INTRODUCTORY LECTURE:

DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
PSYC 107: THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
According to Feist (2018):

The word “personality” originated from the Latin persona,

which referred to a theatrical mask worn
by Roman actors in Greek dramas.

Personality theorists have not agreed on a single definition of personality.

Personality - is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique

characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s
behavior.
Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior
over time, and stability of behavior across situations.

Traits may be unique, common to some group, or shared by the entire

species, but their pattern is different for each individual. Thus each person,
though like others in some ways, has a unique personality.

Unique: ____________________________

Common to a group: __________________

Entire Species: _______________________

Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such
attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.
WHAT IS A THEORY?

• a SCIENTIFIC THEORY is A SET OF RELATED ASSUMPTIONS that

allows scientists to use LOGICAL DEDUCTIVE REASONING to
formulate TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS
• In science, theories are to used to generate research and organize
observations.
It is neither “truth” nor “fact”
PERSPECTIVES IN THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL THEORIES
DISPOSITIONAL THEORIES
BIOLOGICAL-EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES
LEARNING (SOCIAL) COGNITIVE THEORIES
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES / HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL
• Freud, Adler, Jung, Klein,
Horney, Erikson, Fromm
• Unconscious forces are most
important in shaping
personality
• First 5 years of life are crucial
in personality development
• Maslow, Rogers, May
• People strive to live
meaningful, happy lives, ople
are motivated by growth and
psychological health
• Personality is shaped by
freedom of choice, response to
anxiety, and awareness of
death
DISPOSITIONAL THEORIES / BIOLOGICAL-EVOLUTIONARY

• Eysenck, Buss
• Allport, McCrae & Costa
• The foundation for thought
• People are predisposed to
and behavior is biogical and
behave in unique and
genetic forces
consistent ways, they have
unique traits • Human thought and behavior
have been shaped by
• There are 5 trait dimensions
evolutionary forces (natural &
(OCEAN) in human personality
sexual selection)
LEARNING (SOCIAL) COGNITIVE THEORIES

• Skinner: the only explanation for behavior is the conditions that

creare behavior
• Bandura: learning occurs through succeeding or failing and
watching other people succeed or fail at tasks
• Rotter & Mischel: Personality develops as an interaction between
internal & external characteristics of the person
• Kelly: The cognitive construsts we develop to perceive the world
and others mold our personality
Six Dimensions in Evaluating
the Theorist’s Assumptions of Humanity:

1. DETERMINISM versus FREE CHOICE:

Are people’s behaviors determined by forces over which they have no

control, or can people choose to be what they wish to be?

Can behavior be partially free and partially determined at the same time?
2. PESSIMISM versus OPTIMISM

Are people doomed to live miserable,

conflicted, and troubled lives, or can they
change and grow into psychologically
healthy, happy, fully functioning human
beings?

In general, personality theorists who believe

in determinism tend to be pessimistic
(Skinner was a notable exception), whereas
those who believe in free choice are usually
optimistic.
3. CAUSALITY versus TELEOLOGY:
Causality holds that behavior is a function of past experiences,
whereas teleology is an explanation of behavior in terms of future goals
or purposes.

Do people act as they do because of what has happened to them in the

past, or do they act as they do because they have certain expectations of
what will happen in the future?
4. CONSCIOUS versus UNCONSCIOUS
determinants of behavior:

Are people ordinarily aware of what they

are doing and why they are doing it, or do
unconscious forces impinge on them and
drive them to act without awareness of
these underlying forces?
5. BIOLOGICAL versus SOCIAL
INFLUENCES on personality:

Are people mostly creatures of biology, or

are their personalities shaped largely by
their social relationships?

A more specific element of this issue is

heredity versus environment; that is, are
personal characteristics more the result
of heredity, or are they environmentally
determined?
6. UNIQUENESS versus UNIVERSALITY:

Does the theory focus people’s individuality,

or on their common characteristics?

Should the study of personality concentrate on those traits that make people
alike, or should it look at those traits that make people different?