Presented by:

Dr. Dharen Kumar Pandey

Assistant Professor,

P. G. Department of Commerce,

Magadh University, Bodhgaya

Theories of Personality

Psychoanalytic Theory

Socio-pshychological Theory

Trait Factor Theory

Self Theory

Psychoanalytic Theory This theory of Sigmund Freud is based on the belief

that man is encouraged more by unforeseen forces than the conscious and logical thought.

Most of the things in life are not present at the conscious level but they are present at an unconscious level.

Three attributes of this theory are: Id, Ego & Superego

Contd.... Id − It defines the innate component of personality. It is the

impulsive and unconscious part of mind that seeks immediate satisfaction.

Example − Ram was thirsty. Rather than waiting for the server to refill his glass of water, he reached across the table and drank from Shyam's water glass

Ego − It is derived from Id and assists in dealing with the external world. It also helps in translating the inner needs into expressions. It deals with practical and rational thinking process.

Example − Ram was thirsty. However, he knew that the server would be back soon to refill his water glass, so he waited until then to get a drink, even though he really just wanted to drink from Shyam's glass.

Contd.... Superego – It represents the societal and personal norms and

serves as ethical constraints of behaviour. A person is not aware of the working of the superego, and conscience is developed by absorption of cultural values and norms of society.

Example: Ram knew that he could steal the expensive pen from Shyam’s bag and no one would know about it. However, he knew that stealing was wrong, so he decided not to take anything even though he would probably never get caught.

Socio-Psychological Theory Based on the interdependence of the individual and the

society.

1.Social variables and not biological instincts.

2. Man knows his needs and wants and his behaviour is directed to meet these needs

The socio-psychological theory includes the contributions from Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Harry-Stack Sullivan.

Their views differed from Sigmund Freud.

According to them, personality is not affected by the unconscious mind and in fact it is the conscious mind which knows how and why this behaviour. Human behaviour are directed to achieve the goals.

They also opposed that human are social creatures and not sexual creatures.

They believed that socio-psychological factors, i.e. the combination of both the social (family, society, wealth, religion) and the psychological factors (feelings, thoughts, beliefs) play an important role in shaping the personality of an individual.

Contd....

Adler has focused on the creative self, social interest, inferiority, strive for superiority, style of life, and fictional finalism.

Fromm focused on relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, sense of identity and the frame of orientation.

Horney suggested that human behaviour results from three predominant interpersonal orientations: Compliant (dependent and move towards others), Aggressive (need power and move against others); and, self-sufficient and move away from others).

Sullivan stressed that interpersonal situations characterises human’s life.

Contd....

Trait Factor Theory Individual’s personality is composed of definite

predispositional attributes called traits.

Assumptions:

1. Traits are common to many individuals but vary in absolute amounts

2. Traits are relatively stable

3. Traits can be inferred from measurement of behavioural indicators

Popular Theories:

Allport’s Trait Theory

Cattell’s Trait Theory

Eysenck’s Trait Theory

Allport’s Trait Theory

Allport mentioned two types of traits ; common traits and personal traits

1. Common Traits – are the traits found in the majority of persons living in a society or culture. Thus people of a society or culture can be compared on that trait.

2. Personal Traits – This refers to the unique characteristics of a person and not shared by other members of the society or community or culture. Such a personal trait is not comparable with those of others in that culture.

Allport further divided personal traits into three subcategories: a) cardinal dispositions, b) central dispositions, and c) secondary dispositions.

Cattell’s Trait Theory Surface Traits –are found on the periphery of personality i.e.

these are reflected in the day to day interactions of the person. Their expression is so explicit that it leaves no doubt about their existence in the personality.

Source Traits – These represent the structure of personality. They are present in less number than surface traits. These traits are not observable in day to day interactions of the person. Source traits come to notice when some of the surface traits are joined together. For example, sociability, unselfishness and humour are surface traits which when joined together create a source trait known as friendliness.

Eysenck’s Trait Theory H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced

into two broad dimensions.

These dimensions are:

1. Neuroticism, and,

2. Extraversion-Introversion dimensions.

Self Theory The previously discussed theories focused on both individual

as well as the social factors.

The self theory has many contributors but the contributions of Carl Rogers is the most significant.

It focuses the organism as a whole

Other factors are least important in this theory

This theory provides for four types of self in every individual which affects the personality

1. Ideal Self

2. Looking Glass Self

3. Self Image

4. Real Self

The four parts of the self-concept Ideal self: What one wants to become

Looking glass self: How one wants others see him

Self image: How one sees oneself

Real self: What actually one is

The person’s self concept gives him a sense of meaningfulness and consistency.

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