Summary of theories of personality-theorist

1. MIÑON OSACDIN TAN
SEC 9
FA 4 : SUMMARY TABLE
Determinants of Behavior/ Dynamics of Personality (Basic
Assumptions)
What are the stable aspects of personality?
e.g. Psychoanalytic – id, ego, superego; libido (eros and
Thanatos)
Development Theory
What is the goal of personal development?
What are the stages of development?
Defense Mechanisms
Disorder (Explanation) and Psychotherapy (Application)
How does the theory explain abnormal behavior; and
How is the theory applied to psychotherapy?
Concept of Humanity
Go back to Chapter 1 (dimensions for a concept of humanity)
Critique/Evaluation Theory
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
theory?
Sigmund Freud's
Psychoanalysis Theory
Levels of Mental Life: Unconscious, preconscious, conscious
Provinces of the Mind: Id, ego, superego
1. Id - Is the province of the mind that has no contact with reality,
and only focuses on what and how to satisfy what it wants
(pleasure principle).
2. Ego - Is responsible for restricting the id as it is the one who is
connected with reality. It has the ability to consider reality during
decision-making (reality principle).
3. Superego - This province of the mind represents the idealistic
(ego-ideal) and moralistic (conscience) standards of perfection a
person has. Just like the id, it has no contact with reality; And it
holds no regard for the ego.
Main drive of personality: Libido
> Eros - Sex; Thanatos - Aggression
> unfulfillment of these drives may result in anxiety
Goal of personal development: Overcoming the Oedipus Complex
Stages of development: Infantile period, latency period, genital
phase, maturity
1. Infantile Period - This period shows how children undergo
pregenital sexual development stages through autoerotic activities
during their first 4-5 years.
- 3 Stages: oral phase, anal phase, and phallic phase
- Includes the phenomena of the Oedipus Complex
2. Latency Period - During this period, the majority, if not all,
pubescent experience no psychosexual development due to the
demoralization of sexual activities led by their parents. If successful,
the pubescent will now channel their libido into social activities.
3. Genital Phase - This phase marks the start of puberty, as one is
sexually reawakened and is now channeling their libido onto others.
The genitals are now the most dominant of all erogenous zones.
4. Maturity - This is the stage one will only reach when they have
surpassed the period prior to maturity. Psychological maturity,
however, only happens to a few.
Repression - The most common type of defense mechanism.
Repression is forcing socially unacceptable and undesirable
impulses into the unconscious.
Regression - During stress and anxiety, the adult would revert to
their childhood behavior. In this mechanism, it is the state
wherein returning to the earlier, safer, and more secure
behavioral patterns.
Fixation - When a person is anxious, the fixation they acquired
during their childhood is utilized. Fixation can be in the form of
oral or anal.
Sublimation - It is the mechanism where it benefits the individual
and the society. It is when a person experiences anxiety, they do
cultural and social activities as an outlet.
Projection - Projecting unwanted impulses into an external
object, usually another person. Such undesirable impulses seen
from others are found in the unconscious of the person.
Introjection - Adopting good qualities seen from others to self.
Reaction Formation - Repressed impulse that becomes
conscious is changed into its opposite form. Such mechanism is
seen from its excessive nature and its obsessive and compulsive
characteristics
Displacement - Redirecting the unwanted impulses from people
or objects, the means of disguising the original urges to a
disguised form. However, the subjects of displacement are
powerless targets, used as an outlet for their negative emotions.
Abnormal behavior are a cause of people’s unconscious
thoughts, desires, and memories that predominate and
influence our personality. An imbalance and conflict
between the provinces of the mind: ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
can result in anxiety that leads to abnormal behavior.
Ex: Id- dominated (Neurotic Anxiety) - Illogical and impulsive,
with no regard for the welfare of others.
Superego-dominated (Moral Anxiety) - Perfectionist,
Conservative and Unrealistic
Ego-dominated (Realistic Anxiety) - Psychologically healthy.
Freud applied his theory in his therapeutic technique by
analyzing the memories, dreams, behaviors, and thoughts of
people in the hopes of uncovering repressed feelings that
allow unconscious thoughts to be transferred to the conscious
mind.
Determinism - Freud believed more in the idea that the behavior of a
person is determined because of past events, rather than present goals.
Childhood experiences mostly influence the adult personality, and the
remnants of the Oedipus complex remain in the unconscious.
Pessimism - Humans are innately cruel and capable of destruction.
The drives of sex and aggression enable the person to exploit other
people for sexual pleasure and destruction.
Causality - Present behavior is significantly molded by past causes
rather than the goals they have for the future. Adult persons, revert to
primitive and safe patterns of behavior during their childhood as a
means of removing tension or anxiety.
Unconscious -Freud believed that sex and drives make a person
submissive to their unconscious.
Biological - Infantile desires and anxieties are from the biological
aspects of a human. It is evident in his concept of the Oedipus complex
wherein he utilized biological attributes that are influenced by their
behavior.
Middle position on uniqueness and similarities - Due to the shared
evolutionary past, people share a lot of characteristics. Nonetheless,
unique experiences, particularly those of early childhood, mold persons
in a relatively unique way and are responsible for the majority of
personalities
Strength:
His works contributed to the growing interest and
awareness of the public in understanding
personality and behavior. Freudian work's concepts
such as the unconscious mind, id-ego-superego,
role of childhood experiences in developing
personality, and various defense mechanisms
created a foundation for other theories to create or
modify their own theories.
Weakness:
Has no concrete supporting pieces of evidence that
are based on scientific data. His theory is not
falsifiable and parsimonious, Since his theory put an
emphasis on the unconscious, sex, aggression, and
early childhood experience, it is impossible to
quantitative measure and test. Although internally
consistent, his work lacked operationally defined
terms. His theory is strictly male-oriented because
Freud lacks an understanding of women and their
psyches.
Alfred Adler's Individual
Psychology
Social Interest - belongingness to one's society
> One is hindered due to physical deficiencies as a child. Thus
inferiority complex is developed.
2 Outcomes of Inferiority Complex:
> Strive for Personal Superiority - Exaggeration of feelings
> Strive for Success - Normal feelings towards incompletion
Main drive of personality: Final Goal
Goal of personal development: Social Interest
6 Main tenets of Individual Psychology:
1. Striving for success or superiority as a dynamic force of
behavior.
> Striving Force as Compensation
> Final Goal
2. Subjective perceptions shape behavior and personality.
> Fictionalism
> Physical Inferiorities
3. Unity and self-consistency of personality.
> Organ Dialect
> Conscious and unconscious
4. Social interest as the viewpoint of human activities’ value.
5. Self-consistency of personality develops into a style of life.
> Pampered style of life
> Neglected style of life
6. Creative power is what makes a person's style of life.
Excuses -Most common safeguarding tendency. It takes the
form of "yes, but" and "if only." exuces.
Aggression - People use aggression as a safeguard tendency to
protect their weak self-esteem and exaggerated superiority
complex. It comes into three forms: Depreciation, Accusation,
and Self-Accusation. Depreciation occurs when you undervalue
the efforts of other people while overvaluing your own. Accusation
takes the form of blaming other people for your misfortune and
protecting your self-esteem.
Withdrawal - It is the occurrence wherein you create a distance
between your problems and yourself. There are four types of
withdrawal: (1) moving backward, (2) standing still, (3) hesitating,
and (4) constructing obstacles.
Stems from an underdeveloped social interest and
exaggerated feelings of inferiority that prevents them to
strive for success, instead, they become psychologically
unhealthy, and only strive for personal superiority.
Psychotherapy involves increasing the patient’s social interest
and lessening their feeling of inferiority by providing a warm,
nurturing, and optimistic attitude.
Free choice - Personality is shaped according to the person's
interpretation of their experiences. He emphasized that people have the
free choice of who they want to become by utilizing their abilities as a
person.
Optimism - People's perceptions are more significant than the
experiences in molding their personalities. He said that people are
highly motivated by their present perceptions of their past experiences
and their future goals.
Teleology - Adler believed that people are progressing towards their
future goals, rather than their past events. The person's future goals are
determined on their behavior and the process of modifying their
personalities in achieving the goals.
Unconscious -Final goal was created during early childhood, making it
unconscious to the person. However, due to changes and development,
the goals became conscious and successfully achieving it.
Social influences - Having an established social interest makes a
person psychologically healthy and mature. The influences of social
interactions with other people affect how they shape their personalities.
Uniqueness - Each individual has their own set of goals and style of
life, thus making them different from other people. The creative power of
a person shows uniqueness in every individual.
Strength:
Adler’s concepts influenced other theorists that
incorporated his ideas into their works such as
Maslow, Horney, and Allport. His work is able to
generate research and even formulate scales to
measure social interest such as Social Interest
Scale (SIS), Social Interest Index (SII), and Basic
Adlerian Scales for Interpersonal Success (BASIS-
A).
Adlerian’s theory is parsimonious and internally
consistent.
Weakness:
The terms that were used by Adler such as
“Creative power” and “Goal of superiority” lack of
operational definitions. Adler’s theory is unscientific
and difficult to falsify.
Carl Jung's Analytical
Psychology Theory
Levels of the Psyche: Conscious, personal unconscious,
collective unconscious, archetypes
8 Archetypes:
1. Persona - One's personality that is known to the public.
2. Shadow - The side of one’s personality that is hidden and
unacknowledged. It is also called the archetype of darkness and
repression.
3. Anima - Represents the feminine side of men. Jung believed
the initial experiences of men with women were the origin of the
anima.
4. Animus - Represents the masculine side of women. Jung
claimed it was generated from the collective unconscious and
came from prehistoric women’s experiences with men. It also
symbolizes thinking and reasoning.
5. Great Mother - This archetype stemmed from the anima;
portrays (1) fertility and nourishment, (2) power and destruction.
6. Wise Old Man - It is the archetype of wisdom and meaning;
stemming from the animus. It refers to humans' prior
understanding of life's mysteries.
7. Hero - A person who is powerful enough to fight against evil but
has an insignificant, yet specific, weakness.
8. Self - The archetype of all archetypes as one comes in terms
and unifies all archetypes. It can only be achieved through self-
realization.
Main drive of personality: Sex, sexuality
Goal of personal development: Death
Stages of development: Childhood, youth, middle life, old age
1. Childhood - (1) anarchic, (2) monarchic, (3) dualistic
2. Anarchic - chaotic, sporadic
3. Monarchic - development of ego, logical and verbal thinking
4. Dualistic - objectivity, subjectivity
5. Youth - strive for independence
6. Middle Life - shifting of ideals which causes the desperate attempt
to maintain their youth.
7. Old Age - fear of death is normal
Carl Jung did not develop any defense mechanisms. Abnormal behavior arises when there is an imbalance
between the two opposing personalities. If there is an
imbalance, it prevents people from attaining their unified
selves. Involves work association, active imagination, and
dream analysis in order to unravel the patient’s collective and
personal unconscious. The goal of Jungian theory is to help
patients to achieve self-realization
Neither determinism nor free choice - Personalities are shaped by
neither determinism nor free choice because humans are similar to
opposing poles. He described humans as complex beings.
Neither optimism nor pessimism - Individuals are similar to the yin-
yang symbol. There are certain tendencies of a person to do good and
to do bad.
Both causality and teleology - Both causal and teleological factors
influence a person's personality. The concept of the occult affects the
person's behavior, while the changes occurring are essential in
achieving individuation.
Both conscious and unconscious - Conscious thoughts are the
motivation for shaping a person's personality. Yet, the personal
unconscious also influences the development of personality.
Biological -Collective unconscious from the biological inheritance
influences and is responsible for the person's behavior and actions.
Similarities - Jung believed that the differences between diverse
cultures were superficial. He came up with this conclusion during his
experiences with psychotherapy and said that the similarities are
significant.
Strength:
Jung’s theory generated various research,
specifically the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. His
theories introduced concepts of introverted and
extroverted feelings, personal/collective
unconscious, and archetypes that greatly influenced
not only the disciplines of psychology but also
media, literature, and popular culture.
Weakness:
Since Jung’s theories emphasized the concept of
mythological and occult phenomena, it was not
received well in terms of scientific evidence Jung's
theory and ideas are not testable and falsifiable. His
concept such as collective and personal
unconscious is impossible to empirically test.
Analytical Psychology is not parsimonious. The
terminologies used by Jung are not internally
consistent and lack operational definitions.

2. Melanie Klein's Object
Relations Theory
Positions: Paranoid-Schizoid, depressive
1. Paranoid-Schizoid Position - The position of controlling the
good breast and warding off its persecutors through the separating
of internal and external objects into categories. They also come to
split their ego in the process.
2. Depressive Position - The position wherein one feels guilt over
their desire to tear down a loved object, being filled with anxiety as
soon as they do.
Main drive of personality: Death drive
Psychic Life of an Infant: Phantasies, objects
1. Phantasies - An infant’s phantasies are active the moment they are
born as they have unconscious concepts of “good” and “bad”. Later in
life, these phantasies are shaped by reality and inherited
predispositions.
2. Objects - Humans have inborn instincts, including the “death
instinct”. These instincts serve as drives (hunger, sex, etc.), and these
drives have a sexual organ that they consider as their object (mother's
breasts, father's penis).
Introjection - Similar to Freud's defense mechanism of
introjection, it absorbs good qualities or benefits of an object.
However, Klein's introjection focuses on an infant and the
mother's breasts.
Projection - The complete opposite of introjection. The psychic
defense mechanism of projection focuses on the negative parts of
an object and the infant and directs it into an external object.
Splitting - In this stage, this is where an infant's ego is split into
the idea of a "good me" and a "bad me." They split apart the
good and bad features of themselves and the external object.
Projective Identification - Infants separate off undesirable
elements of themselves and project them to another object.
Eventually, introject them back into themselves in a modified or
altered form. Through this process, the infants identify
themselves with the object as they have transformed into the
thing by absorbing it back into themselves.
Arises when there is an unhealthy relationship between the
mother and the child. If the child feels loved and nurtured,
they will grow up to become a psychologically healthy
individual. However, the child would grow to be pathological
and self-absorbed.
Klein’s psychotherapy intents to lessen the anxieties and fear
of internalized objects and their own destructive fantasies. She
designed play therapy with the aim of allowing children to
differentiate their conscious and unconscious wishes.
Determinism - Mother-child relationship is influential on the person's
perception of these experiences. Later on during development, the
person's personality and behavior are determined.
Either optimism or pessimism- Mother-child relationship is crucial in
whether the child will grow into a psychologically healthy or unhealthy
individual. If the relationship created is healthy, the child is most likely to
be a healthy adult, while the opposite if the relationship is unhealthy.
Causality -Early experiences of Children are crucial to their personality
development. Meanwhile, their expectations of the future are
insignificant to their behavior.
Unconscious -In identifying the key factors influencing behavior in very
early infancy, before the development of verbal language. Similar to
Freud's phylogenetic endowment, it also influences the unconscious
mind.
Social influence - The relationship between the mother-child
determines the social abilities of the child. When social skills are
established, it develops into firm interpersonal behavior.
Similarities - Klein believed that her experience as a clinical therapist
with troubled patients made her focus on the discussions on the
difference between healthy and pathological personalities. She was less
focused on the differences among psychologically healthy personalities.
Strength:
Her theory was the first to recognize the importance
of playing as a meaningful activity for children. With
this idea, she was able to pioneer “play therapy”.
Klein’s works were deemed to be both internally
consistent and ranked high on their capacity to
guide action, especially mother-children
relationships.
Weakness:
Klein's Object relations theory is not falsifiable,
similar to other Freudian theories. It is impossible to
test and verify using scientific basis and research.
The theory wasn’t able to generate an amount of
research and was rated as low on its capacity to
organize knowledge in terms of periods beyond
early childhood. Klein’s theory lacks parsimony as
she used complex concepts and ideas.
Karen Horney's
Psychoanalytic Social
Theory
Basic hostility - Ensues due to lack of love and affection as a
child, especially when it involves one’s mother. Basin anxiety is
created when these feelings of hostility are repressed.
Idealized Self-Image Manifestations: Neurotic search for glory,
neurotic claims, neurotic pride
Self-Hatred Manifestations: Relentless demands on the self,
merciless self-accusation, self-contempt, self-frustration, self-
torment, self-destructive and impulses
Main drive of personality: Love, affection
> Results in safety, satisfaction, and security; and self-
realization.
3 Main Neurotic Trends - observed from the 10 neurotic needs
1. Moving toward - People seek the love and affection they did not
get as a child from other people.
2. Moving against - They become hostile, using other people for their
own benefit.
3. Moving away - This trend is simply shown through isolation. These
people believe in self-sufficiency, being obsessed with putting distance
between themselves and others.
Affection - It is a mechanism that may not always result in true
love. Some people may attempt to acquire love through self-
effacing submission, material possessions, or sexual favors in
their desire for love.
Submissiveness - People who utilize this protective device either
submit to another person or institutions like a religion or an
organization. Such people who submit to another person
frequently do so to get their affection.
Power - It is seen as the need to dominate other people. Usually
done to protect themselves from the real or imagined hostility
coming from other people.
Prestige - People who utilize prestige tend to humiliate other
people to gain recognition. It is to protect and avoid the self
against humiliation from others.
Possession - It is the tendency of a person to excessively
possess things as an act to deprive other people. Such people
who use this protective device protect themselves from the idea of
poverty and project it onto others.
Withdrawal - Isolate themselves from other people or detach
themselves emotionally from them to protect themselves from
anxiety. People who withdraw psychologically believe they are
invincible to the damages inflicted by others.
Abnormal behavior arises when we stick to only a single self-
protective mechanism against basic anxieties. These
neurotic needs would overpower and dominate our
personality. Horyneian psychotherapy aims to help patients
attain self-realization by letting go of their idealized self-image,
giving up their search for glory, and accepting the real self
rather than exhibiting self-hatred.
Free choice - Horney believed that a person has the power of free
choice in shaping their personality and behavior. With hard work and
motivation, an individual can overcome their intrapsychic conflicts
depending on their freedom to do it.
Optimism - Horney believed that a person has the power to achieve
and reach self-realization. They can be a healthy individual if they have
avoided and resolved the basic anxieties they have.
Middle position on causality and teleology - Horney believed that
childhood experiences hinder the self-realization of a person. However,
such experiences also influence their values and perceptions of the
future.
Middle position on conscious and unconscious - Horney believed
that a person has limited access to their motives. It often leads to
mislabeling their characteristics as they are somehow aware of their
anxiety, yet unaware of the basic conflict it brings. Social influence -
Horney believed that biological and anatomical differences did not
greatly influence a person's personality. However, the psychological
differences between men and women are more a result of cultural and
societal expectations.
Similarities - Horney believed that the effect of anxiety on a person is
somehow similar among individuals. They are mostly categorized into
three: the helpless, the hostile, and the detached.
Strength:
Horney’s theory is parsimonious which allowed the
general public to understand her concepts. She was
able to introduce neurotic personality in a
comprehensive and well-written manner that
provided a great framework to understand mental
problems.
Weakness:
Lacked empirical research that could back up her
claims nor was it Falsifiable. It did not have the
ability to generate research. Horney’s theory was
strictly based on Middle-class American people and
did not broaden its scope to other social classes
and cultures.
Erik Erikson's Post-
Freudian Theory
Extended psychoanalysis through specific psychosocial
struggles throughout the stages of development proposed by
Freud.
Erik Erikson’s theory also presents that these stages cannot be
skipped.
> One must successfully resolve one stage for them to develop
completely; This is due to the contribution of psychosocial
struggles to one’s personality.
Stages of development: Infancy, early childhood, play age, school
age, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, old age
1. Infancy - oral-sensory mode, basic trust vs basic mistrust, hope
2. Early Childhood - anal-urethral-muscular mode, autonomy vs
shame and doubt, will
3. Play Age - genital-locomotor mode, initiative vs guilt, purpose
4. School Age - latency, industry vs inferiority, competence
5. Adolescence - puberty, identity vs identity confusion, fidelity
6. Young Adulthood - genitality, intimacy vs isolation, love
7. Adulthood - procreativity, generativity vs stagnation, care
8. Old Age - generalized sensuality, integrity vs despair, wisdom
Erik Erikson did not develop any defense mechanism. Stems from not being able to resolve each conflict within
different stages. If one isn't able to resolve a crisis, one will
find have a hard time moving from one stage to another.
Unbalance development could arise maldevelopment. When
only the adaptive (positive) dominates the ego, it causes
maladaptive that lead to neuroses. When only the maladaptive
(negative) is present, malignant arises, causing psychoses.
Since Erikson’s theory put a great emphasis on the following:
history, culture, and biology. He applied these factors to his
assessments. He applied play therapy for emotionally troubled
children by observing their verbal and non-verbal expressions
through playing. He also used psychohistorical analysis.
Middle position on determinism and free choice - Erikson believed
that culture and history play a role in shaping personality, people do
have some limited control over their fate. Humans are not entirely
restricted by culture and history and can search for their identities.
Optimism - Erikson believed that even though a crisis occurs in early
childhood, it does not signify that life is already doomed. There is still a
possibility for change and to produce a better and healthier life by
resolving the crisis in the form of a syntonic or harmonious element.
Causality - Erikson believed that the early stages of development are
significant to the future personality of an adult. People are the products
of a specific historical period and social culture. It is inevitable to not fully
escape the strong causal effects of anatomy, history, and culture.
Middle position on conscious and unconscious - Erikson believed
that in early development, the motivation behind personality is
unconscious. However, due to progressive development, adults become
aware of their actions and motivation to perform activities.
Social influences - Erikson believed that as an individual goes through
the eight stages of development, their social influences also increase
and strengthen. Social relations cover and come from a single maternal
person to a global one.
Uniqueness - Erikson believed that individuals are unique because of
the differences in either cultural factors or relationships with other
people. Such unique individuals utilize their basic strengths to resolve
the crisis and execute it in their own ways.
Strength:
Erikson’s theory was able to extend Freud’s
developmental theory which includes stages beyond
early childhood and across the lifespan. Erikson
included periods of adolescence, adulthood, and old
age. It was able to generate a generous amount of
research, especially on his concept of go identity
and his developmental stages. Erikson’s
psychosocial theory is deemed internally consistent.
Weakness
Erikson did not necessarily base his concepts on a
scientific basis and it ranked low in terms of
organizing knowledge. His developmental stages
did not take into account various factors such as
gender, specifically women and social economic
status. Only being limited to middle-class American
men.

3. Erich Fromm's
Humanistic
Psychoanalysis Theory
Character Orientations - A relatively constant way of relating
people to things.
> 2 Types of Character Orientations
1. Nonproductive Orientations - Orientations that prevent
people from attaining positive freedom and self-realization. There
are four types of nonproductive: (1) Receptive, (2) exploitative, (3)
hoarding, (4) marketing
2. Productive Orientation - The healthiest character
orientation of all. They possess biophilia, a love for life, and all that
is alive.
Personality Disorders - Resulted from failure to possess biophilia.
Three severe disorders: (1) necrophilia, (2) malignant narcissism,
(3) incestuous symbiosis.
Main drive of personality: Desire to be connected with the world.
Goal of personal development: Unity with the world.
Human Needs: Relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, sense of
identity, frame of orientation
1. Relatedness - Desire to be connected with others. Three basic
ways of relatedness: (1) submission, (2) power, (3) love.
2. Transcendence - The desire to rise above passive existence and
enter the realm of purpose and freedom. Two types of transcendence:
(1) create, (2) destroy.
3. Rootedness - The need to feel connected with the world.
4. Sense of Identity - It is the ability to separate and identify yourself
as a different existence from nature.
5. Frame of Orientation - As one gains a sense of identity, one
needs a frame of orientation, a guide of some sort, to successfully
navigate the world.
Authoritarianism - It is the tendency to connect yourself with
something or someone to get the power that the individual lacks
by sacrificing one's individuality. It involves a unified connection
with a powerful partner that can take the structure of masochism
or sadism.
Destructiveness - It is somehow similar to the mechanism of
authoritarianism but differs since it does not depend on a
relationship with another person. This mechanism seeks to
destroy other people as a means of escape.
Conformity - By surrendering their individuality and becoming
what other people want them to be, people who utilize conformity
attempt to overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation. They feel
more powerless the more they conform, and the more weak they
feel, the more they are driven to conform.
Arises from people who aren’t capable of loving, thinking,
and working productively. They cannot form a union with
others around them and fail to form love. Psychologically
unhealthy people could be described into three personality
disorders:
Necrophilia (racist, destructive, bullies who center their entire
character on death and destruction)
Malignant narcissism (self-worth is based on narcissistic
ideals of self)
Incestuous Symbiosis (Extreme dependency on their mother)
The manner of psychotherapy is to see the therapist as a
human rather than an expert. The patient should understand
that they are interacting with someone who also has human
needs and could help them in satisfying or achieving their
own. Shared communication and a well-established
relationship between the therapist and the patient are crucial.
Middle position on determinism and free choice - Individuals have
varying degrees of tendencies toward freely chosen action. Nonetheless,
people's capacity for reason allows them to actively influence their own
fate.
Both pessimistic and optimistic - Few people acquire positive
freedom and that most people rarely manage to reunite with nature or
other people. He also emphasized the weaponization of modern
capitalism as a means of isolating and deep attachment to
independence and freedom.
Teleology - People have a constant drive to achieve the frame of
orientation, which acts as a guide to their lives in the future. It is
commonly used as a road map, with directions and navigation.
Conscious -People are self-aware of what they are doing, find logical
reasons behind their actions, and visualize their future. Self-awareness
can also lead to anxiety, as people repress their basic character.
Social influences -Aspects of culture, society, and history have a huge
impact on the shaping of personality. He gave this an emphasis on his
psychotherapy as his method relies on the patient's reunion with the
world.
Similarities -Culture and history of a person heavily influence their
personality thus, similar personalities arrises.
Strength:
Fromm was able to create brilliant writings that help
explain the nature of humans, making him the most
well-received essayist of personality theorists. It
ranks high on its ability to organize data and explain
human personality. His theory is internally
consistent and is able to guide action as it
encourages people to live productively,
Weakness:
His theory falls more on philosophical categories,
making it not falsifiable and verifiable by empirical
tests. His work is not parsimonious
Harry Stack Sullivan's
Interpsychic Theory
Anxiety is any emotion that may arise from feelings of insecurity in
a social context. Sullivan also has considered that people may be
aware, and also unaware, to some extent as to why they are doing
their actions.
> Security Operations - It is an interpersonal device that
minimizes the possible anxiety one may feel.
Dynamisms - A type of energy shift that identifies a person's
interpersonal interactions. This energy transformation resulted from
one's experiences with others.
Personifications - Feelings, attitudes, and thoughts which rises
out from one’s interpersonal experiences.
Goal of personal development: Each stage of development work
hand in hand with the formation of the human personality as a whole
by means of interpersonal relationship.
Sullivan’s theory provided six stages of development that are based on
social factors rather than biological ones.
1. Infancy - Bodily contact and tenderness as the primary needs,
especially from the child’s mother.
2. Childhood - A healthy relationship with both parents and the need
for their approval and praise are the primary needs during this stage.
3. Juvenile Era - Form a relationship and connection with one’s
peers, especially with the same sex.
4. Preadolescence - Starts to form an intimate relationship with
people.
5. Early Adolescence - Development of lust and sexual satisfaction
into one’s interpersonal relationship.
6. Late Adolescence - Discovering the world around you and the self
is the primary need in this stage and to stabilize all aspects of social,
cultural, and economic factors.
Sublimation - Sullivan's concept of sublimation is similar to the
concept of Freud's sublimation, where both focus on positively
releasing unwanted impulses. However, Sullivan emphasized
releasing these inappropriate impulses in improving interpersonal
behavior.
Selective inat tention - It is the inability to see a factor in a
social interaction that may result in anxiety. It is a powerful and
possibly dangerous mechanism that could prevent us from
seeing what is happening in our surroundings and affect our
capacity for dealing with it.
“as if” behavior - It is somehow similar to Adler's safeguarding
tendency of excuses. Behavior is the act of performing a
constructed but useful role. To meet the expectations of others, a
person may behave as if they are stupid, even though they are
not.
Abnormal behaviors stem from the social environment of an
individual and their interpersonal relationships with
people. Sullivan also believed that every single one of us
possesses psychological deficiencies but not to a certain
degree compared to psychiatric patients.
Psychotheraphy involves working on a patient’s difficulties in
forming a relationship with others and their inability to relate to
people. Sullivan encourages face-to-face relationships with his
patients to resolve anxieties and improve communication with
others.
Determinism - Although Sullivan did not explicitly identify whether his
theory is determinism or free choice, his beliefs imply that a person's
personality relies on the relationship they have with their parent. The
childhood experiences and relationships established with a parent
determine a child's dynamism.
Either optimism or pessimism - The first flow of energy of a child is
during the nursing period with their mother. If the child is nursed, it will
lead to the satisfaction of the child and behave obediently. Meanwhile, if
the child is neglected early on, they develop derogatory self-dynamism
towards others and the self.
Causality - Parent and child relationship is crucial for the personality's
development. He introduced the concept of parataxic experience
wherein it determines the causal relationships between related
occurrences.
Both conscious and unconscious - The motives and behaviors of an
individual may be unconscious to some. However, in their relationship
with other people, humans are aware of their actions and the reasons
underlying them.
Social -The first social relationship with a parent is a significant element
in their interpersonal relationship, If established correctly, they can
develop various social relationships with other people that also influence
their interpersonal relationship.
Uniqueness - Each individual has unique experiences with their
interpersonal relationships and perception of them. These experiences
are responsible for their personality and behavior as a child and an
adult.
Strength:
Sullivan’s theories rank high on scientific and
empirical validation. Although no scientific
background, Sullivan was able to create a theory
based on a scientific approach. He had a great
contribution to psychopathology with his works
discussing the causes and treatments of
Schizophrenia. Sullivan and his theory is recognized
as the first comprehensive personality theory in
America
Weakness:
The theory lacks operational definitions and is not
internally consistent. Not parsimonious.
Henry Murray's
Personology Theory
Proceeding - Patterns of behavior that have clear beginnings and
endings.
Need - It is a construct that organizes one’s perception,
understanding, and behavior.
These needs include dominance, deference, autonomy,
aggression, abasement, sex, sentience, exhibition, play, affiliation,
rejection, succorance, nurturance, infavoidance, defendance,
counteraction, harm avoidance, order, and understanding.
Goal of personal development: Allow our personality to be
spontaneous and flexible, and to each stage are are crucial in
strengthening both ego and superego.
Stages of Development: Murray describes these stages as
something every one of us experiences at some point and leaves a
mark on the development of our personality in the form of complexes
that stems from our unconscious. These five stages are the following:
claustral, oral, anal, urethral, genital.
1. Claustral Stage - When we are in the womb, we feel secure, warm,
and protected against the chaos of the world. People with complexes
like this grow up too dependent on others and avoid any
circumstances they deem unsafe. They feel unsafe, helpless, and
secure when they don't develop this complex.
2. Oral Stage - Consists of oral aggression (aggressive behaviors,
biting, sucking, hunger for affection and love) and oral rejection
(starvation, avoidance of dependency, vomiting, and seclusion from
others)
3. Anal Stage - Anal rejection (destruction and disorganization) and
Anal retention (excessive cleanliness and orderliness)
4. Urethral Stage - People have unrealistic goals and disoriented self-
views.
5. Genital/Castration Stage - Stems from fear of the penis being cut
off could lead to their concern about masturbation and punishment
from their parents.
Henry Murray did not develop any defense mechanism. Arises when there is an imbalance between the id and
superego, similar to Fred’s theory. An id-dominated person is
impulsive and lives a life doing crimes. Murray also theorized
that abnormal behavior is caused when one is fixated on a
single development stage and is not able to grow beyond it.
This prevents the development of the ego and superego.
Murray did not use the same psychoanalytic as other
theorists, instead use tests such as the Thematic
Apperception test to assess unconscious thoughts, feelings,
and fears.
Free choice - Murray believed a person has their freedom to modify
their personality and behavior according to their need. Their free choice
to change their behavior makes an unsatisfiable situation to have an
increase in satisfaction.
Optimism - People are capable of change to satisfy their need to have
a successful proceeding, serial, serial program, ordination, and
schedules.
Both causality and teleology - Both past events and future goals are
important in forming a person's personality.
Conscious -A person is conscious of their motivations and needs. They
are aware that their needs are to be satisfied, according to their
hierarchy of needs.
Biological - Personality is influenced by brain functions. Therefore, it is
the anatomical source of personality. The physiology of the brain and
personality have a significant relationship.
Uniqueness - Each individual has their own set of a hierarchy of needs,
depending on the intensity and strength of the need. With this, it claims
that there are differences in the needs of an individual, making them
unique in their own ways.
Strength:
Murray’s theory generates an amount of research,
specifically with this psychogenetic needs. Murray’s
work has a huge impact on further developing
psychological tests to assess personality.
Weakness:
His theory is complex and lacks parsimony.