Strengths And Weaknesses Of Psychodynamic Psychology

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Over the years there have been many different approaches and theories of personality. The four major theories are psychodynamic, trait or five -factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive. Although there are many strengths to these theories, there have also been some weaknesses about them as well. The first theory I will explain is the Humanistic Theory. This theory began in the early 1960’s and was mainly known be constructed and edited by Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Rollo May. They were the main ones that were the leaders of this approach. The definition of Humanistic Psychology is a psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential. One of their goals with this approach is that they wanted to draw a fuller picture of human potential and personality. “Psychologists who take a humanistic approach to personality emphasize our uniquely human capacity to determine our own actions and futures.” However there have been some disadvantages of the humanistic approach. It was said that the major scientific criticism of humanistic …show more content…

Per our textbook, the major influences on personality that Psychodynamic approach has is the unconscious dynamics shape human motives, guilts, conflicts, and defenses. This psychological approach was founded by Sigmund Freud. Psychodynamic emphasizes the movement of psychological energy within the person, in form of attachments, conflicts, and motivations. It is said that modern psychodynamic theories share an emphasis on unconscious processes and a belief in the formative role of childhood experiences and early unconscious conflicts. A disadvantage of this theory is that it has violated the principal of falsifiability; for overgeneralizing from atypical patents to everyone; and for basing theories on the unreliable memories and retrospective accounts of adults, which can create an illusion of

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