Theories of Personality Essay

8/2/2019 Theories of Personality Essay

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ID#:620034659

Tutorial time: Wednesday 9-10am

Tutor: J. Martin

Due November 11, 2011

Question 1: Respond critically to the following statement: personality psychologists have a

sound set of theories and reliable and valid ways of collecting data to confirm these theories and

fulfill the goals of the field.


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are the psychoanalytic and Neo-analytic approaches to personality, second inline are the

phenomenological theories, the third group of personality theories are the trait theories of

personality psychology and the final set are the behavioral theories. All these theories have

contributed to the growing dynamic field of personality psychology through empirical research

and observation.

There are several methods by which personality psychology test and evaluate their

theory. Personality assessment is defined by Fehr as any effort to systematically comprehend,

predict and explain the personality character of a person. Page 179. Backtracking to the topic of

this essay, personality psychologists have valid and reliable ways to collect data to confirm their

theories. Assessment technique displays difference in their degree of subjectivity and objectivity.

Subjective techniques are vulnerable to biasness which is mostly avoided with the scientific

field. Hence the best techniques can be said to be reliable and valid techniques. Validity refers to

the extent to which an assessment device measures what it is intended to measure while

reliability refers to the consistency of response to a psychological assessment instrument. Shultz

and Shultz pg 12.Relaiblity may be achieved through the test retest, equivalent-forms and the

split halves method. The method by which personality psychologist evaluate their theories are

through self-report or object inventories, projective techniques, Clinical interviews, behavioral

assessment procedures and thought and experience sampling method.

The Psychoanalytic theory, created by Sigmund Freud, was the earliest approach to the

formal study of personality. Shultz and Shultz. Psychoanalysis emphasized unconscious forces,

the Id, Ego and superego, biologically based drives of sex; libido and cathexis; aggression drives,

life and death instinct and the importance of childhood experiences in shaping adult behavior and

also the operation of the defense mechanism in controlling anxiety. Within the psychoanalytic


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theory emerge the four psychosexual stages of development, the oral, Anal, Phallic, latency

period (not a stage) and the Genital stage. In addition to Freud psychoanalytic theory of

personality emerge the neo-analytic approach. This approach was derived from Freud

psychoanalytic theory by Freud followers and student who broke away from Freud. The neo

Freudian theorist differ from each other in numerous ways but share a common ground in that

they oppose Freud psychoanalytic on two main grounds: Freud emphasis on instinct as the

primary motivators of human behavior along with his deterministic view of personality and also

his sexist view. Shultz and Shultz. It was further said that the neo-analytic theorist presented a

more optimistic and gratifying view of personality and the human nature. The first neo Freudian

theorist is Carl Jung, who developed the analytic psychology approach. Within this theory,

personality is said to be shaped by the future and the past and greater emphasis was placed on the

unconscious in the development of personality. Shultz and Shultz. Jung broadened Freud

definition of the libido, redefining it has a more dynamic force than sexual. According to Fehr

1983, Jung outlined that the psyche to include the conscious ego, the personal unconscious and

the collective unconscious, of which the most important is self which eventually becomes the

centre of personality. In addition to Jung psyche he also developed a typology for classifying

people on the basis of his notions of attitudes and functions. Subsequently Alfred Adler

developed the individual psychology theory. His theory stressed individual development within

the society. Alder theory compared to Frueds showed major differences. While Freud

emphasized on, biological motives, sex, Oedipus complex, unconsciousness, Adler emphasized

on social motives, sex being minimal, Oedipus being largely social, importance of conscious,

positive attitude toward human existence in contrast to Freuds negative attitude. While Adler

views are different from Freud and Jung, he has made distinct contribution to the field of


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personality theory. In his individual psychology theory, Adler stipulated that: men are social

being, that their personality may be the product of society and not necessarily biology, the

creative self , man was free to choose the personality that he/s.

Assessments for the psychoanalytic and neo-analytic approaches are done by using the

projective technique, free association and dream analysis, both allows patients to freely express

their problem; uniqueness of personality; conscious determinants of behavior. Fher 1983. Carl

Jung analytic theory of personality include the investigation of symbols, myths and rituals in

ancient cultures: the word association test , used to expose complexities, symptom analysis in

which patients talk about their problems, free association, and dream analysis.

The second set of personality theories are the Phenomenological theories. These theories

are a diversion from the psychoanalytic and Neo-analytic approaches. They mainly recognize the

importance of human as a social being and who is striving to reach his full potential. Fher 1983.

The theories and psychologist famous within this group are Abraham Maslows dynamic health

psychology theory, Carl Rogerss self theory, andGeorge Kellys personal construct theory.

These theories are said to be phenomenological theories because they see man as a human being

who is mainly influenced by his/her environment and who act upon the environ with a certain

degree of intention. Phenomenological theories encompass the humanistic and cognitive

approach. Phenomenological theories test their theory by mainly Construct Repertory Test, Q-

sort technique, Personal orientation technique and semantic Differential. The assessment

techniques used in this area have received the highest criticism mainly because of the

subjectivity of the methods. Reason being is that phenomenological psychologist are not

concerned with assessment o validate their method, but are more concerned about the individual

development. Thus their method lack reliability and validity. In addition, it also does not provide


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any unified approach for evaluation as it is with other theories. Compared to others, these sets of

theories are vague and subjective unlike the other methods.

The third group of theories are the Trait theories of personality. These theories focus on

personality traits in shaping personality type. It encompasses theories such as William Sheldons

Constitutional Psychology. This theory talks about the nature of an individual body type and its

relationship to personality characteristics, Gordon Allports personalism theory creates an initial

look at the concept of a trait and attempts, and Raymond Cattells Factor theory. His theory is an

attempt to use elaborative and controversial technique in the study of personality. According to

Fehr, assessments in this area are the MMPI, The 16 personality factor questionnaire, The

California Psychological Inventory and the single trait Inventory. While the assessment

techniques of psychodynamic and phenomenological theories may involve numerical scoring,

the trait assessment relies more on an objective, statistical, psychometric approach toward

assessment.

The forth collection of theories and psychologist is the Behavioral theories of personality.

Within the behavioral approach, B. F Skinners Radical Behaviorism theory, speaks to shaping

behavior with the use of operant conditioning. He rejects the view of Freud unconscious notion

which guide behavior and introduced the claim that behavior should be viewed as being

symptomatic or symbolic of hidden problem. He believes that behavior should be studied as

behavior. In addition to B.F Skinners theory, Albert Banduras social learning theory again

maintains that learning does not have to take place in the presence of direct reinforcement;

rather, an individual can learn by observing the behavior of another person. Within the

behavioral assessment methods, each technique begins with an assumptions that psychologist

should be concerned with the behavior of the individual and ignore any underlying traits,


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unconscious processes or psychic structures for understanding personality. The assessment

process focus mainly on the characteristics of the person and the stimulus conditions that caused

this behavior. Behavioral psychologist utilizes the observation techniques, behavioral interview,

inventories and the sampling technique along with behavioral therapy and modification. Even

though there are a lot of critics with regards to behavioral assessment and therapy, these methods

are still said to be high in validity and reliability.

In the final analysis even though some theories are criticized for not being valid or

reliable it is safe to say that personality psychologist has a set of stable theories and valid and

reliable ways in which data are collected. They do contribute to the field of personality

psychology through the creation and development of the behavioral, trait, cognitive and

humanistic approaches and theories of personality psychology along with their objective data

gathering technique.


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References

Fehr, L. A. (1983).Introduction to Personality (pp. 39-177). New York, NY: Macmillian.

Hall, C. S., & Lindzey, G. (1978). Theories of personality (3rdrd ed.). New York, NY:

John Wiley and sons inc

Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2009). Theories of personality (ninth ed., pp. 45-345).

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learing

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Theories of Personality Essay