A Critical Review of Kelly’s Personality Theory in Personality Development

Richard M.Ryckman , Theories of Personality, Ninth Edition. 2008, 2004 Thomson Wadsworth, a part of The Thomson Corporation

Most theorists have argued that personality is a product of biological and environmental factors. To help individuals understand the different approaches used to analyze the theories of personality, many theorists have given emphasis to different personality and development. One has included four approaches to help individuals gain

Personality theories differ from the perspectives of theorists. Each theorist describes and perceives personality according to their understanding. Therefore, the essay provides a number of different perspectives regarding the case of John. Therefore, when evaluating the case of John one ought to decide which approach to use.

Personality is deeply complexing subject that cannot be easily summed up. There is no concrete right answer, or only one way to evaluate any given subject, as every aspect of personality has more than one view point or angle. Famous psychologists such as Freud, Adler, Jung, Erickson, Eysenck, and Skinner all shaped and conducted the research that would come together and be taught to generations as the foundations of personality and the theory of personality. To better understand the idea of personality, we are going to examine the six different cornerstones of personality. They consist of Nature versus Nurture, The Unconscious, You of the Self, Development, Motivation and Maturation. In this, no one theory is more valid than the other, and no one research has more validity than the other. In this paper each cornerstone will be examined using scholarly research.

This paper will be focusing on the breakdown of a personality in every single way possible. Personality is a topic that involves multiple theories and developments. The breakdown of each development and theory will help have a better understanding for unanswered questions for many people. In this paper there will be included the theories of Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers. The developments within this paper will show the works of how a personality is developed and classified. It will show the steps of how each person is made into an individual and how each individual may have something in common. The theories will show how the developments even came about and how the studying and research have answered the unanswered

* An individual’s view of the kind of person he or she should strive to become

In their study, Schultz and Schultz (2013), state “personality is the unique, relatively enduring internal and external aspects of a person’s character that influence behavior in different situations” (p. 405). There are several theories about what develops one’s personality. In this paper I will explain my theory of personality and what lead me to these thoughts. My personality theory pulls from Dr. Murray Bowen’s family systems theory and John Bowlby’s attachment theory. One’s personality is unique to them, and no two people are exactly alike. To have a theory that would fit everyone’s personality is difficult, so my theory comes from my own personal experiences and the way my personality developed and changed overtime.

Primary to the explanation and critiques of the personality theories, it is important for us to clearly define the term ‘Personality’. Personality, has had varied definitions over the years depending on the works or the background of its developer. Simplified, the term refers to the public image of a person. On occasion it is also referred to as having ‘enduring characteristics’ or as stable and predictable (Schultz 2009).

The term personality refers to the various qualities an individual possesses that forge their unique character (Letzring, Wells, & Funder, 2006). It is important as it distinguishes individuals from their peers through their patterns of behaviors such as individual differences in mental, social, emotional and physical aspects (Allport, 1937). An individual’s psychological characteristics such as thoughts, feelings, motivation and they perceive the world are manipulated by their personality.

Freud, Jung, Adler, and many other theorists and psychologists have provided me a full understanding towards personality thanks to their intellectual theories. Personality comes from the Latin word “Persona” meaning mask, although there exists many explanations of personality they all are an attempt to define personality. It was thanks to these theorists that I understood how many peoples personality are different and how they can deal with them. Although many of these psychologists’ theories contradicted each other this gave me an opportunity to go either way I wanted, this was really important to me for the fact that it provided me a way to somehow choose the best theoretical beliefs that would best fit me in my future works. These beliefs that I chose as being important to me were the Reciprocal Determinism created by Albert Bandura, Linear Time which was brought out by Newton on his Newtonian Time theory, and the Rational Theory. These three theories are an important asset to my understanding of personality it is due to these theories that I am able to implement what I have learned about personality and act upon this theories with others in the near future. Throughout this paper I will define, state the importance and show examples of these three theories.

Personality is a term that has largely been considered an unproblematic concept and primarily refers to the varying kinds of characteristics of individuals. Despite this assumption, psychologists have constantly used the word in different ways. The varying views in the use of this concept or term are fueled by the fact that psychology usually makes generalizations regarding individuals. Generally, personality seeks to examine the many differences and similarities between individuals. Formal evaluation and study of personality have mainly focused on patterns of similarities versus patterns of differences among individuals. When evaluating patterns of differences, the concept of

     Personality can best be described as “personal qualities of an individual”. No two people have the same personality, but yet all the different personalities in the world can be characterized into 4 main theories. The four psychologists that thought up the four theories are Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Abraham Maslow. (pg.64) Each man based his theory on a different part of a person’s personality development. The theory that best describes my personality is Maslow’s.

The development of personality has long been an area of extreme interest to psychologists and psychoanalysts alike and many different theories of personality have developed over the years. From Sigmund Freud to B.F. Skinner, everyone seems to have not only an opinion of what personality is and how it develops but also an idea as to what is the best way to measure and report their findings. In order to test their theories, it was necessary to formulate methods of research that were effective, ethical and would provide a solid foundation for future personality research.<br><br>Although both the clinical and experimental methods of personality research have lent themselves to our present day understanding of the human psyche and personality,

Personality theory is a branch of psychology which examines personality as integral to the psychological processes of functioning and psychopathology. There are different areas of personality theory, such as the roots of personality in the individual, and the role of personality in achieving happiness, productivity, etc. The core of all personality research is centered on the question of nature versus nurture. The fundamental question is whether personality is a “naturally” derived thing hardwired in at birth or as socialized through the “nurturing” of the parent in youth. Secondary to this question, though working quite in conjunction, is that of whether or not personality is

An individual’s personality is what makes them unique. How people’s personalities are developed is based on years of research and theories. This paper will discuss some of those theories and dig into the research of personalities.