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Theories of Personality: Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Trait and Social Cognitive.
Theories of Personality:
The study of personality is one of the major topics of interest within psychology.
Numerous personality theories exist, and most of the major ones fall in to one of four
major perspectives. Each of these perspectives on personality attempts to describe
different patterns in personality, including how these patterns form and how people
differ on an individual level.
Learn more about the four major perspectives of personality, the theorist associated
with each theory and the core ideas that are central to each perspective.
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
The psychoanalytic perspective of personality emphasizes the importance of early
childhood experiences and the unconscious mind. This perspective on personality was
created by psychiatrist Sigmund Freud who believed that things hidden in the
unconscious could be revealed in a number of different ways, including through
dreams, free association and slips of the tongue. Neo-Freudian theorists, including Erik
Erikson, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Karen Horney, believed in the importance of the
unconscious, but disagreed with other aspects of Freud's theories.
Major Theorists and Their Theories:
•Sigmund Freud: Stressed the importance of early childhood events, the influence of
the unconscious and sexual instincts in the development and formation of personality.
•Erik Erikson: Emphasized the social elements of personality development, the identity
crisis and how personality is shaped over the course of the entire lifespan.
•Carl Jung: Focused on concepts such as the collective unconscious, archetypes and
psychological types.
•Alfred Adler: Believed the core motive behind personality involves striving for
superiority, or the desire to overcome challenges and move closer toward selfrealization. This desire to achieve superiority stems from underlying feelings of
inferiority that Adler believed were universal.
•Karen Horney: Focused on the need to overcome basic anxiety, the sense of being
isolated and alone in the world. She emphasized the societal and cultural factors that
also play a role in personality, including the importance of the parent-child relationship.
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Theories of Personality: Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Trait and Social Cognitive.
The Humanistic Perspective
The humanistic perspective of personality focuses on psychological growth, free will
and personal awareness. It takes a more positive outlook on human nature and is
centered on how each person can achieve their individual potential.
Major Theorists: •Carl Rogers: Believed in the inherent goodness of people and
emphasized the importance of free will and psychological growth. He suggested that
the actualizing tendency is the driving force behind human behavior.
•Abraham Maslow: Suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. The
most basic needs are centered on things necessary for life such as food and water, but as
people move up the hierarchy these needs become centered on things such as esteem
and self-actualization.
The Trait Perspective
The trait perspective of personality is centered on identifying, describing and
measuring the specific traits that make up human personality. By understanding these
traits, researchers believe they can better comprehend the differences between
individuals.
Major Theorists: •Hans Eysenck: Suggested that there are three dimensions of
personality: 1) extraversion-introversion, 2) emotional stability-neuroticism and 3)
psychoticism.
•Raymond Cattell: Identified 16 personality traits that he believed could be utilized to
understand and measure individual differences in personality.
•Robert McCrae and Paul Costa: Introduced the big five theory, which identifies five
key dimensions of personality: 1) extraversion, 2) neuroticism, 3) openness to
experience, 4) conscientiousness and 5) agreeableness. The Social Cognitive Perspective
The social cognitive perspective of personality emphasizes the importance of
observational learning, self-efficacy, situational influences and cognitive processes.
Major Theorists: •Albert Bandura: Emphasized the importance of social learning, or
learning through observation. His theory emphasized the role of conscious thoughts
including self-efficacy, or our own beliefs in our abilities.