Psychodynamic Approach Personality

Personality is defined as “the pattern of enduring characteristics that produce consistency and individuality in a given person” . It is the emotional qualities and behaviors that differentiates us from one another. This concept embodies the many factors that influence us to act consistently in different situations and over extended periods of time. According to the psychodynamic approaches to personality (established by Sigmund Freud), personality is “motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no control” . In this chapter, different approaches reveal the characteristics of the mind and how one’s personality performs under certain situations. These approaches include the psychodynamic,

They exemplify our understanding of others’ behavior and is grounded on the supposition that people have certain traits that remain consistent across different circumstances. These consistencies are explained by the trait theory. Trait theorists do not assume that some people possess a certain train while others do not, rather they suggest that everyone possess certain traits but only specific traits apply to a specific person. For example, being “friendly” is a personality trait that everyone holds, the only difference is the degree of friendliness that one has. One person may have a higher degree of friendliness than another. The problem with this theory is the difficulty in identifying specific traits necessary to describe personality as a whole. There are five significant personality traits called The Big Five. These five factors are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (meaning emotional

This understanding comes primarily through observational learning—viewing the actions of others and observing consequences.

One way to develop self-efficacy is by observing our prior successes and failures. Our past successes and or failures determine whether or not we will repeat a certain course of action. Another factor that plays a significant role in developing self-efficacy is direct reinforcement and encouragement from others. Social cognitive approaches heavily depend on the reciprocity between individuals and their