Ψ INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY THEORY Ψ
Why are people the way they are?
The term ‘personality’ is defined depending on how it is used:
1.
How the word is used in ordinary language
 Personality is a known character of a well-known person (positive) and or a person having no personality at all (negative).
2. Personality is defined by dissecting the parts of the word.
 ‘Person’- having a quality of
 ‘Persona’ - o state of being that a person have o having the quality of a person
3. Personality is defined by its etymology and socio-cultural aspect.
 ‘Persona’ (Latin) – is a mask worn in Greek dramas; a mask to be worn or unworn in public or private setting.
4. by its popular meaning
 Social skills or adroitness
 consists of the most outstanding or salient impression that he or she creates in others
 the observer gives your personality; not by you
5. Psychological view
 Biosocial – social stimulus value
 Biophysical – organic and perceived side
 Rag-bag or Omnibus – enumeration of the characteristics that a person has (lists everything).
 Integrative – organization (pattern, active, order).
 Adjustment – varied and typical efforts in adjusting the behavior (a negative character is always sought to be changed).
 Uniqueness – an individual is distinctive to other that sets him apart.
 Essence – mostly representative (who the person actually is).
* Allport, in an exhaustive survey of literature extracted 50 different definition of personality that he classified into a number of broad categories.
Generally, Psychologists define PERSONALITY as:
 configuration of characteristics
 adjustment of situation
 is constituted by the characteristic pattern of behavior, thought and emotion
 the stable pattern of emotional motives and behavior that distinguish one person to another.
* Personality cannot be applied with generality; can only be defined by the particular empirical concepts.
“Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics.” -Feist

TERMS:
Traits – behavior consistent over time
State – a behavior that depends on a situation.
Characteristics – unique qualities of a person (temperament, physique, intelligence).
THEORY
 a scientific theory is a set of related assumptions that allow scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses. o Hypotheses are not components of a theory but they flow from it. o Logical deductive reasoning is used by the researchers to formulate hypothesis; it produces a general-to-specific ideas.
 is a set of assumptions.
 is a set of ‘related’ assumptions.
 An isolated assumption can neither generate a meaningful hypothesis nor possess internal consistency.
 Set of related assumptions are not proven facts but are treated as if they are true.
 A theory must be testable. Unless a hypothesis can be tested in some way, it is worthless.
RELATIVES OF A THEORY:
1.
Philosophy
 A theory is much narrower than a philosophy – which is indeed broader.
 A theory does not deal with oughts and should – therefore life principles cannot become a theory.
2.
Speculation – a theory starts with a speculation.
3.
Hypothesis
 A theory broader than a hypothesis, which is more specific than a theory.
 A good theory is capable of generating many hypotheses.
4.
Taxonomy – a theory can start from classification but leads into hypothesis testing.
Personality + Theory  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
concerned with individual differences
suggest ways of bringing together and systematizing a wide variety of findings

* Personality theorists are also concerned with the total person, concerned in trying to understand how the different aspects of an individual functioning are related to other aspects of life.
answers the questions WHAT, HOW and WHY.
-
WHAT they are like? (Characteristics)
HOW they become the way they are? (Determinants of behavior)
WHY they become as such? (Reasons – refers to the motivation of the individual)
Example: (Depression)
 What extent is depression a characteristic of a person?
 How is this depressive personality developed?
 Why is depression experienced in specific circumstances and why a person believes in a certain manner when depressed?
OBJECTIVES OF THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
(According to Hjelle and Ziegler)
 To explain why people behave as they do from an empirical scientific perspective.
 To unravel the complexity of human nature.
 To explain and predict behavior – these serve as the 2 main functions of theories of personality.
(According to Pervin)
 Theories of Personality should involve laws that help in understanding how each person is different as well as how people are the same.
 To answer what, how and why.
FIVE AREAS THAT A COMPLETE THEORY OF PERSONALITY SHOULD COVER
1.
Structure (what) – the basic units or the building blocks of a personality.
2.
Process (why) – the dynamic aspects of personality including motives.
3.
Growth and development (how) – how we develop into the unique person each of us is.
4.
Psychopathology – the nature and causes of disordered personality functioning.
5.
Change – how people change and why they sometimes resist change or unable to change.
EVALUATION OF THEORIES: What Makes a Theory Useful?
1 st … A theory generates a number of hypotheses that can yield further research.
2 nd … has organized data into a meaningful structure and provides an explanation for the results of scientific research.

CRITERIA FOR A USEFUL THEORY
1.
Generates research
- A useful theory generates 2 kinds of research: Descriptive research (can expand an existing theory) and Hypothesis testing (leads to indirect verification of a theory’s usefulness).
2.
Is falsifiable
- Ability of a theory to be confirmed or disconfirmed (verifiable).
3.
Organizes data
- without any organization, findings are isolated and meaningless
4.
Guides action
- provides a structure in finding answers to questions
5.
Must be internally consistent
- An internally consistent theory is one whose components are logically compatible; scopes are carefully defined and the language is in consistent manners. Terms and concepts are operationally defined.
 Operational definition – is one that defines units in terms of observable events or behavior that can be measured.
6.
Is parsimonious
- The simpler theory is preferred.
- In general, simple, straight-forwarded theories are more useful that ones that bog down under the weight of complicated concepts and esoteric language.
DIMENSIONS FOR A CONCEPT OF HUMANITY
Personality theories differ on the basis of issues concerning the nature of humanity:
1.
Determinism – behavior is determined by forces which we have no control.
Free Choice – one has his own choice.
2.
Pessimism – mostly, those who believe in determinism are pessimists.
Optimism – those who are after free choice are optimists.
3.
Causality – holds that behavior is a function of past experiences. (Ex: Freud).
Teleology – is an explanation of behavior in terms of future goals or purpose. (Ex: Rogers).
4.
Conscious – aware of one behavior.
Unconscious – driven out by unknown forces that make one act without awareness.

5.
Biological – are people creature of biology?
Social Influences – are personalities shaped by social relationships?
6.
Uniqueness VS. Similarities
- Should the study of personality be focused on traits that make people alike or should it look at those that make people different?
Freedom
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES IN PERSONALITY THEORY
Determinism
Ψ man has a power of choice
Ψ Carl Roger’s sense of freedom
Ψ behavior is determined by internal or external forces which the individual has little or no control at all
Ψ B.F. Skinner’s S-R theory
Irrationality
Ψ behavior is influenced by irrational forces
Ψ Freud’s theory of unconscious, Id or libido.
Rationality
Ψ man is rational and behavior is being governed by cognitive processes.
Ψ Kelley stressed Rational Processes
Constitutional (nature)
Ψ Heredity and inborn characteristics are most important influences on personality formation and behavior.
Ψ Cattel: Nature is more important than environment.
Past
Ψ Early childhood experiences determines one’s personality
Ψ Freud’s theory: personality is fixed at
5 or so years old.
Situational (environment)
Ψ Environment have the most significant influence on human development.
Ψ Albert Bandura’s Theory of Social Learning.
Present
Ψ Personality development is independent of the past
Ψ Early years of experiences are significant but not permanent
Ψ Allport’s Functional Autonomy
Reactive
Ψ rely on external forces
Ψ a theory of behaviorists
Proactive
Ψ humans act on their own initiative
Ψ Humanists believe that man is motivated to reach ‘self-actualization’.
--Maslow
Homeostasis (equilibrium)
Ψ Major motivation is tension-reduction
Ψ and to achieve and maintain internal balance
Optimism
Ψ Changes in behavior and personality occur throughout lifetime
Uniqueness
Ψ Each individual is different and cannot be compared
Hetereostatis (growth)
Ψ Man is a pleasure-seeking organism and
Ψ strives primarily for growth, personal fulfillment and higher levels of development
Pessimism
Ψ Person’s personality and behavior are stable and unchanging
Universality
Ψ All human behavior are similar at least in a given culture
Ψ Theory of Pantheism is an example

THEORIST’S OWN PERSONALITY
Each personality theorist reflects the individual personality of its creator. Each creator has unique philosophical orientations shaped by:
1.
Early childhood experience
2.
Birth order
3.
Gender
4.
Training
5.
Education
6.
Pattern of interpersonal relationships
HOW TO LEARN THEORIES OF PERSONALITY?
(The 2-4-2 Strategy)
The 2 orienting ideas:
1.
Background of the theory
2.
The one key concept (idea about the theory)
*A theory of personality is easier to learn if you can make a story out of it.
The 4 main issues that every theory must address:
1.
How the theory explains the structure of personality.
2.
How the theory explains the motivation in personality.
3.
How the theory explains the developments of personality.
4.
How the theory explains the dynamics of personality.
The 2 summary ideas:
1.
Useful application of the theory.
2.
A critical evaluation of theory.