PSY405 Handouts by VUBuddy

Table of Contents

Personality Psychology (PSY405)

Lesson 01 1 - 7 Lesson 02 Personality Measurement 8 - 11 Lesson 03 Main Perspectives 12 - 16 Lesson 04 Sigmund Freud: A Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality 17 - 20 Lesson 05 Instinct: What Motivates Human Behavior? 21 - 24 Lesson 06 Psychoanalytic Theory Of Sigmund Freud 25 - 29 Lesson 07 Theory Of Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology 30 - 31 Lesson 08 The Psychological Types 32 - 33 Lesson 09 Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology 33 - 35 Lesson 10 Individual Psychology 36 - 38 Lesson 11 Karen Horney 39 - 41 Lesson 12 Adjustment To Basic Anxiety 42 - 44 Lesson 13 Erik Erikson 45 - 48 Lesson 14 Erik Erikson 49 - 52 Lesson 15 Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory 53 - 55 Lesson 16 Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory 56 - 59 Lesson 17 Constitutional Psychology 60 - 63 Lesson 18 Sheldon’s Somatotype Theory 64 - 67 Lesson 19 Maslow’s Theory 68 - 72 Lesson 20 Maslow’s Theory 73 - 77 Lesson 21 Rogers Person Centered Approach 73 - 81 Lesson 22 Rogers Person Centered Approach 82 - 86 Lesson 23 Rogers Person Centered Approach 87 - 92 Lesson 24 Kelly’s Cognitive Theory Of Personality Theory 93 - 97 Lesson 25 Kelly’s Cognitive Theory Of Personality Theory 98 - 103 Lesson 26 Gordon Allport: A Trait Theory Of Personality 104 - 107 Lesson 27 Gordon Allport: A Trait Theory Of Personality 108 - 113 Lesson 28 Factor Analytic Trait Theory: Raymand Cattell 114 - 118 Lesson 29 Factor Analytic Trait Theory: Raymand Cattell 119 - 122 Lesson 30 Henry Murray’s Personology 123 - 127 Lesson 31 Henry Murray’s Personology 128 - 132 Lesson 32 Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 133 - 136 Lesson 33 Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 137 - 142 Lesson 34 The Stimulus Response Theory Of Dollard And Miller 143 - 145 Lesson 35 The Stimulus Response Theory Of Dollard And Miller 146 - 150 Lesson 36 Skinner’s Theory Of Personality 151 - 154 Lesson 37 Skinner’s Theory Of Personality 155 - 159 Lesson 38 Albert Ellis Theory Of Personality 160 - 165 Lesson 39 The Grand Perfect Theory Of Personality 166 - 168 Lesson 40 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology 169 - 172 Lesson 41 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology 173 - 177 Lesson 42 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology 178 - 183 Lesson 43 The Grand Theory Of Personality 184 - 190 Lesson 44 Personality Appraisal 191 - 199 Lesson 45 Personality Psychology: New Directions In The Discipline 200 - 206

Lesson 1

“What sort of creatures are we?”

Ever since the beginning of recorded history, the most significant riddle or question to be answered is the “What sort of creatures are we?” A great many avenues have been explored, with an enormous variety of concepts employed yet a satisfactory answer still is not there.

1-Individual differences - Of the several billion people who presently inhabit the earth, no two individuals are exactly alike even the identical twins.

One important reason for the difficulty in getting a clear answer is that human beings come in many shapes and sizes and behave in exceedingly complex ways. There are so many differences to be accounted for biological, physical, genetics, social and psychological. The vast differences among them have made it difficult, if not impossible, to identify what they share in common as members of the human race. Personality psychology is concerned with the differences among the people.

Example:

The convicted terrorist or murderer, the priest, the corrupt politician.

Thus it is hard to imagine what “human nature” or characteristics or traits these fellow human beings have in common, and when we expand our horizons to include people of other cultures, we find even greater diversity in values, aspirations, and styles of life.

Psychology along with Astrology, theology, philosophy, and the life sciences are but a few of the many disciplines that the quest to understand human nature. Some of these avenues have proved to be dead ends, while others are just beginning to flourish.

Today the problem to understand human nature is more pressing than ever, huge population explosion, global unrest, ecological pollution, racial prejudice, poverty are brought about by the behavior of people. It may not be overstating the case, therefore, to say that the quality of human life in the future, indeed our very survival, may depend upon an increased understanding of human nature. Psychology is deeply committed to this undertaking.

Objectives of Personality Psychology

The science of psychology is directly concerned with the problem of understanding human personality within the framework of the science of psychology.

Scientifically based concepts and methods of personality psychology will ultimately prove to be of most value in understanding the complex nature of human behavior.

(1) To have a general, integrated and clear concept about Personality

(2) To understand personality assessment

(3) To identify several important Theories of Personality

(4) To identify key themes in Theories of Personality.

What makes personality psychology a science?

The process of converting speculations or opinions or beliefs about human nature into concepts that can be studied and tested empirically it is a process beset by many hazards; indeed, efforts to establish a “science of persons”. It may seem fascinating to try to gain insight into the causes of our behavior and development.

Psychologists resist to objectifying personality within the field of psychology, because it undermines human uniqueness and complexity instead, they concentrate on the qualities of human beings such as literature, art, history and religion which may each provide valuable insights into human behavior.

A second objective of personality psychology is to help people live their lives more fully and satisfyingly by finding ways to promote more healthy patterns of growth. These efforts include new forms of psychotherapy, various special learning programs, and changes in the psychological environment intended to permit people to develop to their full potential.

Theories of Personality

Different systems of consistent constellations of concepts called theories of personality. Each theory is about human nature and the goal of each theory is the understanding of the diversity and complexity of the whole person functioning in the real world. Theory refers to unsubstantiated hypothesis or speculation concerning reality that is not definitely known but when a theory has confirmatory data or evidence it is a fact.

1. A theory is useful when it can efficiently generate predictions and propositions
2. A theory should contain two parts a cluster of relevant assumptions systematically related to each other and a set of empirical definitions

What purpose do theories of personality serve?

Theories of personality represent elaborate speculation or hypotheses about why people behave as they do and they serve the following functions

1. A personality theory is descriptive. In other words, a theory provides a meaningful framework (i.e. a kind of map) for simplifying and integrating all that is known about a related set of events. For example, without the benefit of theory, it would be very difficult to explain why 5-year-old boy has a romantic attraction to his mother along with undue resentment toward his father. Armed with a theory that posits the universality of these emotions at a certain stage of personality development (along with a rationale of their emergence), but at least we would be consistent in making sense of these feelings in children. A good personality theory, then, provides a meaningful context within which human behavior can be consistently described and interpreted.
2. A theory should not only describe past and present events but also predict future ones. The second function of a personality theory is therefore to provide a basis for the prediction of events and outcomes that have not yet occurred.

3 This purpose clearly implies that a theory’s concepts must be testable and capable of being confirmed or disconfirmed. For example, a theory should furnish a basis for predicting specific changes in Raymond’s behavior as a function of parental treatment. What will happen if his mother actively encourages these feelings? Not only should such general predictions be possible but, ideally, the concepts of a theory should be formulated to permit rigorous and precise empirical testing. A good personality theory directly stimulates psychological research. Conversely, the scientific value of theories that are untestable is still unknown.

What does it means to be a human being?

4. Personality theorists are people, and, like the rest of us, they hold divergent views about human nature. Some theorists, for example, believe that human actions have their roots in unconscious motives whose true nature is outside the individual’s awareness and whose sources lie deeply buried in the distant past. Others believe that people are reasonably aware of their real motives and that their behavior is primarily a result of present conditions. Whatever each theorist’s specific beliefs may be, we contend that personality theorists have different basic assumptions about human nature, and that their theories can be distinguished from one another on this basis (Abraham Maslow and Sigmund Freud) - Our point is simply that the foundations of a personality theory are rooted in the basic assumptions of the theorist; a theory’s implications about human nature, i.e., about what humans are? or what it means to be a human being?

How we can evaluate Personality Theories?

Given the sheer number of alternative personality theories, how do we evaluate the relative merits of each? The most puzzling question that comes to your mind is what criteria can be used to evaluate a theory? We believe that six major criteria can be employed to evaluate personality theories and each personality theory should satisfy each of these criteria to some extent in order to receive a positive and satisfactory evaluation. We will describe these criteria, compare and contrast the theories in terms of these six criteria.