Theories Of Personality Theory

Funder (2006) defines personality as a person’s pattern of thought, emotion, and behavior, with psychological mechanisms and underpinnings. Studying personality within the field of social psychology makes logical senses. While the study of personality psychology seeks to determine the various ways that people differ from one another, and figure out individuals from the inside out, personality within social psychology seeks to figure out individuals from the inside out in varying contexts. Personality psychologists deal with one main challenge – there are so many facets to one’s personality that it is hard to view one’s personality within one single lens. Therefore, before exploring personality within the context of social realms, it is important to view the many facets and approaches to examining personality and its variations.

Guilford (1959) defines personality traits as being ‘any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another’. Subsequently, trait theory can be identified as an approach to the study of human personality. The aim of psychologists, specifically trait theorists, is to explain similarities and differences between individuals based on traits. Although numerous psychologists differ on the amount of traits that are significant, each theorist categorizes personality traits along several broad type spectrums. This assignment will focus on comparing and contrasting Eysenck’s Hierarchical Theory of Personality and Costa and McRae’s Five Factor Model (FFM), two different trait theories of personality.

Funder (2007), states that personality is a combination of how people think, feel and behave, with the psychological mechanisms behind those patterns. Therefore, it can be defined as consistent behaviour patterns and processes which happen in the mind of the individual. These behaviour patterns suggest that there are individual differences and that personality is consistent. The combination of these areas, and confliction of these is what psychologist’s try to understand.

Dispositional personality theories contend that each person per certain stable, long lasting dispositions. These dispositions make a person display certain emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. These dispositions appear in many different kinds of situations, which lends the belief that people behave in predictable ways even when they are in different

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

The personality theory that I have chosen to focus on will be Identity Theory. It was developed by Erik Erikson in the nineteen hundreds. Erik Erikson believed that every individual goes through a certain number of stages to reach his or her full development or potential (Erikson, 1994). He theorized that a human being goes through eight different stages ranging from birth to death (Erikson, 1994). Identity Theory focuses on eight psychosocial stages of development, and an epigenetic principle of maturation (Schultz, 2008). The stages of development are

In psychology, there are four major theories of personality: psychodynamic, trait or five-factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive. The psychodynamic theory primarily focuses on the role of the unconscious mind. The social cognitive theory focuses on the effect of the environment on behavior and is based on theories of learning. Whereas, the humanistic theory emphasizes conscious life experiences and choices. The trait or five-factor model focuses on characteristics themselves and not the roots of personality.

Funder discusses on how personality psychology formulates around numerous basic approaches. One approach Funder talks about is the biological approach, which addresses the mental process on our behavior including anatomy, physiology, genetics, and evolution. This approach analyses our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors through our mind. Another approach that Funder discusses is the trait approach, which is basically the study of human personality; the trait approach concentrates on the way an individual differs in emotion, thought, and behavior and how those differences are measured. These two approaches complement each other because the trait approach focuses on routine patterns of an individual that are behaviors, feelings, and thoughts which those

A person’s personality says much about who he or she is. People define personality in different ways. Researcher after researcher has tried to come up with the best definition for what personality truly means. Case studies, correlational studies, and experimental designs are some of the most commonly used methods of research. These methods help better define personality. The advantages and disadvantages of each method differ and can be helpful or hurtful to the research of an individual’s personality.

Each one of us has his or her judgment about different issues that affect us on a daily basis. It is because we have different genes that result in different traits to thereby resulting in different reactions to different situations. While some people are profoundly affected by the death of a family member, some are strong and gather the courage to move on with life. Personality allows us to express our emotions differently. In this case, our gene composition will enable us to be in a position to react to different stimuli influencing daily decisions. The purpose of this paper will be to define personality at a deeper level while focusing on various personalities domain and how they apply to different personality theories.

The Analysis of the Five Factor Model In this essay, first the Five Factor Model (FFM) will be described. Secondly, psychologists for and against the model will be looked at. Following this, the stability of traits will be looked at, both longitudinal and cross situational. Finally, the application of the model within and outside psychology will be evaluated to show support that the FFM provides a solid foundation for an adequate personality psychology.

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 refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving” (American Psychological Association, 2017) and is both socially and culturally constructed. The psychology of personality deals with how and why people differ. There is no unifying theory to describe personality, although many descriptions and structures have been proposed. Theories of personality specify the central elements of personality and these are the characteristics by which people differ. Such theories include the psychodynamic, humanistic and trait perspectives.

To understand personality there are three main aspects that must be looked at: LArsen and Buss Definition of personality, The Six Domains of knowledge of personality, and Costa and McCrae's Five Factor Theory. In this essay I will first break down larsen and Buss definition and connect it to the domains, then connect the domains to the five factor thoery (FFT).

The study of personality traits is beneficial in identifying the many variables that exist from human to human; the combinations of these variables provide us with a true level of individuality and uniqueness. In the field of psychology, trait theory is considered to be a key approach to the study of human personality (Crowne, 2007; Burton, Westen & Kowalski, 2009). This paper aims to identify a number of significant contributors who have played crucial roles in both the development and application of trait theory. This paper then moves focus to these theorists, outlining their theory and analysing both the strengths and weaknesses of those theories. An illustration of the methods used in trait measurement is given and includes the