Personality can be defined as an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting. Many personality theorists have put forward claims as to where personality is derived from and how it develops throughout an individual’s life. The two main personality theories this essay will be focusing on is the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986) and the Trait Theory – Five Factor Theory (FFT) (McCrae and Costa, 1995). The SCT allocates a central role to cognitive, observational learning and self-regulatory processes (Bandura, 1986). An individual’s personality develops through experiences with their sociocultural environment. Whereas the Trait Theory proposes that all individuals are predisposed with five traits (Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Neuroticism) which determines our personality. This theory also puts forward that personality is stable and cannot change as it’s biologically determined. One way in which the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) of personality differs from the Trait Theory (FFT), is that the SCT represents a bottom-up approach (Cervone, 1997; Shadel, Niaura and Abrams, 2000; Zelli and Dodge, 1999). In other …show more content…
“Self-concept consists of knowledge, views and evaluation of the self, ranging from miscellaneous facts of personal history to the identity that gives a sense of purpose and coherence to life” (McCrae and Costa, 1996). With self-concept, we learn who we are by observing ourselves and using our cognitive processes to judge and evaluate our behaviour. However, with self-regulation, we are able to use this knowledge and judgment and apply it to future situations and so predicts behaviour and says a lot about our personality. If we are willing to cognitively analyse past situations and apply it effectively to future situations, this means we are changing our behaviour, thus changing our
The trait approach is understanding the human personality that identifies and measures the degree to which certain personality traits. The trait theory tends to look at different traits and see whether you have the trait or how you fit into the five dimensions that is being measured. Whether you are more closed minded or open to new experiences it shows which one you are from the various questions you answered throughout the quiz.
Theoretical perspectives in the study of human behavior can easily be applied to cases in social work practice. The mental health field in particular lends itself to the application of different human behavior theories. Specifically, depression can be viewed through the lens of Social Cognitive Theory, or Social Cognitive Learning. There is one case of a woman with depression, whose name will be changed, that social cognitive theory can be applied to. Cheryl is a 58 year old woman who has been diagnosed with Major depressive disorder. She has had this diagnosis since she was 17 years old. Many of her symptoms and experiences can be viewed or explained in terms of social cognitive theory.
The roots of trait theory are based mostly on scientific methods and using those methods. Auguste Comte (1798-1857), a very influential sociologist, believed that progress in society could be measured by using scientific method and means. He believed societies could be grouped by the way they perceived the world. Later, his writing would become known as positivism. Positivism elements were knowledge acquired by guessing or belief was not true knowledge. Observation was the only way to verify what knowledge was and was not. Data was not considered valid without obtaining it through the scientific method process. This method seems to be a much more calculated approach. Trait theory was influenced by many other influential people, and their ideas.
An examination of the Humanistic and Trait theories of personality exposes that while there are various differences concerning the two theories, there are very few similarities
The purpose of this research report is to investigate the personality of Beyoncé Knowles in terms of humanistic and trait conceptions of personality.
The study “Social–Cognitive Determinants of Physical Activity: The Influence of Social Support, Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectations, and Self-Regulation Among Participants in a Church-Based Health Promotion Study” focuses on the social cognitive model in relation to physical activity levels in adults recruited from 14 southwest Virginia churches. The article defines Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a postulate that environmental, personal and behavioral factors are collectively effective in determining behavior and behavior change. Furthermore, according to PowerPoint lecture “Social Cognitive Theory” by Dr. Dominick Sturz, SCT consists of 10 major concepts of which social support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulation are
Personality is massive part of an individual’s identity. Our personalities dictate our patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. An individual’s personality exposes them to predispositions and habits that influence their actions and lives. Early on, personality assessments consisted of physical features ranging from head shape and facial characteristics to body type. In today’s world, personality assessments are mainly based around traits. Traits are simply descriptions of one’s habitual patterns of behavior, thought and emotion. The most popular personality assessment is the Five-Factor Model, also known as The Big Five. This model allows us to describe people based on the five main traits/dimensions. These traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Each of these five traits measures a different aspect of one’s personality. Extraversion is based on one’s level of engagement with the world,
The social-cognitive theory suggests that personality consists of learned behaviors and mental processes. The social-cognitive theory emphasizes thoughts, feelings, thinking, values and expectations.
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.
This research article conveys the importance of stemming away from the reliance of only trait theories to describe personality, but also contemplating the
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.
Magnavita, J. J. (2002). Theories of personality: Contemporary approaches to the science of personality. New York: Wiley.
Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory are two theories that have been used to describe the development of personality. While Behaviorism places a strong focus on how the environment shapes our personality, mainly through the process of negative and positive reinforcement, Social Cognitive Theory goes one step further by including how one’s thoughts and perceptions combine with behavior and environment to influence personality. Although there are some limitations in both theories, I feel that self-efficacy, self-esteem, and habits are valid parts of the two theories, playing a large role in how personality traits are established and expressed.
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).
Personality is the expression of a person’s traits according to ones feelings, mentality and behavior. It involves understanding individuals’ traits such as withdrawal and willpower and how various parts of an individual link together to form personality. Personality expresses itself from within an individual and is comparatively regular throughout in an individual’s life. Different people have different personalities dependent on factors such as environment and genetic composition. Our personality is dependent on the success or failure of our development in the eight stages of life. This is proposed by Erik Erikson. Success in the development stages lead to virtues while the failure leads to malignancies.