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THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: A person’s unique and
relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. |
|
Perspective |
Emphasis |
Theorists |
Important Concepts |
Assessment Techniques |
Treatment |
|
Psychoanalytic |
Behavior & personality spring from
unconscious conflicts & early childhood experiences. The theory places
an emphasis on sexual instincts. |
Sigmund Freud |
Structure of the mind (Id, ego, &
superego); the 5 psychosexual stages of development (oral, anal, phallic,
latent, & genital); defense mechanisms; libido; Electra Complex; penis
envy (yeah, right!); Oedipal Conflict; castration anxiety. |
Projective tests
(consisting of ambiguous material) such as the Rorschach & Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT) |
Insight therapy involving: free
association, analysis of dreams (i.e., latent vs. manifest content);
resistance, interpretation; positive & negative transference. |
|
Psycho-analytic: Neo-Freudians
|
Emphasis is still on the unconscious, but
less of an emphasis on sexual instincts. |
Jung |
Personal unconscious (much like Freud’s)
AND collective unconscious made up of archetypes—shadow, persona,
anima, animus, etc. Main personality traits consist of introversion/extroversion
& rationality/irrationality. |
Similar to the above. Jung also examined the drawings of mandalas
to penetrate the collective unconscious.
|
Insight therapy but with less of an
emphasis on sexual instincts. |
|
Adler |
Inferiority vs superiority; inferiority
complex; fictional finalism. |
|
Horney |
Anxiety is a stronger motivating source
than sexual impulses. |
|
Erikson |
Eight stages of psychosocial development;
parent-child relationships. |
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Humanistic |
An optimistic view of human nature that
emphasizes the self and the fulfillment of each person’s unique
potential. |
William James |
Focus is on the "self"—the
material self, social self, spiritual self, & pure ego. |
Questionnaires and empathetic interviews
that assess self-Concept.
|
Person (or client) centered therapy
incorporating active listening & unconditional positive regard. |
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Carl Rogers |
Actualizing tendency; fully functioning
person; unconditional positive regard. |
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Abraham Maslow |
Hierarchy of needs; self-actualization. |
|
Perspective |
Emphasis |
Theorists |
Important Concepts |
Assessment |
Treatment |
|
Biomedical; Neuro-psychological,
or physiological psychology |
Based on the "Medical Model"
which states that mental illnesses are similar to physical illnesses in
that both are caused by the physical malfunction of certain systems
within the body. The malfunction may be linked to genetics. |
|
Most mental illnesses are caused by a
"chemical imbalance" in the brain. Ex: the neurotransmitter
Serotonin has been linked to depression and Dopamine has been linked to
schizophrenia. Stress-diathesis model of mental illness. |
There are no definitive medical tests for
mental illness. But, advances are likely in brain-imaging techniques |
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT);
psycho-surgery (lobotomy); drug therapies: anti-depressant (Prozac),
antipsychotic (Clozapine, Thorazine), anti-anxiety (Valium, Xanex), &
anti-bipolar (Lithium). |
|
Trait |
Emphasizes the description & measurement
of specific personality traits among individuals. |
Sheldon |
Endomorphs, mesomorphs, & ectomorphs. |
OBJECTIVE personality inventories that
assess different traits (e.g., MMPI, 16 PF, CPI, etc.) |
Trait theorists are NOT NOT NOT NOT
NOT NOT NOT NOT interested in therapy or the origins of mental
illness. They simply want to MEASURE & DESCRIBE personality
traits. |
|
Allport |
Identified 200 stable personality traits. |
|
Cattell |
Through factor-analysis, identified 16
basic personality traits. |
|
Eysenk |
Identified two personality trait
dimensions: stability/instability & introversion/extroversion. |
|
Behavioral |
Behavior is a product of antecedents &
consequences in the environment. The importance of "cognition"
is dismissed or minimized. |
B. F. Skinner |
Positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, punishment, schedules of reinforcement. ABC’s of
behavior: Antecedents, behaviors, & consequences. |
Behavioral observations and ratings. |
Behavioral therapies:
- Classical conditioning
:
counterconditioning (both aversive conditioning and systematic
desensitization).
- Operant conditioning
:
token economies.
|
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Social-cognitive (or Cognitive-behavioral) |
Emphasis is on learning (behavioral) AND
conscious cognitive processes. |
Bandura |
Social learning theory (observation &
modeling); reciprocal determinism; |
Behavioral observations &
questionnaires assessing people’s thoughts and feelings. |
Rational-emotive therapy (Albert Ellis);
Beck’s cognitive therapy for depression. |
|
Rotter |
Internal vs. external locus of control. |
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Seligman |
Learned helplessness. |