influence
both men's and women's behavior. The feminist perspective originated in the
women's movement of the 1960s.
Postmodernism Theories
Postmodernism
theories question the very core of psychological science, challenging its
approach to truth and its focus on the individual. Postmodernists propose, for
example, that in order to understand human thinking and reason, we need to look
at the social and communal processes involved in thinking and reason. They make
the argument that people in powerful positions have too much to say about what
is "real" and "true" in psychology. They advocate a social
constructionist view of reality, which states that the concepts of
"reality" and "truth" are defined, or constructed, by
society. These concepts have no meaning apart from the meanings that society
and its "experts" assign to them.
Intellectual Mistakes and
Misinterpretations
I would like to make a point, that psychology is not
mathematics, so multiple, sometimes controversial views exist between the
supporters of different theories. Just keep in mind for now that personality theorists
in some cases make clear intellectual mistakes in their theories, even the
geniuses like Freud. Just a few of these mistakes are outlined below:
- Ethnocentrism
- biases due to one's culture. For example, Freud grew up in Vienna, not
Tokyo or Africa. Hence, we expect his theories to be influenced by
Viennese culture.
- Egocentrism
- biases due to one's individuality. These include temperament, genetics,
family structure and dynamics, special personal experiences, education,
etc. It could be said, not without too much exaggeration, that every
personality theory may be explained in terms of the personality theorist's
life experiences, and in fact, is limited by them.
- Dogmatism
- biases due to dogmatism; i.e. not allowing for questions, doubts, or new
information. Often, dogmatic people will employ circular reasoning to
validate their theories.
In addition, when trying to make sense of a
personality theory, people will often run into the pitfall of
misinterpretation. This is because words have many different associations and
shades of meaning, and often we encounter a word used by a personality theorist
that we unintentionally assign all sorts of associations and meanings to that
the theorist did not have in mind.
For example, Freud's id, ego, and superego are all
words used by his translators, though the original German terms were es, ich,
and überich, which would be more properly translated as 'it', 'I', and
'over-I'.
In general, misinterpretations are prone to occur 1)
when words are translated from other languages, 2) with neologisms (altogether
new words), and 3) metaphors.
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