Personality Theories in Psychology
The Psychodynamic theory was conceived by Sigmund Freud , a man who concentrated mostly on the primary human drives, such as sexual and aggressive. He did many of his studies on patients diagnosed with hysteria. Freud said there were three parts to a personality. He called these three parts the id, ego, and superego. The id is the part that struggles to satisfy a person’s needs or wishes immediately. The id has been translated into instinct or drive. The id is present at birth and works unconsciously to avoid pain and gain immediate pleasure. The ego is the part of the personality that controls the reasoning and conscience thinking. The ego is responsible for keeping the id from fulfilling it’s needs and wants until it can do it in an acceptable way and a secure environment. The ego operates according to the reality principle. The third part of the personality according to Freud is the superego. The superego acts as a conscience and works to keep the id and superego balanced properly. The superego helps the person to function socially and morally.
The personality is often at battle with itself. Freud believed that a personality is basically formed and molded from a person’s relationships and treatment as a child. Freud said that traumatic experiences as a child have a big impact on what type of personality you grow to have and weather you will have a mental disorder as an adult. Some important contributors to the Psychodynamic theory are Horne, Jung, Adler, and Eriksson. This theory has been widely criticized by others in the field of Psychology but it has had a lot to do with how we view ourselves and others.
The Humanistic theory began in the 1950’s. The foundation for the Humanistic theory was Adler’s belief that an individual has a drive for perfection. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the most well-known men to contribute to the Humanistic theory. Rogers believed that we each have a biological urge to become the most that we are capable of becoming. This is known as the actualizing tendency. Rogers also believed that we have self-actualizing tendency which means that we try to become what we consciously know we can succeed at becoming. People who function well in the real world were probably loved unconditionally as children. Those who cannot function normally were probably subject to love on a conditional level. These people care more about what others think of them than what they think of themselves. Rogers saw people as basically good and healthy. He believed that if someone failed to make the most of his or her life it was not because they didn’t want to succeed.
Maslow studied monkeys in the early part of his career and he made the observation that some needs naturally come before others. For example, thirst comes before hunger because you can die of thirst before hunger. Oxygen is more important than thirst because breathing is the most necessary need to stay alive. Sex is even less important than food, because although you may feel you need it, you do not need it to go on living. Maslow invented a hierarchy of needs, which is very popular even today. He made a list of five layers of needs. The physiological needs consist of water, food, air, sex, sleep, avoidance of pain, and several more needs. The need for safety and security involves finding the need for a sort of structured and safe environment where you can feel protected. The need for love is self-explanatory. It means just that. After the first two layers of needs are met, one begins to feel like they need love and affection, relationships and children. If one is feeling unloved or disliked they may begin to feel lonely or develop social anxiety problems.
The esteem needs are basically when you start to feel a need for self-esteem. You need to feel respected by others, recognized, reputable, maybe even famous. You also feel the need for confidence, self-respect, success, and freedom. Maslow called these four needs deficit needs because if you are not getting a portion of one of these needs you feel a need for it, or a deficit. The last layer of needs is called self-actualization. The only way to explain this is to explain what a person with self-actualization would need to be happy. This person would need, according to Maslow, truth, goodness, richness, simplicity, meaningfulness, beauty, self-sufficiency, and several more needs. If a self-actualized person is forced to live without these qualities in their life, they may develop depression or become cynical and disgusted. Maslow thought that the world would be a better place if more people had their basic needs taken care of so that they could work on achieving self-actualization.
There has been criticism about the Humanistic theory just as there is about the Psychodynamic theory. The Humanistic theory is said to lack scientific evidence and is criticized for looking at human nature through rose-colored glasses, so to speak. Some have also accuse the Humanistic theory of encouraging self-centeredness. Research has proven that humanist therapy does encourage people to accept themselves. I have found that the similarities between the Psychodynamic theorists and the Humanistic theorists are few and far between. The only real similarities I saw were that both Freud and Rogers based their theories on clinical studies and neither theory can be easily tested. They have both also been accused of being unscientific.
The main differences are that Psychodynamic theorists focus on unconscious motives and desires while Humanistic theorists concentrate more on the conscious mind, self-improvement, and self-actualization. However, both of these theories are still studied and used today. Men like Freud, Jung, Rogers, and Maslow opened many amazing psychological doors for us. They are largely criticized by some but widely admired and respected as well. They provided us with a lot to study and think about. This is their greatest similarity. They all had brilliant ideas and theories that they each wanted to work for, learn more about and share with the world. references http://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/personality/intro/section1.html http://www.wwnorton.com/psychsci/ch15_overview.htm http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/freud.html http://inst.santafe.cc.fl.us/~mwehr/StudyGM/Mod3Obj.htm http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/maslow.html http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/rogers.html
