Applied Personality Theories

2527 Words6 Pages

There are many people in this world; no two people are the same. When considering personality theories it is important to note that not all theories apply to all situations or all people. Different theories have different approaches. It is important to know the person before making assumptions about the proper theory to apply to the person or in any given situation. The purpose of this paper is to analysis how different personality theorists could interoperate different individual circumstances and behaviors based on case examples provided by the instructor. When applying different theories to different individuals it is important to consider your own thoughts and feelings about the person and the situation being analyzed. Freud believed we are products of our own environment. The environment that influences me may not be the same environment or society that influences our two case studies Hal, or Ellen. Beware of ethnocentrism. Different cultures may exhibit different behaviors than one's own. Know your own egocentric viewpoint. Not everyone perceives or thinks as I do. And finally just because one theory seemed to explain the thoughts and behaviors of an individual does not mean that theory applies to all people. Case Study 1: The Don Juan Hal is a forty four year old male preoccupied with the thought of dying. He likes being in control, considers himself a successful business man and lucky with the ladies. Hal has been divorced. His ex wives name is Sybil, he describes his ex-wife as "neurotic and manipulating." He also, describes the women he dates as being "gorgeous with emotional problems” Hal doesn't stay in a relationship for too long. Hal has a fifteen year old son named Steve with Sybil. Hal says he gets along ... ... middle of paper ... ... was a different time and societal norms were different. They key is the individual. A humanistic approach may work better than psychoanalysis. Jungian might be more preferred than behaviorism. Maybe a combination of all is the best approach. I don't know. What I do know is know yourself, know the individual and know your theories. It might take trial and error, but everything offers something. Works Cited Allen, B. P. (2006). Personality Theories: Development, Growth, and Diversity. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Frager, R., & Fadiman, J. (2005). Personality and personal growth (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Frick, W. B. (1991). Personality theories: journeys into self; an experimental workbook (2. ed.). New York: Teachers College. Hepburn, A. (Summer 2011). Theories of personality reader. Seattle, WA: Antioch University

Show More
Related

  • Personality Theories Overview

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many psychologists throughout many years present theoretical approaches in an attempt to understand personality. Hans Eysenck’s approach of personality differed from that of Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytical theory of personality. Eysenck’s theory of personality relies on the scientific basis of biology in explaining human personality. Although Freud’s theories are intriguing to an open mind, Eysenck’s approach made measurable scientific sense. He relied on the use of trait and factor analysis, which is a statistical method. Freud relied on faith and his personal opinions based on observational research to reach the assumptions that set forth his theories (Feist & Feist, 2009). Eysenck and Freud did not agree on anything about understanding how and why the mind operates the way, it does.

    Read More

  • In-Class Counseling Practice Exercises

    2023 Words  | 5 Pages

    The psychoanalytic theory was founded by Sigmund Freud. This theory is used in psychotherapy as a process of investigating and treating personality disorders. The idea behind this theory is that our childhood experiences are directly related to the way we function in our later years as adults. Freud believed that our mind is made up of both the conscious mind and the unconscious

    Read More

  • Personality Research Paper

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everybody's personality is different. Some may be extraversion's or narcissists, low self-monitoring or high self-monitoring and the list goes on. During this semester, taking Personality Theories has thought me more about myself than I have learned in my whole life. I believe that my personality stems from my family environment, my friends and society and then I get to choose what I think to be morally correct and what fits with my personality the best.

    Read More

  • The Five Factor Model Of Personality

    2254 Words  | 5 Pages

    five factor theory is a fairly recent proposal and has its basis in earlier work,

    Read More

  • Trait Theory Of Personality

    1460 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this research report is to investigate the personality of Beyoncé Knowles in terms of humanistic and trait conceptions of personality.

    Read More

  • Social Cognitive And Humanistic Theory Essay

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Personality is patterns of thinking, behavior and emotional responses that make up individuality over time. Psychologist attempt to understand how personality develops and its impact on how we behave. Several theories attempt to explain personality, using different approaches. The social-cognitive and humanistic approaches are two of many theories that attempt to explain personality. This essay will identify the main concepts of social-cognitive and humanistic approach, identify perspective differences and discuss approach limitations.

    Read More

  • Social Cognitive Theory And Trait Theory

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Big Five Traits

    1850 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Main Approaches to Personality Psychology

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Trait Theory of Personality

    2125 Words  | 5 Pages

    Magnavita, J. J. (2002). Theories of personality: Contemporary approaches to the science of personality. New York: Wiley.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Personality Theories

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Freud, personality is built from internal psychological forces. The theory provides an elaborative framework which describes human personality. Through the theory, new treatments were derived to help people in mental distress. Freud encouraged a more positive way to approach psychological distress so that even the mental illnesses themselves could be treated; many of the therapies that the theory suggested have helped to treat people with different psychological issues. Another strength of the theory is that it acknowledges the existence of a subconscious which has an impact on our behavior and not only superficial thoughts. The theory was an eye opener to health professionals of the time, by introducing insights into the human mind, and how it functions, the psychoanalysis approach became greatly important for dealing with psychological treatment (Langs 83). Many researchers claim that, even though the psychoanalysis theory has its strengths, the weaknesses outweigh them in that, from the start, this theory had no scientific evidence, only theoretical explanations. For example, the psychodynamic model explains why or what causes abnormalities in children but it lacks research evidence to back it up. Sigmund Freud based all his arguments in his own analysis. It is evident that psychoanalysis is mainly dependent on what the therapist

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis

    1846 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many of his ideas led up to psychoanalysis, but a major contribution was his book, “The Interpretations of Dreams”. Psychoanalysis is both a treatment, as well as a theory. Freud believed that if the unconscious thoughts were brought to the surface, than people could be helped or cured. He believed that a person's development is essentially determined by forgotten events in childhood, rather than biologically. Using psychotherapy would involve many lengthy sessions that included the patient and the psychologist speaking about issues, emotions, and traumatic experiences. The psychologist would typically sit out of sight from the patient and take notes as he/she spoke. Psychoanalysis uses techniques such as ink blots, parapraxes, free association, interpretation, resistance analysis and transference analysis to study the human mind. In modern day psychology, Freud’s works are widely criticized. One of the main critiques of psychoanalysis is that is solely lacks scientific proof. It is unmeasurable and cannot be proven nor disproven. Another major critique is that Freud used the case-study method, and focused mainly on wealthy European women, instead of broadening his studies on other types of people. Many people think that Freud over-sexualized everything in his theories, as well. Although Freud’s theories are often critiqued and overlooked, it is no secret that because of Sigmund Freud and his findings, psychology has come as far as it has today. Many of his theories and thoughts are a basis for other psychologists’ findings. Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential thinkers of his time. He opened the door for others to follow his “out of the box” styles of thinking. Psychoanalysis also opened the door for scientists to begin to study the unconscious mind, as well as dreams (which were not studied much before Freud). Because of Sigmund Freud,

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Cognitive Psychology

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    This theory focuses on the role of unconscious influences on how we think and act. This approach looks at how the things that happen to us as kids help shape important determinants of adult psychology (2). This theory became very popular because of its explanatory power for human behavior, Freud 's therapeutic method, called psychoanalysis or Insight therapy, was developed to identify the underlying conflicts between intrapsychic structures and resolve them by bringing them to consciousness. Although Freud thought of himself as a scientist, and he was very thorough in recording his methods and outcomes, he did not practice scientific methods. Psychoanalytic theory was developed through case study analysis, a qualitative, not scientific, method (1). Freud believes that events in our childhood can have a significant impact on our behavior as adults. He also believed that people have little free will to make choices in life. Instead, our behavior is determined by the unconscious mind and childhood experiences

    Read More

  • The Nature Of Personality

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    The concept of personality has numerous definitions (Fatahi, Moradi, & Kashani-Vahid, 2016). Schultz and Schultz (2009), define personality in its broad sense as the manner of an individual’s behaviour in different situations. This essay explores the nature of personality, with the intention of highlighting its flexibility. The results of numerous empirical research studies are examined in order to investigate if, and how personality changes over time. It will be argued that an individual’s personality has the ability to change throughout their life.

    Read More

More about Applied Personality Theories

Open Document