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Physiological approaches to personality
Carl jung's exploration of the unconscious mind
Phenomenological or Humanistic Approach to studying Personality
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Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of psychobiography as an approach to understanding personality.
Psychobiography is research work from archival data such as letters, book, and interviews, rather than directly interacting with the person begins described. The studies of individuals suing non-experimental methods lack both the statistical advantages of large correlational studies and the advantages stemming from the control of independent variables in the experimental. (Cloninger, 2013) (p.13). Psychoanalysis warns that subjective factors (transference) can be a source of error in psychobiography (Schepler ,1990) . (Cloninger ,2013). When trying to show the different examples of the strengthen and weakness, president Obama has shown strength for the entire United States of America for the last 7-1/2 years, he has been a positive influences and has never once promoted
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Jung described his theory as a personal unconscious of each individual that is developed because of the person 's unique experiences. Jung also described a deeper layer to the unconscious a collective unconscious inherited unconscious. (Cloninger ,2013) p. 51.Freud referred to it as a conscious level refers to experiences of which a person is aware including memories and intentional actions. Freud also stated that explanations are often wrong. The most important determinants of behaviors are not available to our thought. (Cloninger ,2013) p.23 The difference between Jung’s understanding and Freud, Jung’s the unconscious consist of mere general motivations which have spiritual content (Cloninger 2013 ) p.17. According to Freud (Cloninger 2013) the unconscious consist of sexual and aggressive wishes that are unacceptable to the conscious personality.(Cloninger 2013) p. 17 .
Cloninger S. (2013). Theories of Personality Understanding Persons. Sixth edition. Boston. Pearson
Summarize Allport 's advice about
Psychoanalysis is a theory that explores personality traits on the conscious and unconscious level. According to TheFreeDictionary.com, “Psychoanalysis is the most intensive form of an approach to treatment called psychodynamic therapy. Psychodynamic refers to a view of human personality that results from interactions between conscious and unconscious factors. The purpose of all forms of psychodynamic treatment is to bring unconscious mental material and processes into full consciousness so that the patient can gain more control over his or her life” (Psychoanalytic Treatment). Sigmund Freud is the founder of the Psychoanalysis Theory. He had many followers. One of those followers was Jung. As time went on, Jung’s perspective on personality
The first basis of Freud 's belief system was found in the existence of the personal unconscious. The mind is a substance that incorporates much more than the simple conscious component. The unconscious component is the much larger than the
Primarily, one of the dominant and fundamental theoretical variances concerning Freud and Jung’s personality theories was that relating to their opposing notions regarding the unconscious human mind. Firstly, Freud understood that the centre of ones inhibited beliefs and distressing recollections was found in the unconscious mind. Freud stated that the human mind focuses on three constructs: namely the id, the ego and the super ego. He claimed that the id shaped ones unconscious energy. Freud said that it is not limited by ethics and morals, but as an alternative simply aims to fulfil ones desires. The id strives to keep with the “pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately.” (Boere) The next unconscious
Carl Jung wrote “The Archetype and the Collective Unconscious,” it defines unconsciousness as the first reactions and interactions a person endeavors. Several psychologist believe that the unconscious mind acts separately from our voluntary thinking, much is true based on the work of Sigmund Fraud with his id, ego, and super ego. Basically understanding the unconscious mind is key to determining what type of archetype a person may have or develop. Many social psychologist have also believed that the unconscious mind is unaware of it actions and that the unconscious part of our brain can be on something irrelevant to the conscious part of the mind. The unconscious mind can be seen through the understanding of Archetypes, which are universal thoughts or mental images that influence an individual 's feelings and actions. For example, if a person is expressing a female form they might have an anima due to the way they treat other people of the opposite sex. Anima’s generally either represent goddess like qualities or certain witch qualities that try to oppress the power of men. The female soul found in the anima can be seen as feminist when they refer to the rule of men and manpower. Effects of the anima can be use to explain several unconscious actions such surprize beatings. A man’s anima explains what he wants to see in a women and how he wants her to portray herself. However, when the
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.
The unconscious mind can be explained in various ways and can take on various attributes. Carl Jung the author of “The Archetype and the Collective Unconscious,” defines unconsciousness as the first reactions and interactions a person endeavors. Several Physicists believe that the unconscious mind acts separately from our voluntary thinking. Scientist believes that understanding the unconscious mind is key to determining what type of archetype a person may have or develop. Experiments such as, reaction to stimuli, have lead cognitive psychiatrist to determine the strength of the unaware and involuntary mind. In addition, many social physicists have also believed that the unconscious mind is unaware of it actions and that the unconscious part of our brain can sometimes be focused on several signs that our conscious self can’t see.
Freud’s understanding of the unconscious is organized into three echelons: the conscious mind, the preconscious mind and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind involves everything we are cognizant of. The preconscious mind signifies regular recollections. The unconscious mind contains emotions, reflections, memoirs and compulsions that are unknown to our conscious perception. Along with the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious, there are the three additional elements to Freud’s structure of personality: the id, ego and superego. Unlike Freud, Jung had a more optimistic theory of the unconscious.
A layman would define personality as an individual’s characteristics in terms of how they think and behave. Many theorists, however, interprets personality differently resulting in various personality theories. Personality is determined by traits which are behaviours displayed by a person in most given situations. How a person reacts to common circumstances may also be used to foresee future behaviours. Traits are then categorized into types that allow easier comparisons to be made between each individual’s attributes. The focus of this paper would be on the biological aspects of personality whereby traits are thought to be inheritable through genetics and associated with the central nervous system. Behavioural genetics are research that makes use of results from studies done on family, twins and adoptions. The findings of how both genes and environment influences personality from the studies will be discussed. Some researchers found possible issues with the representativeness of such studies. The outline of Eysenck’s biological model of personality and arousal, Gray’s BAS/BIS theory and Cloninger’s biological model of personality will further explain the biological effect on personality.
In its most basic form, personality is what defines a person through their “…expression of emotions, relationship building, and their individual patterns of behavior…” (CITE). Two of the most prolific theories on the formation of personality were developed by neurologist Sigmund Freud and psychologist Carl Rogers. Both Freud and Rogers worked in psychotherapy, the area of therapy, which “…focuses on fostering a positive mental well-being…” (CITE). These men based their general theories of personality on their experiences with patients, however their conclusions are worlds apart. Rogers is recognized for his approach to therapy where the “…client…” has a more direct role in the process (CITE). Whereas Freud is best known for his work on the unconscious mind.
Carl Jung, propose the theory of the collective unconscious, based on his theory, which goes beyond of Freud’s analysis of the conscious mind, the unconscious is divided into two (2) layers. We have the personal unconscious, where is very similar with the Freudian Theory of the unconscious mind, where all of our thoughts and forgotten experience our store, but we have another dipper layer, the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is a universal unconscious shared among the humankind, where information which had passed from generation to generation is stored. That information might be fears, or instincts which have helped us to survive, innate thoughts; used as a tool and inheritance from our ancestors in order to provide us the best chance of survival. Based on Jung theory: “The form of a world into [a person] is born is already inborn in him, as a virtual image (Jung, 1953, p.188). He called these memories, as ancestral memories and image archetypes, as different cultures all over the world share similar characteristics without having any interaction with one another, thus the behaviors and actions had been carried with them innate as a part of a code among
The driving force behind this theory is that all experiences are internalized and influence the ongoing actions of every individual. The relationship between unconscious and conscious drives is vital to understand, because this is what motivates behavior according to Freud. This theory is a social construction, just as all theories are, of Freud’s own experiences. It is important to understand this, and to take the good with the
The Biological approach to personality places emphasis on the genetic influences related to the development of an individual’s personality. Some may believe that children and their parents can have very similar personalities, for example a young boy having his father’s anger (Stelmack, 1990). Though this approach has often been questioned by psychologists, it is not disregarded all together. Some believe that genetics do have a role in an individual’s personality development; however environments, as well as personal experiences all work in forming personality.
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.
For Freud, psychosexual theory occurs when personality arises, as it tries to resolve conflicts between unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and the societal demands to suppress these impulses. In general, psychoanalytic theorists are permeated with notions of human development, and how the child changes during the course of his maturation, in an explicit and implicit perspective. Unconscious and Conscious In terms of the unconscious and conscious, Freud situates these conceptions in a topographic model of the mind. He divided it into two systems, called the unconscious and the preconscious.
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.