Theories of Personality Development Notes

Rev Dr Julius Langat

Theories of Personality Development

I. Introduction and definition of terms

 Psychodynamic, humanistic, and evolutionary are just a few of the many
personality theories that have attempted to explore and explain human personality
traits.
 Personality theories in psychology aim to provide a framework to understand
human personality, including the causes and motivation for thoughts, behaviors,
and social interactions.
 Like many concepts in psychology, theories of personality have evolved over
time, often building and incorporating pieces of prior work.
 What makes you who you are? Is it your facial features? Your accomplishments?
Your job position? Your ancestors? Or is it something less tangible, like how
your brain responds to life’s everyday situations?
 The answer isn’t simple, and that’s why more than one personality theory exists.

What’s a personality theory?

 Personality theories are the result of hypotheses, experiments, case studies, and
clinical research led by scientists in the psychology and human behavior field.
 Personality is your unique set of behaviors, experiences, feelings, and thought
patterns that make you you.
 While it may change subtly over time, personality remains fairly consistent
throughout life after a certain age.
 Personality theories look to answer why specific features and traits develop in
one person over another — or develop at all. The goal is to identify what makes
everyone so similar and so different at the same time.
 The field of personality theories continues to grow and change as more research
opportunities arise and studies are completed.
 As research has evolved, so have the theories themselves. Certain theories may
have lost some validity, due to inconclusive research or new findings by experts.

II. Goals of a personality theory

 Funder defines personality in terms of the psychological triad. He say

that personality is "an individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion,
and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—
behind those patterns." Striving to understand personality is essentially trying to
understand the whole person. Funder admits that personality psychology's goal of
understanding the whole person all at once is such an enormous task that it is
virtually impossible. Because the task is so overwhelming, personality
psychology has tackled the job from different angles, which Funder calls basic
approaches. Each approach asks a different question and focuses on a limited
part of personality.

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 The trait approach asks how people differ and has devised ways of measuring
these differences. Historically, psychologists who developed of trait measures had
no interest in grand personality theories such as Freud's. So, the trait approach
went on for decades, basically disconnected from the more theoretical
approaches, concerned only with measuring personality.
 The biological approach asks how biological structures such as genes,
neurotransmitters, hormones, and specific areas of the brain affect personality.
This approach also studies how these structures have evolved over human history.
The biological approach has made great progress recently due to new
technologies for studying the brain, such as functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) and to advances in molecular genetics that led to the
identification of all of the approximately 25,000 genes in human DNA.
 The psychoanalytic approach asks how the unconscious—the part of our mind
of which we are unaware—influences our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Freud
argued that the unconscious is primarily responsible for everything we do. If that
is true, then most of the time we are unaware of the real reasons for our behavior.
This leads to a pessimistic view that free will is an illusion and that we have little
conscious control over our life, a conclusion that European psychologists seem to
accept more than American psychologists. Perhaps Europe's much longer history
of ethnic conflict and war is partly responsible for this pessimism.
 The phenomenological approach asks how conscious choices influence our
lives. In contrast to the psychoanalytic approach, the phenomenological approach
assumes that we are usually aware of our reasons for doing what we do. Gordon
Allport, perhaps the most influential American personality psychologist, once
said, "If you want to know something about a person, why not first ask him?"
Psychologists who use the phenomenological approach believe that people can
make free choices, and this leads to the optimistic view that we have the creative
control to make our lives more satisfying and meaningful over time. Perhaps
Americans are more inclined toward this approach than Europeans because
America is traditionally seen as the land of opportunity where everyone can
achieve the American dream.
 The learning and cognitive processes approach asks how experiences with
environments affect our personality. This approach, like the phenomenological
approach, concerns itself with personality change, especially change that comes
about when we change the way we interpret events. This approach is also very
popular in America.
 Funder points out that many psychologists who work from one of these
approaches regard their approach as superior to the others. In particular, those
following the psychoanalytic approach think that unconscious influences are
more numerous and important than conscious influences, while those following
the phenomenological approach believe the opposite is true. Trait psychologists,
who study stable personality traits, often find themselves in conflict with learning
psychologists, who study how environments change people. But Funder believes
that this conflict is an illusion, because each approach is asking different
questions and focusing on different aspects of personality. This brings to mind the
story of the blind men and the elephant.
 When the circus came to town, five blind men who had heard of elephants but
had never been near one joined the townspeople who were swarming around one
of the elephants to find out what it was like. After the blind men had each touched
part of the elephant, they returned to a house where one of them lived to talk

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about it. The man who had felt an ear said, "The elephant is like a rough leather
fan." "No," said the second, who had felt the trunk. "It is like a long hose." The
others disagreed in turn. "It is like a mighty pillar," said the man who felt a leg."
"Like a huge wall," said the man who felt the elephant's side. "It is like a long,
sharp saber," said the main who felt a tusk.
 This story should serve as a warning to those who believe that one basic approach
allows one to see personality more accurately than the others. Perhaps the truth is
that each approach is a different way of seeing a part of the whole person.
Perhaps someday someone will put together all of the approaches into what
Funder calls the One Big Theory (OBT). But for now, we have five different
approaches, each of which is good at addressing certain kinds of questions but not
good for addressing others. Funder notes that in many areas of life, a great
strength is also a great weakness. Each basic approach is strong for some
questions, but weak for others.

III. Components of a Standard Personality Theory

To understand the psychology of personality, it is important to learn some of the key

characteristics of how personality works.

 Personality is organized and consistent. We tend to express certain aspects of

our personality in different situations, and our responses are generally stable.
 Although personality is generally stable, it can be influenced by the
environment. For example, while your personality might make you shy in social
situations, an emergency might lead you to take on a more outspoken and take-
charge approach.
 Personality causes behaviors to happen. You react to the people and objects in
your environment based on your personality. From your personal preferences to
your career choice, every aspect of your life is affected by your personality.

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IV. Personality theories

 Personality theories seek to explain how personality forms, changes, and impacts
behavior. Five key personality theories focus on biological, behavioral,
psychodynamic, humanistic, and trait approaches. While these theories offer
different explanations for personality, each offers important insights that help us
better understand ourselves.
 Understanding some of the basics about personality is essential to understanding
personality theories in psychology. What exactly is personality? Where does it
come from? Does it change as we grow older?

V. Freud’s Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

 The Structural Model of Personality: According to Sigmund Freud's

psychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of three elements.
These three elements of personality--known as the id, the ego and the superego--
work together to create complex human behaviors.
 The Id: The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive
and primitive behaviors. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic
energy, making it the primary component of personality. The id is driven by the
pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants,
and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state
anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an
immediate attempt to eat or drink. The id is very important early in life, because it
ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he
or she will cry until the demands of the id are met. However, immediately

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satisfying these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled
entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing things we
want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of
behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud,
the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the
primary process, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as
a way of satisfying the need.
 The Ego: The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing
with reality. According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that
the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
The ego functions in both the conscious,preconscious, and unconscious mind.
The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's
desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the
costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.
In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed
gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the
appropriate time and place. The ego also discharges tension created by unmet
impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in
the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
 The Superego: The last component of personality to develop is the superego. The
superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral
standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society--our sense of
right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five. There are
two parts of the superego:
 The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. These
behaviors include those which are approved of by parental and other authority
figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.
 The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by
parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad
consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.
 The superego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all
unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic
standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the
conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
 The Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego: With so many competing forces, it
is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Freud
used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these
dueling forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage
these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become
too unyielding or too disrupting. According to Freud, the key to a healthy
personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego.
 DEFENSE MECHANISMS: Most notably used by Sigmund Freud in his
psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism is a tactic developed by the ego to
protect against anxiety. Defense mechanisms are thought to safeguard the mind
against feelings and thoughts that are too difficult for the conscious mind to cope
with. In some instances, defense mechanisms are thought to keep inappropriate or
unwanted thoughts and impulses from entering the conscious mind. For example,
if you are faced with a particularly unpleasant task, your mind may choose to
forget your responsibility in order to avoid the dreaded assignment. In addition to

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forgetting, other defense mechanisms include rationalization, denial, repression,

projection, rejection and reaction formation. Because of anxiety provoking
demands created by the id, superego, and reality, the ego has developed a number
of defense mechanisms to cope with anxiety. Although we may knowingly use
these mechanisms, in many cases these defenses work unconsciously to distort
reality.
 Researchers have described a wide variety of different defense mechanisms.
Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud described ten different defense
mechanisms used by the ego. Denial is probably one of the best known defense
mechanisms, used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to
face reality or admit an obvious truth (i.e. "He's in denial."). Denial is an outright
refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently
occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while
victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred.
 Denial functions to protect the ego from things that the individual cannot cope
with. While this may save us from anxiety or pain, denial also requires a
substantial investment of energy. Because of this, other defenses are also used to
keep these unacceptable feelings from consciousness. In many cases, there might
be overwhelming evidence that something is true, yet the person will continue to
deny its existence or truth because it is too uncomfortable to face.
 Denial can involve a flat out rejection of the existence of a fact or reality. In other
cases, it might involve admitting that something is true, but minimizing its
importance. Sometimes people will accept reality and the seriousness of the fact,
but they will deny their own responsibility and instead blame other people or
other outside forces. Addiction is one of the best-known examples of denial.
People who are suffering from a substance abuse problem will often flat-out deny
that their behavior is problematic. In other cases, they might admit that they do
use drugs or alcohol, but will claim that this substance abuse is not a problem.
Repression is another well-known defense mechanism. Repression acts to keep
information out of conscious awareness. However, these memories don't just
disappear; they continue to influence our behavior. For example, a person who
has repressed memories of abuse suffered as a child may later have difficulty
forming relationships. Sometimes we do this consciously by forcing the unwanted
information out of our awareness, which is known as suppression. In most cases,
however, this removal of anxiety-provoking memories from our awareness is
believed to occur unconsciously.
 Displacement Have ever had a really bad day at work and then gone home and
taken out your frustration on family and friends? Then you have experienced the
ego defense mechanism of displacement. Displacement involves taking out our
frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening.
Displaced aggression is a common example of this defense mechanism. Rather
than express our anger in ways that could lead to negative consequences (like
arguing with our boss), we instead express our anger towards a person or object
that poses no threat (such as our spouse, children, or pets).
 Sublimation is a defense mechanism that allows us to act out unacceptable
impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form. For
example, a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kick-boxing as a
means of venting frustration. Freud believed that sublimation was a sign of
maturity that allows people to function normally in socially acceptable ways.
Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable

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qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have
a SEC 4 Page 5 of 7 strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he
or she does not like you. Projection works by allowing the expression of the
desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognize, therefore reducing
anxiety.
 Intellectualization works to reduce anxiety by thinking about events in a cold,
clinical way. This defense mechanism allows us to avoid thinking about the
stressful, emotional aspect of the situation and instead focus only on the
intellectual component. For example, a person who has just been diagnosed with
a terminal illness might focus on learning everything about the disease in order to
avoid distress and remain distant from the reality of the situation. Rationalization
is a defense mechanism that involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or
feeling in a rational or logical manner, avoiding the true reasons for the behavior.
For example, a person who is turned down for a date might rationalize the
situation by saying they were not attracted to the other person anyway, or a
student might blame a poor exam score on the instructor rather than his or her
lack of preparation.
 Rationalization not only prevents anxiety, it may also protect self-esteem and
selfconcept. When confronted by success or failure, people tend to attribute
achievement to their own qualities and skills while failures are blamed on other
people or outside forces.
 Regression When confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon
coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in development.
Anna Freud called this defense mechanism regression, suggesting that people act
out behaviors from the stage of psychosexual development in which they are
fixated. For example, an individual fixated at an earlier developmental stage
might cry or sulk upon hearing unpleasant news. Behaviors associated with
regression can vary greatly depending upon which stage the person is fixated at:

 An individual fixated at the oral stage might begin eating or smoking excessively,
or might become very verbally aggressive.  A fixation at the anal stage might
result in excessive tidiness or messiness. Reaction formation reduces anxiety by
taking up the opposite feeling, impulse or behavior. An example of reaction
formation would be treating someone you strongly dislike in an excessively
friendly manner in order to hide your true feelings. Why do people behave this
way? According to Freud, they are using reaction formation as a defense
mechanism to hide their true feelings by behaving in the exact opposite manner.
While all defense mechanisms can be unhealthy, they can also be adaptive and
allow us to function normally.
 The greatest problems arise when defense mechanisms are overused in order to
avoid dealing with problems. In psychoanalytic therapy, the goal may be to help
the client uncover these unconscious defense mechanisms and find better, more
healthy ways of coping with anxiety and distress. You've probably heard people
talk about "defense mechanisms," or ways that we protect ourselves from things
that we don't want to think about or deal with. The term got its start in
psychoanalytic therapy, but it has slowly worked its way into everyday language.
Think of the last time you referred to someone as being "in denial" or accused
someone of "rationalizing." Both of these examples refer to a type of defense
mechanism. In Sigmund Freud's topographical model of personality, the ego is
the aspect of personality that deals with reality. While doing this, the ego also has

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to cope with the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. The id seeks to
fulfill all wants, needs, and impulses while the superego tries to get the ego to act
in an idealistic and moral manner. What happens when the ego cannot deal with
the demands of our desires, the constraints of reality, and our own moral
standards?
 According to Freud, anxiety is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to avoid.
Anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that things are not going right. As a result, the
ego then employs a defense mechanism to help reduce these feelings of anxiety.
Freud identified three types of anxiety:
 Neurotic anxiety is the unconscious worry that we will lose control of the id's
urges, resulting in punishment for inappropriate behavior.
 Reality anxiety is fear of real-world events. The cause of this anxiety is usually
easily identified. For example, a person might fear receiving a dog bite when they
are near a menacing dog. The most common way of reducing this anxiety is to
avoid the threatening object.
 Moral anxiety involves a fear of violating our own moral principles. In order to
deal with this anxiety, Freud believed that defense mechanisms helped shield the
ego from the conflicts created by the id, superego, and reality

VI. Jung’s Analytical Theory of Personality

 Carl Jung’s personality theory focuses on the interplay between the conscious and
unconscious mind, universal archetypes, the process of individuation, and
psychological types.
 The theory emphasizes the integration of various aspects of personality to achieve
self-realization and encompasses universal and individual dynamics.
 It forms the foundation for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a widely-used
personality test.

Jung’s Model of the Psyche

 Like Freud (and Erikson) Jung regarded the psyche as made up of a number of
separate but interacting systems. The three main ones were the ego, the personal
unconscious, and the collective unconscious.
 According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious mind as it comprises the
thoughts, memories, and emotions a person is aware of. The ego is largely
responsible for feelings of identity and continuity.
 Like Freud, Jung (1921, 1933) emphasized the importance of the unconscious in
relation to personality. However, he proposed that the unconscious consists of
two layers.
 The first layer called the personal unconscious is essentially the same as Freud’s
version of the unconscious. The personal unconscious contains temporality
forgotten information and well as repressed memories.
 Jung (1933) outlined an important feature of the personal unconscious called
complexes. A complex is a collection of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and
memories that focus on a single concept.
 The more elements attached to the complex, the greater its influence on the
individual. Jung also believed that the personal unconscious was much nearer the

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surface than Freud suggested and Jungian therapy is less concerned with
repressed childhood experiences.
 It is the present and the future, which in his view was the key to both the analysis
of neurosis and its treatment.

Personal Unconscious

 The personal unconscious, a concept developed by Carl Jung, refers to all the
information and experiences of an individual’s lifetime that have been forgotten
or repressed but continue to influence their behavior and attitudes on an
unconscious level.
 This aspect of the unconscious mind contains memories, perceptions, and
thoughts that may not be consciously accessible but can potentially become
conscious. It also includes complex combinations of such contents, which Jung
referred to as “complexes”.
 These are emotionally charged associations or ideas that have a powerful
influence over an individual’s behavior and attitudes.
 For instance, a person might have a fear of dogs due to a forgotten childhood
incident. This fear, while not consciously remembered, is stored in the personal
unconscious and could cause an irrational response whenever the person
encounters dogs.
 In Jung’s model of the psyche, the personal unconscious exists alongside the
conscious mind and the collective unconscious, the latter of which contains
universal archetypes shared among all humans. These three components interact
with each other and contribute to an individual’s overall personality and behavior.
 “Everything of which I know, but of which I am not at the moment
thinking; everything of which I was once conscious but have now
forgotten; everything perceived by my senses, but not noted by my
conscious mind; everything which, involuntarily and without paying
attention to it, I feel, think, remember, want, and do; all the future things
which are taking shape in me and will sometime come to consciousness;
all this is the content of the unconscious” (Jung, 1921).
 It’s important to note that the contents of the personal unconscious are not always
negative. They can also be positive or neutral aspects of experience that have
simply fallen out of conscious awareness.

Collective Unconscious

 The collective unconscious, a concept by Carl Jung, refers to shared, inherited

unconscious knowledge and experiences across generations, expressed through
universal symbols and archetypes common to all human cultures.
 The collective unconscious consists of pre-existent forms, or archetypes, which
can surface in consciousness in the form of dreams, visions, or feelings, and are
expressed in our culture, art, religion, and symbolic experiences.
 These archetypes are universal symbols and themes that are shared across all
human cultures and epochs. Some examples of these archetypes include the
Mother, the Hero, the Child, the Wise old man, the Trickster, and so on. Each
archetype represents common aspects of human experience.

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 The collective unconscious is a universal version of the personal unconscious,

holding mental patterns, or memory traces, which are shared with other members
of the human species (Jung, 1928).
 These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are represented by
universal themes in various cultures, as expressed through literature, art, and
dreams.
 ‘The form of the world into which [a person] is born is already inborn in
him, as a virtual image’ (Jung, 1953, p. 188).
 According to Jung, the human mind has innate characteristics “imprinted” on it as
a result of evolution. These universal predispositions stem from our ancestral
past.
 Fear of the dark, or of snakes and spiders might be examples, and it is interesting
that this idea has recently been revived in the theory of prepared conditioning
(Seligman, 1971).
 However, more important than isolated tendencies are those aspects of the
collective unconscious that have developed into separate sub-systems of the
personality. Jung (1947) called these ancestral memories and images archetypes.

Jungian Archetypes

 Jungian archetypes are defined as images and themes that derive from the
collective unconscious, as proposed by Carl Jung.
 Archetypes have universal meanings across cultures and may show up in dreams,
literature, art, or religion.
 According to Jung (1921):
 ‘the term archetype is not meant to denote an inherited idea, but rather an
inherited mode of functioning, corresponding to the inborn way in which
the chick emerges from the egg, the bird builds its nest, a certain kind of
wasp stings the motor ganglion of the caterpillar, and eels find their way
to the Bermudas. In other words, it is a “pattern of behaviour”. This aspect
of the archetype, the purely biological one, is the proper concern of
scientific psychology’.
 Jung (1947) believes symbols from different cultures are often very similar
because they have emerged from archetypes shared by the whole human race
which are part of our collective unconscious.
 For Jung, our primitive past becomes the basis of the human psyche, directing
and influencing present behavior. Jung claimed to identify a large number of
archetypes but paid special attention to four.
 Jung labeled these archetypes the Self, the Persona, the Shadow and the
Anima/Animus.

The Persona

 The persona (or mask) is the outward face we present to the world. It conceals
our real self and Jung describes it as the “conformity” archetype.
 This is the public face or role a person presents to others as someone different
from who we really are (like an actor).
 The Persona, as explained by Carl Jung, is the aspect of our personality that we
present to the world as a means of social adaptation and personal convenience.

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 The term originates from the Greek word for the masks that ancient actors used,
symbolizing the roles we play in public. You could think of the Persona as the
‘public relations representative’ of our ego, or the packaging that presents our ego
to the outside world.
 A well-adapted Persona can greatly contribute to our social success, as it mirrors
our true personality traits and adapts to different social contexts.
 However, problems can arise when a person overly identifies with their Persona,
unable to differentiate between their professional role and their authentic self.
 An example would be a teacher who continuously treats everyone as if they were
their students, or someone who is overly authoritative outside their work
environment.
 While this can be frustrating for others, it’s more problematic for the individual
as it can lead to an incomplete realization of their full personality.
 The Persona is shaped during childhood, driven by the need to conform to the
expectations of parents, teachers, and peers.
 This usually results in the Persona encompassing the more socially acceptable
traits, while the less desirable ones become part of the Shadow, another essential
part of Jung’s personality theory.

The Anima/Animus

 Another archetype is the anima/animus. The “anima/animus” is the mirror image

of our biological sex, that is, the unconscious feminine side in males and the
masculine tendencies in women.
 Each sex manifests the attitudes and behavior of the other by virtue of centuries
of living together.
 For men, there exists an Anima (a feminine inner personality), and for women, an
Animus (a masculine inner personality). These archetypes are derived both from
collective ideas of femininity and masculinity and from individual experiences
with the opposite sex, beginning with the person’s parents.
 The Anima and Animus exist in the unconscious as counterbalances to a person’s
conscious sexual identity, serving to complement their experience and
understanding of their own gender.
 Like the Shadow, the Anima and Animus are often first encountered
through projection. For example, the phenomenon of “love at first sight” can be
explained as a man projecting his Anima onto a woman (or vice versa), which
leads to an immediate and intense attraction.
 Jung acknowledged that so-called “masculine” traits (like autonomy,
separateness, and aggression) and “feminine” traits (like nurturance, relatedness,
and empathy) were not confined to one gender or superior to the other.
 Instead, he saw them as parts of a holistic psychological spectrum present in
every individual, opposing Freud’s predominantly masculine-centric theory.
 The Anima and Animus represent our ‘otherness’, connecting the ego to the
broader psyche, thus forming bridges to the unconscious.
 Engaging with these complexes can enrich an individual’s understanding of their
gender and self.

The Shadow

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 The Shadow archetype, as defined by Carl Jung, encapsulates the parts of

ourselves that we may reject, disown, or simply don’t recognize.
 Rooted in both our personal and collective unconscious, the Shadow contains
traits that we consciously oppose, often contrasting those presented in our
Persona – the outward ‘mask’ we show to the world.
 This is the animal side of our personality (like the id in Freud).
 It is the source of both our creative and destructive energies. In line with
evolutionary theory, it may be that Jung’s archetypes reflect predispositions that
once had survival value.
 The Shadow isn’t merely negative; it provides depth and balance to our
personality, reflecting the principle that every aspect of one’s personality has a
compensatory counterpart.
 This is symbolized in the idea: “where there is light, there must also be shadow”.
Overemphasis on the Persona, while neglecting the Shadow, can result in a
superficial personality, preoccupied with others’ perceptions.
 Shadow elements often manifest when we project disliked traits onto others,
serving as mirrors to our disowned aspects. Engaging with our Shadow can be
challenging, but it’s crucial for a balanced personality.
 This process, which can involve recognizing and integrating these ‘dark’
elements into our conscious self, aids in fostering a well-rounded personality.
 This interplay of the Persona and the Shadow is often explored in literature, such
as in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, where
characters grapple with their dual natures, further illustrating the compelling
nature of this aspect of Jung’s theory.

The Self

 Finally, there is the self which provides a sense of unity in experience. For Jung,
the ultimate aim of every individual is to achieve a state of selfhood (similar
to self-actualization), and in this respect, Jung (like Erikson) is moving in the
direction of a more humanist orientation.
 That was certainly Jung’s belief and in his book “The Undiscovered Self” he
argued that many of the problems of modern life are caused by “man’s
progressive alienation from his instinctual foundation.” One aspect of this is his
views on the significance of the anima and the animus.
 Jung argues that these archetypes are products of the collective experience of men
and women living together.
 However, in modern Western civilization men are discouraged from living their
feminine side and women from expressing masculine tendencies. For Jung, the
result was that the full psychological development both sexes was undermined.
 Together with the prevailing patriarchal culture of Western civilization, this has
led to the devaluation of feminine qualities altogether, and the predominance of
the persona (the mask) has elevated insincerity to a way of life which goes
unquestioned by millions in their everyday life.

Psychological Types

 Carl Jung’s psychological types theory suggests that people experience the world
using four principal psychological functions – sensation, intuition, feeling, and

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thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of
the time.
 Each of these cognitive functions can be expressed primarily in an introverted or
extroverted form. Let’s delve deeper:
 Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): This dichotomy is about how people make
decisions. ‘
 Thinking’ individuals make decisions based on logic and objective
considerations, while ‘Feeling’ individuals make decisions based on subjective
and personal values.
 Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): This dichotomy concerns how people perceive or
gather information. ‘Sensing’ individuals focus on present realities, tangible facts,
and details.
 They are practical and literal thinkers. ‘Intuitive’ individuals focus on
possibilities, interconnections, and future potential. They are often abstract and
theoretical thinkers.
 Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): This pair concerns where people derive
their energy from.
 Extroverts are oriented towards the outer world; they tend to be more outgoing
and sociable, deriving energy from interaction with others and the external
environment.
 Introverts are oriented towards the inner world; they tend to be quiet and
reserved, deriving energy from reflection, inner feelings, ideas, and experiences.
 In the context of these pairs, everyone has a ‘dominant’ function that tends to
predominate in their personality and behavior, along with an ‘auxiliary’ function
that serves to support and balance the dominant.
 The other two functions are less prominent and constitute the ‘tertiary’ and
‘inferior’ or ‘fourth’ functions.
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality inventory based on
these ideas of Jung.
 The MBTI uses a questionnaire to measure psychological preferences in how
people perceive the world and make decisions, assigning a type composed of four
letters, like ‘INFJ‘ or ‘ESTP‘, based on their answers.
 Each letter corresponds to one preference in each of the dichotomous pairs.
 It’s important to note that, while these categories help us understand different
personality types, human behavior is complex and can’t be wholly captured by
these categorizations.
 People often exhibit different traits in different situations, and this fluidity is not
fully accounted for in such models.

Individuation

 Jung proposed that the goal of a person’s psychological development is

individuation – a process of becoming aware of oneself, integrating different
aspects of personality, and realizing our inherent potential.
 It involves integrating the conscious and unconscious parts of our mind and
reconciling our many inner contradictions.
 Individuation is a central concept in Carl Jung’s analytical psychology and it
represents the lifelong process of self-realization and self-understanding. It’s
about becoming the person that you are innately meant to be, realizing and
fulfilling your unique potential.

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 In the process of individuation, the individual strives to integrate various aspects

of their psyche. This includes reconciling and integrating opposites within the
self, such as the conscious and unconscious mind, as well as different aspects of
the personality, such as the persona (the mask or role we present to the world)
and the shadow (the unconscious, less desirable aspects of ourselves).
 The concept also involves acknowledging and integrating the anima (the
unconscious feminine aspect in men) and the animus (the unconscious masculine
aspect in women), and incorporating the wisdom of the self archetype (the
unifying center of the psyche). Through this process, a person seeks to achieve a
state of wholeness and harmony.
 In practical terms, the process of individuation might involve self-reflection,
dream analysis, exploration of personal symbols and themes, and conscious
engagement with the unconscious parts of the self. It is often a transformative
journey that can involve significant psychological changes and growth.
 However, individuation is not about achieving some form of perfection. Instead,
it is about recognizing, acknowledging, and integrating different aspects of the
self.
 This includes embracing the paradoxes and complexities of human nature and
developing an understanding and acceptance of oneself, warts and all.
 It’s important to note that, according to Jung, individuation is a natural process
and an inherent goal of human life.
 However, it also requires conscious effort and active engagement with the
unconscious to fully realize this potential.

Theory of the Libido

 Carl Gustav Jung (1948) developed a nuanced understanding of the concept of

libido, differing from his mentor Sigmund Freud.
 While Freud largely defined libido as sexual energy and considered it a primary
motivator of human behavior, Jung diverged from this interpretation, broadening
the definition of libido.
 Jung saw the libido not merely as sexual energy, but as a generalized life force or
psychic energy. According to his theory, this energy is not only the driver behind
our sexual desires but also fuels our spiritual, intellectual, and creative pursuits.
 It encapsulates the totality of the energy of life, incorporating all our drives and
motivations.
 In Jungian psychology, the libido is an important component of individuation,
which is the process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious, while still
maintaining one’s individuality.
 This process is key to the overall psychological development and mental health of
an individual, and the libido, as the motivating psychic energy, plays a central
role in it.
 When it comes to conflict and pleasure-seeking, Jung’s theory views these as
parts of psychic self-regulation. The psyche uses the libido to balance out
conflicts within the individual, striving towards a state of equilibrium.
 This energy is directed towards areas of conflict to facilitate growth,
development, and adaptation, reducing internal tension and dissatisfaction.
 Furthermore, this psychic energy or libido also drives us towards seeking
pleasure and fulfillment, which are integral to our self-realization and growth.

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 This can be seen in our desires for creativity, intellectual stimulation, and
spiritual experiences, among others.
 The libido in Jung’s theory, therefore, encompasses a more holistic understanding
of human motivational dynamics.

Freud Vs. Jung

 Carl Jung was an early supporter of Freud because of their shared interest in the
unconscious. He was an active member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society
(formerly known as the Wednesday Psychological Society).
 When the International Psychoanalytical Association was formed in 1910, Jung
became president at the request of Freud.
 However, in 1912 while on a lecture tour of America, Jung publicly criticized
Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex and his emphasis on infantile sexuality.
 The following year this led to an irrevocable split between them and Jung went
on to develop his own version of psychoanalytic theory.
 Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung were two pioneering figures in the
field of psychology, and while they shared some common ground, they
also had significant differences in their theories. Here are some of them:

The Unconscious Mind

 Freud believed that the unconscious mind is a reservoir of repressed experiences

and desires. He saw it as primarily personal and filled with content that was once
conscious but has been forgotten or suppressed.
 Jung, on the other hand, proposed the idea of a collective unconscious that
contains archetypes or universal symbols and themes. This is in addition to the
personal unconscious that parallels Freud’s conception.

Human Motivation

 Freud’s theory emphasized the importance of sexual drive (libido) in shaping

human behavior. He proposed that psychic energy was primarily derived from
sexual instinct.
 Jung, however, suggested that human motivation was not only driven by sexuality
but also by a more general life force encompassing other motivations, such as
creativity, spirituality, and intellectual pursuits.

Psychosexual Stages

 Freud developed a theory of psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and
genital) which asserted that early childhood sexual experiences greatly influenced
the development of adult personality.
 Jung didn’t follow this model and instead proposed a lifelong process of
psychological development, which he termed individuation.

Dream Analysis

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 Both Freud and Jung placed emphasis on dreams as keys to understanding the
unconscious mind. However, Freud saw dreams as wish fulfillment and a way to
delve into an individual’s hidden desires.
 Jung viewed dreams as a tool for the psyche to communicate with the conscious
mind, offering solutions to problems and revealing parts of the self through the
use of universal symbols.

Religion and Spirituality

 Freud was quite critical of religion, viewing it as an illusion and a form of

neurosis.
 Jung, conversely, saw religion and spirituality as crucial components of the
human experience, often associated with the process of individuation and the
expression of archetypes from the collective unconscious.

Critical Evaluation

 Jung’s (1947, 1948) ideas have not been as popular as Freud’s. This might be
because he did not write for the layman and as such his ideas were not a greatly
disseminated as Freud’s. It may also be because his ideas were a little more
mystical and obscure, and less clearly explained.
 On the whole modern psychology has not viewed Jung’s theory of archetypes
kindly. Ernest Jones (Freud’s biographer) tells that Jung “descended into a
pseudo-philosophy out of which he never emerged” and to many his ideas look
more like New Age mystical speculation than a scientific contribution to
psychology.
 However, while Jung’s research into ancient myths and legends, his interest in
astrology, and his fascination with Eastern religion can be seen in that light, it is
also worth remembering that the images he was writing about have, as a matter of
historical fact, exerted an enduring hold on the human mind.

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 Furthermore, Jung himself argues that the constant recurrence of symbols from
mythology in personal therapy and the fantasies of psychotics support the idea of
an innate collective cultural residue. In line with evolutionary theory, it may be
that Jung’s archetypes reflect predispositions that once had survival value.
 Jung proposed that human responses to archetypes are similar to instinctual
responses in animals. One criticism of Jung is that there is no evidence that
archetypes are biologically based or similar to animal instincts (Roesler, 2012).
 Rather than being seen as purely biological, more recent research suggests that
archetypes emerge directly from our experiences and are reflections of linguistic
or cultural characteristics (Young-Eisendrath, 1995).
 However, Jung’s work has also contributed to mainstream psychology in at least
one significant respect. He was the first to distinguish the two major attitudes or
orientations of personality – extroversion and introversion (Jung, 1923).
 He also identified four basic functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting)
which in a cross-classification yield eight pure personality types.
 Psychologists like Hans Eysenck and Raymond Cattell have subsequently built
upon this. As well as being a cultural icon for generations of psychology
undergraduates Jung, therefore, put forward ideas that were important to the
development of modern personality theory.
 Most of Jung’s assumptions of his analytical psychology reflect his theoretical
differences from Freud. For example, while Jung agreed with Freud that a
person’s past and childhood experiences determined future behavior, he also
believed that we are shaped by our future (aspirations) too.

VII. George Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory

 George Kelly was an American psychologist who developed personal construct

theory (PCT), also known as personal construct psychology (PCP). This theory
suggests that each person has their own mental framework from which they see
the world. People use these constructs, or schemas, to interpret information and
experiences.1 Commonly referred to as the founder of cognitive clinical
psychology, Kelly was influential in the early development of cognitive
psychology.
 According to George Kelly's personal construct theory (PCT), people interpret
their world based on their personal constructs.2

George Kelly's Early Life

 Kelly was born near Perth, Kansas, in 1905 to farmers Theodore Vincent Kelly
and Elfleda Merriam Kelly. During much of his early life, Kelly's education was
limited to teachings from his parents. He had no formal education until
1918, when he attended school in Wichita, Kansas. At 16, he enrolled at Friends
University.
 Kelly never graduated high school but went on to earn his bachelor's degree in
1926, majoring in mathematics and physics.
 Kelly initially planned on a career in engineering but shifted to educational
sociology at the University of Kansas. Before completing his master's, however,
he left to enroll at the University of Minnesota. After withdrawing because he
was unable to pay tuition, he took a position teaching psychology at Sheldon

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Junior College in Iowa. In 1931, Kelly completed a PhD in psychology from the
University of Iowa. He began teaching at Fort Hays State University in 1931.
 In the midst of the Great Depression, Kelly applied his knowledge toward
something he found useful: evaluating children and adults and developing his
landmark theory.

Freudian Influences on PCT

 As Kelly formed his theory, he studied the works of Austrian

psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud for ideas and inspiration. Although Kelly
appreciated Freud's work, he felt that the psychoanalyst's approach was
problematic.4 Freud believed that the therapist's "correct" evaluation of the
client's situation is the key to change.
 In contrast, Kelly used his observations to develop the idea he called constructive
alternativism. In this approach, each individual has a unique construction, or
perspective, of reality. Although some are better than others, no single
interpretation is complete or totally accurate. Kelly suggested that every
viewpoint has value, particularly in the situation, time, and place of the person
who holds it.

Personal Construct Theory

 After World War II, Kelly taught psychology at the Ohio State University for
almost 20 years. It was here that he formally developed his personal construct
theory. He published two texts, The Psychology of Personal Constructs, Volumes
I and II, which summarized the majority of his theory.
 Kelly's personal construct theory suggests that the differences among people
result from the different ways that we predict and interpret the world around us.
 Personal constructs, Kelly suggested, are the unique ways in which each person
gathers, evaluates, and develops interpretations, much like a scientist.5
 Much as a scientist forms a hypothesis, collects data, and analyzes the results, a
person takes in information and performs their own "experiments" to test ideas
and interpretations of events. The results of our everyday investigations influence
our personalities and our way of interacting with our environment and the people
around us.

Examples of Personal Construct Theory

 Personal constructs are bipolar: They're composed of two opposing sides.

Constructs are unique to each person because they develop in response to the
individual's unique experiences. Thus, different people might approach the same
experience in different ways.

Adventure vs. Risk

 One person might view new experiences as exciting opportunities for adventure.
Another person might view the same experience as a risky, frightening prospect
that disturbs their peace.
 In this case, the first person has a construct for security vs. adventure in which
they see security as boring and adventure as desirable. The second has a personal

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construct for security vs. risk in which they see security as desirable and safe,
whereas risk represents fear and insecurity.

Friendly vs. Unfriendly

 Imagine that two friends are at the park when a dog runs toward them. One might
have a personal construct that suggests dogs are friendly, lovable creatures. The
other, however, believes that dogs are intimidating and potentially dangerous.
Because of these two differing constructs, the first person responds by
approaching the dog, while the other shrinks back and avoids the dog. Kelly
suggested that these constructs can change—and the construct that works at one
point in someone's life might need to change if the situation does.

Kelly's Contributions to Psychology

 Kelly played an important role in the development of clinical psychology, both

through his position at Ohio State University and through his leadership roles
with the American Psychological Association.
 His work is part of the early cognitive movement in psychology, and he is often
described as one of the first cognitive theorists. Others identify him as a humanist
thinker because his theory emphasized human potential and personal change,
similar to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory.4
 Interestingly, Kelly disliked being regarded as a cognitive theorist.4 While his
theory shared some elements similar to the work of other humanistic and
cognitive theories, he felt that his personal construct theory was unrelated.
 Kelly's view of people as natural scientists played a role in the development
of cognitive-behavioral therapy.
 George Kelly was an influential psychologist who played an important role in the
development of cognitive psychology. Despite having little formal education
during his youth, he went on to earn a doctorate in psychology.
 His work drew from Freudian influences but also incorporated aspects of
cognitive psychology and humanism. Kelly's personal construct theory suggests
that people form unique mental frameworks about the world, which they then use
to interpret information and experiences.

VIII. Alfred Adler’s Theory of Personality

 The question of what drives us—what great force underlies our motivation as
individuals, propelling us forward through all manner of trying circumstance—
was a matter of longtime fascination for psychologist Alfred Adler. He eventually
came to call this motivating force the “striving for perfection”, a term which
encapsulates the desire we all have to fulfill our potential, to realize our ideals—a
process strikingly similar to the more popular idea of self-actualization.
 Self-actualization is perhaps the less problematic of the two terms, as one cannot
process Adler’s ideas without immediately bumping up against the troublesome
nature of the words “perfection” and “ideal”. While the idea of striving to be the
best version of one’s self is an obviously positive goal, the concept of perfection
is, in psychology, often given a rather negative connotation. After all, perfection
likely does not exist, and therefore cannot be reached, meaning that efforts to do

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so are invariably frustrating and can come full circle to create an extreme lack of
motivation (i.e., giving up).
 Indeed, Adler himself balked at using “perfection” to describe his single
motivating force, beginning instead with phrases like aggression drive (to
describe the frustrated reaction we have when our basic needs, such as the need to
eat or be loved, are not being met)—yet even this term had obvious negative
connotations; aggression is, after all, seldom seen as a good thing, and using the
term “assertiveness” may have served Adler better.
 (Interestingly, Freud himself took exception to the term “aggression drive”,
though not on the basis that it was overly negative in connotation; instead, Freud
felt that it would detract from the pivotal position of the sex drive in
psychoanalytic theory. Freud may have had a change of heart in later years,
however, as his idea of a “death instinct” bore a great deal of similarity to Adler’s
theory.)
 Another, perhaps better, descriptor used by Adler to refer to basic motivation
was compensation, which in this case was meant to denote the process of striving
to overcome one’s inherent limitations. Adler postulated that since we all have
various issues and shortcomings as people, our personalities develop largely
through the ways in which we do (or do not) compensate for or overcome these
inherent challenges. Adler later rejected this idea in part (though it still played an
important role in his theory; more on that later), as he decided it was inaccurate to
suggest one’s problems are the cause for who one eventually becomes.
 Adler also toyed, early on, with the idea of “masculine protest”, upon observing
the obvious differences in the cultural expectations placed on boys and girls, and
the fact that boys wished, often desperately, to be thought of as strong,
aggressive, and in control. Adler eschewed the bias that suggested men’s
assertiveness and success in the world arose from some inexplicable innate
superiority. Instead, he saw this phenomenon as a result of the fact that boys are
encouraged to be assertive in life, and girls are discouraged from the very same
thing.
 Lastly, before settling on the phrase “striving for perfection”, Adler called his
theory the “striving for superiority”—most likely a homage to Friederich
Nietzsche, whose philosophies Adler was known to admire. Nietzsche, of course,
considered the will to power the basic motive of human life. Adler later amended
this phrase, using it more to refer to unhealthy or neurotic striving, likely due to
the way it suggests the act of comparing one’s self to others, of attempting to
become “superior” to one’s fellows.

Teleology

 The idea of “holism”, as written about by Jan Smuts, the South African
philosopher and statesman, was known to have influenced Adler greatly. Smuts
posited that, in order to understand people, we have to take them as summations
rather than as parts, as unified wholes existing within the context of their
environments (both physical and social).
 To reflect this notion, Adler decided to call his approach to psychology individual
psychology, owing to the exact meaning of the word individual: “un-divided.” He
also generally avoided the traditional concept of personality, steering clear of
chopping it up into internal traits, structures, dynamics, conflicts, etc., and
choosing instead talk about people’s “style of life” (or “lifestyle”, as we would

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call it today; the unique ways in which one handles problems and interpersonal
relations).
 Here again Adler differed a great deal from Freud, who felt that the things that
happened in the past (e.g. early childhood trauma), shaped the nature of people in
the present. Adler was essentially forward looking, seeing motivation as a matter
of moving toward the future, rather than a product of our pasts driving us with
only our limited awareness as to how and why. This idea that we are drawn
towards our goals, our purposes, our ideals is known as “teleology”.
 Teleology was remarkable in the way it removed necessity from the equation; we
are not merely living life in a “cause and effect” manner (if X happened, then Y
must happen later) or on a set course toward an immobile goal; we have choice,
and things can change along the way as we pursue our ideals.

Fictions And Fictional Finalism

 Adler was also influenced by philosopher Hans Vaihinger, who believed that
while mankind would never discover the “ultimate” truth, for practical purposes,
we need to create partial truths, frames of reference we use as if they were indeed
true. Vaihinger dubbed these partial truths “fictions”.
 Both Vaihinger and Adler believed that people use these fictions actively in their
daily lives, such as using the absolute belief in good and evil to guide social
decisions, and believing that everything is as we see it. Adler referred to this
as “fictional finalism” and believed that each individual has one such dominating
fiction which is central to his or her lifestyle.

Inferiority

 Once Adler had fleshed out his theory on what motivates us as beings, there
remained one question to be answered: If we are all being pulled toward
perfection, fulfillment, and self-actualization, why does a sizeable portion of the
population end up miserably unfulfilled and far from perfect, far from realizing
their selves and ideals?
 Adler believed that some people become mired in their “inferiority”; he felt that
we are all born with a sense of inferiority (as children are, of course, smaller and
both physically and intellectually weaker than adults), which is often added to by
various “psychological inferiorities” later (being told we are dumb, unattractive,
bad at sports, etc.) Most children manage these inferiorities by dreaming of
becoming adults (the earliest form of striving for perfection), and by either
mastering what they are bad at or compensating by becoming especially adept at
something else, but for some children, the uphill climb toward developing self-
esteem proves insurmountable. These children develop an “inferiority complex”,
which proves overwhelming over time.
 To envision how an inferiority complex can mount until it becomes
overwhelming, imagine the way many children flounder when it comes to math:
At first they fall slightly behind, and get discouraged. Usually, they struggle
onward, muddling through high school with barely-passing grades until they get
into calculus, whereupon the appearance of integrals and differential equations
overwhelms them to the point they finally give up on math altogether.
 Now, apply that process to a child’s life as a whole; a feeling of general
inferiority seeds doubt which fosters a neurosis, and the youngster becomes shy

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and timid, insecure, indecisive, cowardly, etc. Unable to meet his or her needs
through direct, empowering action (not having the confidence to initiate such),
the individual often grows up to be passive-aggressive and manipulative, relying
unduly on the affirmation of others to carry them along. This, of course, only
gives away more of their power, makes their self-esteem easier to cripple, and so
on.
 Of course, not all children dealing with a strong sense of inferiority become shy
and timid and self-effacing; some develop a superiority complex, in a dramatic
act of overcompensation. These young people often become the classic image of
the playground bully, chasing away their own sense of inferiority by making
others feel smaller and weaker, but may also become greedy for attention, drawn
to the thrill of criminal activity or drug use, or heavily biased in their views
(becoming bigoted towards others of a certain gender or race, for example).

Psychological types

 While Adler did not spend a lot of time on neurosis, he did identify a small
handful of personality “types” that he distinguished based on the different levels
of energy he felt they manifested. These types to Adler were by no means
absolutes, it should be noted; Adler, the devout individualist, saw them only as
heuristic devices (useful fictions).
 The first type is the ruling type. These people are characterized early on by a
tendency to be generally aggressive and dominant over others, possessing an
intense energy that overwhelms anything or anybody who gets in their way.
These people are not always bullies or sadists, however; some turn the energy
inward and harm themselves, such as is the case with alcoholics, drug addicts,
and those who commit suicide.
 The second type is the leaning type. Individuals of this type are sensitive, and
while they may put a shell up around themselves to protect themselves, they end
up relying on others to carry them through life’s challenges. They lack energy, in
essence, and depend on the energy of others. They are also prone to phobias,
anxieties, obsessions and compulsions, general anxiety, dissociation, etc.
 The third type is the avoiding type. People of this type have such low energy
they recoil within themselves to conserve it, avoiding life as a whole, and other
people in particular. In extreme cases, these people develop psychosis—the end
result of entirely retreating into one’s self.
 Adler also believed in a fourth type: the socially useful type. People of this type
are basically healthy individuals, possessed of adequate, but not overbearing,
social interest and energy. They are able to give to others effectively as they are
not so consumed by a sense of inferiority that they cannot look properly outside
of themselves.
 Adler’s theories may lack the excitement of Freud’s and Jung’s, being devoid of
sexuality or mythology, but they are nonetheless practical, influential, and highly
applicable. Other more famous names, such as Maslow and Carl Rogers, were
fans of Adler’s work, and various students of personality theories have espoused
the idea that the theorists called Neo-Freudians (such as Horney, Fromm, and
Sullivan) probably ought to have been called Neo-Adlerians instead.

IX. Allport And Cartel’s Trait Theories of Personality

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 There are many criticisms of the way in which the humanistic theory attempts to
measure personality. Therefore, alternative measures have been put forward
which try to do the following:
 Measure personality more scientifically using more reliable methods
 Acknowledge the importance that genetic factors may play in the development of
personality
 Acknowledge that there are traits which people have in common
 A ‘trait’ is something that refers to a way in which we generally tend to describe
a person. Therefore, you might refer to someone as being ‘short tempered’ or
‘kind’ or ‘needy’ – these are all traits that we might apply to ourselves or to other
people.
 A trait is also thought to be a stable characteristic that remains the same
regardless of the situation. Therefore, if three people were all caught in a
rainstorm without a coat, the short-tempered person might become angry about
this, the kind person might offer to let them walk under a shelter at their own
expense and the needy person might feel aggrieved that they have not been
offered the shelter because they feel like they will be more inconvenienced by the
situation and therefore need it more.
 One individual does not have one trait; according to the trait theory, someone will
have several traits, which combine to make their personality. Allport and Cattell
are two of the main researchers in this area and we shall now consider their work.

Allport

 Gordon Allport was one of the first researchers to come up with a trait theory. His
main idea was that personality came about like a series of building blocks;
referred to here, of course, as traits. He further believed that personality was
biologically determined but could be shaped by someone’s environment.
 He argued that there are three classes of trait:
 Cardinal traits: these are the traits around which someone organises their whole
life. They are thought to develop later in life and become synonymous with a
person because that is how people primarily see them – ‘greedy Sam’ or ‘angry
Tony’ for example
 Central traits: these refer to major characteristics of someone’s personality and
lead to its foundation, such as shy, intelligent, deceitful or unkind
 Secondary traits: these refer to traits which refer to patterns of behaviour that only
occur under specific circumstances, for example a person who is usually
confident becomes nervous when they have to walk over a bridge
Cattell
 Raymond Cattell based his theory on sources other than self-report, which can be
an unreliable method of testing anything, as it is subject to individual bias.
 He also argued that other methods of exploring personality were too narrow and
that it was also necessary to consider other areas when determining someone’s
personality.
 The traits were identified using factor analysis on three different kinds of data:
 L Data: life data, such as school grades and employment records
 Q Data: a questionnaire given to people in order to rate their personality
 T Data: objective testing designed to ‘tap into’ a person’s personality
 Cattell contended that there were sixteen major source traits which everyone
possessed to a greater or lesser degree, and these were classified as either:

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Rev Dr Julius Langat

 Surface traits: very obvious traits that others can easily identify
 Source traits: less visible to other people and may be strong motivators of some
kinds of behaviour
 Using this information, Cattell developed a personality test known as the 16PF
which has been used to provide personality profiles and which has been used
quite extensively within applied psychology.
 Despite it being a new and unique way of trying to determine the origins of
personality, critics of Cattell contend that his categories are too rigid and exclude
people from fitting into them easily.


 His personality model has also been criticised for being over simplified and
superficial and critics argue that his model is too focused on classifying people as
similar, meaning that we become blinded to the ways in which people are
different.

Strengths of trait theory

 It acknowledges the potential role of biological influences in personality

development
 It acknowledges that although most traits are stable that there can be some
variation in behaviour dependent upon the situation

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Weaknesses of trait theory

 It cannot predict an individual’s behaviour; research shows that even if someone

scores highly for a particular trait, they may not actually behave that way in real
life
 Although it acknowledges that there are differences between individuals, it fails
to explain why this might be the case
 Loehlin, Willerman and Horn (1988) found that only 50% of the variations of
scores on personality factors are due to inherited traits. This suggests that
environmental factors are also important
 Much of the research is based on the findings from self-reports, which are open to
bias.

X. Albert Bandura Theory of Personality

 The psychologist and theorist Albert Bandura was born in Canada at the end of
1925. About to enter the ’50s, Bandura graduated in Psychology from Columbia
University.
 Given his brilliant record, in 1953 he began teaching at the prestigious Stanford
University. Years later, Bandura held the position of president at
APA (American Psychological Association).
 Behaviorism: It is a school of Psychology that emphasizes the importance of
experimental methods and tries to analyze observable and measurable variables.
Therefore, it also tends to reject all aspects of psychology that cannot be grasped,
everything subjective, internal and phenomenological.
 The usual procedure used by experimental method It is the manipulation of
certain variables, to later assess the effects on another variable. Following this
conception of the human psyche and the tools available to evaluate
personality, Albert Bandura’s Personality Theory gives greater relevance to
the environment as the genesis and key modulator of the behavior of each
individual.
 During his first years as a researcher, Albert Bandura specialized in the study of
the phenomenon of aggression in adolescents. He soon realized that, although the
observable elements were crucial when establishing solid and scientific bases for
the study of certain phenomena, and without giving up the principle that it is the
environment that causes human behavior, another reflection was also worth
making.
 The environment causes the behavior, certainly, but behavior also causes
environment . This quite innovative concept was called reciprocal
determinism : material reality (social, cultural, personal) and individual behavior
cause each other.
 Months later, Bandura went a step further and began to value personality as a
complex interaction between three elements: environment, behavior and
abilities. individual psychological processes. These psychological processes
include the human capacity to retain images in the mind and aspects related to
language.
 This is a key aspect to understand Albert Bandura, since by introducing this last
variable he abandons orthodox behaviorist postulates and begins to approach

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the cognitivism In fact, Bandura is currently considered one of the fathers of

cognitivism.
 By adding imagination and aspects related to language to his understanding of
human personality, Bandura draws on much more complete elements than pure
behaviorists, such as BF Skinner. Thus, Bandura will analyze crucial aspects of
the human psyche: the observational learning (also called modeling) and self-
regulation

Observational learning (modeling)

 Of the numerous studies and investigations carried out by Albert Bandura, there
is one that was (and continues to be) the object of special attention. The studies
on the silly doll The idea arose from a video recorded by one of her students,
where a girl repeatedly hit an inflatable egg-shaped doll called “Bobo.”
 The girl mercilessly beat the doll, while shouting “stupid!” She hit him, both with
punches and with a hammer, and she accompanied these aggressive actions with
insults. Bandura showed the video to a group of children at a daycare center, who
enjoyed the video. Later, after the video session was over, the children were led
to a playroom, where a new silly doll and small hammers awaited them.
Obviously, Bandura and his collaborators were also in the room, analyzing the
behavior of the offspring.
 Children It didn’t take them long to grab the hammers and start hitting the
silly doll, mimicking the insults of the girl in the video Thus, shouting
“stupid!”, they copied all the ‘misdeeds’ they had seen minutes before.
 Although the conclusions of this experiment may not seem very surprising, they
served to confirm several things: the children changed their behavior without any
reinforcement directed at performing that behavior. This will not be an
extraordinary reflection for any parent or teacher who has shared time with
children, but nevertheless it is created a schism regarding behavioral learning
theories
 Bandura called this phenomenon “learning by observation” (or modeling). You
can learn about his theory of learning through this summary:
 “Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory”
 Modeling: analyzing its components

Attention, retention, reproduction and motivation

 The systematic study and variations of the booby doll test allowed Albert
Bandura to establish the different steps involved in the modeling process

1. Attention

 If you want to learn anything, you must pay attention Likewise, all the elements
that represent an obstacle to paying the maximum possible attention will result in
worse learning.
 For example, if you are trying to learn something but your mental state is not
ideal (because you are half asleep, you feel unwell, or you have taken drugs),
your degree of acquisition of new knowledge will be affected. The same thing
happens if you have distracting elements.

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 The object for which we pay attention also has certain characteristics that can
attract more (or less) our attentional focus.

2. Retention

 No less important than paying adequate attention, it is be able to

retain (remember, memorize) what we are studying or trying to learn. It is at this
point where language and imagination play an important role: we retain what we
have seen in the form of images or verbal descriptions.
 Once we have saved the knowledge, images and/or descriptions in our mind, we
are able to consciously remember that data, so that we can reproduce what we
have learned and even repeat it, modulating our behavior.

3. Playback

 When we get to this step, we must be able to decode retained images or

descriptions so that they can help us change our behavior in the present.
 It is important to understand that, when learning to do something that requires
mobilization of our behavior, we must be able to reproduce the behavior. For
example, you can spend a week watching ice skating videos, but not even be able
to put on skates without falling to the ground. You don’t know how to skate!
 But if, on the other hand, you do know how to ice skate, it is likely that
repeatedly watching videos in which skaters better than you perform jumps and
pirouettes will result in an improvement in your skills.
 It is also important, with respect to reproduction, to know that our ability to
imitate behaviors gradually improves the more we practice the skills involved in a
given task. Furthermore, our abilities tend to improve simply by imagining
ourselves performing the behavior. This is what is known as “Mental Training”
and is widely used by athletes to improve their performance.

4. Motivation

 The motivation It is a key aspect when learning those behaviors that we want to
imitate. We must have reasons and motives to want to learn something, otherwise
it will be more difficult to focus attention, retain and reproduce these behaviors.
 According to Bandura, the most frequent reasons why we want to learn
something are:
 These three reasons are linked to what psychologists have traditionally
considered as the elements that “cause” learning. Bandura explains that such
elements are not so much the “causes” as the “reasons” for wanting to learn. A
subtle but relevant difference.
 Of course, the negative motivations They can also exist, and they push us not to
imitate certain behavior:

Self-regulation: another key to understanding human personality

 The self-regulation (that is, the ability to control, regulate and model our own
behavior), is the other fundamental key to personality. In his theory, Bandura
points to these three steps towards self-regulation :

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1. Self-observation

 We perceive ourselves, we evaluate our behavior and this serves to establish a

coherent corpus (or not) of what we are and do.

2. Judgment

 We compare our behaviors and attitudes with certain standards For example, we
often compare our actions with those that are culturally acceptable. Or we are
also capable of creating new acts and habits, such as going for a run every day.
Additionally, we can instill in ourselves the value of competing with others, or
even with ourselves.

3. Auto-response

 If in the comparison we make with our standards we come out well, we give
ourselves positive reward responses to ourselves. In case the comparison makes
us uncomfortable (because we do not conform to what we believe would be
correct or desirable), we give ourselves punishment responses These responses
can range from the most purely behavioral (staying late working or asking the
boss for forgiveness), to more emotional and covert aspects (feeling of shame,
self-defense, etc.).
 One of the important elements in Psychology that serve to understand the self-
regulation process is self-concept (also known as self-esteem). If we look back
and realize that we have acted throughout our lives more or less in accordance
with our values and we have lived in an environment that has given us rewards
and praise, we will have a good self-concept and therefore high self-esteem.
Conversely, if we have been unable to live according to our values and standards,
it is likely that we have a poor self-concept, or low self-esteem.

XI. Julian Rotter’s Theories of Personality

 Julian Rotter’s social learning theory was a pioneering work in the field of
behaviorism. He proposed that most human behaviors are learned. Rotter wasn’t
the only one to put this perspective forward, but he was one of the first to do so.
 From the point of view of Rotter’s social learning theory, the family environment,
social environment, and culture into which we’re born and subsequently develop
are the determining factors of our behavior.
 Indeed, the theory claims that our behavior is a result of the way in which we
perceive others and the responses that our environment offers to our actions.
 Julian Rotter first expounded his theory of social learning in 1954, in his
work, Social Learning and Clinical Psychology.
 He based his theory on several experiments, conducted under controlled
conditions, mostly with children and college students. As a matter of fact, his
work, to a certain extent, was intended as a critique of Skinner’s ideas. However,
it stayed within the confines of behaviorism, of which both he and Skinner were
proponents.

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 Expectancy is the probability held by the individual that a particular

reinforcement will occur as a function of a specific behavior on his part in
a specific situation.” -Julian Rotter-

 According to Rotter, learning occurs from our own experiences, but also from
that of others.

 Julian Rotter defined personality as the result of an individual’s interaction with

their ‘significant environment’.
 This means the environment that has a specific impact on them.
 He pointed out that personality is learned and that it’s built and oriented toward
the achievement of specific goals in each of its manifestations.

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