Personality Theories – Psychoanalysis

Formulated by Sigmund Freud, this theory had such originality, depth, and complexity that its impact on western culture was deeply felt for seventy years. Freud’s conclusion about personality is being id, ego and superego. The id seeks only finding pleasure and to avoid pain. Since id operates in an undisciplined and immature way and cannot make rational decisions, the ego develops to guide these impulses and functions in accordance with the reality principle. A very important function of the ego is the satisfaction of the needs of the id but in a proper time, mode and place sequence. Besides governing the id and its impulses, ego must also control and direct the impulses of superego which consists of the conscience and the ego ideal. Freud believed that the energy for all motivation and the energy for the working together of the three components of personality-id, ego and superego, derives from instinctual energy of the id. The id energy is divided into other life instincts or death instincts. In Freud’s view personality develops and grows as a result of a variety of processes, stresses and experiences, such as maturation, deprivation, conflict and anxiety.

Personality Theories – Self theory

The best known self-theorist is Carl Rogers. The individual as a whole is the central focus of Roger’s theory of personality. He distinguishes between two components of the personality – the organism and the self. The organism is the center of experience, and experience is everything that is going on within a person at a particular time. The self, is best thought as the concept of ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘myself’. The self is in fact one’s own awareness of himself as he works, plays, studies, sings, relates to others, and so on. In order to achieve the goal of self growth, four conditions are necessary. First, the choices available must be clearly perceives, that is, the individual must be aware of alternatives. Second, the choices must be clearly symbolized. Third, he must be loved and respected by others. Stemming from positive regard by others is the fourth condition necessary for self growth.

Theories on personality

There is no single definition of personality. Nearly everyone, theorist and layman alike, has his own idea of what personality is. The term personality comes from the Greek persona which means “mask”. Thus personality is thought of as the appearance a person presents to the family and outsiders. The personality has, thus, been defined as a totality of a person’s manner or his general behavior pattern, that is, the sum of his knowledge, skills, motives, and actions. Another conception of personality involves mainly on surface characteristics such as social skills. A personality description typical of this notion might be. “He is outgoing, smooth and confident”.

Personality theories developed so far can be divided into five major schools of thought:

1.    Psychoanalytic

2.    Self-Study based

3.    Cognitive

4.    Trait

5.    Learning Theory Approach.

Let’s see in detail on the above five theories in further posts.

Goals of Psychology

The goal of psychology is to understand and explain behavior, that is, to isolate the reasons for the observed behavior. This process involves not only the formulation of the theories which are organized and consistent with known facts, but also development of hypotheses about relationships which are yet to be proved. A theory is also supposed to help us make reasonable guesses when we don’t know. Explanation is, in fact, the real basic field of research in psychology. The psychologist may be able to describe and measure anxiety. In principle, almost anyone with reasonable intelligence and relevant reference books may diagnose and treat any mental disease, without knowing what caused that disease. Basic psychology is an attempt to understand in detail many significant issues, including the processes of mental illness. The fundamental knowledge and skill involved in reading the basis of interaction between motivation and performance.