Application Of The Personality Theories Developed By Erik Erikson And Raymond Cattell

Social psychology and personality psychology both came into fruition around the same time – the 1920’s and 1930’s. Needless

Personality and how we behave have been of much interest to psychologists for a long time now and because of this there have been many theories and theorists that have been developed. Personality is defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within and individual (Fritzley, 2012, p. 10). There are six main approaches to personality psychology they include: biological approach, humanistic approach, behaviorist approach, trait approach, psychoanalytic approach and cognitive approach. Each approach shines a little light onto why we behave the way we do and how our personalities are formed, the approaches contain many different theories from

Chapter 10 is over personality. Personality is described as a pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world. The book goes over psychodynamic perspectives, trait perspectives, personological and life story perspectives, social cognitive perspectives, and biological perspectives.

Personality is defined as “a) the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. b) the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual” (Dictionary.com, 2010). Whether we realize it or not, personality defines us as people. There are many facets to my personality,

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory is the one that would stick with me the most. Lot of it makes sense because with the different stages he's mentioned such as trust vs mistrust, identity vs role confusion, intimacy versus isolations to integrity vs despair. The trust vs mistrust sticks because of some of the stories and clips that was in class. With trust vs mistrust the idea is if a child has bad things happen in certain situations the child will begin to mistrust. While for trust if positive reinforcement is established the child begins to develop self control and learns to redirect there feelings or emotions. In one video about an abused girl she was redirecting her anger toward her baby brother which came from the mistrust of her abuser.

The essence of what defines us, as human beings, is complex, ever evolving process of a combination of biology and life experiences. A person’s personality is innate, yet it can become molded over time due to experience; it is a multitude of interactions and constructs. The construct of personality is challenging to define as personality theorists continue to debate on its definition. Rather than settling on one universal definition, each personality theorist evolved their own distinct perspective. Due to a lack of agreement, the definition for personality will be defined as “a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior” (Feist and Feist, 2013).

The field of personality psychology is a very unique one as it tries to understand and describe the individual human being as a complex whole. It would seem easy to describe one personality by simply identifying one personal traits or behaviors but one cannot explain individuality without comparing it against other living organisms. Mc Adams (2009) states that the study of personality psychology requires that one attempts to construct a scientifically credible account of people psychological differences and search for biological and socio-cultural factors that explain these differences and commonalities. In order for us to understand these differences we need to start at the core of human nature; at its origins.

Your life is built on what you see, what you do, and what you think. This, inevitably, morphs and overlaps to create your personality, a concept sometimes hard to grasp. A personality develops through your life experiences, each changing your perception of the world. Many of the things you experience as a child, though seeming insignificant, are the bases to explain your actions. With this in consideration, family teachings, culture, and environment are major factors in the shape of someone’s future and identity.

Personality can be defined in many ways due to the individual and unique aspects of personality, and there is yet to be a definitive answer for what personality is and how it comes into being. Generally personality can be defined as the relatively constant, individual and unique characteristics and traits which present themselves to others in different circumstances. Due to the many unknown factors of personality psychologists have suggested many ways in which personality is created, these psychologists pose reasons as to what personality is and how it manifests, these are known as personality theories (Carter & Grivas, 2014). The main two ideas being that of genetically influenced personality and personality which is influenced by the environment one lives and grows up in (Carter & Grivas, 2014). These two theories are known as Nature (Genetics) and Nurture (Environment). Many modern psychologists pose that both nature and nurture work in conjunction with each other (Coon, 1995).

Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that gives both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior (Feist & Feist, 2008).

Everyone possesses their own distinct personality. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “personality is defined as the set of emotional qualities and ways of behaving that makes a person different from other people”. My personality simply defines how others view me and most importantly the authenticity of who I am. Some people are prone to having outgoing personalities, while I prefer to be alone. After taking the Jung Typology Test, I understand my personality even more.

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.

The word ‘Personality’ is derived from the latin word ‘persona’, which stands for the mask theatre artists wear during performances. By definition, “ personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior”(Feist & Rosenberg, 2009). Human personality is a unique set of traits that determines how a person reacts to certain situations. Whether the person is curious, risk-taking, meticulous, introverted etc. falls in the realm of personality. Personality is a unique determinant of how we conduct our lives and in effect determines our biological fitness. There are many theories that try to explain the origins of personality and how they manifest into life-decisions.

Have you ever met a person who was not like you at all? It’s ironic how a person personality is shaped. Personality is included in basically everyday life. Personality defines a person. Personality is like a big stew mixed with emotions, behaviors, and patterns of thought that truly define a person. Personality Psychology is the study of these different patterns among a group of people or culture. The studies of psychology started from Hippocrates’ theory that argues that personality traits are based on four different sections. This heavily influenced modern personality psychology. Three important psychologists helped shape the way humans define the term personality.

Personality takes many shapes and forms and is affected by many factors. My understanding of personality is simply a genetic and environmentally determined set of psychological traits that influence our reactions in the world around us. Genetic because our parents possess a certain set of psychological personality traits that we tend to have in common with them so therefore in my opinion there are heritable personality traits. Personality is environmental because we each have our own separate experiences in the world and these experiences help form our unique personality. Neo-Freudians such as Jung have given us a wide array of ideas of how they believe personality is developed and formatted. Jung in particular has a very interesting take on personality. It is this theory that I can most resonate with and apply to myself and even friends and family of mine.