The Theories of Personality - Essay Example

The Theories of Personality Personality can be defined as ‘important and relatively stable aspects of behaviour’ (Ewen, 4). Nevid (477) defines personality as a ‘set of psychological characteristics and behaviour patterns that make individual unique and accountable for consistency of behaviour over time’. From these definitions we can deduce that different people have different personalities and tend to behave in a consistent manner. Behaviour can be observable or unobservable, conscious or unconscious. Different psychologists have different views regarding personality; some believe that unconscious forces in personality influence behaviour, some believe that behaviour is influenced by inborn or learned traits, while others believe in cognitive and environmental factors. The paper will discuss some of the personality theories that try to explain behaviour such as psychoanalytic theory by Sigmud Freud, Social-cognitive theory by Bandura and Mischel and trait type theories by Eysenck, Cattell, McCrae and Costa. Psychoanalytic Theory This theory was advanced by Sigmud Freud after observation of patients undergoing hypnosis (Nevid, 478). He believed that behaviour is influenced by unconscious forces in people’s personality and that there are three levels of consciousness; conscious, preconscious and unconscious levels. The conscious level represents behaviour that is portrayed by an individual. The preconscious level has past memories of individuals that can be brought into awareness any time thus influencing the behaviour of such an individual. The unconscious level contains painful memories which can’t be brought into consciousness easily and at any time. The person is thus unaware of such thoughts and feelings as they remain hidden in this level (Myers, 577). Freud also believed that personality is structured into Id, ego and superego and the interaction between them determines behaviour. The Id operates on pleasure principle and on the unconscious level. People are activated into action to satisfy their needs instantly without any hindrance. For example, a toddler excretes without regard as to whether such behaviour is acceptable or unacceptable in society. According to Sonderegger (122) such behaviour is not constrained by reality as it is in the unconscious level. Ego on the other hand operates on reality principle thus forcing individuals to control their behaviour and delay their gratification by following acceptable rules in society. It operates at the conscious and preconscious level. The superego is based on conscience hence individuals follow moral standards in gratifying their needs. The ego enables people to satisfy their needs while putting into consideration the moral standards hence acts as bridge between the id and superego (Nevid, 480). It also uses defence mechanisms to solve conflicting impulses between id and superego such as; repression, regression, denial, compensation and fantasy among others. These enable the person to prevent awareness of unacceptable behaviour hence the conflict between the three structures forms the personality of the person. For example, a person strives to excel in certain areas in order to take attention away from his/her unacceptable behaviour. Freud also believed in the stages of psychosexual development to interpret personality. These include; oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stage. A fixation at one stage may lead to undesirable behaviour. Social-Cognitive Theories The advocates of this theory include Alfred Bandura and Mischel. These theorists emphasize the importance of inner thoughts and the environment in shaping behaviour. For Bandura, cognitions, behaviours and environmental factors influence each other to produce behaviour or personality (Myers, 601). His theory is thus based on reciprocal determinism. According to Bandura, behaviour is observed or learnt from others but every person has inner thoughts that form the basis of personality. The inner thoughts stir people into action and make them behave in a certain way. For example, if a person thinks that a place is unsafe, he/she will behave in a fearful, tense or suspicious manner but if he/she thinks the place is safe he/she will not be anxious or worrisome hence will be relaxed. The reciprocal determinism concept indicates that behaviour is influenced by environmental factors and that environment can also be influenced by behaviour. For example, a present stimulus in the environment such as an interesting TV programme can make people to watch the programme. On the other hand, people can demand a certain programme forcing the producers to produce such a programme or people may refuse to watch the programme forcing the station to reconsider. Sonderegger (128) observes that self-efficacy is crucial in Bandura’s theory. Individuals need to feel worthy by acting in a certain way so that they can behave consistently in such a manner. Mischel believes in the role of situational variables and person variables in explaining and predicting behaviour (Nevid, 499). If individuals expect certain behaviour will be rewarded, then they are driven into action but if the behaviour is punished then they desist from it. Trait Theories Trait theorists such as Eysenck, Cattell, McCrae and Costa believe that people possess certain characteristics which they call traits which explain how people behave in different circumstances (Nevid, 488). However, they differ in their explanation of personality. Hans Eysenck personality can be explained by use of three traits and their opposites; Extraversion vs. introversion, neuroticism vs. emotional stability, psychoticism vs. impulse control (Wayne, 513).Extravert individuals are considered as outgoing, friendly and sociable while introverts are solitary, reserved and unsociable. The neurotic persons are anxious, restless and always moody while those who are emotionally stable portray calm, relaxed and even-tempered personality. He also relates traits to physiological and social causes. Carr (182) observes that Raymond Cattells hierarchy of traits is more complex as it is based on sixteen traits unlike Eysencks three traits. He believes that personality predicts behaviour and identifies the source traits by use of statistical analysis called factor analysis. He also stresses the uniqueness of individuals and observes that behaviour is energized by dynamic traits which are inborn and some learnt and vary in strength from one person to another (Ewen, 285). His theory is also based on two trait levels; the surface traits which refer to observed behaviour in a person and source traits which form the foundation for surface traits. He concluded that people can portray two or more traits simultaneously and that source traits are determined more by heredity than the environment. McCrae and Costa trait theory is based on five traits. To them, traits represent the core of personality and ensure behaviour stability in adults (Ewen, 285). These traits include; extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience (Carr, 182). Just like Eysenck, stable people are calm and courageous, extraverts are outgoing, and sociable, open people are imaginative and excitable, those agreeable are sympathetic while conscientious ones are efficient and organized among other personalities. References Ewen, R. An Introduction to Theories of Personality. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. Carr, A. Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004. Myers, D. Psychology. New York: Worth, 2004. Nevid, J. Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Boston, MA: Houghton Miffin, 2009. Sonderegger, T. Psychology. New York: Wiley, 1998. Wayne, W. Psychology: Themes and Variations. USA: Cengage, 2008. Read More