This course has taught me a lot about the different personality theories as well as the best known psychology theorists that have developed these theories. Personality consists of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make an individual unique. Numerous theories have been emerged to implicit the different features of personality. The main purpose of some theories is to focus on explaining how personality developed. Our book was divided into different chapters on various theorists and explained the major theories of personality that were proposed by the different psychologists. One of the theories that we learned about was the trait theories. Gordan Allport introduced the trait theory and his theory suggested that individual personalities are primarily composed of broad dispositions’. Eysenck’s three dimensions of Personality was also a part of the trait theory. Eysenck developed that model of personality upon three universal trails. And at last, the trait theory had the Big five dimensions which proposed that there are give basic dimensions of personality. One of the four conclusions in our textbook suggested that “until more unambiguous empirical research is available, the best one can do is to evaluate the various theories personally, and to accept concepts that make sense and reject those that do not”(531). I agree with this statement because while most agree that people can be described upon their personality traits; there still remains a debate on the number of traits that make up the human personality. For example, it could be concluded that the trait theory has some criticisms to it. Trait theory centers mainly on the fact that traits are usually poor predictors of behavior. This theory also doesn’t exactly explain wh... ... middle of paper ... ...heory. I believe the humanistic theory does a great job simplifying the positive nature of humankind as well as the association of free will with change. Humanistic theory also fits well with other approaches. This theory also is well incorporated into the different views on human change. If I were to evaluate a theory and choose the one that I had to accept then I would take away something from all of the theories that we learned about. Theories are created through existing data. However, a theory may not necessarily be correct but it does give us a better understanding of concepts in that it gives people to either prove them correct or wrong. All in all, understanding is being created. Plus, our book stated that “the best available explanation of personality comes from using the best of all the theories rather than attempting to use one or a few of them” (531).
Personality is defined as the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. Our personality has a huge influence on our enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors which influence how we adapt to our world. It’s how we define ourselves, and how others view you. Many psychologists have faced the challenge of trying to determine where our personality is derived from. Four main theories have been established on personality including psychodynamic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive. Using these theories, you can often better understand why people are the way that they are, such as Bill Cosby.
As previously mentioned, personality is a concept that primarily focuses on examining the patterns of similarities and patterns of differences among individuals. The view of personality examines individuals comprehensively to look for common dimensions of personal traits in order to make generalizations and comparisons. There are two major approaches used in making these overview and comparisons regarding individual differences i.e. nomothetic and idiographic approaches.
“Everyday conceptions of personality traits make two key assumptions. First, traits are stable over time… Second, it is generally believed that traits directly influence behavior” (Matthews, Deary, & Whiteman, 2003). Traits can be used as explanations or reasoning for behavior or mood. There have been several notable psychologists to agree with and study the trait theory of personality. Gordon Allport was a psychologist that devoted his work to personality psychology with a focus on the trait perspective (Allport, 1961). Carr and Kingsbury (1938) advocated for further research into personality traits and the idea that the human personality was made specifically of traits even if the traits were not always overt or observable, but rather a person’s behavior could be interpreted to learn about what traits they may
After Allport, came along two psychologists, Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck, who each formulated their own theories regarding traits. Their theories have been the subjects of considerable research in the world of psychology. Cattell seemed to focus on far too many traits, while Eysenck seemed to focus on too few. As a result, psychologists have combined the two theories to make one satisfactory theory (Cherry), called “The Big Five Factors” (Myers). They are: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion. These five factors merge to create the human personality (Cherry). Where people fall into these factors s...
The Big Five is currently the most accepted personality model in the scientific community. The Big Five emerged from the work of multiple independent scientists/researchers starting in the 1950s who using different techniques obtained similar results. Those results were that there are five distinct personality traits/dimensions. Here are your results on each dimension:
Personality is patterns of thinking, behavior and emotional responses that make up individuality over time. Psychologist attempt to understand how personality develops and its impact on how we behave. Several theories attempt to explain personality, using different approaches. The social-cognitive and humanistic approaches are two of many theories that attempt to explain personality. This essay will identify the main concepts of social-cognitive and humanistic approach, identify perspective differences and discuss approach limitations.
Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
There are many people in this world; no two people are the same. When considering personality theories it is important to note that not all theories apply to all situations or all people. Different theories have different approaches. It is important to know the person before making assumptions about the proper theory to apply to the person or in any given situation. The purpose of this paper is to analysis how different personality theorists could interoperate different individual circumstances and behaviors based on case examples provided by the instructor.
The study of personality traits is beneficial in identifying the many variables that exist from human to human; the combinations of these variables provide us with a true level of individuality and uniqueness. In the field of psychology, trait theory is considered to be a key approach to the study of human personality (Crowne, 2007; Burton, Westen & Kowalski, 2009). This paper aims to identify a number of significant contributors who have played crucial roles in both the development and application of trait theory. This paper then moves focus to these theorists, outlining their theory and analysing both the strengths and weaknesses of those theories. An illustration of the methods used in trait measurement is given and includes the arguments both for and against such procedures. Lastly the findings of trait theory and its components described within the paper will be summarised.
Mccrae, R. R. and Costa Jr, P. T. 1997. Personality trait structure as a human universal. American psychologist, 52 (5), p. 509.
Personality can affect many things in a person’s life. This includes how a person will react to a situation. One can attribute different personality traits to different dispositional or learning theories, such as linking the dehumanizing of a victim to social cognitive theory. One can make an association between interpersonal relational aspects and some of these theories. Personality is an aspect of the self that people often think about but most never truly contemplate the meaning or depth of personality.
A person’s personality has been the subject of psychological scrutiny for many years. Psychologists have drawn up several theories in an attempt to accurately predict and determine one’s personality. Foremost amongst these, is the “Big Five Trait Theory” which stemmed from Raymond B. Cattell’s theory.
When we are born, over time we grow up and develop a personality. For each person, our personalities differentiate between one another which presents a wide variety of individuals. According to psychology, there are different factors that make up who we are. Today, I will be talking about the four major theories of personality (Psychodynamic, five-factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive).
The personality of the human brain can be a very curious thing to most. Over years of study, psychologists still debate and question how personality actually works. However, the theories of personality have been boiled down to just four major theories. Psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive. While none of these are perfect, they all have certain distinguishing characteristics, advantages, and drawbacks, that differ them from each other.
I have been reading a lot about the Big Five Model of personality traits. It is a popular outlook on the 5 main traits human beings possess. These Traits are: Extroversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and openness. This is a long standing debate of whether who we are and how we act is a result of inner personalities are because of “genes” and “nature” or a result of situations and events in life or “nurture”.