PRELIMINARY

Module 2 (Continuation)

The 6 Different Theories of Personality

2. Humanistic Theory of Personality

 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.
 Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers developed the humanistic Theory of Personality stems for one’s
desire to achieve their potential and focuses on psychological growth, free will, and personal
awareness.

A. Carl Rogers – he proposed the self-theory - “The only person who is educated is the one
who has learned how to learn and change”- Carl Rogers

• Believed in the inherent goodness of people

• Emphasized the importance of free will and psychological growth

• Suggested that the actualizing tendency is the driving force behind human behavior

• Human being are always striving for self-fulfillment or self-actualization

• When the needs of the self are denied, severe anxiety may result.

B. Abraham Maslow – proposed the theory of self needs – “The only person who is educated
is the one who has learned how to learn and change.

• Abraham Maslow suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs

• Maslow’s hierarchy is most often displayed as a pyramid

• The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the most complex are at
the top of the pyramid.

a) Physiological Needs – these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food,
drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
b) Safety/Security Needs – once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for
security and safety become salient. People want to experience order, predictability and control in
their lives. These needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police, schools, business
and medical care).For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g. employment, social
welfare), law and order, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health and wellbeing (e.g.
safety against accidents and injury).
c) Love/Belonging - Belongingness, refers to a human emotional need for interpersonal
relationships, affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group. Examples of belongingness
needs include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection, and
love.
d) Esteem – are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy and include self-worth, accomplishment and
respect. Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity,
 achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others
(e.g., status, prestige).

• Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and adolescents
and precedes real self-esteem or dignity.

e. Self-actualization – are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a
person's potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow (1943)
describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that
one can be.

4. Trait Theory

- The trait theory of personality was developed by Raymond Cattell, who argued that a person’s
personality is a series of traits that are stable over time. The approach narrows down a person’s
personality to five core traits: openness, agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, and
conscientiousness.

1. Openness – the degree to which a person is intellectually curious, innovative, inventive, and receptive
to novel ideas.

2. Extraversion – person’s inclination to seek stimulation from the outside world, especially in the form
of attention from other people.

3. Conscientiousness – describe a person’s ability to exercise self-discipline and control in order to

pursue their goals.

4. Agreeableness – describes a person’s tendency to put others’ needs ahead of their own, and to
cooperate rather than compete with others.

5. Neuroticism – describe a person’s tendency to experience negative emotions, including fear,

sadness, anxiety, guilt, and shame.

5. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

 The Social Cognitive Theory was developed by Albert Bandura and described how personality is
developed through social learning and cognition. According to the watching and learning from
others and choosing to emulate their behavior.
 The social cognitive perspective of personality emphasizes the importance of observational
learning, self-efficacy, situational influences, and cognitive processes.
 Albert Bandura - “Humans are producers of their life circumstance not just products of them”
 Emphasized the importance of social learning, or learning through observation.
 His theory emphasized the role of conscious thoughts including self-efficacy, or our own belief in
our abilities.

Four (4) steps in observational learning and modelling process

A. Attention

➢ In order to learn, you need to be paying attention.

➢ Anything that distracts your attention is going to have a negative effect on observational learning.

B. Retention
➢ The ability to store information is also an important part of the learning process.

➢ Retention can be affected by a number of factors, but the ability to pull up information later and act
on it is vital to observational learning.

C. Motor Reproduction

➢ Once you have paid attention to the model and retained the information, it is time to actually perform
the behavior you observed.

➢ Further practice of the learned behavior leads to improvement and skill advancement

D. Motivation

➢ Finally, in order for observational learning to be successful, you have to be motivated to imitate the
behavior that has been modeled.

➢ Reinforcement and punishment play an important role in motivation.

6. Biological Perspective on Personality – the biological perspective on personality focuses on

biology’s role, specifically genetics, in exploring the things that shape a person’s personality.

 According to previous studies, personality is somehow heritable meaning that a component of

personality does come from genetics.
 include genetic, hereditary factors, physical appearance and physique and rate of
maturation.

7. Behaviorist Theory – the behaviorist theory states that the environment around the said person
develops a person’s personality. The theory basically tries to explain how personalities are learnt and
then reinforced by the person’s environment.

PERSONALITY DISORDER

 Personality disorders are defined as a long-term behavior patterns and inner experiences that
differ significantly from what is expected. Personality disorders are divided intro (3) three.

A. Paranoid Personality Disorder – the thoughts and feelings and experiences associated with
paranoia may cause you to:

✓ Find it hard to confide in people, even your friends and family.

✓ Find it very difficult to trust other people, believing they will use you or take advantage of you

✓ Have difficulty relaxing

✓ Read threats and danger (which others don’t see) into everyday situations, innocent remarks or casual
looks from others.

B. Schizoid Personality Disorder – many people with schizoid personality disorder are able to function
to fairly well. Unlike in schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. You would not usually have psychotic
symptoms. However, as a result of the thoughts and feelings associated with this diagnosis you may:

✓ Find difficulty forming close relationships with other people.

✓ Choose to live your life without interference from others

✓ Prefer to be alone with your own thoughts

✓ Not experience pleasure from many activities

✓ Have little interest in sex or intimacy

✓ Have difficulty relating to or are emotionally cold towards others.

C. Schizotypal Personality Disorder – everyone has their own eccentricities or awkward behaviors.
But if your patterns of thinking and behaving make relating to others difficult, you may receive a
diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder.

✓ Experience distorted thoughts or perceptions

✓ Find making close relationships extremely difficult

✓ Believe that you can read minds or that you have or that you have special powers such as a sixth
sense.

✓ Feel anxious and paranoid in social situations, finding it hard to relate to others.

D. Antisocial Personality Disorder – it is natural to sometimes put our own needs, pleasures or
personal gain before those of others around us. However, if these actions occur very frequently and you
struggle to keep stability in your life, or you regularly act impulsively out of anger or lack of consideration
of others, this could lead to diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder.

✓ Behave dangerously and sometimes illegally (you may have a criminal record)

✓ Put yourself in dangerous or risky situations, often without about the consequences for yourself or
other people.

✓ Behave in ways that are unpleasant for others

✓ Behave aggressively and get into fights easily

✓ Have problems with empathy- for example, you may not feel or show any sense

of guilt if you have mistreated others.

E. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – borderline personality disorder is also known as

emotionally unstable personality disorder.

✓ Feel very worried about people abandoning you, and either do anything to stop that happening or push
them away.

✓ Have very intense emotions that can change quickly (for example, from feeling very happy and
confident in the morning to feeling low and sad in the afternoon)
✓ Have suicidal thoughts

✓ Self-harm

✓ Struggle to trust people

✓ Act impulsively and do things that could harm you (such as using drugs or driving dangerously)

✓ Experience other mental health problems alongside BPD, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic
stress disorder.When very stressed, sometimes you might:

✓ Have psychotic experiences, such as seeing or hearing things that other people

don’t.

F. Histrionic Personality Disorder – most people enjoy being given compliments or positive feedback
about their actions. But if you depend very heavily on being noticed, or are seeking approval so much
that this affects your day-to-day living, you might get a diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder.

✓ Feel very uncomfortable if you are not the center of attention.

G. Narcissistic personality disorder - It is human nature to be aware of our own needs, to express
them, and to want others to be aware of our abilities and achievements. These are not bad traits.
However, if these thoughts, feelings and behaviors are very extreme and cause problems in relating to
others, you may get a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder.

You may:

✓ believe that there are special reasons that make you different, better or more deserving than others

✓ have fragile self-esteem, so that you rely on others to recognize your worth and your needs

✓ feel upset if others ignore you and don't give you what you feel you deserve

✓ resent other people's successes

H. Avoidant personality disorder - We all have things, places or people we don't like, or which make
us anxious. But if these things cause so much anxiety that you struggle to maintain relationships in your
life, you may get a diagnosis of avoidant personality disorder (sometimes also called anxious personality
disorder).

You may:

✓ be reluctant to try new activities in case you embarrass yourself.

✓ avoid relationships, friendships and intimacy because you fear rejection

✓ expect disapproval and criticism and be very sensitive to it

I. Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) - involves problems with perfectionism, the need for
control, and significant difficulty being flexible in how you think about things.

✓ need to keep everything in order and under control

✓ set unrealistically high standards for yourself and others

✓ feel very anxious if things aren't 'perfect