Carl Rogers and George Kelly's Views on Nature and Development
Many consider the science of psychology an attempt to create a
comprehensive theory of personality and therefore be able to explain
why people are alike in some ways and different in others (Jourard,
1974). In so doing, varying schools of thought have evolved. Carl
Rogers and George Kelly have been deemed by peers as having similar
overall views regarding personality, but practicing different methods
(Pervin, 1989).Their approaches to personality can be defined as
humanistic, which describes the view of accepting the 'human
qualities' of the individual; that man is born with an inherent
potential for self-actualization (Hergenhahn & Olsen, 1999). Such an
approach steers away from the idea that man is a robot, who is the
total product of outside forces, as the Behaviourist would maintain;
or that man simply results from the interaction of primal drives and
the demands of community, a belief held by many Freudians. This paper
will begin with a comparison of Kelly’s and Rogers’ theories of the
nature and development of personality and will continue with a
recommendation as to which therapist would be best suited to an 18
year old after a major life change. Rogers and Kelly are both well
known figures in the field of humanistic psychology. Each independent
theory is logical and applicable in varied circumstances and has had a
tremendous impact on the theory of personality (Roazen, 1992). In an
aim to draw similarities and contrasts of both theories and to provide
an independent account on which theory appea...
... middle of paper ...
..., post modern, and George
Kelly's personal construct psychology. American Psychologist, 56(4),
368-369.
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Rogers, C. R. (1973). My philosophy of interpersonal relationships and
how it grew. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 29, 115-123.
Rogers, C. R. (1987). The underlying theory: Drawn from experience
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Winter, D. G. (1996). Personality: Analysis and interpretation of
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The Nurture vs. Nature has been a long standing debate amongst psychologists. This psychological controversy questions whether or not the environment has more or less to do with the outcome of a child’s psychological development than the genetics involved. The nurture side of the argument is highly illustrated by the memoir The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore, due to the fact that both of their lives although starting off similar, ended dramatically different.
In Inherit The Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is about a big trial in a small town, and a controversial Creation versus Evolution debate. There are many characters with flamboyant and powerful personalities. Among them are: Matthew Harrison Brady, and Henry Drummond. Although all of these influential people are powerful, not all of them have the same amount of power, not only over other people, but over themselves as well.
This essay will explore one of the possible combinations of theories on personality and explain how it can be applied in practical therapy.
Through time, psychologists have argued over whether only our genes control our behaviors in life or if the environment and the people surrounding us have any effect in our lives. This is called nature versus nurture. We do not know what dictates our behavior, or if it is a combination of both. One question is, if genes control our behavior, are we really responsible for our actions? I think that if we can make choices we are responsible for our actions. While or genes influence various aspects of our personalities, there is no denying that our environment has some effects too. Our genes make us, but our experiences and our surroundings shape the way we behave as people. The people we grow up with, especially our parents teach us ways of acting and thinking that we keep for the rest of our lives.
Dr. Sigmund Freud came up with a lot of controversial notions, but also set standards in psychology that are still used today. Looking at what is known as the psychoanalytic approach to personality will reveal how these theories are still relevant, and continue to define personality traits (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Exploring Freud’s theories of the conscious/unconscious by looking at one’s own id, ego, and superego will help explain the human personality and why one does the things they do. Freud’s ideas were mainly based on how the mind works with a special emphasis on how it is all set up in childhood (Psychoanalytic theory, n.d.). This brings to mind that adults are just children with a lot of practice being adults. Everything one does
Nature vs nurture has been an ongoing debate for many decades among some of the greatest minds in psychology. Everyone is trying to figure out the source of human personality. Does our personality develop primarily by genetics, known as nature or is it based off of our environment and the way we were raised, nature? I believe it is a bit of both, but in my opinion nurture plays a bigger role.
Psychoanalysis was approached by Sigmund Freud, with the aim “for reaching and radical reconstructing of the personality” (Fonagy 1995), by providing insight of self understanding to patients, with maladaptive behaviours. Freud worked with patients who expressed different symptoms which he investigated to be based on personality differences. This leads to the distinction of thre...
To begin, the evolutionary ideas of Charles Darwin dangerously influenced many of the world’s leaders in the early 20th century. At the peak of those influenced was Germany, they were among the first to apply the concept “survival of the fittest” to an actual human society. Prior to the arrival of Darwinism, human lives were taken for granted in European law. But many German intellectuals began to argue that some should have greater rights than others; those who are more important to German society. Although primarily racial inequality, some argued there were inferiors within a race as well. They said that the mentally handicapped had no value. Some even compared them saying that, “a handicapped child is closer in value to that of an ape than that of their parents (Karl Vogt).”1 They were obsessed with the idea of a “master race”, which in their mind was a competent Nordic or Germanic race. This idea of a master race is what they used to justify war on states that they deemed inferior. They believed that they were meant to dominate, or “out survive” the more inferior races, and the most apparent way was through war. While Darwin was reluctant to apply his idea to humans, the German supporters did not share his lack of enthusiasm.
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.
Over the last couple of decades scientist, psychologist, and people have questioned over the idea, and the stereo typical question of nature versus nurture. Using twin studies, scientist have been given the understanding that the environment and heredity influence their behavior development. With using the adoption in twin studies, the doctors and scientists have been able to tell the extent to which the resemblance and families is due to the jeans that are shared and due to the environment that is shared. Because of the jeans that are identical carried by the monozygotic twins, identical twins, there has been a great appeal to most scientists and doctors. Psychologist have been able to link the strong genetic
What is personality and why do we study it? For more than 100 years psychologists have been trying to define exactly what personality is and is not. According to our text, personality is defined as “consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual” (Burger, J., 2005, p. 4) The seven major approaches to personality are Freudian psychoanalytic, Neo-Freudian psychoanalytic, trait, biological, humanistic, behavioral/social learning, and cognitive. No one approach has been able to determine exactly how personality is formed, but each of these approaches has helped add to a higher learning of possibly how personality is formed. In
A Comparison of the Main Approaches to Personality Psychology Psychology of personality is a difficult concept to define and quantify, therefore most personality theories, however different they may be in other respects, share the basic assumption, that personality is a particular pattern of behaviour and thinking, that prevails across time and situations and differentiates one person from another. Most theories attempting to explain personality represent part of the classic psychological Nature verse Nurture debate. In other words, is personality “inherited”, or developed through our interactions with the environment. In addition, we shall compare and contrast two of the main approaches to personality psychology by concentrating on Psychoanalytical Theory (Freud) and Social Learning Theory (Bandura). By looking at the Psychodynamic approach, developed by Freud, we can argue that it emphasizes the interplay of unconscious psychological processes in determining human thought, feelings, and behaviours.
Lastly, the findings of trait theory and its components described within the paper will be summarised. Major contributors to the trait theory of personality include three prominent psychologists. Boeree (2006) states that American born psychologist Gordon Allport has been described as the founding father of personality trait theory. Allport’s distinguished career included holding the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA) and receiving the Gold Medal Award and a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the APA (Carducci, 2009, p. 260). After meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1922 and studying his interpretation of personality, Allport developed the opinion that psychoanalysis was too in-depth while behaviourism was far too shallow in the field of personality psychology.
Winston S. Churchill once said that, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. This statement is true; a huge percentage of people say more than once in their lifetime that something is impossible. Some people, however, find ways to achieve their initial goal. Pessimism roots from the Nature vs. Nurture theory, in which it proposes that how parents raise an individual morally could alter due to the exposure to the environment. If a parent or parents raise that individual to not pursue a goal that seems difficult, it is likely that they will be pessimistic. It also applies if an individual approaches an obstacle and they deal with it by not believing in themselves. This applies
This statement from John B. Watson is addressing the fact that he believed that humans are not restricted to their biological traits. He also stated that although he recognized that there was not factual evidence to support this theory he still believed there was validity. It is interesting to consider that John Watson felt strong enough on this concept as to step outside the “safe” way of thinking. In the statement, Watson made a clear connection to his beliefs of nurture when he stated that he could train the infants regardless of their abilities, or other biological factors.