THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES – SACMEEKHA

Proponent Theory Key Terms/Ideas

Sigmund Freud Psychoanalytic Theory Sex and Aggression;

Uncosncious; Id, Ego,
Superego; Oedipus Complex

Alfred Adler Individual Psychology Organ Inferiority; Striving

Forces; Creative Power;
Organ Dialect

Carl Jung Analytical Psychology Levels of Psyche;

Archetypes; Introversion and
Extraversion

Melanie Klein Object Relation Psychology Good and Bad Breast

Erik Erikson Post-Freudian Psychology Self-identity; Psychosocial

stage; Basic strength &
Psychological crisis

Erich Fromm Humanistic Psychoanalysis Existential dichotomies;

Transcendence; Frame of
orientation; Burden of
freedom

Karen Horneye Psychoanalytic Social Theory Neurotic Needs; Neurotic

Trends; Basic Anxiety; Basic
Hostility

Harry Sullivan Interpersonal Theory Humans have no personality;

Levels of cognition;
Dynamisms; Personifications

HUMANISTIC EXISTENTIAL THEORIES – CAR

Proponent Theory Key Terms/Ideas

Carl Rogers Person-Centered Theory Unconditional Positive

Regard; Conditions of worth;
Empathic Listening

Abraham Maslow Holistic Dynamic Theory Hierarchy of needs; B-values

Rollo May Existential Psychology Existence; Being-in-the

 world; Nonbeing; Care, Love,
Will; Freedom & Destiny

BIOLOGICAL-TRAIT-DISPOSITIONAL THEORIES – GRPRH

Proponent Theory Key Terms/Ideas

Gordon Allport Psychology of the Individual Cardinal Traits; Central

Traits; Secondary Traits;
Functional Autonomy;
Uniqueness of individual

Robert Mccrae & Paul Costa Five-factor Trait Theory OCEAN

Raymond Catell 16 Personality Continuum Surface traits; Factor analysis

Hans Eysenck Biologically Based Factor Psychoticism, Extraversion,

Theory Neuroticism; Cortical arousal;
Sensory threshold

OTHER THEORIES – HD
Proponent Theory Key Terms/Ideas

Henry Murray Personology

David Buss Evolutionary Theory of

Personality

LEARNING/COGNITIVE THEORIES – BARMiKe

Proponent Theory Key Terms/Ideas

B.F. Skinner Behavioral Analysis

Albert Bandura Social Cognitive Theories

Julian Rotter & Walter Cognitive Social Learning

Mischel Theories

George Kelly Psychology of Personal

Conduct
 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | DISPOSITIONAL AND TRAIT THEORIES

● Interested in the comparison of people through not only in the aspects of personality but
also its degree
● Traits that we have some similarities & commonalities with other people though the
constellation of traits is the essence of our personality
● Focusing on what is manifesting on your behavior rather than asking why it is
manifesting
● Believes that our personality is stable across varying situations
● 2 research methods used:
○ Nomothetic
■ Generalized people
■ Objective knowledge
■ Numerical data
■ Quantitative
○ Ideographic
■ Recognition of uniqueness
■ Subjective knowledge
■ Based on the study of uniqueness of individual
■ Qualitative

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | PSYCHOLOGY OF THE INDIVIDUAL

● Proponent: Gordon Allport

● Concepts:
○ Idiographic approach
○ Emphasize the uniqueness of individual
○ Suggested that any attempt of scientist to understand the psychology of individual
from the perspective of reducing specific individual behavior into common traits
robs them of the opportunity to show/express their individuality
○ Morphogenic sciences
■ Advocates that personality to be studied in a way that scientist gathers info
from a single individual
○ Eclectic approach in theory
■ No one theory could embody the complexity of the human personality
■ No theory is completely comprehensive
○ Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychosocial systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought
■ Personality is not static and it changes
■ For allport, personality has a structure that has the capability to change
 ○ Personal dispositions
■ General characteristics held common in many people
■ Can be inferred statistically
■ Research to study individuals
■ Peculiar to the individual
○ Proprium
■ Central experiences of central awareness
■ “Only close to personality”
■ Behaviors and characteristics that people regard as warm, central, and
important in their lives but this is not the whole personality
■ Values, conscience, desires, cultures, customs
○ Three-trait theory
■ 1936
■ Found that 1 english language dictionary alone contained more than 4,000
words describing different personality traits, he then categorized these into
3 levels
■ Cardinal traits – highest, eminent, outstanding, dominant traits
■ Central traits – less dominating, 5-10 characteristics
■ Secondary traits – less descriptive yet appear with some regularities
○ Motivational and stylistic dispositions
■ Motivational – initiate action; strongly felt & derive from basis needs and
drives
■ Stylistic – manner in which an individual behaves & guides action
○ Theory of motivation
■ Psychoanalysis and various learning theories are basically homeostatic or
reactive
■ Older theories of personality, allport believes, did not allow growth
■ We are motivated by our present time
○ Functional autonomy
■ Some, but not all, human motives are functionally independent from the
original motive responsible for the behavior
■ Not an explanation for all human behavior because there are processes that
are not functionally autonomous

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | 16 PERSONALITY FACTOR THEORY

● Proponent: Raymond Catelll

● Concepts:
 ○ Decided to understand human behaviors and social processes & interaction
because it is the only way to get the irrationality of persons
○ Reduced the number of main personality traits from Allport initial list of over
4,000 down to 16 by means of factor analysis
○ 16 PF = assessment device
○ Factors analysis – statistical method that organizes the variables into a smaller
number of clusters
○ Traits
■ Surface traits – observable traits that are usually controlled by an
underlying source trait
○ Sources of data
■ Life data
■ Questionnaire data
■ Test data

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | BIOLOGICALLY BASED FACTOR THEORY

● Proponent: Hans Eysenck

● Derived from factor analysis
● Strong in psychometric & biological component
● Criterias
○ Psychometric evidence – reliable (replicable)
○ Factor must possess heritability and must fit in an established genetic model
○ Social relevance
● Type – Trait – Habit – Specific behaviors
● Dimensions of personality
○ Neuroticism & psychoticism are not limited to pathological individuals
○ P – psychoticism & superego function
○ E – extraversion & introversion
○ N – neuroticism & stability

HIGH LOW

Extraverted – sociable, sensation thinking Introverted – unstable, cautious

Neuroticism – tense, anxious, irrational Stability – sadism, relax

– overreact emotionally & have difficulty
returning to a normal state after emotional
arousal
Psychoticism – aggressive, selfish, lacking Non-aggressive, warm, aware of others
in feeling
– hostility, psychopathic, egocentric,
nonconformance, aggression, impulsivity

Extraversion

Characteristic Extravert Introvert

Cortical arousal (brain Lower Higher

activation)

Sensory threshold (certain Higher Lower

level to reach for
satisfaction)

Personality Type

Type I – hopeless/helpless, non-emotional

reaction to stress
– cancer

Type II – heart disease

– reacted to frustration with anger,
aggression, and emotional arousal

Type III – ambivalent, shifting from type I and II

Type IV – regard their own autonomy as an

important condition to their personal
well-being & happiness

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | FIVE FACTOR TRAIT THEORY

● Proponent: Robert Mccrae & Paul Costa Jr.

● 1983 – 3 factors (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience)
● 1985 – additional of Agreeableness & Conscientiousness
● Emerging consensus that 5 dimensions capture important pieces of personality
 TRAIT HIGH LOW

Openness to experience – imaginative, creative, – down to earth, uncreative,

liberal, curious conventional, routinary,
conservative

Conscientiousness – organized, punctual, – negligent, lazy, late,

ambitious, preserving, disorganized, aimless,
hardworking quitting

Extraversion – affectionate, talkative, – reserved, loner, quiet,

joiner, active passive

Agreeableness – kind, trusting, lenient, – ruthless, suspicious, stingy,

generous, good natured, irritable, critical, antagonist
acquiescent

Neuroticism – anxious, temperamental, – calma, unemotional

self-pitying, emotional