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LESSON – 1 THE NATURE OF PERSONALITY
QUESTIONS
- What is the significance of studying personality?
The significance of studying personality lies in understanding the unique qualities and characteristics that distinguish an individual from others. Personality theories attempt to explain the inter-individual and intra-individual differences in personal qualities and characteristics of individuals. The study of personality is intriguing and exciting as it attempts to explain the dynamic nature of human beings. The various personality theories hold different assumptions as basic to constructing their propositions and principles that seek to explain the phenomenon of personality. All the personality theorists have attempted, covertly or overtly, to locate human beings on a continuum and explain their behavior in both good and evil ways. Therefore, studying personality helps in understanding human nature and behavior.
- What is the meaning of the term personality?
The term personality refers to the unique qualities that distinguish an individual from others. It encompasses the sum total of all the characteristics that pertain to an individual’s distinguishing traits. Personality theorists are interested in both the differences and commonalities among people. Theories of personality attempt to explain the dynamic nature of human beings and locate them on a continuum. The term personality is used to account for the sum total of all the characteristics that pertain to distinguishing an individual from others and also the intra-individual stability as well as change in an individual with reference to his psychological characteristics. The sources of influence on personality theories include ancient Greek thinkers, personal situations, clinical observatives, personal convictions, and the constructs of self. The basic assumptions on the nature of human beings held by different psychologists vary, and all the personality theorists have attempted to locate human beings on a continuum.
- Describe the nature of the theory of personality.
The theory of personality attempts to explain the inter-individual and intra-individual differences in personal qualities and characteristics of individuals. It is a psychological theory that accounts for psychological facts by invoking certain systems of rules and principles. Personality psychologists start with searching and seeking explanations that are already advanced by others, drawing inferences from what is already known, and collecting facts through scientifically valid methods. The sources of influence on formulation of personality theories include the impact of the conceptions held by the ancient Greek thinkers and the personal situations in which individual personality psychologists have been brought up. Different personality theories hold different assumptions as basic to constructing their propositions and principles that seek to explain the phenomenon of personality. The motives in human beings identified by various psychologists are disputed among psychologists, and the determination of the relative importance of these motives still requires in-depth study.
- Enumerate and discuss the basic assumptions on nature of human being held by different psychologists.
Different psychologists hold different assumptions about the nature of human beings. Some believe that human nature is inherently bad, while others believe it is inherently good. However, both groups acknowledge that abnormal behavior can occur under certain conditions, such as misguided parental behavior. The dynamic nature of human beings is also a topic of discussion, with some psychologists believing that human behavior is solely motivated by drive reduction, while others believe that humans are motivated by curiosity, acquisition of skills, and cognitive motives. Another question that arises is whether human behavior is due to antecedence or is an aftermath of an incidence. Freud believes that behavior is due to the past acting as a cause, while Maslow and other humanistically oriented psychologists emphasize that human beings act on the basis of their intentions and expectations of the future. Maslow’s basic assumptions about human nature include the belief that an impulse towards growth and actualization exists in almost all human beings, and that each person is born with an inner nature that is basically good but also weak and can easily fall prey to the evils of society. The denial or suppression of aspects of one’s inner nature leads to a state of unhealthy, and it is often necessary to endure frustration, anxiety, and pain in order to openly express one’s inner nature and achieve anything positive and worthwhile.
- Various psychologists have identified different motives in human beings. Some of these motives are:
– Sigmund Freud believed that every individual has an urge to live and an urge to protect himself. He also believed that libido, the basis energy, is sexual in nature.
– Adler reemphasized sex and granted heightened emphasis to striving for superiority and social interest.
– Horney emphasized self-realization, and Kelly anticipated the future.
– Erikson believes that sexuality, destructiveness, identity, mastery of the environment, mutually enhancing relationship as basic urges of a human being.
– Fromm holds hunger, thirst, sex, defense through fight or flight, other people, mastery of the environment, identity, and meaning to one’s life as basic motives.
– Jung regarded hunger, thirst, sex, power, activity, creativity, individuation, meaning to one’s life, religion, others as urges basic to everyone.
– Sullivan considers hunger, thirst, sex, respiration, elimination of bodily wastes, sleep, reducing anxiety, other people, expressing tenderness to one’s offspring to constitute basic urges.
– Maslow advocates that hunger, thirst, safety, obtaining love from others, curiosity, creativity, competence, belongingness, esteem, metamotives of self-assertion, narcissistic sex, pugnacity, acquisitiveness, also appeal, rest, constructiveness and creativity, self-abasement, disgust, and laughter to qualify as basic human motives.
– Murray includes in his list the motives of abasement, achievement, affiliation, aggression, autonomy, counteraction, dependence, deference, dominance, exhibition, harm avoidance, infavoidance, nurturance, order, play, rejection, sentience, sex, succorance and understanding.
It is important to note that while no psychologist opposes the existence of any drive mentioned by another psychologist, the exact quantum of importance or significance it has for human behavior is constantly disputed among psychologists.
LESSON – 2 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
QUESTIONS
- Describe the possible influences the biographical background of Sigmund had on development of psychoanalysis.
Sigmund Freud’s biographical background as a Jew may have influenced the development of psychoanalysis. Although Freud was proud of his heritage, he never practiced the religion. His father was a wool-merchant and a free thinker, and belonged to the middle class. Freud’s childhood days were strained economically, but his father gave priority to his education since he recognized in him a lad of intelligence and hard work. Freud’s mother was aged 21 years when she gave birth to him. Freud had seven siblings belonging to both sexes, born to his mother later. When Freud was about four or five years of age, his family moved to a more cosmopolitan environment, Vienna, Austria, since his father found himself in increasing commercial difficulties. Freud’s discovery of the unconscious mind is considered to be his greatest contribution to the field of personality psychology. According to Freud, the unconscious constitutes the core of one’s personality, and a wide variety of behaviors stem from it. Personality is primarily determined by the biological drives and sex and aggression and by experiences that occur during the first five years of one’s life. Every individual has a constant amount of psychic energy called libido invested in him. The personality of the individual is constituted by the pleasure-seeking id, the imposing superego, and the compromising ego. The three personality aspects always conflict with each other, and in a well-integrated personality, the ego remains firm but inflexible control over the id and superego: the reality principle governs.
- Describe the different levels of consciousness explained by Freud.
Freud proposed three levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
– Conscious: This level is where an individual is aware of sensory input and emotions or affects. It is a minor aspect of mental life and lacks memory capacity to provide mental phenomena a sense of continuity over time.
– Preconscious: This level is the locus of censorship in the mind and is made up of contributions from both the conscious and the unconscious. It is the region where psychic contents can be received from the conscious or the unconscious, but such contents may not be exchanged by the conscious or the unconscious region of the mind that flank the preconscious.
– Unconscious: This level is a particular realm of the mind with its own wishful impulses and mode of expression, and its peculiar mental mechanisms which are not in force elsewhere. It is a region outside awareness, and we can only grasp its intentions by way of the practical effects noted in free fantasy, such as dreams or mental slips of the tongue.
Freud believed that the first five years of life were the most critical in the development of personality and proposed five stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. The nature of the flow of the individual’s psychic energy during childhood and adolescent years is critical, particularly during the first five years of life. If the child experiences extreme anxiety during these years, it is likely that the psychic energy may not continue to flow in a reasonably smooth way, and the child could get fixated in some of the psychic energy at the previous stage, resulting in abnormal personality development.
3. Describe the structure of personality elucidated by Freud.
Freud’s theory of personality is based on three structural components: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the oldest and most central aspect of the human psyche, containing everything about the individual, including drives, needs, and wishes. It is unconscious in its entirety and has a biological basis, with instincts that serve to motivate behavior. The ego is a part of the id that has undergone special development, resulting in its differentiation from the id. Its major task is to satisfy the impulse of the id in a favorable but socially acceptable manner. The superego is the imposing aspect of personality that is constituted by the internalization of societal norms and values. Freud believed that libido is accentuated from different physiological sources following a set pattern of psychosexual development. The personality of the individual is constituted by the pleasure-seeking id, the imposing superego, and the compromising ego. The three personality aspects always conflict with each other, and in a well-integrated personality, the ego remains in firm but inflexible control over the id and superego, and the reality principle governs.
4. Describe the psychological development of individuals.
According to Jung, psychological development begins when a child is able to distinguish themselves from other objects and consciousness develops when the child is able to say “I”. The psyche begins to take a definite form and content after puberty, which is referred to as the “psychic birth” of the individual. Childhood fantasies end during this period as the demands of reality confront the adolescent. During teenage to adulthood, the individual is concerned with preparatory activities like completing education, beginning a career, getting married, and starting a family. The focus during these years is external, and the primary attitude is that of extroversion.
In the second half of life, major changes occur at middle age between 35 and 40. This period is a time of immense crisis, and the individual tends to turn inward and become more introspective and introverted. Spiritual interests must replace the materialistic considerations that defined the first half of life. According to Jung, middle age is much more crucial in the development of personality than in childhood.
Personality is relatively a closed system, and it must be dealt with as a unitary system, more or less self-contained and apart from any other energy system. Personality can take in new energy from biological processes or other external sources such as the individual’s experiences. The energy of the personality is called psychic energy, which is manifested consciously in many sorts of striving, desiring, and willing as well as by such processes as perceiving, thinking, and attending.
Erikson’s eight stages of development are as follows:
1. Infancy (0-1)
2. Early Childhood (1-3)
3. Play age (3-6)
4. School age (6-12)
5. Adolescence (12-20)
6. Young Adulthood (20-30)
7. Adulthood (30-65)
8. Mature age (65+)
During the fourth stage of development, Industry versus Inferiority, which is equivalent to the Freudian period of latency, the child learns to control its lively imagination and to apply itself to formal education. The danger is that if the child fails or is made to feel that it has failed to master the tasks of school and home, it may develop a lasting sense of inferiority.
During the fifth stage of development, Identity versus Identity Confusion, which begins at puberty and lasts until the end of the teens and sometimes a bit beyond, adolescents begin to sense their individuality. They become aware that they have the strength to control their own destinies and feel the need to define themselves and their goals. Adolescents often experience “identity confusion” and are conflicted enormously about whether and how to give expression to their strong sexual urges. They want to make important decisions but feel unprepared.
5. Describe the nature of instinct in man.
According to Maslow, human nature is fundamentally good, but it can easily be overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitudes towards it. The inner nature of a person is biologically based and does not change, and it is a combination of the characteristics of the individual and of the species. The basic needs of the inner nature are either good or at least neutral, and the inner nature should not be suppressed. The denial or suppression of aspects of one’s inner nature leads to a state of unhealthy. Maslow suggests that psychopathology generally results from the denial, frustration, or trusting of our essential nature. Human nature is proactive and pre-programmed, and the potential for growth is built into every human being and unfolds automatically, without any specific stimulus as long as the individual’s basic needs are gratified. Human beings are not naturally selfish and competitive, but potentially caring, sharing, and co-operative.
LESSON – 3 PSYCHOANALYTIC THERORY . . . (Continued)
QUESTIONS
1. What is anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotional state that arises when an individual perceives an impending danger in a situation. It represents generalized diffused pointless fright and manifests in expectation of unfavorable events. Anxiety serves as a signal to the ego that its survival, and with it the survival of the whole organism, is in danger. Freud distinguishes between three types of anxiety: realistic anxiety, moral anxiety, and neurotic anxiety. Realistic anxiety is a reaction that seems intelligible, being appropriate to anticipation of danger, while moral anxiety comes from the internalized social world of the superego. Neurotic anxiety is the fear of being overwhelmed by impulses from the id. Freud believes that the ego is the sole seat of anxiety and that it is the only structure of personality that can produce and feel anxiety. Anxiety can originate from infantile anxiety, repression, or the libido. The inter-correlations between anxiety and symptoms in various disorders provide insight into what a neurotic person is afraid of, which is evidently their own libido. The difference between realistic and neurotic anxiety lies in the fact that the danger is an internal instead of an external one and that it is not consciously recognized.
2. Describe the different types of anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotional state that arises when an individual perceives an impending danger in a situation. There are three types of anxiety: realistic anxiety, moral anxiety, and neurotic anxiety. Realistic anxiety is a reaction to an anticipated danger, while moral anxiety comes from the internalized social world of the superego. Neurotic anxiety is the fear of being overwhelmed by impulses from the id. Freud believed that anxiety is a central construct in psychoanalytic theory and that it can be both an effect and a cause of behavior. He also emphasized the role of defense mechanisms, such as repression, regression, sublimation, and denial, that people use to cope with anxiety. The structure of personality plays a significant role in anxiety, and Freud believed that the ego is the sole seat of anxiety. Finally, the object source of anxiety is the person’s own libido, and the difference between realistic and neurotic anxiety is that the danger is internal and not consciously recognized in the latter.
3. Describe the role of anxiety in conflict?
Anxiety plays a significant role in conflict. Freud proposed that anxiety is a central construct in psychoanalysis and that it serves as a signal to the ego that its survival, and with it the survival of the whole organism, is in danger. There are three different types of anxieties: realistic anxiety, moral anxiety, and neurotic anxiety. Realistic anxiety is a reaction that seems intelligible being appropriate to anticipation of danger, while neurotic anxiety is completely enigmatic that seems pointless and poses a riddle and is puzzling. Neurotic anxiety is the fear of being overwhelmed by impulses from the id. In conflict, anxiety can cause defensive operations, and people use defense mechanisms to cope up with anxiety. Regression, sublimation, and denial are some of the defense mechanisms used by people to defend themselves against anxiety.
- Describe anxiety as a reaction and a cause of behaviour.
Anxiety is an emotional state that arises when an individual perceives an impending danger in a situation. It represents generalized diffused pointless fright. Anxiety serves as a signal to the ego that its survival, and with it the survival of the whole organism, is in danger. Freud describes anxiety as an effective state that connotes a combination of certain feelings in the pleasure-unpleasure series with the corresponding innervations of discharge and a perception of them. Anxiety may be explained as a result of intrapsychic process such as instinctual discharge, conflict, and defense. Anxiety can cause a psychic event and trigger defensive operations. Freud mentions three different kinds of anxieties: realistic anxiety, moral anxiety, and neurotic anxiety. Realistic anxiety is a reaction that seems intelligible being appropriate to anticipation of danger, and the neurotic anxiety is completely enigmatic that seems pointless and poses a riddle and is puzzling. Anxiety can be a cause and a reaction to behavior. Clinical experience shows that the process of repression is responsible for anxiety in hysteria and other neuroses. Freud emphasized the role of defense mechanisms, used by people to cope up with the anxiety.
5. How can we control anxiety?
There are several ways to control anxiety, including:
1. Sublimation: This is a healthy and constructive defense mechanism that allows individuals to divert their impulses towards socially acceptable thoughts or actions.
2. Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This therapy helps individuals identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to anxiety.
3. Medication: Anti-anxiety medications can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, but should only be used under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
4. Relaxation techniques: Techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can help reduce anxiety by promoting relaxation and reducing stress.
- Exercise: Regular exercise can help reduce anxiety by releasing endorphins and promoting overall physical and mental health.
6. What is the basic nature human being?
Abraham Maslow believed that human nature is fundamentally good, but also weak and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitudes towards it. He assumed that an impulse towards growth and actualization exists in almost all human beings, but it is delicate and subtle. Maslow suggested that psychopathology generally results from the denial, frustration, or trusting of our essential nature. He derived a set of ethical principles from his study of human nature that were relevant to all areas of human endeavor. Maslow believed that the potential for growth is built into every human being and unfolds automatically, without any specific stimulus, as long as the individual’s basic needs are gratified.
- Describe the dynamics of psychopathology.
Psychopathology refers to the study of mental disorders or abnormal behavior. According to Sullivan’s theory of personality, psychopathology arises due to the failure of an individual to develop healthy relationships with others. The dynamics of psychopathology can be understood through Sullivan’s concepts of social insecurity, dynamisms, and modes of experience.
– Social insecurity: It refers to the anxiety or fear that arises due to the lack of acceptance or rejection by others. It can lead to the development of psychopathology.
– Dynamisms: These are the motivational forces that drive an individual’s behavior. Sullivan identified four dynamisms, including tension, security, intimacy, and self-system. These dynamisms can interact with each other and lead to the development of psychopathology.
– Modes of experience: These are the ways in which individuals perceive and interpret their experiences. Sullivan identified three modes of experience, including prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic. The prototaxic mode is the earliest and most primitive, while the syntaxic mode is the most advanced and mature.
Sullivan also identified different stages of development that can influence the development of psychopathology. These stages include:
– Juvenile era: This stage occurs between 6 to 11 years and involves the development of self-dynamism and higher levels of socialization. Negative developments in this period include the learning of stereotypes, ostracism, and disparagement.
– Preadolescence: This stage occurs between 11 to 13 years and involves a strong need for an intimate relationship with a member of the peer group.
– Mid-adolescence: This stage occurs between 13 to 17 years and involves the appearance of sexual desire. The most prevalent problem of this period is the separation of the erotic need for someone of the opposite sex from the intimacy need for someone of the same sex.
– Late adolescence: This stage occurs between 17 to late 20’s and involves the fusion of the intimacy and erotic needs into a focus on one person of the opposite sex.
Sullivan also identified three main defenses against anxiety, including dissociation, parataxic distortion, and sublimation. Finally, Sullivan’s primary method of data collection was through psychiatric interviews, where the therapist must be both participant and observer. Allport’s theory of personality also provides insights into the dynamics of psychopathology through his concepts of dynamic organization, trait, cardinal, central, and secondary dispositions, and proprium.
LESSON – 4 JUNG’S ANALYTICAL THEORY
QUESTIONS
- Do you consider that the biographical background could have influenced Jung in formulating his theory of personality?
It is possible that the biographical background of Sigmund Freud as a Jew may have influenced his thought in formulating his theory of personality. However, it is important to note that Freud’s theory of personality is based on the psychoanalytic perspective, which includes the structure of personality consisting of id, ego, and superego, different levels of consciousness, psychosocial development, and the instinctual nature of man. On the other hand, Carl Jung developed a personality typology that distinguishes introversion and extraversion qualities, and defined the ego as a conscious mind. Jung’s theory also includes the personal and collective unconscious, archetypes, and the process of individuation and transcendence. Jung’s theory has received attention and respect in various fields, including religion, and has broadened the interpretation of symptoms, dreams, and free-associations.
- What are the basic propositions of Jung’s personality theory?
Jung’s personality theory is based on several basic propositions, including:
– Personality is composed of both conscious and unconscious elements.
– The ego is the conscious aspect of personality, while the personal and collective unconscious make up the unconscious aspect.
– The personal unconscious contains repressed or forgotten experiences, while the collective unconscious contains archetypes or primordial images that are shared by all humans.
– The psyche has four basic functions: sensing, thinking, intuiting, and feeling.
– Personality types are determined by the dominant function and attitude (introversion or extraversion).
– Individuation is the process by which individuals strive for self-realization and integration of all aspects of their personality.
– Transcendent functions are the means by which individuals connect with the collective unconscious and achieve a higher level of consciousness.
– Archetypes are powerful images that are part of the collective unconscious and can influence personality development.
– Personality development is a progression that involves the preservation of life and the development of cultural and spiritual activities.
– Healthy personality development involves an acceptance of the unknown and mysterious.
3. Describe the Structure of personality of Jung’s view.
According to Jung’s theory of personality, the psyche or total personality is composed of various structures or systems that are capable of influencing one another. The major structures are the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego is the conscious mind, while the personal unconscious is made up of repressed or forgotten experiences. The collective unconscious consists of powerful, primordial images called archetypes. The structure of personality is relatively a closed system, and the energy of the personality is called psychic energy. The preservation of life and the development of cultural and spiritual activities are found to be the general purposes of psychic energy. Individuation and transcendence are the superordinate processes by which human beings develop throughout their lives. Individuation is the process that helps people for self-realization. Healthy personality development is characterized by an acceptance of the unknown and mysterious. Jung also proposed that there are four basic ways or functions of dealing with the world, which are sensing, thinking, intuiting, and feeling. Each person has a superior function, a secondary function, a tertiary function, and an inferior function. The goal should be to develop all four functions.
4.Jung’s view on Personality Dynamics – Explain.
Jung’s view on Personality Dynamics:
Jung’s theory of personality dynamics is based on the idea that the psyche or total personality is composed of a variety of separate structures or systems that are capable of influencing one another. The major structures are the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious.
Jung developed a personality typology that distinguishes introversion and extraversion qualities. Both introverts and extraverts have their own way of dealing with the external world. There are four basic ways or functions such as sensing, thinking, intuiting, and feeling.
Jung defined the ego as a conscious mind. There are two unconsciousness in Jungian system. One is the personal unconscious and the other is collective unconscious. The collective unconscious consists of powerful, primordial images called archetypes. Archetypes are a predisposition that awaits an actual experience in a person’s life before its content becomes clear. The archetype progression can be helpful to a person and it can also be harmful.
Jung called the personality development as ‘progression’ and the personality is relatively a closed system. The energy of the personality is called psychic energy. The preservation of life and the development of cultural and spiritual activities are found to be the general purposes of psychic energy.
Individuation and transcendence are the superordinate process by which human beings develop throughout their lives. Individuation is the process that helps people for self-realization. Healthy personality development is characterized by an acceptance of the unknown and mysterious.
Jung’s theory of personality as developed in his prolific writings and as applied to a wide range of phenomena stands as one of the most remarkable achievements in modern thought. Finally, we owe to Jung the broadening of interpretation, whether of symptoms or dreams or free-associations. While Freud developed more-or-less rigid (specifically, sexual) interpretations, Jung allowed for a rather free-wheeling “mythological” interpretation, wherein anything could mean, well, anything. Existential analysis, in particular, has benefited from Jung’s ideas.
Possible applications of Jung’s personality theory include:
– In the field of religion, Jung has acquired considerable respect.
– In the study of cognitive affective style in personality in relation to Jung’s psychological types, studying variations among types in things such as memory and social perception.
– In the field of psychology, Jung’s ideas have been applied to psychotherapy and counseling.
– In the field of literature, Jung’s ideas have been used to analyze and interpret literary works.
5. Elaborate the Individuation and the Transcendent functions with regard to Jung’s personality theory?
Individuation and the Transcendent functions are two closely related processes in Jung’s personality theory. Individuation is the process by which human beings develop throughout their lives, in the direction of reaching a stable unity guided by the archetype of the self. It involves making more and more of the unconscious conscious, differentiating all the component aspects of personality, and integrating them into a harmonious whole. On the other hand, the Transcendent function is responsible for integrating the unconscious with the conscious, integrating the systems overall into an effectively functioning whole. These two functions are closely bound up with each other, as they are processes for coming to terms with the unconscious. Individuation is responsible for more analytic processes such as separating, differentiating, and elaborating various aspects of personality, while the Transcendent function is responsible for more synthetic processes such as integrating unconscious with conscious. Repressive and regressive forces in personality oppose the operation of these two processes, but the push towards wholeness is very strong. The unconscious desire for wholeness is often expressed in dreams, myths, and other symbolic representations, with the most common symbol being the mandala. In Jung’s view, the drawing or painting of mandalas can have a therapeutic effect, and many of his patients produced such paintings spontaneously. The goal of complete differentiation, balance, and unity has rarely if ever been reached except perhaps by very few.
6. Describe Archetype according to Jung 7. Elucidate the possible applications of Jung’s personality theory.
According to Jung, archetypes are predispositions that await an actual experience in a person’s life before their content becomes clear. Some of the archetypes with which Jung is concerned are mother, hero, the child, God, death, power, and the wise old man. The most important archetype is the self, which represents the wholeness and integration of the total personality or at least the striving toward such wholeness. The persona, anima and animus, shadow, and self are more fully developed than other archetypes and therefore influence the psyche more consistently. The persona is a mask, a public face that a person wears to present themselves as someone other than who they really are. The anima and animus refer to the recognition that humans are essentially bisexual animals, and the psyche of a woman contains masculine aspects while the psyche of a man contains feminine aspects. The shadow is the most dangerous and powerful archetype, containing basic, primitive animal instincts, and it is the function of the ego to direct the forces of the shadow. Dreams were the clearest expression of the unconscious mind for Jung, and he found evidence for his concept of the archetype in symbols and expressions from obscure and complex subjects such as alchemy.
7. Elucidate the possible applications of Jung’s personality theory.
Possible applications of Jung’s personality theory are:
– Understanding and improving relationships: Jung’s theory can help individuals understand their own personality type and that of others, leading to better communication and relationships.
– Personal growth and self-awareness: Jung’s concept of individuation can guide individuals towards self-realization and personal growth.
– Counseling and therapy: Jungian therapy can help individuals deal with psychological issues by exploring the unconscious and working towards individuation.
– Creativity and artistic expression: Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and archetypes can inspire creativity and artistic expression.
– Spiritual and religious exploration: Jung’s ideas on the relationship between psychology and religion can aid in spiritual and religious exploration.
LESSON – 5 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the possible influence of the biographical experiences of Alfred Alder in the development of his thought.
Alfred Adler’s biographical experiences had a significant influence on the development of his thought. Some possible influences are:
– Adler’s childhood experiences of physical illness and feelings of inferiority due to his older brother’s superiority may have led him to develop his theory of striving for superiority and compensation.
– Adler’s interest in social issues and community welfare may have been influenced by his Jewish background and the anti-Semitic environment he grew up in.
– Adler’s break from Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and aggression may have been influenced by his own experiences of a happy marriage and family life, which he believed were important for psychological health.
– Adler’s experience of being voted out of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association and forming his own school of psychiatry may have led him to emphasize the individual’s ability to shape their own destiny and overcome obstacles.
Adler’s theory includes key terms such as fictional finalism, homeostasis, striving for superiority, style of life, creative self, birth order, and social interest. His theory has widespread application in individual therapy.
2. Discuss Alder’s fictional Finalism.
Alder’s fictional finalism is the idea that people are more affected by their expectations of the future than by their actual past experiences. According to this concept, beliefs and expectations are fictions that people act upon as though they were facts. Our goals are usually fictional in nature, and people behave as if something is true, even though they do not know whether it is really true as a fact. Fictional beliefs are quite real to the person who masters them, and some beliefs, even if they are fictions, are valuable because they promote positive behavior. The urge for superiority is innate and is a part of life, according to Alder. By superiority, Alder means a striving for perfect completion, and it is the great upward drive. The healthy person is always seeking to improve his or her life. The impetus from minus to plus never ends, and the urge from below to above never ceases.
3. Explain Alder’s striving for superiority.
Alder’s striving for superiority refers to the innate drive in humans to strive for perfection and self-improvement. This concept is similar to the idea of self-actualization. However, striving for superiority can be expressed in both normal and abnormal ways. Normal expressions of striving for superiority involve perfecting oneself within the framework of a highly developed sense of social feeling. Abnormal expressions of striving for superiority involve being excused from rules, dominating and gaining control over others, or being exempted from work. Adler believed that the striving for superiority is a search for self-perfection and is expressed in unique ways by each individual. The urge for superiority may be expressed in thousands of ways, such as parents striving to bring up their children as useful citizens, the striving to dominate others, the striving to achieve heights in one’s profession, the striving of a family to have a peaceful worry-free life, and the striving of children to be ideals. For the striving for superiority to be expressed normally and actively, it must be fostered and supported in the child by a tolerant and affectionate family environment. Otherwise, strivings such as aggressiveness or the desire for power over others, which are characterized by selfish motives and lack of a sense of social feelings, are signs of abnormality.
4. Discuss Alder’s social interest.
Alder’s social interest is a key concept in his personality theory. According to Alder, social interest is the degree to which a person is concerned about others and their well-being. It is a barometer of psychological health and represents the criterion for judging the worth of a person’s life. Alder believed that normal or healthy individuals are genuinely concerned about others and strive for their own superiority in a social context, encompassing the well-being of all people. In contrast, maladjusted individuals lack social interest, are self-centered, strive for personal superiority, and lack social goals. Alder’s theory also includes a schema for typing people, which includes ruling, getting, avoiding, and normal types. The healthy human being, according to Alder, strives for his own superiority while helping others to achieve their goals. Ultimately, social interest consists of people striving for the “perfection” of society as they strive for their own individual “perfection”. The state of perfection toward which we all strive is one in which individual and society live, love, and work together harmoniously.
5. Elucidate Alder’s style of life and striving for superiority.
Alder’s style of life refers to how an individual lives their life, handles problems, and interpersonal relationships. It is the unique configuration of characteristics that identify a person, and it is established early in life, during the first five years. The family environment in which a child grows up has a significant effect on developing their style of life. Alder believed that the creative power of self selectively evolves a unique style of life, and that heredity provides certain abilities and tendencies, while the environment confronts the individual with a variety of experiences. Alder’s striving for superiority refers to the innate drive in all individuals to move towards fulfillment, perfection, and self-actualization. However, some individuals end up unfulfilled and imperfect due to being overwhelmed by their inferiority. Alder noted that everyone suffers from inferiority in one form or another, and that compensation is a common response to organic inferiorities. Alder’s social interest refers to the ability of individuals to shape their own destinies, overcome primitive drives, and improve themselves and the world around them through self-understanding. Alder’s creative self is the active principle of human life that gives meaning to life and can bring unity and integration within personality. Finally, Alder developed a schema for typing people which includes ruling, getting, avoiding, and normal types.
6. Explain Alder’s creative power of the self.
Alder’s creative power of the self is the essential principle of human life, which transforms the facts of the world into a subjective, dynamic, unified, personal, and uniquely stylized personality. The creative self gives meaning to life, creates goals, and means to achieve them. It is the active principle of human life and plays an important role in the formation of the style of life. The creative self exercises much control over how we perceive things and can bring unity and integration within personality. Alder believed that we can surmount our own selfishness and allow the social side of our nature greater opportunity for expression. The creative self is the agent that is at work in effectively making things happen the way we want them to be. Alder’s concept of the creative power of self reflects his anti-mechanistic view of personality, and it underlines Adler’s view of personality as dynamic rather than static. The creative self is something that intervenes between the stimuli acting upon the person and the responses the person makes to these stimuli. In essence, the doctrine of a creative self asserts that humans make their own personalities.
7. Relate Adler’s personality theory and birth order.
Alfred Adler, the founder of individual psychology, believed that birth order plays a significant role in shaping an individual’s personality. According to Adler’s birth order theory, each child is born with a different genetic inheritance and into a different social setting, which influences their interpretation of their experiences. Here are the characteristics of each birth order:
– First-born child: The first-born child enjoys the parents’ undivided love and care for a time, until another child is born. The first-born child often trains themselves for isolation and masters the strategy of surviving alone and independently of the need for anyone’s affection or approval.
– Second-born child: The second-born child has an older sibling as a pacesetter and is often highly competitive and ambitious, constantly trying to prove that they are better than the older sibling
8. Elaborate Adler’s Typology.
Adler developed a schema for typing people based on their degree of ability and social interest. This typology includes four types: ruling, getting, avoiding, and normal. The ruling type is energetic and aggressive in pursuing their own goals but lacks social interest. The getting type is oriented towards people and develops a parasitic relationship, getting everything that others give using their charm over others. The avoiding type lacks both activity and social interest and avoids responsibility. The normal person energetically faces their problems, keeps in touch with reality, and works well with other people. Adler’s theory has widespread application in individual therapy.
9. What did Alder mean by inferiority feeling and compensation?
Alder believed that humans have a profound sense of inferiority, which is a characteristic of people. He believed that humans are not equipped to survive as solitary beings and must group themselves for mutual protection. Due to the many obstacles in life, individuals often experience insecurity and work hard to bring about security. Alder identified three childhood handicaps that contribute to an inferiority complex: inferior organs, overindulgences, and neglect. He believed that individuals attempt to remove these stumbling blocks to superiority. Alder maintained that every human being’s main instinct strives towards an advance from a minus or inferiority feeling, and themselves can always be compensated for by the individual’s efforts to overcome them. Compensation is the strategy whereby people make up for an inferiority. Compensation establishes and preserves self-esteem. Compensation promotes healthy functioning with a person directing energy away from a weakness that cannot be changed to behavior that can be improved. In case the effort is extreme, it may be termed unhealthy compensation. Alder believed that inferiority feelings were a positive influence and were responsible for most human improvement and accomplishments. The exception occurs when an individual feels overwhelmed by inferiority, which can lead to neurosis.
LESSON – 6 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES . . . (Continued
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the possible influence of the biographical experiences of Erich Fromm on his development of his thought.
Erich Fromm’s biographical experiences had a significant influence on his development of thought. Fromm’s early interest in the Old Testament and his experience as a person from a minority group influenced him greatly. He was also disturbed by the social chaos in Germany following the war and the rise of Nazism. Fromm’s interest in political theory was influenced by these events, and he studied social studies in the university. Fromm’s extensive knowledge of history, sociology, literature, and philosophy inspired his writings. To solve the riddle of human motivation, Fromm underwent psychoanalytic training in Munich and at the psychoanalytic institute in Berlin. However, Freud’s answer to the frightening experience of suicide in his childhood did not satisfy him for long. Fromm criticized Freud’s refusal to accept socioeconomic forces on personality and his overemphasis on libido. Fromm’s theory of personality depicts personality as determined by the social forces that affect the individual in childhood as well as by the historical forces that have influenced the development of the human species. Fromm believed that the nature of society is the key to understanding and changing human personality. Fromm’s character types are based on a sociological analysis of how people in a society actively shape the social process and the culture itself. Fromm used a form of free association and considered dream analysis to be one of the most important therapeutic tools, although he did not describe his use of technique in much detail. Fromm’s theories are based on generalizations and speculations derived from his interpretations of historical changes and social-cultural forces.
2. Elucidate the structure of personality by Erich Fromm.
Erich Fromm’s theory of personality is based on the dynamic interaction between needs inherent in human nature and the forces exerted by social norms and institutions. Fromm believed that personality is the product of cultural forces existing at a particular moment in history. He was the first to formulate a theory of character types based on a sociological analysis of how people in a society actively shape the social process and the culture itself. Fromm identified six social character types that are prevalent in contemporary societies: receptive, exploitative, hoarding, marketing, necrophilous, and biophilous. Fromm believed that a sick society produces sick people and that society must be rewarded to provide everyone a meaningful and responsible role, performing work that is attractive and enjoyable. Fromm agreed with Freud that the first five years of life are of extreme importance, but he did not believe that personality is firmly fixed by five years. Fromm believed that later events can be just as effective in influencing personality as early events.
3. Briefly explain the concept of loneliness and insignificance.
Loneliness and insignificance are concepts that Erich Fromm believed were inherent in the human condition. Fromm believed that as humans gained more freedom, they also felt more alone, insignificant, and alienated from one another. This condition of isolation is not found in any other species or animal, and it is the distinctive human situation. Fromm believed that early people tried to escape their state of alienation from nature by identifying fully with their tribes or clans. Sharing myths, religions, and tribal customs, they obtained the security of belonging to a group. Membership in the group provided acceptance, affiliation, and a set of rules to follow. However, this sense of tenuous security could not last, and human beings are striving creatures who develop and grow. Post-primitive people revolted against this subservience to the group. Each period of history, Fromm says, has been characterized by increasing individuality, a process Fromm called “Individuation,” as people have struggled toward even greater independence and freedom to grow, to develop, and to use all of their uniquely human abilities. Fromm believed that a person can either live with other people in the spirit of love and shared work or find security by submitting to authority and conforming to society. In the first case, human beings use their freedom to develop a better society, and in the other case, they acquire a new bondage. Fromm identified two approaches to finding meaning and belongingness in life: achieving positive freedom and renouncing freedom.
4. Mechanisms of escape – briefly explain.
Mechanisms of escape refer to the ways in which individuals try to find meaning and belongingness in life. Fromm proposed two approaches to escape feelings of isolation and apartness: achieving positive freedom and renouncing freedom. Achieving positive freedom involves attempting to become reunited with people without giving up one’s freedom and integrity. On the other hand, renouncing freedom involves regaining security by surrendering completely to authority and conforming to society. Fromm also identified three types of escape mechanisms that individuals use to escape their growing freedom: symbiotic relatedness, withdrawal-destructiveness, and love. In addition, Fromm believed that human nature is characterized by five existential needs: the need for relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, identity, and a frame of orientation. Finally, Freud proposed that anxiety is central to psychoanalysis and that defense mechanisms are used by people to cope with anxiety. Some of the defense mechanisms include repression, projection, displacement, rationalization, and reaction formation.
5. Elaborate the basic assumption held by Erich Fromm about the development of personality.
Erich Fromm believed that personality is the product of the dynamic interaction between needs inherent in human nature and the forces exerted by social norms and institutions. He argued that a person’s behavior can be understood only in the light of cultural forces existing at a particular moment in history. Fromm believed that needs unique to the human being evolved through the history of humankind and that different social systems have, in turn, influenced their expression. He was the first to formulate a theory of character types based on a sociological analysis of how people in a society actively shape the social process and the culture itself. Fromm’s basic assumption about the development of personality is that it is determined by the social forces that affect the individual in childhood as well as by the historical forces that have influenced the development of the human species.
6. Discuss the research and methods in Erich Fromm’s personality theory.
Erich Fromm’s personality theory is based on the dynamic interaction between needs inherent in human nature and the forces exerted by social norms and institutions. Fromm believed that personality is the product of cultural forces existing at a particular moment in history. He was the first to formulate a theory of character types based on a sociological analysis of how people in a society actively shape the social process and the culture itself.
The research and methods used by Fromm to develop and support his theories are based on generalizations and speculations derived from his interpretations of historical changes and social-cultural forces. Fromm occasionally made “psychoanalytic observations,” but he does not offer specific analytical findings or case studies. Fromm’s theories are based on free association, and he considers dream analysis to be one of the most important therapeutic tools, although he does not describe his use of technique in much detail.
In 1957, Fromm undertook the study of a small Mexican village to test his theory of social character. Fromm and his colleagues employed various techniques to assess the character of their subjects, including detailed interviews and two projective tests – the Rorschach and the TAT. The findings of this study tended to support Fromm’s social character theory. Each of the three classes displayed a typical character consistent with its distinct socioeconomic conditions.
Overall, Fromm’s personality theory is based on the idea that personality is shaped by cultural forces, and his research and methods involve analyzing historical changes and social-cultural forces to understand and change human personality.
QUESTIONS
1. Elaborate the biography of Karen Horney.
Karen Horney was a German psychoanalyst born in 1885 in Hamburg, Germany. She attended medical school in Berlin and was trained as a psychoanalyst. Horney’s first interest was in female personality, and she disagreed with Freud’s negative view of women, particularly his idea of penis envy. She stressed the socio-cultural orientation and rejected Freud’s pronouncement regarding women, in particular his notion that penis envy is preordained by their biological nature. Horney’s primary concept is Basic Anxiety, which is the feelings of isolation and helplessness caused by disturbed relationships between people. Basic Anxiety originates in childhood, if the child’s needs are not met by the parents, or if intimidating events occur, or if strict prohibitions are imposed. The child responds to this idea of Basic Anxiety with different strategies, and some of these response strategies are jealousy, dependency, and ambivalence. Horney also developed the concept of womb envy, suggesting that men may unconsciously be jealous of women’s ability to bear and nurse children. Horney emphasized the role conflicts that women experience in their relationship with men. She also wrote a book entitled “Self-analysis,” which argues in favor of the individual’s ability to help solve his or her own problems. Horney was one of the first psychiatrists to call attention to cultural factors as major determinants of personality growth and functioning. She perceived the significance of the home environment, but she took a wider view and included the cultural forces – economic, social, political, educational, and the like. Horney felt that neuroses are a natural result of man living under the industrialism of today.
2. Explain the structure of personality of Karen Horney.
Karen Horney’s structure of personality can be explained as follows:
– Horney rejected Freud’s view of women and his emphasis on sexuality, and stressed the socio-cultural orientation of personality.
– Horney interpreted the Oedipal conflict in terms of anxiety and insecurity, and her primary concept was Basic Anxiety, which originates in childhood due to disturbed relationships between people.
– Horney believed in the neutral potential for growth and healthy functioning in individuals, and that deteriorations occur if relationships with others and oneself are disturbed.
– Horney’s theory of personality included the concept of neurotic needs, which are normal needs that become neurotic when their satisfaction is compulsive and intensive as the only means of resolving basic anxiety.
– Horney grouped the 10 neurotic needs into three clusters or neurotic trends: movement toward people (compliant type), movement away from people (detached type), and movement against other people (hostile type).
– Horney noted that people relate to others in these three basic ways and use different interpersonal styles to cope with conflicts, but they are capable of expressing all three styles from time to time.
3. Briefly explain about Womb Envy.
Karen Horney countered Freud’s view that women unconsciously desire to have a male baby as a way of symbolically attaining a penis. Instead, she introduced the concept of “womb envy,” suggesting that men may unconsciously be jealous of women’s ability to bear and nurse children. Horney argued that women’s “overvaluation” of masculinity is motivated by a desire for power and privilege, not because they lack penises. She also emphasized the role conflicts that women may experience in their relationships with men, particularly in traditional feminine roles of marriage and motherhood versus pursuing careers and other goals. Horney believed that cultural factors are major determinants of personality growth and functioning, and that neuroses are a natural result of living under the industrialism of today. She also believed that the conception of what is normal varies not only with culture but also within the same culture over time. Horney took issue with certain Freudian concepts, such as repetition-compulsion, the id, ego, and super ego, anxiety, and masochism. However, she acknowledged Freud’s fundamental theoretical contributions, such as psychic determinism, unconscious motivation, and emotional, non-rational motives.
4. Elaborate Karen Horney’s Neurotic Needs.
Karen Horney identified ten neurotic needs that are acquired as a consequence of trying to find solutions for the “problem of disturbed human relationships”. These needs are called neurotic because they are irrational solutions to the problems. The ten neurotic needs are:
1. The neurotic need for affection and approval
2. The neurotic need for a dominant partner
3. The neurotic need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders
4. The neurotic need for power
5. The neurotic need to exploit others
6. The neurotic need for personal admiration
7. The neurotic ambition for personal achievement
8. The neurotic need for self-sufficiency and independence
9. The neurotic need for perfection and unassailability
10. The need to restrict life to within narrow borders
Horney noted that everyone has these needs to some degree, but what makes them neurotic is the intensive and compulsive pursuit of their satisfaction as the only means of resolving basic anxiety. In her later work, Horney grouped these needs into three clusters, each of which involves one of the following neurotic trends:
1. Movement toward people: the compliant type
2. Movement away from other people: the detached type
3. Movement against other people: the hostile type
Horney believed that man has the capacity as well as the desire to develop his potentialities and become a decent human being, and that these deteriorate if his relationships to others and hence to himself are, and continue to be disturbed.
5. Elaborate Karen Horney’s views on Dynamics of personality.
Karen Horney believed in the neutral potential for growth and healthy functioning in people and individuals. She believed that man has the capacity and desire to develop their potentialities and become a decent human being, but this deteriorates if their relationships with others and themselves are disturbed. Horney’s primary concept is Basic Anxiety, which is the feeling of isolation and helplessness caused by disturbed relationships between people. She identified a number of reactions to anxiety which she called Neurotic Needs, such as the need for affection and approval, the need for a dominant partner, the need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders, the need for power, the need to exploit others, the need for personal admiration, the neurotic ambition for personal achievement, the need for self-sufficiency and independence, the need for perfection and unassailability, and the need for a partner who will take over life. Horney believed that the profit of personality is determined by anxiety, and habitual reactions to anxiety become an important element in an individual’s personality. According to Horney, the dynamics of personality are determined by anxiety, and the need for physical closeness to other human beings is considered inborn. Sullivan believed that all dynamisms can be categorized into two classes: Zonal and Interpersonal. Zonal Dynamism centres around physical zones of the body and are concerned with physical activities such as eating, drinking or sexual behaviour, while Interpersonal Dynamisms are learned from experiences with other people. The most important dynamism in the personality is the Self Dynamisms, which is a person’s self-image constructed on the basis of their interpersonal relationships. The self develops out of the anxiety generated in the original mother-infant relationship and is reinforced or compounded by subsequent threats to security.
6. Explain Karen Horney’s development of personality.
Karen Horney’s development of personality is based on her belief in the neutral potential for growth and healthy functioning in people. She believed that man has the capacity and desire to develop his potentialities and become a decent human being, and that these deteriorate if his relationships to others and hence to himself are disturbed. Horney’s primary concept is Basic Anxiety, which is the feeling of isolation and helplessness caused by disturbed relationships between people. Basic Anxiety originates in childhood, if the child feels unsafe, unloved, or unvalued. Horney identified ten neurotic needs that are acquired as a consequence of trying to find solutions for the “problem of disturbed human relationships.” These needs are irrational solutions to the problems and include the need for affection and approval, a dominant partner, power, personal admiration, personal achievement, self-sufficiency and independence, perfection and unassailability, and the need to exploit others. Horney’s research and methods in personality theory focused on cultural factors as major determinants of personality growth and functioning. She saw that cultural practices could foster the development of abnormal trends. Horney believed that self-knowledge is both a privilege and a responsibility, and each of us is capable of shaping our own life and achieving self-realization.
7. Briefly explain the research and methods of personality theory propouned by Karen Horney
Karen Horney’s personality theory emphasizes the neutral potential for growth and healthy functioning in people. She believed that man has the capacity and desire to develop his potentialities and become a decent human being, and that these deteriorate if his relationships to others and hence to himself is disturbed. Horney’s socio-cultural view of personality was prompted by three major considerations. First, she rejected Freud’s pronouncement regarding women, in particular his notion that penis envy is preordained by their biological nature. Second, while living in Chicago and New York, Horney exchanged ideas with Erich Fromm, Margaret Mead, and Sullivan, who reinforced her conviction that socio-cultural conditions exert a profound impact on the individual’s development and functioning. Third, Horney’s clinical observations of striking differences in personality dynamics between patients seen in Europe and the USA confirmed the powerful influence of cultural forces. Horney’s primary concept is Basic Anxiety, which is the feeling of isolation and helplessness caused by disturbed relationships between people. Basic Anxiety originates in childhood, if the experiences of the child are wrong, it can lead to neurotic needs. Horney also developed the concept of Womb Envy, suggesting that men may unconsciously be jealous of women’s ability to bear and nurse children. Horney believed that cultural practices could foster the development of abnormal trends. She was one of the first psychiatrists to call attention to cultural factors as major determinants of personality growth and functioning. Horney wrote a book entitled “Self – analysis” which argues in favour of the individual’s ability to help solve his or her own problems. Self-knowledge is both a privilege and a responsibility. Each of us is capable of shaping our own life and achieving self-realization.
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the possible influence of the biographical sketch of Hary Stack Sullivan.
Harry Stack Sullivan’s biographical sketch influenced his perspective on personality and psychoanalysis. He believed that personality is a function and the relationships between people are the core subject of psychoanalysis. Sullivan’s perspective was strongly influenced by the Chicago school of sociology, which embraced the perspective known as SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONSIM. Sullivan believed that the nature of personality is determined by tensions that arise from both physiological and social-psychological sources. He recognized that there are two sources of tension – physiological needs and social insecurity. Sullivan placed great emphasis on the relationship between an infant and its mother, and a person’s feeling of security or insecurity also depends on the mother’s behavior and attitudes towards the child. Sullivan’s contribution has particular implications in the case of schizophrenia. He set up a special ward for male schizophrenic patients and found that these patients had done much better than others with similar diagnoses.
2. Discuss Sullivan’s structure of personality.
Sullivan’s structure of personality is based on the tensions that arise from both physiological and social-psychological sources. He believed that the nature of personality is determined by two sources of tension: physiological needs and social insecurity. The physiological needs discussed by Sullivan are the need for war, rest, air, and sex, while social insecurity derives from cultural/interpersonal causes. Sullivan emphasized the relationship between an infant and its mother, where a person’s feeling of security or insecurity depends on the mother’s behavior and attitudes towards the child. Sullivan also discussed two additional drives or needs that appear in infancy and that seem to derive from and be integral parts of the need for security: the power motive and the need for physical closeness.
Sullivan identified three processes observable in an individual’s personality: dynamism, personifications, and modes of experience. Dynamism is a relatively enduring configuration of energy that manifests itself in characteristic processes in interpersonal relations. Sullivan believed that all dynamisms can be categorized into two classes: zonal and interpersonal. Zonal dynamism centers around physical zones of the body and is concerned with physical activities such as eating, drinking, or sexual behavior, while interpersonal dynamisms are learned from experiences with other people. The most important dynamism in the personality is the self-dynamism, which is a person’s self-image constructed on the basis of his or her interpersonal relationships.
Personification, according to Sullivan, is when the person symbolizes his image of himself in a personification that reflects past experiences with significant others. These need not be accurate, but nevertheless, result in characteristic thoughts, actions, and feelings. Sullivan also believed that dreams are interpersonal events with the other person in the dream being a projection of certain impulses. Dreams are an attempt to satisfy certain things a person cannot attain in waking life. Sullivan’s contribution has particular implications in the case of schizophrenia, where he set up a special ward for male schizophrenic patients and found that these patients had done much better than others with similar diagnoses.
3. Briefly explain the concept of social insecurity.
Social insecurity is a concept that refers to the feeling of isolation and apartness that individuals experience due to their separation and alienation from others. According to Fromm, human beings can escape these feelings by either living with others in the spirit of love and shared work or finding security by submitting to authority and conforming to society. Fromm believes that mental health must be defined in terms of how well society adjusts to the basic needs of all individuals, not in terms of how well individuals adjust to society. The key factor is how sufficiently a society satisfies human needs. An unhealthy or sick society creates in its members hostility, suspicion, and distrust, and inhibits the full growth of the individual selves. A healthy society allows its members to develop a tendency to love one another, to be productive and creative, to sharpen and refine their powers of reason and objectivity, and it facilitates the emergence of fully functioning selves. Fromm believed that all of us possess an inherent striving for emotional health and well-being, an innate tendency for productive living, harmony, and love.
4. Explain Sullivan’s dynamisms.
Sullivan’s dynamisms are relatively enduring configurations of energy that manifest themselves in characteristic processes in interpersonal relations. They are observable processes in an individual’s personality that result from experiences with other people. Sullivan believed that all dynamisms can be categorized into two classes: zonal and interpersonal. Zonal dynamism centers around physical zones of the body and is concerned with physical activities such as eating, drinking, or sexual behavior. The interpersonal dynamisms are learned from experiences with other people. The most important dynamism in the personality is the self-dynamism, which is a person’s self-image constructed on the basis of his or her interpersonal relationships. Sullivan also believed that there are three processes observable in an individual’s personality: dynamism, personifications, and modes of experience. The modes of experience are the syntax, prototaxic, and parataxic modes. The syntax mode is the experience of the child from six to eleven years old, where the child starts developing self-dynamism and higher levels of socialization. The preadolescence mode is from eleven to thirteen years old, where there is a strong need for an intimate relationship with a member of the peer group. The mid-adolescence mode is from thirteen to seventeen years old, where sexual desire appears. The late adolescence mode is from seventeen to late twenties, which involves the fusion of the intimacy and erotic needs into a focus on one person of the opposite sex. Sullivan’s primary method of data collection from his patients was through interviews, and he believed that the therapist must be both participant and observer in the therapeutic situation.
5. Elaborate Sullivan’s modes of experience.
Harry Stack Sullivan identified three modes of experience, which are prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic experiences. These modes of experience are the observable processes in an individual’s personality. The prototaxic experience is the earliest and most primitive mode of experience that occurs only during the first several months of infancy. The parataxic experience is the second mode of experience, where the older infant develops the ability to organize and draw some meaning from experiences. The syntaxic experience is the third and highest mode of experience, where the child learns the use of words, logical relationships, and is able to test his or her perceptions against those of others. Sullivan also identified six stages or eras of personality development, which are infancy, childhood, the juvenile era, preadolescence, mid-adolescence, and late adolescence.
6. Discuss Sullivan’s stages or eras with possible examples.
Sullivan’s stages or eras of personality development are as follows:
1. Juvenile era (6 to 11 years): In this stage, the child starts developing self-dynamism and a higher level of socialization. The child becomes cooperative and competitive. However, significant negative developments in this period are the learning of stereotypes, ostracism, and disparagement.
2. Preadolescence (11 to 13 years): There is a strong need in this era for an intimate relationship with a member of the peer group. By this, the young person may be able to overcome problems formed earlier stages such as the bad attitude or the tendency to disparage.
3. Mid adolescence (13 to 17 years): This is the time when sexual desire appears. The most prevalent problem of this period is the separation of the erotic need for someone of the opposite sex from the intimacy need for someone of the same sex. If these two needs become confused or united, a homosexual rather than heterosexual tendency can result.
4. Late adolescence (17 to late 20’s): This stage involves the fusion of the intimacy and erotic needs into a focus on one person of the opposite sex. The self-dynamism is totally developed and crystallized during this period.
Sullivan’s defense mechanisms against anxiety are dissociation, parataxic distortion, and sublimation. He used interviews as his primary method of data collection from his patients.
Possible examples of Sullivan’s stages or eras are:
– Juvenile era: A child learns stereotypes from their parents or peers, such as “boys don’t cry” or “girls are bad at math.”
– Preadolescence: A young person may form a close bond with a friend or group of friends to feel accepted and overcome feelings of insecurity.
– Mid adolescence: A teenager may struggle with their sexual identity and feel confused about their attractions.
– Late adolescence: A young adult may focus on building a romantic relationship and establishing their independence.
Overall, Sullivan’s stages of personality development emphasize the importance of socialization and the impact of physiological needs on personality.
7. Illustrate the defenses of personality.
Defenses of personality are strategies used by individuals to protect themselves from anxiety or threats to their self-esteem. Some examples of defenses of personality are:
– Repression: pushing unpleasant thoughts or memories into the unconscious mind
– Denial: refusing to acknowledge a painful reality
– Projection: attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else
– Rationalization: justifying one’s behavior with logical but false reasons
– Displacement: redirecting emotions from the original source to a less threatening target
– Sublimation: channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities
Different personality theorists have different assumptions about the nature of human beings and the factors that shape personality. For example, Freud believed that human beings are constantly driven by innate incestuous and destructive drives, while Horney and Rogers assumed that human innate potentialities and desires are wholly positive and need not be compromised through sublimations. Eysenck and Cattell attempted to underpin the phenomena of personality in terms of physiological and psychological variables, using multivariate statistical techniques to mark the dimensions and boundaries of personality. Allport considered an eight-stage developmental sequence which helps us to develop our own personality, and trait theorists attempt to standardize the definition of traits and reduce the list of traits to a meaningful minimum. The usefulness of various personality theories cannot be denied, and a meaningful synthesis of these theories may construct a unified structure of personality.
8. Elaborate Sullivan’s Research and Methods
Harry Stack Sullivan’s research and methods involved setting up a special ward for male schizophrenic patients in 1929, which was isolated from the rest of the hospital and staffed by male attendants whom he chose and trained. At the end of the year, it was found that these patients had done much better than others with similar diagnoses; about 80% had improved. Sullivan’s primary method of data collection from his patients was the ‘Interviews’. Although he also used dream analysis to some extent, his approach to the psychiatric interviews has had a great influence on the practice of psychotherapy. Sullivan feels that in the interview, the therapist must be both participant and observer. As a participant-observer, the therapist must interact with the patient in the same way that any person interacts with another in a face-to-face situation. At the same time, he or she must view the situation and monitor the interaction from the standpoint of an impartial observer. Thus, the therapeutic situation involved a series of lengthy interviews.
LESSON – 7 PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY (Erik Erikson)
QUESTIONS
1. Elaborate the biography of Erikson.
Erik Erikson was a post-Freudian revisionist and an ego psychologist who focused on the ego and its adaptive capacity in relation to individual development. He stressed that any psychological phenomenon must be understood in relation to biological, behavioral, experimental, and social factors. Erikson’s discussion of the “Eight Ages of Man” represents his most original and important contribution to personality theory. His attempt to show how culture can influence personality development has provided students further advancement. Erikson’s early feeling of confusion and alienation contributed to his famous concept of the identity crisis. He was born in Germany, his real parents were Danish, he was brought up by his mother and stepfather, and never got to see his real father. Due to his Danish background, he was not accepted by his schoolmates. Erikson moved to the United States in 1933 and settled down in Boston with his family and opened a private practice. Erikson became affiliated with the Harvard Psychological clinic for the treatment of emotionally disturbed children. Erikson’s psychosocial theory emphasizes the role of behavioral and social factors in considering personality development. Erikson described that the “ego” has creative qualities that emerge in each stage of our development, reflecting the influence of social and cultural factors. Adopting the epigenetic principle, Erikson proposed eight developmental stages as well as the tasks associated with each stage. His theory has wider application in counseling.
2. Discuss Erik Erikson’s Ego Psychology in his psychological personality theories.
Erik Erikson was a post-Freudian revisionist and an ego psychologist who emphasized the role of the ego and its adaptive capacity in relation to individual development. His theoretical orientation included an emphasis on development change throughout the entire life cycle, a focus on the normal or healthy rather than on the pathological, a special emphasis on the importance of achieving a sense of identity, and an effort to combine clinical insight with cultural and historical forces in explaining personality organization. Erikson’s discussion of the “Eight Ages of Man” represents his most original and important contribution to personality theory. His attempt to show how culture can influence personality development has provided further advancement.
Erikson’s concept of the ego is that it not only strives actively to adopt to its environment but finds creative solutions to each new problem that besets it. The ego responds with vigor even when thwarted as it has a basic strength and flexibility. Most of the ‘ego qualities’ that emerge in each stage of development reflect the influence of social and cultural factors. Erikson believes that such qualities as “basic trust” and “initiative” exist in rudimentary form in early stages, but they develop and mature only through experience with the social environment. Erikson’s epigenetic principle proposes eight developmental stages as well as the tasks associated with each stage. His theory has wider application in counseling.
3. Elaborate – Erik Erikson’s Epigenetic principle and man’s eight stages in his approach to personality.
Erik Erikson’s epigenetic principle is based on the idea that a new living organism develops out of an initially undifferentiated entity that is somehow programmed to develop all the organism’s parts in reference. This principle is applied to the development of the ego and psychological characteristics, which evolve out of an earlier “ground plan”. Erikson’s theory proposes eight developmental stages, each with a specific ego quality that emerges at a clearly specified time. These qualities build on inequalities developed in earlier stages, and each stage depends on and builds on the previous one. The psychosocial component of development interests Erikson the most, and he shows how each ego quality emerges in response to both the inner “ground plan” and the social environment and how it must establish and maintain itself against the challenge it confronts. The term “crisis” according to Erikson means a turning point, a time when both potential and vulnerability are greatly increased, so that things may go either well or badly. Erikson’s theory has wider applications in counseling, and his formulations provide a rich source of hypotheses for empirical tests.
4. Describe the concept of Erik Erikson’s assumptions concerning human nature.
Erik Erikson’s assumptions concerning human nature are concerned with the possibility of explaining good and evil behavior of human individuals under various conditions irrespective of holding a positive or negative assumption regarding the innate nature of the child. He believes that misguided parental behavior causes the child to surrender its true desires and potentials, with destructiveness and self-hate correspondingly interpreted as “the outcome of unlived life.” Erikson also believes that man may be motivated not only by drive reduction but also by curiosity for exploration, acquisition of an admired skill or level of competence, and cognitive motive such as for an understanding of the world or of by drive reduction and other motives. Additionally, Erikson assumes that human beings act on the basis of their intentions and expectations of the future, and that the healthier individuals have their basic nature as teleological while the less healthy have a causative pattern of the past. Overall, Erikson’s assumptions about the basic nature of individuals deserve important consideration as they affect other parts of his theories.
5. Explain the applications of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory.
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory has several applications, including:
1. Understanding human development: Erikson’s theory provides a framework for understanding the various stages of human development, from infancy to old age. It emphasizes the role of social and cultural factors in shaping personality development.
2. Identity formation: Erikson’s theory highlights the importance of achieving a sense of identity in adolescence and young adulthood. It provides a way to understand the challenges and conflicts that arise during this stage of life.
3. Counseling: Erikson’s theory has wider application in counseling. It can help counselors to understand their clients’ developmental history and to identify areas of strength and weakness.
4. Education: Erikson’s ideas have been widely disseminated in other disciplines, mostly education and educational psychology. His formulations provide a rich source of hypothesis for empirical tests.
5. Research: Erikson’s theory has been the subject of numerous empirical studies, particularly in the area of identity formation. Research has found support for his theory in investigations of identity formation and identity status.
LESSON – 8 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the biographical influence of Berne on development of TA.
Eric Berne, the father of Transactional Analysis (TA), was born in Montreal, Canada in 1910. He had a happy childhood and lost his father at a young age. Berne went to medical school and completed his medical education in 1935, and moved to the USA to join in residency in psychiatry. He began his career as a trainee in psychoanalysis under Paul Federn. He joined the Army Medical Corps in 1943 as a psychiatrist during the outbreak of World War-II. He was released from army service in 1946 and resumed his training in psychoanalysis under Erik Erikson. Berne’s application for membership in his professional psychoanalytic institute was rejected, which led him to construct a new approach to psychotherapy. In 1957, he presented his concept of Parent, Adult, and Child ego-states and used the term ‘structural analysis’ for the first time. He presented another paper entitled “Transactional Analysis: A New and Effective Method of Group Therapy,” which introduced the notions of games and scripts. These form the fundamental basis of TA still today. Berne continued his life-style of hard work all along his life and just when he completed two manuscripts of the books published posthumously bearing the titles, Sex in Human Loving, and What do You Say After You Say Hello? In June 1970, he had his first cardiac arrest, and succumbed to the second one on July 15, 1970. TA is now being practiced by a growing number of professionals both in the USA and in other countries, including India.
2. Describe the structural and functional aspects of personality described in TA.
Transactional Analysis (TA) regards personality as a phenomenon arising out of one’s transactions. The structural and functional aspects of personality described in TA are as follows:
– Structural aspects: The personality of an individual encompasses parent, adult, and child ego states. The parent ego state may be found to be made up of father and mother, the adult ego state presents itself as one unit, and the child state is made up of the parent, adult, and child components when it is fixated.
– Functional aspects: Transactional analysis also provides a descriptive account of the ego states in terms of their functions. The parent ego state functions to transmit values, beliefs, and attitudes, the adult ego state functions to process information and make decisions, and the child ego state functions to experience and express emotions.
TA’s ego-state model is used for understanding the aspects of personality, which is termed structural analysis. Trait theorists, such as Gordon Allport, assume that human personality is confined to a set of few identifiably traits. Traits are conceived as a continuous dimension of characteristics of an individual. The most significant feature of this methodology is that it permits a quantitative, orderly study of individual differences in an area that always therefore had defined measurement. By the end of the 19th century continuous systematic efforts to study personality traits quantitatively by means of tests were made. This movement called the Psychometrics trait approach, has been one of the main forces in the study of personality.
3. Distinguish between Freudian psychic energies and Berne’s ego-states.
Freudian psychic energies and Berne’s ego-states are different ways of portraying personality. The following are the differences between them:
– Berne’s ego-states are defined in terms of observable behavioural clues, while Freud’s psychic energies are purely theoretical concepts.
– Ego-states relate to persons with specific identities, while psychic agencies are generalized.
– When a person is in a Berne’s Parent ego-state, he is re-enacting the behaviours, feelings, and thoughts of one of his own parents or parent-figures. In contrast, psychic energies do not involve re-enacting specific behaviours, feelings, and thoughts from childhood.
– The Parent, Adult, and Child ego-states will each include influences from superego, ego, and id. In contrast, Freud conceived personality as having three structural components: the id, the ego, and the superego.
4. Illustrate different forms of transactions described in TA.
Transactional Analysis (TA) identifies different forms of transactions that occur between two or more individuals. There are a total of 6480 types of duplex transactions possible, but only six are of common clinical or everyday significance. These six types are:
– (AA-AA) + (CC-CC)
– (AA-AA) + (PP-PP)
– (AA-AA) + (PC-PC)
– (PP-PP) + (CC-CC)
– (AA-AA) + (CA-CA)
– (AA-AA) + (PA-PA)
TA has developed its own terminology to describe various aspects of transactions, including:
– Egograms: a way of describing an individual’s functional ego-states through line diagrams
– Transaction: exchange of communication between two or more people
– Stroke: the basic unit of recognition of one individual by another
– Time structuring: the use of time in specific ways during transactions
– Life-Script: the belief that every individual writes a life-story for themselves, with a beginning, middle, and end
– Miniscript: the script played out over very short time periods, reproducing the process of the entire life-script
Complementary transactions occur when the transactions are complementary, with parallel arrows, and communication may proceed unhindered. Crossed transactions occur when the arrows are not parallel, and communication may be hindered. TA has identified four psychological positions and psychological games to change the attitude and behavior of people. Areas of application of TA include personal growth, personal change, and bringing changes in individuals and organizations.
5. Explain the concepts of Time structuring, Games, Life-Scripts and Donkeys Bridges.
Time structuring is the process of organizing long series of transactions, extending even to a whole lifetime, to predict both long term and short term human social behavior. The need to structure time is based on three drives or hungers: stimulus or sensation hunger, recognition hunger, and structure hunger. There are six possible kinds of social behavior to choose from when two or more people are in a room together: withdrawal, rituals, activities or work, pastime, games, and intimacy. Games are sets of ulterior transactions that are repetitive in nature and have a well-defined psychological payoff. Scripts are preconscious life plans or ways of structuring time with the objective of avoiding boredom and getting the greatest possible satisfaction out of each situation. Donkey bridges are a way of communicating the concepts of TA and providing ways and means of laying bridges for people to pass through certain experiences that are to be undergone to grow. The six types of donkey bridges used by TA include telling stories, jokes, examples drawn from real life, using pictures and other visual aids, involving people in communication, playing gimmicks, and using labels.
6. Illustrate the contamination of ego-states.
Contamination of ego-states occurs when one ego-state intrudes into the boundary of another. This can happen when one mistakes the content of their Parent or Child ego-state for Adult content, resulting in Parent contamination, Child contamination, or double contamination with both Parent and Child overlapping the Adult. Exclusion, on the other hand, refers to a person shutting out one or more of their ego-states, resulting in a constant or excluding ego-state. To recognize ego-states, Eric Berne suggests four ways: behavioural diagnosis, social diagnosis, historical diagnosis, and phenomenological diagnosis. Structural pathology can result when two ego-states get jumbled up or a person cannot get into or out of a particular ego-state. In transactional analysis, ego-states are denoted by Parent (P), Adult (A), and Child (C), capitalized, while parent, adult, or child, uncapitalized, denotes actual people. The Parent, Adult, and Child ego-states will each include influences from superego, ego, and id, but they are not the same as Freud’s psychic energies.
7. Suggest areas of application of TA.
Transactional Analysis (TA) can be applied in various areas, including:
– Self-therapy: TA can be used for personal growth and change by helping individuals become aware of their ego states, transactional patterns, and life scripts.
– Interpersonal relationships: TA can help individuals improve their communication skills, understand their own and others’ ego states, and recognize and change unproductive patterns of interaction.
– Education: TA can be used to improve teaching and learning by helping students and teachers understand their ego states and transactional patterns, and by promoting autonomy and problem-solving skills.
– Organizations: TA can be applied in organizational development, leadership training, conflict resolution, and team building by helping individuals and groups understand their ego states, transactional patterns, and communication styles, and by promoting autonomy and collaboration.
TA is a flexible and integrative approach that can incorporate ideas and techniques from other fields and schools of thought. TA practitioners can use a variety of tools and methods, such as contracts, open communication, time structuring, games analysis, life scripts, and donkey bridges, to facilitate personal and organizational change.
8. Critically examine the contribution of TA to understand personality.
Transactional Analysis (TA) is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and personal change. TA regards personality as a phenomenon arising out of one’s transactions. The ego states, the pattern of transactions, time structuring, games people play, and script decisions made by individuals form the basic dynamics of a human individual’s personality. The contributions of TA to understand personality are:
– TA has helped people to assume more responsibility about their outcome of behaviour.
– The analysis of the games that people play, another contribution of TA. It helps the people to be aware of game structure and to free themselves from game-paying behaviour.
– TA has developed its own terminology such as Egograms, transaction, stroke, time-structuring, life-script, miniscript, and on to describe the behavioural phenomena.
– TA also identified four psychological positions. TA further includes psychological games to change the attitude and behaviour of people.
– TA is often used to bring in changes in individuals and organizations.
However, TA also has its limitations. The emphasis on TA jargon can easily make many of its useful concepts needlessly abstract. Another disquieting aspect of TA is the emphasis on structure. Another difficulty is that TA can be primarily an intellectual experience. People can understand intellectually all sorts of things but perhaps not feel and experience those aspects by themselves. Finally, a major criticism of TA from a behavioural perspective is that concepts and procedures have not been subjected to testing for scientific validation.
LESSON – 9 NEED THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Henry A Murray)
QUESTIONS
1. Do you consider that the biographical background could have influenced Henry Murray in formulating his theory of personality?
It is possible that Henry Murray’s biographical background could have influenced his theory of personality. Murray suffered from a visual handicap from childhood, which affected his self-confidence and caused him to stutter and have disrupted eye-hand coordination. To compensate for his physical defects, Murray concentrated on athletics. He played football, and loved boxing and rowing. As a result of this preoccupation with sports, Murray got only a low grade average point in college. Murray’s theory of personality, called ‘personology,’ aims to produce a type of abstract biography. His theory is based on a study of lives, and the main objective of personology is to reduce lives to manageable data so that the lives could be compared to produce generalizable principles applicable to all lives. Murray concludes that human nature includes propensities for both good and evil, and personality of an individual is influenced significantly by our needs, by important aspects of the environment (press), and by the unconscious process.
2. What are the basic propositions of Henry Murray’s personality theory?
Henry Murray proposed a need theory of personality, also known as “Personology”. The theory emphasizes that human nature includes propensities for both good and evil. Personality of an individual is significantly influenced by our needs, by important aspects of the environment (press) and by the unconscious process. People often actively seek to develop or increase tension in order to heighten the pleasure that follows upon tension-reduction. Murray argued that needs are the basic constructs which compel organisms for action, and he classified needs into various types. Murray maintained the idea that the individual’s behaviour is influenced by the teleology, proceedings and serials. Murray proposed three general eras for personality development. Human personality is a compromise between the person’s own impulses and the demands and interests of others. Murray’s theory has wider application, particularly in Thematic Apperception Test which explores the unconscious aspects of personality. Murray’s view emphasized that people are active and they are not just passive.
3. Describe the Development of personality by Henry Murray’s view.
Henry Murray proposed a need theory of personality, also known as “Personology,” which aims to reduce lives to a manageable level so that lives could be compared to produce generalizable principles applicable to all lives. Murray believed that human nature includes propensities for both good and evil, and personality is significantly influenced by our needs, important aspects of the environment (press), and unconscious processes. Murray classified needs into various types and argued that needs are the basic constructs that compel organisms for action. He proposed three general eras for personality development and maintained that the complexes, childhood press, and needs are important to the development of personality. Murray’s theory has wider application, particularly in Thematic Apperception Test, which explores the unconscious aspects of personality. Murray’s view emphasized that people are active and not just passive. For Murray, the most important thing to discover about a person is the overall directionality or goal orientation. This concern led Murray to evolve a complex and very carefully worked out system of motivational constructs.
4. Explain Henry Murray’s view on Personality Dynamics.
Henry Murray’s view on Personality Dynamics emphasizes that people are active and not just passive. He proposed that needs are the basic constructs that compel organisms for action, and he classified needs into various types. Murray maintained the idea that the individual’s behavior is influenced by the teleology, proceedings, and serials. He argued that people often actively seek to develop or increase tension to heighten the pleasure that follows upon tension-reduction. Murray’s theory of personality is called ‘personology,’ and it aims to reduce lives to a manageable level so that lives could be compared to produce generalizable principles applicable to all lives. Murray’s view emphasized that human nature includes propensities for both good and evil, and personality of an individual is significantly influenced by our needs, by important aspects of the environment (press), and by the unconscious process. Murray’s theory has wider application, particularly in Thematic Apperception Test which explores the unconscious aspects of personality.
5. Describe Murray’s view on personality structure.
According to Murray’s view on personality structure, personality is significantly influenced by an individual’s needs, important aspects of the environment (press), and unconscious processes. Murray classified needs into various types and argued that needs are the basic constructs that compel organisms for action. He proposed that the complexes, childhood press, and needs are important to the development of personality. Murray’s theory emphasized that people are active and not just passive, and human personality is a compromise between the person’s own impulses and the demands and interests of others. Murray’s view on personality structure has wider application, particularly in Thematic Apperception Test, which explores the unconscious aspects of personality.
6. Elucidate the possible applications of Murray’s personality theory
Murray’s personality theory, also known as “Personology”, has several possible applications, including:
– Psychological assessment: Murray’s emphasis on measuring personality with tests, particularly the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), has been widely used in clinical settings to explore the unconscious aspects of personality.
– Understanding human behaviour: Murray’s theory emphasizes that people are active and not just passive, and that their behaviour is influenced by their needs, the environment, and unconscious processes. This can help in understanding why people behave the way they do.
– Motivation: Murray’s Need-Press theory proposes that needs are the basic constructs that compel organisms to act, and he classified needs into various types. This theory has been used to understand motivation and has stimulated a lot of research.
– Personality development: Murray proposed three general eras for personality development and argued that complexes, childhood press, and needs are important to the development of personality. This can help in understanding how personality develops over time.
– Literary analysis: Murray was a literary critic and analyzed the life of Herman Melville and the fictional characters in his works. Murray’s approach to studying lives can contribute to one’s understanding of human personality, including fictional characters and their authors.
However, Murray’s theory has also been criticized for its widespread use of neologisms and many new technical terms, which can add to the complexity in understanding the theory. Additionally, Murray’s dominant themes in a life history are more or less psychoanalytic, and he has not paid much attention to dream interpretation.
LESSON – 10 PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Carl Rogers)
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the Phenomenological theory of personality by Carl Rogers.
Carl Rogers’ theory of personality is called a phenomenological theory of personality. He believed that man’s nature is essentially positive and the direction of man’s movement is basically towards self-actualization, maturity, and socialization. Rogers viewed that there is a basic aspect of human nature that inclines a person towards greater congruence and realistic functioning. Life is an actual process, and there is a phenomenal field in each individual which contributes to the potential awareness of the organism. Within the field of experience, we have our own self. We form the self-concept which includes the perception, ideologies, views, attributes, and so on. Rogers stated that the ways in which evaluations of a person by others, particularly during infancy and early childhood, tend to promote the development of positive or negative self-image. The unconditional positive regard helps children in the acceptance and love of those who care for them. Growth forces exist in every individual which help the individual to function as a fully functioning organism. The ultimate goal of every individual is to become a fully functioning person. These people have self-trust and experience a sense of freedom, and they are creative and spontaneous. Rogers’ therapy has contributed a lot to a new era of counseling – the client-centered approach.
2. Describe Carl Rogers view of Human Nature.
Carl Rogers viewed human nature as essentially positive, with the direction of human movement being towards self-actualization, maturity, and socialization. He believed that there is a basic aspect of human nature that inclines a person towards greater congruence and realistic functioning. Rogers believed that life is an actual process, and compared it to the trunk of a tree on the shore of the ocean as it remains erect, tough, resilient, maintaining and enhancing in the growth process. He also believed that there is a phenomenal field in each individual which contributes to the potential awareness of the organism. Within the field of experience, we have our own self. We form the self-concept which includes the perception, ideologies, views, attributes, and so on. Rogers stated that the ways in which evaluations of a person by others, particularly during infancy and early childhood, tend to promote the development of positive or negative self-image. The unconditional positive regard helps children in the acceptance and love of those who care for them. Growth forces exist in every individual which help the individual to function as a fully functioning organism. The ultimate goal of every individual is to become a fully functioning person. These people have self-trust and experience a sense of freedom, and they are creative and spontaneous.
3. Actualizing Tendency as life’s motive – Explain.
Actualizing Tendency is the basic aspect of human nature that inclines a person towards greater congruence and realistic functioning. It is part of the process of all organic and human life to expand, extend, become autonomous, develop, mature, and activate all the capacities of the organism. This tendency involves moving from a simple structure to one of considerable differentiation and integration, from dependence toward independence, from fixity and rigidity to a process of change and freedom of expression. The concept of actualization involves tendencies on the part of the organism toward need-reduction and tension reduction, but emphasizes the pleasures and satisfactions that are derived from activities which enhance the organism. Carl Rogers believed that in each of us, there is an inherent drive toward being as competent and capable as we are biologically able to be. Just as a plant attempts to become a healthy plant and as a seed contains within it the drive to become a tree, a person is impelled to become a whole, complete, and self-actualized person.
4. Describe the phenomenological position of personality by Carl Rogers.
Carl Rogers’ theory of personality is called a phenomenological theory of personality. According to Rogers, man’s nature is essentially positive, and the direction of man’s movement is basically towards self-actualization, maturity, and socialization. Rogers believed that there is a basic aspect of human nature that inclines a person towards greater congruence and realistic functioning. Life is an actual process, and there is a phenomenal field in each individual which contributes to the potential awareness of the organism. Within the field of experience, we have our own self. We form the self-concept which includes the perception, ideologies, views, attributes, and so on. Rogers stated that the ways in which evaluations of a person by others, particularly during infancy and early childhood, tend to promote the development of positive or negative self-image. The unconditional positive regard helps children in the acceptance and love of those who care for them. Growth forces exist in every individual which help the individual to function as a fully functioning organism. The ultimate goal of every individual is to become a fully functioning person. These people have self-trust and experience a sense of freedom, and they are creative and spontaneous. Rogers maintained a positive view about human nature. Rogers’ therapy has contributed a lot to a new era of counseling – the client-centered approach.
5. Describe Carl Rogers view on Good life with relevant examples.
Carl Rogers viewed the good life as the ultimate goal of every individual, which is to become a fully functioning person. He believed that a fully functioning person has self-trust, experiences a sense of freedom, and is creative and spontaneous. Rogers maintained a positive view of human nature and believed that the direction of human movement is towards self-actualization, maturity, and socialization. He viewed life as an actual process, comparing it to the trunk of a tree on the shore of the ocean as it remains erect, tough, resilient, maintaining and enhancing in the growth process. Rogers believed that growth forces exist in every individual, which help the individual to function as a fully functioning organism.
Rogers’ view of the good life is exemplified by the concept of the fully functioning person. This person is aware of their emotional feelings, has a positive self-concept, experiences unconditional positive regard, and is able to direct and modify the goals of therapy. Rogers’ client-centered therapy is based on the idea that the client directs and modifies the goals of therapy and initiates the behavioral changes that they wish to occur.
Rogers’ theory of personality is called a phenomenological theory of personality. He viewed that man’s nature is essentially positive, and there is a basic aspect of human nature that inclines a person towards greater congruence and realistic functioning. Rogers believed that the ways in which evaluations of a person by others, particularly during infancy and early childhood, tend to promote the development of positive or negative self-image. The unconditional positive regard helps children in the acceptance and love of those who care for them.
Overall, Rogers’ view of the good life is about becoming a fully functioning person who is aware of their emotional feelings, has a positive self-concept, experiences unconditional positive regard, and is able to direct and modify the goals of therapy.
6. Explain briefly about Carl Rogers basic assumptions about human nature.
Carl Rogers had several basic assumptions about human nature, which are as follows:
– Every individual lives in a continually changing world and responds to their phenomenological field as it is experienced.
– The basic motivation of an individual is to actualize, maintain themselves, and grow.
– Behaviour is the goal-directed attempt by the person to satisfy their needs as they selectively perceive them.
– Behaviour is best understood when examined from the point of view of the person performing the behaviour.
– A part of the individual’s experience gradually of the self is determined through the reaction and valuation of others to the person as well as the person’s evaluation of themselves.
– Experiences may be consistent, irrelevant, or inconsistent with a person’s notion of the self. Consistency leads to congruence while inconsistency leads to incongruence.
– Most of the behaviours of the individual are consistent with their self-concept.
– When the individual refuses to be aware of a segment of their experiences, it results in psychological maladjustment.
– The self can be altered when the nature of one’s experience makes such changes necessary.
– When the individual perceives and accepts their experiences as an integrated system, they become more accepting of others and themselves.
– Early relationships can be congruent and serve as the focus for conditions of worth.
– The interaction with another enables an individual to directly, uncover, experience, or encounter their actual self.
– One’s personality becomes visible by relating to others.
– The basic organismic needs of the individual are fulfilled through relationships.
Rogers believed that relationships offer the best opportunity to be a fully functioning person and to be in harmony with oneself, others, and the environment. Marriage is considered an unusual relationship that is potentially long-term and carries with it the possibility of sustained growth and development.
7. Elucidate the possible applications of Carl Rogers phenomenological theory of personality.
Carl Rogers’ phenomenological theory of personality has several possible applications, including:
– Therapy: Rogers’ theory of personality arises from his methods and ideas about therapy. His client-centered therapy allows the client to direct and modify the goals of therapy and initiate the behavioral changes they wish to occur. This approach has been particularly useful in the area of therapy.
– Education: Rogers believed that people are better off dividing what to do for themselves with support from others rather than doing what others decide for them. He was not appreciative of educational systems that overemphasize intellectual skills and undervalue the emotional and intuitive aspects of full functioning.
– Personal growth: Rogers’ theory emphasizes the importance of self-actualization, maturity, and socialization. Growth forces exist in every individual, which help the individual to function as a fully functioning organism. The ultimate goal of every individual is to become a fully functioning person. These people have self-trust and experience a sense of freedom, and they are creative and spontaneous.
– Relationships: Rogers believed that individuals who are capable of genuine acceptance of others have better marriages. But when marriage is used to sustain incongruence or to reinforce existing defensive tendencies, it is less fulfilling and less likely to maintain itself.
LESSON – 11 COGNITIVE THEORY OF PERSONALITY (George Kelly)
QUESTIONS
1. How could personality be understood from a cognitive stand point.
Personality can be understood from a cognitive standpoint by using constructs and construct systems. George Kelly’s Personal Construct theory qualifies as a cognitive theory of personality because it focuses on how individuals interpret and construct their experiences. Kelly’s early biographical experiences, such as his religious upbringing and pragmatic approach, likely influenced his construction of personality theory. The cornerstones of Kelly’s theory of personality include the use of constructs to interpret experiences, the idea that individuals can change their constructs, and the importance of understanding an individual’s unique perspective.
2. How does Kelly’s Personal Construct theory qualify to be cognitive theory of personality.
Kelly’s Personal Construct theory qualifies to be a cognitive theory of personality because it emphasizes mental events and the role of constructs in shaping an individual’s personality. Kelly believes that individuals use constructs to understand, explain, give meaning to, or predict experiences. Constructs are like mini scientific theories that individuals use to interpret their personal experiences and make predictions about reality based on them. Kelly’s theory stresses the importance of intact conscious experience and how thought processes are used while interacting with the environment. The theory is phenomenological in its approach and does not rely on behavior or traits to classify and understand individual personality. Instead, Kelly believes that personality is nothing but the collection of constructs that constitute one’s construct system at any given time. The cornerstones of Kelly’s theory of personality include his basic postulate that individuals constantly seek clarity and understanding in their lives by developing construct systems, and eleven corollaries that map out how an individual’s activities (behavior and thoughts) are guided in certain directions by the personal constructs used to predict future events.
3. Trace the likelihood of the early bio-graphical experiences of Kelly influencing his construction of personality theory?
Kelly’s early biographical experiences had a significant influence on his construction of personality theory. Growing up in a religious climate with a pioneer spirit, Kelly was pragmatic in his approach and never hesitated to abandon any idea or instrument he found impractical. His disappointment with S-R Psychology and his attempt to read Sigmund Freud led him to develop an interest in psychology. Kelly’s observation of people’s confusion about what to do with their lives and his experimentation with different ways of treating psychological problems inspired him to build his theory of personality. Kelly’s theory stresses how people view and think about reality, emphasizing mental events. He believes that every individual attempts to understand, predict, and shape the future to suit their tastes, using constructs to interpret personal experiences and make predictions about reality. Personality, according to Kelly, is the collection of constructs that constitute one’s construct system at any given time.
4. Describe the cornerstones of Kelly’s theory of personality
Kelly’s theory of personality is a cognitive theory that emphasizes mental events and how people view and think about reality. The cornerstones of his theory include:
– Constructs: Individuals use constructs, which are ideas used to interpret personal experiences and make predictions about reality. Constructs are verbalized and can change or be dropped if reality refutes them.
– Construct system: Constructs are organized in a distinct manner for each individual and are used to guide behavior in different situations.
– Freedom and determinism: People are free to determine their own behavior, but once they select a construct, it determines their behavior.
– Changeability: Life is seen as constant movement, and events are subject to reinterpretation in light of different constructs.
– Constructive alternativism: Kelly’s epistemological doctrine holds that only individual events have reality, and ideas that have no counterpart in reality can still be useful tools for dealing with reality.
– Reciprocal role playing: The deepest social interaction occurs when role playing is reciprocal, and an individual’s freedom and bondage are contingent upon the nature and dynamics of their construct systems.
Kelly’s theory is applied in understanding emotional states and psychological disorders, and he developed a therapy called Fixed-Role Therapy based on his theory.
LESSON – 12 COGNITIVE THEORY OF PERSONALITY (George Kelly – Contd..)
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the Field Theory perspective of personality.
Field Theory perspective of personality, as envisaged by Kurt Lewin, can be described as follows:
– Behaviour is a function of the person and their environment, and the field which influences an individual should be described in the way it exists for the person at that time.
– Life space of a person is the total set of facts that affect their behaviour at a given instant, including their perception of themselves in their physical and social environment, needs, wishes, intentions, memories of the past, imagination about the future, and any emotions felt by them.
– Lewin’s theory conceives behaviour as connoting the total space possible for a person to move in or simply, the life space.
– The structure of personality, according to Lewin, is the life space of an individual, which includes all the factors that affect their behaviour at a given moment.
– The dynamics of personality, as elucidated in field theory by Lewin, suggest that behaviour is a function of the person and their environment, and that the field which influences an individual should be described in the way it exists for the person at that time.
– The concept of differentiation and integration of personality, as elucidated by Lewin, suggests that personality is not a fixed entity but is constantly changing and evolving. Differentiation refers to the process of breaking down a complex whole into simpler parts, while integration refers to the process of combining these simpler parts into a more complex whole.
– The possible applications of Lewin’s field theory of personality include understanding human behaviour in different contexts, such as social, cultural, and organizational settings, and developing interventions to change behaviour in these contexts.
2. Describe the structure of personality envisaged by Kurt Lewin.
Kurt Lewin’s field theory of personality envisages the structure of personality as a dynamic system that is constantly interacting with the environment. According to Lewin, personality is made up of a person’s life space, which is the sum total of all the psychological facts that a person experiences at a given time. The life space is divided into two parts: the individual’s internal environment and the external environment. The internal environment consists of the individual’s needs, desires, and goals, while the external environment consists of the physical and social surroundings.
Lewin’s theory also emphasizes the dynamics of personality, which is the way in which a person’s behavior changes in response to changes in the environment. Lewin believed that behavior is determined by the interaction between the individual and the environment. He also introduced the concept of valence, which refers to the positive or negative value that a person places on a particular goal or object.
Lewin’s theory also includes the concept of differentiation and integration of personality. Differentiation refers to the process by which a person’s life space becomes more complex and differentiated, while integration refers to the process by which the different parts of a person’s life space become more integrated and organized.
Lewin’s field theory of personality has several possible applications, including understanding group dynamics, organizational behavior, and social change.
3. Describe the dynamics of personality elucidated in field theory by Lewin.
Kurt Lewin’s field theory in psychology conceives behavior as the total space possible for a person to move in, or the life space. The life space includes an individual’s needs, wishes, intentions, memories of the past and imagination about the future, and any emotions felt by them. Behavior is a function of the person and their environment. Lewin introduced the energy tension and need to understand the dynamics of behavior. The induced forces are related to the wishel of another person, which are most of the time impersonal. Lewin proposed a tension reduction system as an important goal of psychological processes which helps the organism to maintain a state of equilibrium. The development is concrete and continuous, and concepts such as differentiation, organization, and integration are useful to understand or describe behavioral change. Lewin’s theory helps to explain behavior and behavioral change with reference to the changing environment.
4. Describe the concept of differentiation and integration of personality as elucidated by Lewin.
Kurt Lewin’s concept of differentiation explains the increasing variety of behavior, freedom of movement, expansion of time, and distinction between what is real and unreal. Differentiation refers to an increase in the number of parts of a whole, and as a person ages, the regions or cells in the inner personal regions and psychological environment also increase. As differentiation proceeds, many new boundaries are formed, and boundary strength increases with age. This leads to the growing ability to engage in complicated behavior patterns. The concept of organizational interdependence explains how new different regions of P and E, despite their increased autonomy, become organized in a hierarchical fashion so as to work together to produce integrated behavior. Lewin’s research program explored and supported his tension system concept, and his success was due to the link between his simple experimental operation and theoretical concept. Lewin’s concept of differentiation and integration of personality can be applied to understand behavioral changes and the dynamics of personality.
5. Elucidate the possible applications of Lewin’s field theory of personality.
Lewin’s field theory of personality has several possible applications, including:
1. Understanding behavior: According to Lewin, behavior is a function of the person and their environment. By understanding an individual’s life space, which includes their needs, wishes, intentions, memories, and emotions, one can gain insight into their behavior.
2. Group dynamics: Lewin pioneered the study of group dynamics and action research. His theory can be applied to understand how groups function and how to improve group processes.
3. Task substitution: Lewin’s experiments on task substitution showed that the degree of similarity and reality of a second task affects the tension system and the likelihood of resuming the original task. This can be applied in educational settings to improve task performance.
4. Mentally retarded children: Lewin’s theory can be applied to understand the behavior of mentally retarded children. His experiments showed that they were less differentiated than normal children and had less substitutability among tasks.
- Understanding behavioral change: Lewin’s concepts of differentiation, organization, and integration can be used to understand and describe behavioral change. His theory helps explain how behavior and behavioral change are influenced by the changing environment.
LESSON – 14 TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Gordon Allport)
QUESTIONS
- Explain Allport’s definition on personality.
Gordon Allport, a renowned psychologist, defined personality as the dynamic organization within an individual of those psychophysical systems that determine their characteristic behavior and thought. He emphasized the positive aspects of diverse viewpoints and evaluated a person’s personality based on the traits possessed by them. Allport placed a lot of emphasis on individuality and believed that personality is constantly changing, becoming something different. He used the term “psychophysical” to indicate the importance of remaining aware of the unity of mind and body, meaning that personality is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical. Allport also classified values that give meaning to each person’s life and developed a test to measure a person’s value orientation. However, his theory of traits has not been extensively researched due to vague and ill-defined concepts. Allport also considered an eight-stage developmental sequence that helps individuals develop their own personality.
2. Describe the concept of trait.
According to G.W. Allport, a trait is a neuropsychic structure that has the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent and to initiate and guide equivalent forms of adaptive and expressive behavior. Allport believed that traits are not abstract concepts formed by an observer, but have objective reality. He differentiated common traits from individual traits, with common traits being general patterns that can be used to compare groups of people, while individual traits or personal dispositions are unique to an individual and provide more information about a person than common traits. Allport also emphasized the importance of individuality and stressed that personality is not an abstraction or a convenient function, but actually exists and generates a person’s behavior from within. He believed that a person’s behavior and thought are linked to account for all that a person does and that a person’s behavior is not just a group of isolated habits, but has the same essential meaning for the person. Allport also developed the concept of functional autonomy, which describes behavior that is continuously performed in the absence of reinforcement or reward, and propriate functional autonomy, which determines the total positive of a mature life system. Additionally, Allport classified values that give meaning to each person’s life and developed a tool to measure a person’s value orientation.
3. Discuss the cardinal central, and secondary dispositions.
Allport divided personal dispositions into three categories: cardinal, central, and secondary dispositions.
– A cardinal disposition is a general trait that is reflected in almost every act of a person. It cannot be hidden from view and is not possessed by everyone. For example, a Machiavellian person’s ruling passion is the manipulation of others, and a narcissistic person is intensely concerned with their own needs and interests.
– A central disposition is a highly characteristic tendency of a person that is easily inferred from their behavior but is not as all-encompassing as a cardinal disposition. A person can be accurately described by 5 to 10 central dispositions. For example, Shakespeare’s Hamlet may be described as introspective, obsessive melancholic, revengeful, and dramatic.
– A secondary disposition is a response to particular stimuli that may occur on rare occasions and is not vitally important to the functioning or description of a personality. These dispositions are manifested only in specific circumstances. For example, a normally agreeable person might become intensely angry when someone makes a derogatory remark about the particular ethnic group to which they belong.
Allport argued that traits can be identified not by their rigid independence but by their tendency to have a center around which their influence operates. The behavior to which a given trait leads is influenced by other traits as well. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which trait is in ascendance.
4. What is proprium? Examine the eight stage of development sequence.
Proprium is a term used by Allport to describe all the facts about a person that make the person unique, including habits, skills, frames of references, matters of fact, and cultural values that seldom or never seem to be important. Allport considered an eight-stage developmental sequence that helps us develop our own personality. The eight stages are:
1. Sense of bodily ‘me’
2. Sense of identity
3. Sense of self-esteem
4. Sense of self-extension
5. Emergence of self-image (4th to 6th year)
6. Emergence of self as a rational coper (6 to 12 years)
7. Emergence of propriate striving (12th year through adolescence)
The eight stages of development are:
1. Infancy (0-1)
2. Early Childhood (1-3)
3. Play age (3-6)
4. School age (6-12)
5. Adolescence (12-20)
6. Young Adulthood (20-30)
7. Adulthood (30-65)
8. Mature age (65+)
Erikson’s principle of “epigenesis” states that a new living organism develops out of an initially undifferentiated entity that is somehow programmed to develop all the organism’s parts in reference. Each positive ego quality that the ego acquires throughout the eight-stage life cycle becomes salient at a clearly specified time, although they exist even at birth in some form. The quality of the ego that emerges at each succeeding stage of life depends and builds on qualities developed in earlier stages. Both psychosexual and psychosocial aspects of growth and change are included in Erikson’s development scheme.
LESSON – 15 TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Gordon Allport)
QUESTIONS
1. Elucidate the concept of functional autonomy.
Functional autonomy is a concept that regards adult motives as varied and self-sustaining contemporary systems, growing out of antecedent systems but functionally independent of them. It means that a given activity or form of behavior may become an end or goal in itself, even though it was originally engaged in for some other specific reason. There are two levels of functional autonomy, preservative functional autonomy, and propriate functional autonomy. Preservative functional autonomy describes behavior that is continuously performed in the absence of reinforcement or reward, while propriate functional autonomy is concerned with the complex propriate organization that determines the total positive of a mature life system. An important ingredient of this propriate organization is the sense of responsibility one takes for one’s life. According to Allport, propriate functional autonomy was governed by three principles, the principle of organizing energy level, the principle of mastery competence, and the principle of propriate patterning. Allport believed that behavior under the control of functionally autonomous motives was characteristically human and therefore should be the personality theorist’s focus of study.
2. Describe the characteristics of a healthy person as sketched by G.W. Allport.
According to Gordon Allport, a healthy person possesses the following characteristics:
1. Extension of the sense of self: A healthy person has a sense of empathy and concern for others, extending beyond their own self-interest.
2. Warm relating of self to others: A healthy person has the ability to form close relationships with others, based on mutual trust and respect.
3. Emotional security and self-acceptance: A healthy person is comfortable with their own emotions and accepts themselves for who they are.
4. Realistic perception: A healthy person is able to look at situations objectively, without being swayed by personal biases.
5. Self-objectification: A healthy person has insight into their own skills and problems, and knows themselves well. They have a good sense of humor and a unifying philosophy of life.
Allport believed that personality is unique to each individual and is a dynamic process that changes throughout life. He emphasized the importance of rational conscious processes and underlying traits in shaping personality. Allport’s theory also includes the concept of functional autonomy, where behaviors may become independent of their original purpose and take on a life of their own.
3. Elaborate the significance of values in personality as elucidated in the writings of G.W. Allport.
G.W. Allport emphasized the importance of values in personality. He classified values that give meaning to each person’s life and said that everyone is governed by a combination of values. These values give meaning to our acts and to our lives and provide us with a philosophy of life. Allport’s contribution was an emphasis on six basic values that influence people’s lives. He developed a test to measure a person’s value orientation. The six value orientations are theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political, and religious. Allport also introduced the concept of functional autonomy, which describes behavior that is continuously performed in the absence of reinforcement or reward. He evaluated the nature of healthy personality on the basis of five criteria: extension of the sense of self, warm relating of self to others, emotional security of self-acceptance, realistic perception, and self-objectification. Allport believed in a rational conscious process whereby people were guided by their intentions and values. Based on the traits he proposed, six value orientations exist among people. Further, he considered ascendance and submission as the two important personality traits and developed a tool to measure those tendencies. Trait theory emphasized the need for the concept of ego to represent normal, complex human behavior.
ESSON – 16 HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Abraham Maslow)
QUESTIONS
1. State the basic concepts of personality theory stated by Abraham Maslow.
Abraham Maslow’s basic concepts of personality theory are as follows:
– Maslow was primarily concerned with studying personal growth and development among individuals.
– He believed that psychology can promote the welfare of human beings as well as contribute to the welfare of the whole society.
– His contribution is popularly called as humanistic psychology.
– Maslow’s approach emphasizes the healthy person and the importance of self-actualization.
– Humanistic psychology holds that people strive towards higher goals than just striving towards the satisfaction of physical drives.
– The core component of Maslow’s theory is the notion that people have a variety of needs arranged in hierarchy.
– Maslow included the physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization needs in his hierarchy.
The basic tenets of humanistic psychology are:
– Humanism is more optimistic in its view of mankind.
– Even when confronted with problems, man can overcome them with his inherent capabilities and potentials.
– The concept of self-actualization and its benefit to mankind is important in the humanistic theory of Maslow.
The hierarchical theory of motivation by Abraham Maslow is:
– Psychological maladjustment is caused by deprivation of certain basic needs, just as absence of certain basic needs.
– The deprivation of certain basic needs can cause ‘neurosis’.
– The hierarchy of needs ranges from basic on deficiency needs to growth or meta needs.
– People must satisfy lower needs before they can satisfy higher needs.
– Maslow includes the following basic needs in the description of need hierarchy: physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, and esteem needs.
– In addition to the above needs, every individual has growth needs, which construe the needs to develop the capacities and potentials of the individual to the fullest extent possible for him or her.
2. State the basic tenets of humanistic psychology.
The basic tenets of humanistic psychology include:
– A special concern for concepts such as love, growth, self, creativity, higher values, spontaneity, naturalness, ego transcendence, autonomy, stress consciousness, the importance of choice, growth to one’s full potential, and attention to the total person.
– The belief that human beings are basically good and that society corrupts an otherwise innocent human nature.
– The view of the individual as a total organism actively seeking to organize his or her potentialities.
– The emphasis on free-choice and the belief that individuals, if allowed freedom to choose, would usually choose what is best for themselves.
– The belief that each person can undertake responsibility for his or her own life and to fully realize the innate potential within us.
– The concentration on open-mindedness as an acceptable method and shows interest in exploration of new aspects of human behaviour.
– The belief that people strive towards higher goals than just striving towards the satisfaction of physical drives.
– The notion that people have a variety of needs arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from basic deficiency needs to growth or meta-needs which reflect unique human values.
– The inclusion of physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs in the hierarchy of needs.
3. Explain the hierarchial theory of motivation by Abraham Maslow.
The basic tenets of humanistic psychology include:
– A special concern for concepts such as love, growth, self, creativity, higher values, spontaneity, naturalness, ego transcendence, autonomy, stress consciousness, the importance of choice, growth to one’s full potential, and attention to the total person.
– The belief that human beings are basically good and that society corrupts an otherwise innocent human nature.
– The view of the individual as a total organism actively seeking to organize his or her potentialities.
– The emphasis on free-choice and the belief that individuals, if allowed freedom to choose, would usually choose what is best for themselves.
– The belief that each person can undertake responsibility for his or her own life and to fully realize the innate potential within us.
– The concentration on open-mindedness as an acceptable method and shows interest in exploration of new aspects of human behaviour.
– The belief that people strive towards higher goals than just striving towards the satisfaction of physical drives.
– The notion that people have a variety of needs arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from basic deficiency needs to growth or meta-needs which reflect unique human values.
– The inclusion of physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs in the hierarchy of needs.
4. State the characteristics of self actualization as conceived by Maslow.
According to Maslow, self-actualization involves the need to be the best person that one is capable of being, and it is an ongoing process rather than an end state. Self-actualizers have had their basic needs such as physiological safety, love, and esteem needs gratified so that they can set their goals autonomously and control themselves in reaching their self-appreciative needs. Maslow identified several preconditions such as basic-need satisfying parents and significant others, a minimum of affluence, as well as healthy impersonal relations, that are conducive to self-actualization. Self-actualizing individuals are more involved in doing than talking, and they gain a sense of satisfaction by engaging in worthwhile projects. Maslow believed that all of us have an innate need to self-actualize, and self-actualization represents the need to be that which one is capable of becoming. Maslow’s self-actualizers were generally people who are free of neurosis or other major personal problems, and they have made the best possible use of their talents, capabilities, and other strengths. Maslow’s theory has had a significant impact on scholars in a variety of disciplines, encouraging personological theorists to consider the positive aspects of human nature.
5. Discuss the concept of deficit motivation and growth motivation.
Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation includes the concepts of deficiency motivation and growth motivation. Deficiency motivation is stronger than growth motivation and functions only in the absence of deficit motivation. Deficiency needs are viewed as illnesses by Maslow, and their absence breeds illness, while their presence prevents illness. On the other hand, growth needs involve personal growth and an attempt to become a better person rather than an acceptable one. Maslow describes the relationships between growth and deficiency motivation as follows: a deficiency motivated individual is fighting to just pass in examinations while a growth motivated individual concentrates on gaining knowledge. Maslow emphasizes that growth occurs through self-actualizing work, which represents a long-term commitment to growth and the development of capabilities to their fullest, rather than settling for less out of laziness or lack of self-confidence.
In D-cognition, objects are seen solely as need-gratifiers, as means to other ends. This is especially true when needs are strong. Needs, when they are strong, direct the thinking and perception of an individual. Recognition, on the other hand, is more accurate and effective because the perceiver is less likely to distort his or her perceptions to accord with needs or desires. R-cognition lacks comparison or evaluation, and the fundamental attitude is one of appreciation of what one is. Stimuli are fully attended to, and perception is richer, fuller, and more complete. The perceiver remains somewhat independent of what is perceived. External objects are valued for themselves, rather than for their relevance to personal concerns.
Maslow formulated a psychology of being that outlined an approach to expressing a person’s unique inner nature and core potential. B-values are intrinsic to every individual, and the major being values are truth, wholeness, beauty, uniqueness, aliveness, and transcendence. Maslow considered the fulfillment of needs so essential to human existence and well-being that the thought of them is instinctoid or biologically rooted. He advocated neither a pure biological theory nor an exclusively cultural one in explaining human motivation.
In summary, Maslow’s theory of motivation includes the concepts of deficiency motivation and growth motivation. Deficiency motivation is stronger than growth motivation, and growth occurs through self-actualizing work. In D-cognition, objects are seen solely as need-gratifiers, while in R-cognition, stimuli are fully attended to, and perception is richer, fuller, and more complete. Maslow formulated a psychology of being that outlined an approach to expressing a person’s unique inner nature and core potential.
- Discuss the psychology of being conceived by Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow’s view of mankind is that life is an endless struggle to grow and reach one’s full potential. He believed that human nature is fundamentally good and that war, crime, and violence would vanish if basic needs could be gratified. Maslow’s key idea is utopian, and he was convinced that by studying essential human nature, he could extract a set of ethical principles that would allow human beings to live together in peace and harmony, each fulfilling his or her unique potential. Maslow’s theory makes one very basic assumption about human nature – human nature is fundamentally good. Maslow suggests that psychopathology generally results from the denial, frustration, or trusting of our essential nature. It follows that psychotherapy or any therapy is a means by which people can be restored to the path of self-actualization and development along the lines dictated by their linear nature. Maslow believed that human nature is proactive and that human beings are self-starters. Like seeds planted in the ground, they grow whether there is any external stimulus or not. Human nature is also pre-programmed, and they have a built-in agenda that provides direction and aims toward a specific goal. Maslow did not agree that aggressive, destructive instincts were original equipment for human beings. Human beings are not naturally selfish and competitive. It is the frustration of basic needs that deforms their essential nature. But potentially, human nature is caring, sharing, and cooperative.
LESSON – 17 HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Abraham Maslow Contd…)
QUESTIONS
1. Explain the basic assumption concerning human nature and its application.
Abraham Maslow believed that every individual has an inner nature that is basically good but also weak and can easily fall prey to the evils of society. He assumed that an impulse towards growth and actualization exists in almost all human beings, but it is delicate and subtle and can be easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitude towards it. Maslow also believed that the basic needs of the inner nature are either good or at least neutral and should not be suppressed. He stressed that the denial or suppression of aspects of one’s inner nature leads to a state of unhealthy. Maslow’s assumptions about human nature include:
– An impulse towards growth and actualization exists in almost all human beings.
– The inner nature is basically good but also weak and can easily fall prey to the evils of society.
– The basic needs of the inner nature are either good or at least neutral and should not be suppressed.
– The denial or suppression of aspects of one’s inner nature leads to a state of unhealthy.
- Elucidate the application of need hierarchy theory in the area of Industrial relations.
The application of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory in the area of industrial relations is quite popular among practitioners in human relations. Maslow’s theory suggests that human beings are innately good and have the potential to live together in peace and harmony. The theory assumes that an impulse towards growth and actualization exists in almost all human beings. The theory proposes that the human life is an endless struggle to grow and reach one’s full potentials. The psychologically healthy and growth-motivated people are willing to endure the pain necessary to allow their inner nature to express itself. The inner nature is both weak and strong, it is delicate and subtle and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitudes toward it. Among the basic needs, safety needs get inhibited as one becomes an adult. When one is a child, he or she is highly concerned with safety. But, an adult, safety needs may be disregarded to give way for other needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs captures the importance of the interrelations of human motives. When the basic needs are salient, many higher needs become irrelevant. In other words, the earlier needs are prepotent. That is, the needs in the lower rung of the need hierarchy have to be fulfilled before the needs in the higher hierarchy are met. In the case of higher order needs, if they remain satisfied in the job, then the people involved will be satisfied, and if they remain not satisfied, then the people will also be dissatisfied in the job. The application of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory in industrial psychology, especially in personnel relations, has been successful. Herzberg and Herzberg, researchers on work attitudes, have successfully adopted Maslow’s need hierarchy concept to further their ideas on job satisfaction.
LESSON – 18 BEHAVIOURISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY (B.F. Skinner
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the possible influence of the biographical experiences of B.F. Skinner on the development of his thought.
B.F. Skinner’s biographical experiences may have influenced the development of his thought. Skinner was interested in making models of mechanical devices and machines as a boy, and he later aspired to become a writer. He felt that the investigation of human behavior at his time was not properly done. Skinner’s approach to psychology is called radical behaviorism, which admits that the human organism is a black box as far as analysis is concerned. Skinner’s operant conditioning has wider application in designing instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. Skinner believed that abstract theories were unnecessary and should be abandoned in favor of an approach based solely on how the environment affects the individual’s behavior. Skinner rejected all notions that humans are autonomous beings whose behavior is determined by the presumed existence of internal factors. He assumed that all behavior is lawfully determined, predictable, and able to be brought under environmental control. Skinner’s disregard for physiological genetic conceptions of behavior was based on his conviction that they do not facilitate behavioral control.
2. What is the challenge posed by behaviouristic learning theories to the psychoanalytic, trait and cognitive personality theories.
The challenge posed by behavioristic learning theories to psychoanalytic, trait, and cognitive personality theories is that behaviorism dismisses the subject matter of personality from psychology. Behaviorists focus on how situations impact people and try to account for abnormal behavior dynamics. They have also developed techniques of behavior modification to correct behavior that has gone awry. Learning theorists believe that personality is an applied phenomenon of learning and that there is nothing long enduring about an individual’s behavior that predisposes them to behave in a particular way. Skinner’s thought provides a new interpretation of the construct of personality, and most behaviorists reject the idea that there exists a long enduring tendency on the part of the individual that distinguishes them from others. Skinner’s approach to understanding human nature is based on the principles of operant and respondent conditioning, schedules of reinforcement, response extinction, and phenomena such as stimulus generalization and emotional reactions to punishment. Skinner assumes that behavior is lawful, can be predicted, and can be controlled, and he believes that psychologists should attempt to predict the influence of one or more controlled variables upon an individual organism’s behavior in a controlled environment. Skinner’s approach to psychology is based on a mechanistic metaphor, and it challenges personality psychology by reducing personality to an applied phenomenon of learning.
3. Elucidate the operant learning theoretical approach to personality.
The operant learning theoretical approach to personality is based on the principles of reinforcement and conditioning. B.F. Skinner, the founder of this approach, believed that behavior is shaped by consequences, and that behavior that is followed by a positive consequence is likely to be repeated in the future. Skinner’s approach is called radical behaviorism, which admits that the human organism is a black box as far as analysis is concerned. Skinner’s operant conditioning has wider applications in designing instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. The programmed learning is one of the important contributions of Skinner to the field of educational psychology.
The concept of reinforcement is central to Skinner’s approach. Reinforcement tells what one should do, and it construes learning. Complex sequences of behavior could be achieved through chaining and shaping, appropriately linking the various components of the behavior in question through operant conditioning. Shaping begins by reinforcing any responses that vaguely resemble the one we ultimately want to condition. Once the first reinforced response is emitted at a stable rate, reinforcement is withheld unless a variant of the response occurs, which is slightly more similar to the target behavior. Skinner does not believe in distinguishing personality from behavior. He contends that the principles of reinforcement of operant conditioning are universal across species.
Skinner observed that behavior shows astonishingly similar properties across different species. In ultimate analysis, what one conceives by the term personality reduces to objective activities. Skinner believes that it is profitable not to posit any predisposition and labels, and to objectively condition behaviors and manipulate them to achieve control over them.
Learning principles can be used to treat behavior problems in individuals. Skinner’s approach has wider applications in designing instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. However, whether learning principles can be used to build a society with desirable behavior is a matter of debate. While behaviorism demands experimentation and manipulation, other personality psychologists appreciate correlation and description of individual differences. Skinner attempts to account for the origins and ongoing dynamics of human personality in terms of operant and respondent conditioning, schedules of reinforcement, response extinction, and phenomena such as stimulus generalization and emotional reactions to punishment.
4. Elucidate the concept of reinforcement that construe learning and the techniques of reinforcement used for controlling and manipulating behaviour.
Reinforcement is a concept in operant conditioning that helps in learning and manipulating behavior. It involves reinforcing each response starting with one particular response in the sequence and giving the organism an opportunity to make the next consequent response in the sequence, ultimately leading to the reinforcement of successive approximations. This technique is used to establish a specified sequence of behavior in an organism. Shaping is applied when there is no opportunity to provide reinforcement for a particular behavior since it never occurs in the first place. Shaping begins by reinforcing any responses that vaguely resemble the one we ultimately want to condition. Once the first reinforced response is emitted at a stable rate, reinforcement is withheld unless a variant of the response occurs, which is slightly more similar to the target behavior. Skinner believes that the principles of reinforcement of operant conditioning are universal across species, and he does not believe in distinguishing personality from behavior. Skinner’s operant conditioning has wider application in designing the instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. Operant conditioning principles are amendable for application in a variety of areas of human behavior, including improving instruction through programmed learning and managing behavior problems in classrooms. The Premack Principle is applied in practice to control problem children in schools, clinics, and correctional settings. In clinical settings, the principles are applied either to provide direct material or physical reinforcement for the overt behavior of a client or for a subtle conditioning of physiological processes in biofeedback.
5. Elaborate the basic assumptions held by Skinner about human nature based on his behaviouristic stand point.
B.F. Skinner, a behaviorist, believed that the science of human behavior is no different from any other natural science, and its goals are prediction and control of the phenomena studied. Skinner made three basic assumptions in his work: behavior is lawful, behavior can be predicted, and behavior can be controlled. Skinner rejected the idea that there exists a long enduring tendency on the part of the individual that predisposes him/her to behave in a particular fashion. Rather, behavior is essentially oriented to the environment and arises as a response to environmental stimuli, prevailed by the pattern of rewards and punishments. Skinner’s approach is called radical behaviorism, which admits that the human organism is a black box as far as analysis is concerned. Skinner’s operant conditioning has wider application in designing instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. The programmed learning is one of the important contributions of Skinner to the field of educational psychology. Skinner believed that abstract theories were unnecessary and should be abandoned in favor of an approach based solely on how the environment affects the individual’s behavior. Skinner argued that theories of human behavior often give psychologists a false sense of security about their state of knowledge, when in fact they do not comprehend the relationship between ongoing behavior and its environmental antecedents. Skinner rejected all notions that humans are autonomous beings whose behavior is determined by the presumed existence of internal factors. Skinner assumed that all behavior is lawfully determined, predictable, and able to be brought under environmental control. To understand behavior is to control it, and vice versa.
6. Discuss the possible applications of learning principles to treat behaviour problems in individuals.
Learning principles can be applied to treat behavior problems in individuals. B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning has wider applications in designing instruction, curriculum, and planning school activities. The programmed learning is one of the important contributions of Skinner to the field of educational psychology. The following are possible applications of learning principles to treat behavior problems in individuals:
– Time-out technique: In this technique, the child is placed in an empty barren room that does not have any source of pleasurable stimulation for the child whenever it indulges in an undesirable behavior. Time-out technique is effective to eliminate undesirable behavior through extinction due to non-reinforcement. This has been found effective to manage temper tantrums.
– Premack Principle: Any behavior that has a high frequency of occurrence can be used to reinforce any other behavior that has a lower frequency of occurrence. This principle is applied in practice to control problem children in schools, clinics, and correctional settings.
– Biofeedback: The principles are applied either to provide direct material or physical reinforcement for the overt behavior of a client or for a subtle conditioning of physiological processes in biofeedback.
– Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement was successfully applied in the treatment of a 4-year-old girl who suffered from isolation. The treatment consisted of the presentation of a toy whenever the girl initiated social interaction with others.
Learning principles can also be used to build a society with desirable behavior. Skinner holds that all behavior can be explained in terms of the stimuli and response contingencies to which the organism has been exposed, with the effect of these contingencies being regulated by the laws of learning. To eliminate bad behavior, one has to manage the behavior and reward behavior that is desirable. Punishment is the least effective means of changing bad behavior.
7. Can learning principles be made use of for building a society with desirable behaviour? Illustrate your answer with examples.
According to the Premack Principle, any behavior that has a high frequency of occurrence can be used to reinforce any other behavior that has a lower frequency of occurrence. This principle can be applied in practice to control problem children in schools, clinics, and correctional settings. In school settings, operant conditioning is applied to improve instruction through programmed learning but also to keep behavior problems in classrooms. In clinical settings, operant conditioning principles are applied either to provide direct material or physical reinforcement for the overt behavior of a client or for a subtle conditioning of physiological processes in biofeedback. Positive reinforcement was successfully applied in the treatment of a 4-year-old girl who suffered from isolation. The treatment consisted of food and water, which may, through respondent conditioning, acquire secondary reinforcing properties of their own.
Skinner does not believe in distinguishing personality from behavior. He contends that the principles of reinforcement of operant conditioning are universal across species. He observed that pigeon, rat, monkey, or whatever that may be, that behavior shows astonishingly similar properties. In ultimate analysis what one conceives by the term personality reduces to objective activities. It is profitable, according to Skinner, not to posit any predisposition and labels, and to objectively conditions that sustain a behavior and to manipulate them and achieve control over them.
Adler’s principle of style of life explains the uniqueness of the person. Everyone has a style of life, but no two people develop the same style. One person may acquire new ways of expressing his or her unique style of life, but these are merely concrete and particular instances of the same basic style formed at an early age. The style of life gives personality a sense of unity and harmony and differentiates it from the personalities of others. The nature of a given personality is largely determined by an individual’s position relative to Adler’s first four concepts of fictional finalism, striving for superiority, inferiority, and social interest. Each person adopts a different set of fictional ideas and ideas that dictate his or her future behavior. Each individual strives for superiority in different ways, depending upon the areas in which he or she is unfulfilled. Each person also has different ideas of inferiority and attempts to compensate for these feelings. Finally, the behavior of each individual reflects different degrees of social interest. These factors help determine one’s style of life.
LESSON – 19 FACTOR THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Cattell)
QUESTIONS
1. Trace the influence of biographical experience of R.B. Cattell on his formulation of personality theory.
Raymond B. Cattell’s biographical experience influenced his formulation of personality theory. As a youth, he realized that physical and natural sciences would not be enough to deal with social problems, so he chose psychology for his further studies. During his undergraduate years, he was associated with psychologist-statistician Charles E. Spearman, who influenced him a lot, and he even applied factor analysis in his study of personality later. His experiences during World War II brought about a sense of urgency in him as he realized that life could be cut short. At this time, he became the Research Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Personality and Group Analysis. He began to generate voluminous amounts of research data culminating in his perspectives on personality.
Cattell’s work on personality is presumably influenced by his background in chemistry: he approached the phenomenon of personality by attempting to describe the basic elements that constitute the personality as one would describe the physical world in terms of the basic elements that constitute it. Thus he adopted the procedure of generating data pertaining to individual differences and tried to identify the basic sources contributing to such differences.
Based on the life data, data obtained from self-ratings of individuals, and the objective text data, Cattell identified different traits of personality through correlational analysis. He identified surface and source traits. Surface traits refer to cluster of overt or manifest trait elements that seem to go together, the source traits refer to the underlying variables that are casual entities determining the surface manifestations. Based on factor analysis, Cattell identified 16 factors based on this he has constructed 16 PF questionnaire. Also, he grouped the traits into classes or modalities on the basis of how they are expressed.
In summary, Cattell’s biographical experience influenced his approach to personality theory, and he used factor analysis to identify the basic sources contributing to individual differences in personality. He identified surface and source traits and developed the 16 Personality Factors questionnaire based on his findings.
2. Describe and critically evaluate the conception of personality advocated by R.B.Cattell.
R.B. Cattell was primarily concerned with identifying the basic dimensions of personality that would adequately describe the wide individual differences found among people in varied aspects of behavior. He approached the phenomenon of personality by attempting to describe the basic elements that constitute it. He generated data pertaining to individual differences and tried to identify the basic sources contributing to such differences. He collected data from large groups of individuals, including life records, self-ratings, and objective test scores. The data obtained from life records are designated L-data, the data got from self-ratings are usually through self-rating questionnaires and hence are called Q-data, and the data received through objective tests are named T-data. Each set of data obtained from the three sources is intercorrelated within the sets and the intercorrelation matrix. The factors that emerge significant in the matrices are identified to account for the variance in the data analyzed and are labeled on the basis of their nature. The way the particular variables are loaded determines the factor’s nature. Based on factor analysis, Cattell identified 16 factors, based on which he constructed the 16 PF questionnaire. He also grouped the traits into classes or modalities based on how they are expressed. Cattell’s theory has a wide range of applications in selection and placement, promotion, and analyzing behavioral problems.
3. What is a source trait and what is surface trait in personality? Evaluate you answer with example.
According to R.B. Cattell, there are two types of factors that emerge in personality analysis: surface traits and source traits. Surface traits refer to clusters of overt or manifest trait elements that seem to go together, while source traits refer to the underlying variables that are causal entities determining the surface manifestations. For example, integrity and altruism are surface traits, while ego strength and dominance are source traits. Surface traits are always the manifestations of source traits, which can be considered the basic elements of personality, influencing everything a person does. Cattell identified 16 source traits through factor analysis of L & Q data, which he used to construct the influential Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF). Cattell also grouped traits into classes or modalities based on how they are expressed, such as dynamic traits, ability traits, and temperamental traits. Dynamic traits are derived primarily from data produced by objective tests, and there are three basic types: attitudes, sentiments, and ergs. Attitudes are interests of a certain intensity in a particular object, resulting from experiential rather than hereditary factors. They are the observable expression of underlying dynamic structure and can be inferred from indirect methods.
4. What are the sources of data collected and examined by R.B.Cattell in evolving his 16 Personality Factors?
R.B. Cattell collected data from three sources to evolve his 16 Personality Factors:
1. Life data (L-data): Data obtained by observing individuals in everyday behavior situations and recording the attributes or traits that contribute to individual differences in behavior under such everyday behavior.
2. Self-ratings (Q-data): Ratings provided by individuals themselves under conditions specifically designed to elicit responses on attributes or traits that presumably contribute to individual differences in behavior under such conditions.
3. Objective test scores (T-data): Scores of individuals on objective types of tests administered to them that propose to provide a measure of the person on a specific attribute or trait.
Cattell intercorrelated the data obtained from the three sources and subjected the intercorrelation matrix to factor analysis. The factors that emerged significant in the matrices were identified to account for the variance in the data analyzed and were labeled on the basis of their nature. The way the particular variables are loaded correlation matrix so obtained was subjected to factor analysis by him. This factor analysis yielded just 12 factors. The 12 factors obtained in the second factor analysis constitute source traits of personality. Cattell continued his analysis with further factor analysis of data obtained from different sources and ultimately obtained a set of 16 factors that he believes adequately and meaningfully describe the sphere of wide-ranging individual differences in personality.
5. Describe erg. Sentiment, attitude and dynamic lattice in behaviour.
Erg is a term used by R.B. Cattell to refer to what other theorists call “drive”. It is an innate psychophysical disposition that allows a person to acquire reactivity to certain classes of objects more readily than others and to start on a course of action that ceases more completely at a certain specific goal activity than at any other. Ergs are constitutional source traits and are an important origin of motivation. Cattell identified ten ergs that have been reasonably well established by his research, including hunger, sex, gregariousness, parental protectiveness, curiosity, security, pugnacity, acquisitiveness, self-assertion, and narcissistic sex.
Sentiments are an organized structure of attitudes and an environment mold source trait. They are an important origin of motivation and tend to be organized around significant social institutions or people. The self is an especially important sentiment because it is linked to the expression of most of all of the ergs or other sentiments, and almost all attitudes tend to reflect the self-sentiment to some degree.
Attitudes are interests of a certain intensity in a particular object. They are the result of experiential rather than hereditary factors and are an environment-mold source trait. Attitudes are also the observable expression of underlying dynamic structure. Ergs and sentiments and their inter-relations must be inferred from attitudes.
The dynamic lattice is a concept introduced by Cattell to explain how ergs, sentiments, and attitudes are interrelated by chains of subsidization. Ergs are served by attitudes and sentiments, and one type of trait is subsidiary to another or serves to facilitate the other. The diagram of the dynamic lattice is incomplete, and many more attitudes and sentiments could be represented.
6. What is a behavioural equation?
The behavioural specification equation is a mathematical technique proposed by Cattell to predict how a person will behave or respond in a particular situation by adding the person’s various traits. Skinner’s behaviourism theory challenges personality psychology by rejecting the idea of long enduring personality characteristics and asserting that behaviour is essentially oriented to the environment and arises as a response to environmental stimuli, prevailed by the pattern of rewards and punishments. Skinner’s basic assumptions are that behaviour is lawful, can be predicted, and can be controlled. Skinner’s theory is based on operant behaviour, which involves the use of reinforcement to control and manipulate behaviour. Skinner believed that the science of human behaviour is no different from any other data-oriented natural science, and its goals are the same – prediction and control of the phenomena studied. Skinner’s learning concepts are adequate enough to handle the situation, and there is nothing that requires explanation or a theory of personality to explain how one behaves in a particular situation.
7. Explain the research methodology adopted by R.B.Cattell in his study of personality.
R.B. Cattell adopted a research methodology that involved identifying basic trait elements of personality using factor analysis. He collected data from three sources: life records (L-data), self-ratings (Q-data), and objective test scores (T-data). L-data consisted of data obtained by observing individuals in everyday behavior situations and recording the attributes or traits that contribute to individual differences in behavior. Q-data referred to ratings provided by individuals themselves under conditions specifically designed to elicit responses on attributes or traits that presumably contribute to individual differences in behavior. T-data consisted of data obtained through tasks on which the performance of the person is objectively scored. Cattell identified surface and source traits through correlational analysis. Surface traits refer to a cluster of overt or manifest trait elements that seem to go together, while source traits refer to the underlying variables that are causal entities determining the surface manifestations. Based on factor analysis, Cattell identified 16 factors, based on which he constructed the 16 PF questionnaire. He also discussed the role of attitudes, sentiments, ergs, and dynamic lattice in behavior. Cattell was primarily concerned with identifying the basic dimensions of personality that would adequately describe the wide individual differences found among people in varied aspects of behavior.
LESSON – 2O FACTOR THEORY OF PERSONALITY (Eysenck’ s – Contd…)
QUESTIONS
1. Do you consider that the biographical information could have influenced Eysenck in formulating his theory of personality?
It is possible that the biographical information could have influenced Eysenck in formulating his theory of personality. Eysenck lived through a variety of dreadful events, including the Hitler regime, exile, and the Second World War. He considers himself lucky to have survived all those fearful events since most of his classmates at school died, or were severely injured, in Hitler’s War. His mother was an actress, and his father had an overbearing personality. Eysenck’s emphasis on extroversion seems to be at least partly due to his father’s extroverted nature. Furthermore, Eysenck has always been highly skeptical of Freudian theory of psychoanalysis, and inclined towards behaviorism. His childhood experiences both at the school and on the street have revealed him to be quick-witted and street smart. This spirit of rebellious seems to run as a watermark throughout his career and points of view in politics, profession, and psychology.
2. What are the basic propositions of Eysenck’s theory?
Eysenck’s theory of personality proposes that personality can be arranged hierarchically, with certain super traits or types exerting a powerful influence over behavior. These super traits are comprised of several component traits, which are either more superficial reflections of the underlying type dimension or specific qualities that contribute to that dimension. Traits are composed of numerous habitual responses, which in turn are derived from a multitude of specific responses. Eysenck identified primary traits, including sociability, liveliness, activeness, assertiveness, sensation-seeking tendency, care-freeness, dominance, urgency, and venturesomeness. He also identified other traits, including anxiety, depression, guilt-feeling, self-esteem, tension, irrationality, shyness, moodiness, emotionality, aggressiveness, being cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsiveness, antisocial, unempathic, creative, and tough-mindedness. Eysenck’s theory is based on empirical research, and he identified three basic dimensions of personality: extroversion-introversion, neuroticism-non-neuroticism, and psychoticism-non-psychoticism. These dimensions are independent of and orthogonal to one another, and Eysenck refers to his personality model as the P-E-N system. Eysenck also identified the physiological, neurological, and hormonal determinants of P-E-N, with differences between extroverts and introverts being related to cortical arousal. Extroverts are under-aroused and seek sensation, while introverts avoid social contacts and strongly arousing stimuli.
3. Describe the nature of personality dimensions of P-E-N.
The P-E-N system is a fundamental paradigm of human personality, according to Eysenck. The three dimensions of personality are Psychoticism, Extroversion-Introversion, and Neuroticism. The biological foundation for these dimensions suggests that they are firmly based on heredity. Additive genetic factors play the most important part in deciding a person’s position on the P-E-N system, contributing something like 50% to the total of phenotypic variance. The three personality factors have been found to consistently emerge from across cultures. The distribution of extroversion in a population is normal, and the distribution of extroversion follows a Gaussian curve, with the majority being intermediate, and only a few people at either extreme. The nature of P-E-N is diagrammatically picturized, and Eysenck refers to his personality model as the P-E-N system. The circumplex arrangement of personality traits shows the relationship of social traits to one another. Ambitious-dominant characteristics are opposite of lazy-submissive traits but are independent of the cold-warm dimension. The P-E-N system is also apparent among animal populations. Eysenck has identified the physiological, neurological, and hormonal determinants of P-E-N. Social attitudes are interrelated quite strongly, and they give rise to major independent factors, one of which is the usual one of conservatism as opposed to radicalism. Extroverts and introverts are predisposed to develop different mental disorders when they break down under stress. In academic situations, introverts learn better than extroverts. Given a person’s position on these dimensions, this position can be temporarily displaced by the administration of drugs with actions that are relevant to any one of the personality dimensions.
4. Elucidate the possible applications of Eysenck’s personality theory.
Eysenck’s personality theory has several applications, including:
– Identifying physiological, neurological, and hormonal determinants of personality
– Identifying antisocial elements and interpreting behavior with reference to the environment
– Assessing vocational interests
– Counseling and diagnosis of personality disorders using the five-factor model (Big 5 model)
– Organizational counseling using the five-factor model to assess employee personality traits
The essence of Eysenck’s theory is that personality can be arranged hierarchically, with certain super traits or types exerting a powerful influence over behavior. These super traits are comprised of several component traits, which are either more superficial reflections of the underlying type dimension or specific qualities that contribute to that dimension. Finally, traits are composed of numerous habitual responses, which in turn are derived from a multitude of specific responses. Eysenck identified primary traits such as sociability, liveliness, activeness, assertiveness, sensation-seeking tendency, care-freeness, dominance, urgency, and venturesomeness, as well as other traits such as anxiety, depression, guilt-feeling, self-esteem, tension, irrationality, shyness, moodiness, emotionality, aggressiveness, being cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsiveness, antisocial, unempathic, creative, and tough-mindedness. Eysenck’s theory has wider applications in identifying antisocial elements as well as interpreting the behavior of a person with reference to the environment.
5. How do Sigmund Freud and H.J. Eysenck differ with one another with regard to describing the dimensions of personality.
Sigmund Freud and H.J. Eysenck differ in their approach to describing the dimensions of personality. Freud believes that personality is primarily determined by biological drives such as sex and aggression, and experiences that occur during the first five years of life. He also emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind in shaping personality. On the other hand, Eysenck believes that personality is determined by physiological, neurological, and hormonal factors, and that personality dimensions are marked by multivariate statistical techniques. Eysenck identifies three dimensions of personality: Psychoticism, Extroversion-Introversion, and Neuroticism. He believes that these dimensions are independent of and orthogonal to one another, and that an individual’s personality can be described by their status on these dimensions. Overall, Freud’s approach emphasizes the role of psychological factors, while Eysenck’s approach emphasizes the role of biological factors in shaping personality.
FIVE-FACTOR MODEL OF PERSONALITY
QUESTIONS
1. Compare Allport and Cattell’s theory with Big – Five factors.
Allport and Cattell’s theories of personality focus on identifying primary traits necessary to describe personality, while the Big Five model measures individual differences in terms of degrees of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. The Big Five model is widely used in counseling, diagnosis of personality disorders, and vocational interests assessment.
The five-factor model is also applied in organizational counseling, where it helps in identifying and structuring personality attributes of employees. It can be used to assess the compatibility of an individual with a particular job or work environment.
However, the five-factor model has some limitations. It does not explain how or why individual differences develop, what motives drive human personality, the role of unconscious mental processes, and how psychological change and growth occur. Additionally, there is confusion regarding the names of the five factors, and the model does not truly explain human personality as such.
In conclusion, while the five-factor model is growing in popularity and provides a strong and useful classification utility, it is important to recognize its limitations and the need for convergence of the basic factors.
2. Discuss the application of five – factor model in organizational counseling.
The five-factor model, also known as the Big 5 model, is widely used in counseling and the diagnosis of personality disorders. The model measures individual differences in terms of degrees of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. The five-factor model is also applied to assess vocational interests. The model is useful in providing psychological treatment to individuals as the therapist can recognize problems and develop a treatment for individuals better because of an understanding of the individual’s personality. The five-factor model is also useful in research and learning, particularly in the area of educational psychology. Openness is related to measures of intelligence and creativity, while conscientiousness is related to academic and occupational achievement. However, the five-factor model has some limitations, such as not explaining how or why individual differences develop, the role of unconscious mental processes, and how psychological change and growth occur.
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY MODEL QUESTION PAPER
Part – A
1. Define Personality and mention the sources of influence upon personality theories.
Personality refers to the unique qualities in an individual that distinguish them from others. It is the sum total of all the characteristics that pertain to an individual. There are numerous definitions for personality, and different theories have been proposed to explain personality. The central theme of personality theories is the substance of inter-individual differences and intra-individual differences in personal qualities and characteristics of individuals. The various sources of influence on personality theories include the conceptions held by ancient Greek thinkers, personal situations, clinical observatives, personal convictions, and the constructs of self. The various personality theories hold different assumptions as basic to constructing their propositions and principles that seek to explain the phenomenon of personality. All the personality theorists have attempted, covertly or overtly, to locate human beings on a continuum. The sources of influence upon personality theory include the impact of the conceptions held by the ancient Greek thinkers and the personal situations in which individual personality psychologists have been brought up. The basic assumptions concerning human nature held by different psychologists include the belief that human beings behave in both good and evil ways, and that human beings are dynamic in nature.
2. Describe the levels of consciousness explained by Freud.
According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the mind is divided into three regions: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The conscious is the sense organ for the apprehension of psychical qualities through which the individual is aware of sensory input and emotions. The unconscious is a particular realm of the mind with its own wishful impulses and mode of expression, and its peculiar mental mechanisms which are not in force elsewhere. The preconscious is the locus of censorship in the mind, and it is the region made up of contributions from both the conscious and the unconscious. Freud believed that the first five years of life were the most critical in the development of the personality, and during this period, the child passes through a series of psychosexual stages of development in which particular bodily regions serve as a source of extreme pleasure for the child. Freud also believed that the nature of the flow of the individual’s psychic energy during the childhood and adolescent years is also critical, particularly during the first five years of life. If the child experiences extreme anxiety during the years, it is likely that the psychic energy may not continue to flow in a reasonably smooth way. Freud proposed three structural components of personality viz: id, ego, and super-ego. Freud viewed all human behaviour as motivated by life instincts as well as death instincts which determine the nature of our behaviour.
3. Define the Creative power of the “Self” according to Alder.
According to Adler, the creative power of the self is the essential principle of human life. It is the “third force” that ultimately determines human behavior. Heredity gives us “certain abilities” and the environment gives us “certain impressions”. These two forces in combination with the way in which we experience and interpret our heredity and environment make up the “bricks” we use in our own ‘relative’ way to construct our particular attitudes toward life and our relations with the outside world. The creative self is the least that acts upon the facts of the world and transforms these facts into a personality that is subjective, dynamic, unified, personal and uniquely stylized. The creative self gives meaning to life, creates the goal as well as the means to the goal, and plays an important role in the formation of the style of life. The creative self exercises much control over how we perceive things and can bring unity and integration within personality. Adler believed that we can surmount our own selfishness and allow the social side of our nature greater opportunity for expression. We can learn to push ourselves by doing one thing more or by taking the first step. The creative self is the agent that is at work in effectively making things happen the way we want them to be.
4. Mention mechanisms of Escape explained by Erich Fromm.
Erich Fromm proposed two mechanisms of escape to overcome feelings of isolation and apartness: living with others in the spirit of love and shared work or finding security by submitting to authority and conforming to society. Fromm also identified three psychic mechanisms of escape: authoritarianism, destructiveness, and automaton conformity. Fromm believed that human nature is characterized by five existential needs: the need for relatedness, the need for transcendence, the need for rootedness, the need for a sense of identity, and the need for a frame of orientation and object of devotion. Fromm also proposed three types of escape mechanisms for children: symbiotic relatedness, withdrawal-destructiveness, and love. Symbiotic relatedness involves regaining security by manipulating and exploiting the parents, while withdrawal-destructiveness is characterized by distance and separation from others. Love is the most desirable form of parent-child relationship. Fromm’s theory of personality is based on the dynamic interaction between needs inherent in human nature and the forces exerted by social norms and institutions. Fromm’s theory of personality is based on the dynamic interaction between needs inherent in human nature and the forces exerted by social norms and institutions.
5. Define “Time Structuring” and “Games” in Transactional Analysis.
Time structuring in Transactional Analysis refers to the need to structure time based on three drives or hungers: stimulus or sensation hunger, recognition hunger, and structure hunger. People form associations and join organizations to fulfill their need for structure hunger. Games in Transactional Analysis are sets of ulterior transactions that are repetitive in nature and involve con. They have a well-defined psychological pay-off as ulterior transaction, and the agent involved in the game pretends that he or she is really doing the social or overt communication in a straightforward manner rather than playing a game. Scripts are another important feature of TA, and every individual has a preconscious life plan or script by which he structures longer periods of time. Games People Play, written by Eric Berne, is a best-selling book that introduced the notions of games and scripts and formed the fundamental basis of TA. TA is now being practiced by a growing number of professionals both in the USA and in other countries, including India. There are currently three schools of thought that influence the thinking among TA practitioners: the Classical school, the Redecision school, and the Cathexis school.
6. Explain briefly Carl Rogers basic assumptions regarding Human Nature.
Carl Rogers had several basic assumptions about human nature, which are as follows:
– Every individual lives in a continually changing world and responds to their phenomenological field as it is experienced.
– The basic motivation of an individual is to actualize, maintain themselves, and grow. Behavior is the goal-directed attempt by the person to satisfy their needs as they selectively perceive them.
– Behavior is best understood when examined from the point of view of the person performing the behavior.
– A part of the individual’s experience gradually of the self is determined through the reaction and valuation of others to the person as well as the person’s evaluation of themselves.
– Experiences may be consistent, irrelevant, or inconsistent with a person’s notion of the self. Consistency leads to congruence while inconsistency leads to incongruence.
– Most of the behaviors of the individual are consistent with their self-concept.
– When the individual refuses to be aware of a segment of their experiences, it results in psychological maladjustment. As a result of this, these experiences are not incorporated within the self; psychological adjustment occurs when all appropriate experiences are integrated into the self.
– The self can be altered when the nature of one’s experience makes such changes necessary.
– Relationships offer the best opportunity to be a fully functioning person and to be in harmony with oneself, others, and the environment.
– The basic organismic needs of the individual are fulfilled through relationships.
– Marriage is considered an unusual relationship that is potentially long-term. It is an intensive relationship and carries with it the possibility of sustained growth and development.
– A healthy individual is aware of their emotional feelings. Whether or not they are expressed, those feelings that are denied to awareness tend to distort perception of and reactions to the experience that triggered them.
Rogers believed that his theory of personality was particularly useful in the area of therapy, and his client-centered approach has contributed to a new era of counseling.
7. What is the basic postulate of George Kelly?
The basic postulate of George Kelly’s personality theory is that people, like scientists, constantly seek clarity and understanding in their lives by developing construct systems. People are interested in the future and use the present only to test their theory’s ability to anticipate events. Kelly believes that humans are free and future-oriented, and their subjective feelings and personal experiences are extremely important. The meaning attributed to life determines one’s cause of life and destiny to a very large extent. Kelly stresses the human capacity for improvement, and each individual has to continue to explore new possibilities for living. Such possibilities may turn out to be more effective than the one already tried in the past. Kelly’s theory is applied in understanding emotional states and psychological disorders, and he has developed a therapy called Fixed-Role Therapy.
8. What are the salient features of Self-Actualization propounded by Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualization theory describes eight behaviors leading to self-actualization. These behaviors include utilizing one’s potentials fully, selflessly, with full concentration and total absorption, making each decision a choice for growth, becoming in tune with one’s own inner nature, and taking responsibility for one’s actions. Self-actualization is a continuous process of developing one’s potentials and using one’s abilities and intelligence to do what one wants to do. Peak experiences are transient moments of self-actualization, during which individuals are more whole, integrated, and aware of themselves and the world. Self-actualizing individuals are more involved in doing than talking and gain a sense of satisfaction from engaging in worthwhile projects. Maslow’s self-actualizers are generally people who are free of neurosis or other major personal problems and have made the best possible use of their talents, capabilities, and other strengths. Maslow believed that self-actualization involves the need to be the best person that one is capable of being, and it is an ongoing process rather than an end state. The need for self-actualization is the umbrella need that includes 17 meta needs or being-values, such as truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, and self-sufficiency. These meta needs have no hierarchy but are equally potent and can be substituted for each other.
Part – B
1. Describe the Dynamics of Personality Development elucidated by Freud.
Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality development emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, which constitutes the core of one’s personality. Freud believes that personality is primarily determined by biological drives and experiences that occur during the first five years of one’s life. The personality of an individual is constituted by the pleasure-seeking id, the imposing superego, and the compromising ego. The three personality aspects always conflict with each other, and in a well-integrated personality, the ego remains firm but inflexible control over the id and superego. Freud also believes that libido is accentuated from different physiological louses following a set pattern of psychosexual development. When development gets stuck up at a particular stage of psychosexual development and not resolved in the course of development, complexes ensue and cause neuroses and other forms of psychopathology.
On the other hand, Carl Jung’s theory of personality development distinguishes the introversion and extraversion qualities. Both introverts and extraverts have their way of dealing with the external world. There are four basic ways or functions such as sensing, thinking, intuiting, and feeling. Jung defined the ego as a conscious mind. There are two unconsciousness in Jungian system. One is the personal unconscious, and the other is collective unconscious. The collective unconscious consists of powerful, primordial images called archetypes. The archetype progression can be helpful to a person, and it can also be harmful. Jung called the personality development as ‘progression’ and the personality is relatively a closed system. The energy of the personality is called psychic energy. The preservation of life and the development of cultural and spiritual activities are found to be the general purposes of psychic energy. Individuation and transcendence are the superordinate process as by which human beings develop throughout their lives. Individuation is the process that helps people for self-realization. Healthy personality development is characterized by an acceptance of the unknown and mysterious.
Erik Erikson’s theory of personality development consists of eight stages, each with a psychosocial crisis, a virtue, and major developments. The stages are as follows:
1. Infancy – Trust vs. Mistrust – Hope
2. Early Childhood – Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt – Will
3. Play Age – Initiative vs. Guilt – Purpose
4. School Age – Industry vs. Inferiority – Competence
5. Adolescence – Identity vs. Identity Confusion – Fidelity
6. Young Adulthood – Intimacy vs. Isolation – Love
7. Adulthood – Generativity vs. Stagnation – Care
8. Mature Age – Integrity vs. Despair – Wisdom
Although the order of the stages is fixed, their limit is not. A given individual may pass through these stages at either a faster or a slower pace. Erikson avoids indicating specific age periods as he is concerned less about his developmental scheme be taken as inflexible.
2. Elaborate Jung’s view on “Personality Dynamics”.
Jung developed a personality typology that distinguishes between introversion and extraversion qualities. He believed that personality is relatively a closed system and must be dealt with as a unitary system, more or less self-contained and apart from any other energy system. The energy of the personality is called psychic energy, which is manifested consciously in many sorts of striving, desiring, and willing, as well as by such processes as perceiving, thinking, and attending. The dynamics of this constant movement maintain a balance between a condition of too little input of new energy and too much.
Jung suggested that there are four basic ways or functions of dealing with the world, inner and outer, which are sensing, thinking, intuiting, and feeling. Each of us has a superior function, which we prefer and which is best developed in us, a secondary function, which we are aware of and use in support of our superior function, a tertiary function, which is only slightly less developed but not terribly conscious, and an inferior function, which is poorly developed and so unconscious that we might deny its existence in ourselves.
Jung viewed the psyche or total personality as composed of a variety of separate structures or systems that are capable of influencing one another. The major structures are the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious consists of powerful, primordial images called archetypes, which are a predisposition that awaits an actual experience in a person’s life before its content becomes clear.
Jung believed that healthy personality development is characterized by an acceptance of the unknown and mysterious. He also believed that the second half of life must be directed toward the unconscious, which has been neglected until now. At this time of life, spiritual interests must replace the materialistic considerations that defined the first half of life. It is at this age that the self may finally emerge. According to Jung, middle age is much more crucial in the development of personality than in childhood.
3. Explain the theory of Epigenesis and man’s eight stages of development.
Erik Erikson’s theory of Epigenesis is based on the principle that a new living organism develops from an initially undifferentiated entity that is programmed to develop all the organism’s parts in reference. This principle is taken from embryology, which deals with the development of the organism from conception to birth. Erikson’s theory of man’s eight stages of development includes both psychosexual and psychosocial aspects of growth and change. Each positive ego quality that the ego acquires throughout the eight-stage life cycle becomes salient at a clearly specified time, although they exist even at birth in some form. The qualities of the ego that emerge at each succeeding stage of life depend and build on inequalities developed in earlier stages. The basic conflicts remain, and the human personality must resolve these conflicts to remain psychologically alive. The eight stages of development are Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair. The last stage, Integrity vs. Despair, begins at about age 65, in which the ego quality for integrity appears. People perceive that their lives have had an order and a meaning within a larger order. They are able to see that others have lived differently but are prepared to defend the dignity of their own life style. If integrity outweighs despair, one acquires the virtue of wisdom, which maintains and conveys the integrity of accumulated knowledge.
4. What are the basic propositions of Murray’s personality theory and explain the possible applications of it.
Henry Murray proposed a need theory of personality, also known as “Personology”. His theory is based on a study of lives, and the main objective of personology is to reduce lives to manageable data so that the lives could be compared to produce generalizable principles applicable to all lives. Murray emphasized that human nature includes propensities for both good and evil, and personality of an individual is significantly influenced by our needs, by important aspects of the environment (press), and by the unconscious process. People often actively seek to develop or increase tension to heighten the pleasure that follows upon tension-reduction. Murray classified needs into various types and maintained the idea that the individual’s behavior is influenced by the teleology, proceedings, and serials.
The basic propositions of Murray’s personality theory are:
– Personality is a compromise between the person’s own impulses and the demands and interests of others.
– Needs are the basic constructs that compel organisms for action.
– The complexes, childhood press, and needs are important to the development of personality.
– Human personality is a compromise between the person’s own impulses and the demands and interests of others.
– The most important thing to discover about a person is the overall directionality or goal orientation.
– People are active and not just passive.
Murray’s theory has wider application, particularly in the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which explores the unconscious aspects of personality. Murray’s emphasis on personality assessment on measuring personality with tests is far more typical of the trait theorists. Murray’s view emphasized that people are active and not just passive.
5. Describe the dynamics of personality according to Kurt Lewin.
According to Kurt Lewin’s field theory, personality is dynamic and is influenced by the individual’s life space, which is the individual’s current psychological environment. The life space is composed of the individual’s current needs, goals, and experiences. The dynamics of personality are characterized by three processes: dynamism, personifications, and modes of experience. Dynamism is a relatively enduring configuration of energy that manifests itself in characteristic processes in interpersonal relations. It may improve a particular zone of the body, serving to satisfy basic needs of the organism, such as hunger or sex. Personifications symbolize an individual’s image of themselves, which reflects past experiences with significant others. Modes of experience are the ways in which individuals experience and interpret their environment. The self-dynamism is the most important dynamism in the personality, and it is a person’s self-image constructed on the basis of their interpersonal relationships. The self develops out of the anxiety generated in the original mother-infant relationship and is reinforced or compounded by subsequent threats to security. The concept of differentiation and integration of personality refers to the process by which individuals learn to be a social being, to be dominant and submissive, competitive and cooperative, nurturing and nurtured.