Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches
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Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches
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By Dr. Christopher L. Heffner
Why Study Personality? If we know a person is confident, or outgoing, or friendly, what do we need to study? Why is it important to research and theorize about personality? To answer these questions, you need to understand a little about the field of psychology in general. Psychology is the study of thoughts, emotions, and behavior, and their interaction with each other and the world. There are five basic goals of psychology: 1. Describe – The first goal is to observe behavior and describe, often in minute detail, what was observed as objectively as possible 2. Explain – While descriptions come from observable data, http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
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Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
psychologists must go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. In other words, why did the subject do what he or she did? 3. Predict – Once we know what happens, and why it happens, we can begin to speculate what will happen in the future. There’s an old saying, which very often holds true: “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” 4. Control – Once we know what happens, why it happens and what is likely to happen in the future, we can excerpt control over it. In other words, if we know you choose abusive partners because your father was abusive, we can assume you will choose another abusive partner, and can therefore intervene to change this negative behavior. 5. Improve – Not only do psychologists attempt to control behavior, they want to do so in a positive manner, they want to improve a person’s life, not make it worse. This is not always the case, but it should always be the intention. As you can see, the ultimate goal of psychology is to improve the quality of life through a better understanding of individual differences and similarities. Personality is concerned a great deal with all five of these goals, but we will spend the majority of the text discussing the first three. In other words, personality theory is concerned with observing individual characteristics, understanding how these different characteristics came about, and finally, how they are impacting the individuals quality of life. We will, however, delve into the last two goals when we discuss personality disorders and treatment later in the text.
Personality Theories So we’ve defined personality, we understand why it is important to study personality, and we know what our ultimate goal is, but how do we get started? Although the concept of personality seems like a simple one, hundreds and hundreds of years have gone into studying it and we still don’t all agree how it develops or even the important characteristics. Personality theories are attempts at understanding both the characteristics of our personality characteristics and the way these http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
Custom Feed Dictionary Disorders Education Fun & Games Guide to Online Psychology History of Psychology (387 BC to Present) Home Journal Medication and Drug Guide Optical Illusions Personality Synopsis Chapter 10: Section 1: Humanistic Theory Chapter 10: Section 2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Chapter 10: Section 3: Carl Rogers and the Client-Centered Approach Chapter 10: Section 4: Research on Humanistic Theory Chapter 11: Section 1: Cognitive Theory Chapter 11: Section 2: George Kelly and the Fundamental Postulate Chapter 11: Section 3: Ellis and Rational Emotive Therapy Chapter 11: Section 4: Application of Cognitive Theory Chapter 12: Section 1: Disorders, Applications, and Trends Chapter 12: Section 2: Personality Disorders Chapter 12: Section 3: Application of Theory to Practice Chapter 12: Section 4: Personality Trends Chapter 1: Section 1: Introduction to Personality Theory and Development Chapter 1: Section 2: Major 2/5
4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
characteristics develop and impact our life. As we progress through the theories, keep the following questions in mind, as they represent the basic idea behind personality theory and development:
Theoretical Approaches Chapter 2: Section 1: Personality Research and Assessment Chapter 2: Section 2: Experimental Methods
1. What are the basic personality traits?
Chapter 2: Section 3: Types of
2. Can individual traits be grouped into categories or clusters?
Research
3. How do these traits develop? What role does biology, environment, and the individual play?
Research Results
Chapter 2: Section 4: Analyzing Chapter 2: Section 5: Introduction to Assessment
4. What role do states play in an individual’s personality? Why do people respond differently to similar situations? 5. Can we use what we know about personality to make predictions? Can we use assessment devices to determine personality? 6. Can personality be changed? If so, under what circumstances should this be attempted, and how do we go about bringing about change? If you can answer these questions for each of the theories we discuss, then you will have a solid grasp of introductory personality. So, lets get started…
Chapter 2: Section 6: Assessment Theories Chapter 2: Section 7: Analyzing Assessment Techniques Chapter 3: Section 1: Biological Components of Personality Chapter 3: Section 2: Hans Eysenck’s Structure of Personality Chapter 3: Section 3: Temperament and Personality Chapter 3: Section 4: Biological Theory : Research and Trends Chapter 4: Section 1: Psychoanalytic Theory Chapter 4: Section 2: Drives, Structural and Topographical
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Models Chapter 4: Section 3: Freud’s
28
Stages of Psychosexual
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Development Chapter 4: Section 4: Freud’s Ego Defense Mechanisms Chapter 5: Section 1: Psychodynamic and Neo-Freudian Theories Chapter 5: Section 2: Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology Chapter 5: Section 3: Carl Jung’s Analytic Psychology Chapter 5: Section 4: Erik Erikson’s Ego Psychology Chapter 5: Section 5: Karen
http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
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4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
Horney’s Feminine Psychology Chapter 5: Section 6: Harry Stack Sullivan Chapter 5: Section 7: Erich Fromm Chapter 6: Section 1: Psychodynamic Assessment Chapter 6: Section 2: Theory Behind Projective Tests Chapter 6: Section 3: Specific Projective Tests Chapter 7: Section 1: Trait Theory Chapter 7: Section 2: Gordon Allport, The Original Trait Theorist Chapter 7: Section 3: Henry Murray and the TAT Chapter 7: Section 4: Raymond Cattell and the 16PF Chapter 7: Section 5: Application of Trait Theory Chapter 8: Section 1: Learning Theory Chapter 8: Section 2: Classical and Operant Conditioning Chapter 8: Section 3: Reinforcement and Reinforcement Schedules Chapter 8: Section 4: Social Learning Theory Chapter 8: Section 5: SocialCognitive Theory Chapter 9: Section 1: Behavioral Theory Applications and Research Chapter 9: Section 2: Behavior Modification Chapter 9: Section 3: Learned Helplessness Chapter 9: Section 4: Limits of Behavioral Theory Table of Contents
Psychology 101 Psychology Biographies Psychology in the News Psychology Reference Section http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
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Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
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AllPsych > Personality Synopsis > Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches
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Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches
Search
By Dr. Christopher L. Heffner
Why Study Personality? If we know a person is confident, or outgoing, or friendly, what do we need to study? Why is it important to research and theorize about personality? To answer these questions, you need to understand a little about the field of psychology in general. Psychology is the study of thoughts, emotions, and behavior, and their interaction with each other and the world. There are five basic goals of psychology: 1. Describe – The first goal is to observe behavior and describe, often in minute detail, what was observed as objectively as possible 2. Explain – While descriptions come from observable data, http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
advertisement
AllPsych Blog Welcome to the Psychology Blog at AllPsych Sample Page
Sections About AllPsych Books Crossword Puzzles 1/5
4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
psychologists must go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. In other words, why did the subject do what he or she did? 3. Predict – Once we know what happens, and why it happens, we can begin to speculate what will happen in the future. There’s an old saying, which very often holds true: “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” 4. Control – Once we know what happens, why it happens and what is likely to happen in the future, we can excerpt control over it. In other words, if we know you choose abusive partners because your father was abusive, we can assume you will choose another abusive partner, and can therefore intervene to change this negative behavior. 5. Improve – Not only do psychologists attempt to control behavior, they want to do so in a positive manner, they want to improve a person’s life, not make it worse. This is not always the case, but it should always be the intention. As you can see, the ultimate goal of psychology is to improve the quality of life through a better understanding of individual differences and similarities. Personality is concerned a great deal with all five of these goals, but we will spend the majority of the text discussing the first three. In other words, personality theory is concerned with observing individual characteristics, understanding how these different characteristics came about, and finally, how they are impacting the individuals quality of life. We will, however, delve into the last two goals when we discuss personality disorders and treatment later in the text.
Personality Theories So we’ve defined personality, we understand why it is important to study personality, and we know what our ultimate goal is, but how do we get started? Although the concept of personality seems like a simple one, hundreds and hundreds of years have gone into studying it and we still don’t all agree how it develops or even the important characteristics. Personality theories are attempts at understanding both the characteristics of our personality characteristics and the way these http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
Custom Feed Dictionary Disorders Education Fun & Games Guide to Online Psychology History of Psychology (387 BC to Present) Home Journal Medication and Drug Guide Optical Illusions Personality Synopsis Chapter 10: Section 1: Humanistic Theory Chapter 10: Section 2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Chapter 10: Section 3: Carl Rogers and the Client-Centered Approach Chapter 10: Section 4: Research on Humanistic Theory Chapter 11: Section 1: Cognitive Theory Chapter 11: Section 2: George Kelly and the Fundamental Postulate Chapter 11: Section 3: Ellis and Rational Emotive Therapy Chapter 11: Section 4: Application of Cognitive Theory Chapter 12: Section 1: Disorders, Applications, and Trends Chapter 12: Section 2: Personality Disorders Chapter 12: Section 3: Application of Theory to Practice Chapter 12: Section 4: Personality Trends Chapter 1: Section 1: Introduction to Personality Theory and Development Chapter 1: Section 2: Major 2/5
4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
characteristics develop and impact our life. As we progress through the theories, keep the following questions in mind, as they represent the basic idea behind personality theory and development:
Theoretical Approaches Chapter 2: Section 1: Personality Research and Assessment Chapter 2: Section 2: Experimental Methods
1. What are the basic personality traits?
Chapter 2: Section 3: Types of
2. Can individual traits be grouped into categories or clusters?
Research
3. How do these traits develop? What role does biology, environment, and the individual play?
Research Results
Chapter 2: Section 4: Analyzing Chapter 2: Section 5: Introduction to Assessment
4. What role do states play in an individual’s personality? Why do people respond differently to similar situations? 5. Can we use what we know about personality to make predictions? Can we use assessment devices to determine personality? 6. Can personality be changed? If so, under what circumstances should this be attempted, and how do we go about bringing about change? If you can answer these questions for each of the theories we discuss, then you will have a solid grasp of introductory personality. So, lets get started…
Chapter 2: Section 6: Assessment Theories Chapter 2: Section 7: Analyzing Assessment Techniques Chapter 3: Section 1: Biological Components of Personality Chapter 3: Section 2: Hans Eysenck’s Structure of Personality Chapter 3: Section 3: Temperament and Personality Chapter 3: Section 4: Biological Theory : Research and Trends Chapter 4: Section 1: Psychoanalytic Theory Chapter 4: Section 2: Drives, Structural and Topographical
Like
0
Tweet
1
1
Share
0
Models Chapter 4: Section 3: Freud’s
28
Stages of Psychosexual
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Development Chapter 4: Section 4: Freud’s Ego Defense Mechanisms Chapter 5: Section 1: Psychodynamic and Neo-Freudian Theories Chapter 5: Section 2: Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology Chapter 5: Section 3: Carl Jung’s Analytic Psychology Chapter 5: Section 4: Erik Erikson’s Ego Psychology Chapter 5: Section 5: Karen
http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
3/5
4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
Horney’s Feminine Psychology Chapter 5: Section 6: Harry Stack Sullivan Chapter 5: Section 7: Erich Fromm Chapter 6: Section 1: Psychodynamic Assessment Chapter 6: Section 2: Theory Behind Projective Tests Chapter 6: Section 3: Specific Projective Tests Chapter 7: Section 1: Trait Theory Chapter 7: Section 2: Gordon Allport, The Original Trait Theorist Chapter 7: Section 3: Henry Murray and the TAT Chapter 7: Section 4: Raymond Cattell and the 16PF Chapter 7: Section 5: Application of Trait Theory Chapter 8: Section 1: Learning Theory Chapter 8: Section 2: Classical and Operant Conditioning Chapter 8: Section 3: Reinforcement and Reinforcement Schedules Chapter 8: Section 4: Social Learning Theory Chapter 8: Section 5: SocialCognitive Theory Chapter 9: Section 1: Behavioral Theory Applications and Research Chapter 9: Section 2: Behavior Modification Chapter 9: Section 3: Learned Helplessness Chapter 9: Section 4: Limits of Behavioral Theory Table of Contents
Psychology 101 Psychology Biographies Psychology in the News Psychology Reference Section http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/approaches/#.VS1Eq_nF8rU
4/5
4/14/2015
Chapter 1: Section 2: Major Theoretical Approaches | AllPsych
Psychology Resources Psychotherapy Facts Psychotropic Medication Guide Research Research Methods Stats Tests Texts
advertisement
Copyright © 2015. AllPsych
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