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Personality Psychology PSY405
Table of Contents:
Page no.
Lesson 1 The Nature of Personality theory……………………………………… 1
Lesson 2 Personality Measurement ……………………………………………..….. 8
Lesson 3 Main Perspectives………………………...………………………………. 12
Lesson 4 Sigmund Freud: A Psychoanalytic Theory Of Personality………………… 17
Lesson 5 Instinct: What Motivates Human Behavior? ……………………………... 21
Lesson 6 Psychoanalytic Theory Of Sigmund Freud……...……………………….... 25
Lesson 7 Theory Of Carl Jung (Analytical Psychology)… ……...…………………... 30
Lesson 8 The Psychological Types…………………………….…………………… 32
Lesson 9 Alfred Adler (Individual Psychology)………………………...…………… 34
Lesson 10 Individual Psychology…………. ………………………...………………. 36
Lesson 11 Karen Horney………………………...………………………...………… 39
Lesson 12 Adjustment To Basic Anxiety...………………………...………………… 42
Lesson 13 Erik Erikson……………………………………..………………………. 45
Lesson 14 Erik Erikson (Continued)………………………………………………… 49
Lesson 15 Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory ………………………………………….. 53
Lesson 16 Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory (Continued)……………………………… 54
Lesson 17 Constitutional Psychology……………..…………………………………. 60
Lesson 18 Sheldon’s Somatotype Theory…………...………………………………... 64
Lesson 19 Maslow’s Theory…………………………………………………………. 68
Lesson 20 Maslow’s Theory (Continued)……….…………...……………………… 73
Lesson 21 Rogers Person Centered Approach……………………………………….. 78
Lesson 22 Rogers Person Centered Approach (Continued)………………………….. 82
Lesson 23 Rogers Person Centered Approach Continued)…………………………... 87
Lesson 24 Kelly’s Cognitive Theory Of Personality Theory………....……………… 93
Lesson 25 Core Concepts Of George Kelly’s Cognitive Theory Of Personality…..… 98
Lesson 26 Gordon Allport: A Trait Theory Of Personality …………………………. 104
Lesson 27 Gordon Allport: A Trait Theory Of Personality (Continued)…………….. 108
Lesson 28 Factor Analytic Trait Theory (Raymand Cattell)………………………..... 114
Lesson 29 Factor Analytic Trait Theory (Raymand Cattell) (Continued)……………... 119
Lesson 30 Henry Murray’s Personology ………………………...…………………... 123
Lesson 31 Henry Murray’s Personology (Continued)…………………………..……. 128
Lesson 32 Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory ……….……………………….. 133
Lesson 33 Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (Continued)……………………. 137
Lesson 34 He Stimulus Response Theory Of Dollard And Miller…………………… 143
Lesson 35 The Stimulus Response Theory Of Dollard And Miller (Continued)……... 146
Lesson 36 Skinner’s Theory Of Personality………………………......……………… 151
Lesson 37 Skinner’s Theory Of Personality (Continued)………………………...…… 155
Lesson 38 Albert Ellis Theory Of Personality……..…………………………………. 160
Lesson 39 The Grand Perfect Theory Of Personality ………………………...……... 166
Lesson 40 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology……………………. 169
Lesson 41 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology (Continued)...……... 173
Lesson 42 Perspectives Or Domains Of Personality Psychology (Continued)...……... 178
Lesson 43 The Grand Theory Of Personality………………………………………... 184
Lesson 44 Personality Appraisal…..………………………...………………………... 191
Lesson 45 Personality Psychology: New Directions In The Discipline………………. 200
Personality Psychology – PSY 405 VU
Lesson 1
THE NATURE OF PERSONALITY THEORY
“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
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Personality Psychology – PSY 405 VU
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.
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Personality Psychology – PSY 405 VU
1. Verifiability:
A theory is positively evaluated to the degree that its concepts lend themselves to verification by
independent investigators. This means that a theory must be stated in such a way that its concepts are
clearly, explicitly defined and logically related to one another so that the theory can be empirically tested.
This requirement has been exceedingly difficult for personologists to demonstrate even a moderate amount
of empirical validation for their theoretical positions. A good theory should be empirically testable, leading
to modification of the theory if necessary.
2. Heuristic Value:
The degree to which a theory directly stimulates a research. A theory by translating its core concepts into a
form of operationalization can allow for relevant research activity. Personality theories differ immensely in
their capacity to fulfill this goal. Some of the most provocative theoretical formulations of personality
(e.g., Maslow’s self-actualizing theory) are practically devoid of empirical support. This state of affairs
usually results from the theorist’s failure to define his or her concepts operationally i.e., in manner whereby
they can readily be subjected to empirical test.
3. Internal Consistency: This criterion stipulates that a theory should not contradict itself that is a good
theory is internally consistent way. On the whole, theories of personality reasonably satisfy this standard,
4. Parsimony (simple):
A theory may also be judged on the basis of the number of concepts it requires to explain events within its
domain. The law of parsimony states that the preferred explanation is the one which demands the fewest
number of concepts, i.e., is most economical.
5. Comprehensiveness:
This criterion refers to the range and diversity of phenomena encompassed by a theory. The more
comprehensive a personality theory is the more behavioral ground it covers. The theorist should include
behavioral events such as biological, emotional, cognitive, social, and cultural in human behavior. At the
same time, it must be recognized that no present theory can account for all human functioning.
6. Functional Significance:
Finally, a theory may be evaluated on the basis of how useful it is in helping people to understand everyday
human behavior. All of us are interested in knowing more about ourselves and other people. Indeed,
knowledge of the personal and social insights provided by personality theorists can greatly help one’s
understanding and appreciation of human nature.
What are the influences Personality development?
1. Genetics
2. Environment ( learning)
3. Culture and Society
4. Self awareness
5. Traits
6. Unconscious Mechanisms
The Meaning of “Personality”
Personality has many meanings, even within psychology there is disagreement about the meaning of the
term. In fact, there may be as many different meanings of the term “personality” as there are psychologists
who have tried to define it
We often hear remarks that some people have a pleasing personality while others have charming
and fascinating personality.
Some political leaders have charismatic personality while others have repulsive and annoying
personality.
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