The 4 Major Personality Perspectives and Theories PDF

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11/18/2018

THEORIES

The 4 Major Personality Perspectives and Theories

PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

The 4 Major Personality Perspectives By Kendra Cherry Updated November 12, 2018

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The study of personality is one of the major topics of interest within psychology. Numerous personality theories exist and most of the major ones fall into one of four major perspectives perspectives. Each of these perspectives on personality attempts to describe dierent patterns in personality, including how these patterns form and how people dier on an individual level. Learn more about the four major perspectives of personality, the theorist associated with each theory and the core ideas that are central to each perspective.

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Illustration by JR Bee, Verywell

The Psychoanalytic Perspective The psychoanalytic perspective of personality emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences and the unconscious mind. This perspective on personality was created by psychiatrist Sigmund Freud who believed that things hidden in the unconscious could be revealed in a number of dierent ways, including through dreams, free association, and slips of the tongue. Neo-Freudian theorists, including Erik Erikson, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Karen Horney, believed in the importance of the unconscious but disagreed with other aspects of Freud's theories.

Major Theorists and Their Theories Sigmund Freud Freud:: Stressed the importance of early childhood events, the inuence of the unconscious and sexual instincts in the development and formation of personality. Erik Erikson Erikson:: Emphasized the social elements of personality development, the identity crisis and how personality is shaped over the course of the entire lifespan. Carl Jung Jung:: Focused on concepts such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, and psychological types. https://www.verywellmind.com/personality-perspectives-2795950

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realization. This desire to achieve superiority stems from underlying feelings of inferiority that Adler believed were universal. Karen Horney Horney:: Focused on the need to overcome basic anxiety, the sense of being isolated and alone in the world. She emphasized the societal and cultural factors that also play a role in personality, including the importance of the parent-child relationship.

The Humanistic Perspective 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.

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of free will and psychological growth. He suggested that the actualizing tendency is the driving force behind human behavior. Abraham Maslow Maslow:: Suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. The most basic needs are centered on things necessary for life such as food and water, but as people move up the hierarchy these needs become centered on things such as esteem and self-actualization.

The Trait Perspective The trait perspective of personality is centered on identifying, describing and measuring the specic traits that make up human personality. By understanding these traits, researchers believe they can better comprehend the dierences between individuals. https://www.verywellmind.com/personality-perspectives-2795950

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introversion, 2) emotional stability-neuroticism and 3) psychoticism. Raymond Cattell Cattell:: Identied 16 personality traits that he believed could be utilized to understand and measure individual dierences in personality. Robert McCrae and Paul Costa: Introduced the big ve theory, which identies ve key dimensions of personality: 1) extraversion, 2) neuroticism, 3) openness to experience, 4) conscientiousness and 5) agreeableness. Advertisement

ve rsonality emphasizes the importance of situational inuences and cognitive processes.

ortance of social learning, or learning through he role of conscious thoughts including selflities. Advertisement

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