Everyone is psychology has at least one idea about what should be excluded in a definition of personality. But nobody agrees on what should be included. Some say there are over 50 definitions of personality but I think that’s a major underestimate. About all everyone agrees on is that there are too many definitions of personality.
Since personality describes who you are as a person, there are a lot of possibilities available. You do, think, say, process, interpret and feel. But which, some, or all of these should be included? It depends on your approach.
Here are three questions you must ask when you study personality:
1. Are the characteristics of personality static or dynamic? Dynamic views maintain that personality is constantly changing. They point to the relatively poor test-retest reliabilities of personality tests. If personality is stable, why do people change from week to week? In contrast, static views of personality note that you tend to act pretty much the same. This fits with our internal view of ourselves as being constant. Static theories have the added requirement of defining when personality is complete: at 6 months, 4 years old, etc.
2. Are you interested in what we have in common (human nature) or what makes us unique (individual differences)? We can and do compare ourselves to others. We want to be sure we’re not strange or weird. But we also want to be special and different. So personality can be described by common traits, process or principles. Or it can be described by uncommon dispositions, goal and strivings.
3. Is your primary interest theoretical, practical or experimental? A theoretical approach requires nothing more than an armchair and your mind. You can create a definition or a complete theory of personality with nothing but your imagination. A practical approach to personality might focus on finding a quick (if not stereotypical) sketch of a person. You might want to know what is typical of this person. Experimental approaches to personality convert theoretical constructs into measureable variables. Studies can be conducted in a lab or in the real world.
Here is a catalog style description of the course:
Major theoretical paradigms of personality are explored. Topics include psychoanalysis, humanism, social, cognitive and existentialism. Special attention paid to testing, diagnosis and research design.
Here is what it really means:
You will learn a lot of theories, and to be wary of personality testing.
Let’s start with the oldest but perhaps most widespread approach to personality.
Trait Theory
Want to jump ahead?
There are 10 things we are going to look at:
- Trait Theory
- Freud, Sigmund
- Adler & Jung
- Neo-Freudians
- Behaviorism
- Social Learning
- Humanism
- Existentialism
- Cognitive
- Your Theory
Resources
Book
Bonus
Credit: Photo by Boudewijn Huysmans on Unsplash
