This document provides an overview of several theories of personality, including: - Behaviorist theory by B.F. Skinner, which proposes that personality is shaped by reinforcement and punishment from the environment. - Humanistic theories developed in the 1950s that emphasize each individual's uniqueness and potential for self-actualization. Theorists discussed include Carl Rogers. - Trait theory proposed by Gordon Allport, which views traits as the basic units of personality. - Several assessment models and their key dimensions are also outlined, such as Raymond Cattell's 16 personality factors and Hans Eysenck's three dimensions of personality.

1. 1. MEANING AND DEFINITION OF
PERSONALITY
2. THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
NAME: SAIMA KHALIL
DEPARTMENT:EDUCATION
SUBJECT: ADVANCE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE # 522

3. The Meaning of Personality
The term personality is derived from the Latin word
persona meaning a mask. Personality is a patterned body
of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual as
these are organized externally into roles and statuses
and as they relate internally to motivation, goals and
various aspects of selfhood.

4. DEFINITIONS
 The set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving, etc.,
that makes a person different from other people.
 Attractive qualities (such as energy, friendliness, and
humor) that make a person interesting or pleasant to
be with.
 Attractive qualities that make something unusual or
interesting.

6. Personality
 Personality refers to individual differences in
characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and
behaving. The study of personality focuses on two
broad areas: One is understanding individual
differences in particular personality characteristics,
such as sociability or irritability. The other is
understanding how the various parts of a person come
together as a whole.

7. Theory
 A set of assumptions, propositions, or
accepted facts that attempts to provide a plausible
or rational explanation of cause-and-effect (causal)
relationships among a group of observed
phenomenon. The word's origin (from the
Greek thorós, a spectator), stresses the fact that all
theories are mental models of the perceived reality.

8. Behaviourist theory of personality by
Skinner :
 Skinner believed that it is simply human nature that
we behave in such a way that we would receive rewards
or favorable things. If we want to experience
reinforcement, then we should develop personality
traits that are positive, such as those attributes
included in the "agreeableness" category of the Big
Five (e.g. being understanding, compassionate,
empathetic, and a positive thinker). In this sense,
Skinner argued that we respond to every kind of
reinforcement, and that our behavior and personality
traits can be shaped and controlled by the society.

9. BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

10.  B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant
conditioning; it means roughly changing of behavior
by the use of reinforcement which is given after the
desired response. Skinner identified three types of
responses or operant that can follow behavior.
 • Neutral operants: responses from the environment
that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a
behavior being repeated.
 • Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that
increase the probability of a behavior being repeated.
Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.
 • Punishers: Responses from the environment that
decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
Punishment weakens behavior.

11. Rogers
 American
 1902-87
 believed that all people are born good, with
considerable potential, and that each person has the
ability to achieve their full potential as an individual if
they are able to overcome a series of hurdles
 Rogers emphasised the importance of free will, we are
all individuals who freely choose to behave in whatever
way we desire, and we act according to that choice

12. Person-centred theory
 Developed by Rogers based
on clinical work with his
Clients
 Believed each person is like
The seed of an enormous
tree

13. Allport’s Theory Of Personality
 Trait basic unit of personality
 Used the term personal dispostion to represent traits
 A trait is more generalized then a habit
 A trait is dynamic, or at least deterministic of behavior
 A trait’s existence may be established empirically

14. Humanistic theories of personality
 Emerged in 1950s in America
 Humanistic theories of personality emphasise the
uniqueness of each individual and the positive qualities
and potential of all human beings to fulfil their lives
 Based on the assumption that all people are born good and
that all individuals strive to reach their full potential
throughout their lives
 Believe that a healthy personality is the result of a person
achieving their full potential
 Also believe that personality is made up of all experiences
up to any point in time
 to understand someone’s personality fully, you must try to
understand the dilemmas and choices they have made in
their lives from their perspective

15. Raymond Cattell
 Raymond B. Cattell entered the field of psychology almost against his
own better judgment. After working in a hospital during World War I,
he decided that understanding human behavior and interaction is the
only way to get beyond the irrationality of the times. While a graduate
student at London University, he was hired as a research assistant to
Charles Spearman, a mathematician studying the quantification of
intelligence. Spearman, a well known name in the field of intellectual
assessment, developed a mathematical formula known as factor
analysis. This statistical technique allows one to take raw data and
determine groupings of data. In other words, if you and many others
took a general test that had both math and English questions, a factor
analysis would likely determine that there were two factors or
groupings on this test. Imagine the power of this technique for lesser
understood concepts such as intelligence and personality
According to Cattell. The key to assessment is determining
where on the continuum an individual falls. The 16 traits are shown in
the chart below.

16. Cattell's 16 Personality Factors
 Abstractedness imaginative versus practical
 Apprehension insecure versus complacent
 Dominance aggressive versus passive
 Emotional Stability calm and stable versus high-strung and
 Liveliness enthusiastic versus serious
 Openness to Change liberal versus traditional
 Perfectionism compulsive and controlled versus indifferent
 Privateness pretentious versus unpretentious
 Reasoning abstract versus concrete
 Rule Consciousness moralistic versus free-thinking
 Self-Reliance leader versus follower
 Sensitivity sensitive versus tough-minded
 Social Boldness uninhibited versus timid
 Tension driven and tense versus relaxed and easy going
 Vigilance suspicious versus accepting
 Warmth open and warmhearted versus aloof and critical

17. Eysenck
 Identified three dimensions of personality
 Extraversion (Introversion)
 Neuroticism (Stability)
 Psychoticism (Superego function)
1. Psychometric evidence for each
2. Strong biological evidence for each
3. Make sense theoretically (face validity)

18. Neo-Freudians
Neo-Freudians: students of Freud who eventually
started their own school of thought due to major
disagreements with some of Freud’s ideas.
Carl Jung: 1875-1961. (pronounced – Young).
- Analytical psychology
- Born in Switzerland, trained as a psychiatrist
- Believed Freud placed too much emphasis on sexuality
as a motive for behavior

19. Alfred Adler
1870-1937 (Vienna, Austria): MD (opthamologist).
“Behind everyone who behaves as if he were superior to
others, we can suspect a feeling of inferiority which
calls for very special efforts of concealment. It is as if a
man feared that he was too small and walked on his
toes to make himself seem taller.“ - Alfred Adler

20. Abraham Maslow’s Theory
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Maslow’s Approach
• Rejection of mainstream psychology & scientific
method
• Science too limited for studying human nature
• ‘Scientific attitude’ pathological (eg. Skinner’s)
• Began psychology career studying ‘dominance’ in
monkeys
• “Psychopathology of the average”

21. Maslow’s Theory
• Maslow’s methodology: identified self-actualisers
based on his own personal preference/bias
• Hierarchy of needs: some empirical support that lower
level needs are stronger than high-level when deprived
(eg. Wicker et al, 1993; Hagerty, 1999)
• Exceptions to the hierarchy of needs
• eg. ‘starving artist’

22. BIBLOGRAPHY
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personality
http://www.sociologyguide.com/personality/meaning-of-personality.
php
http://www.apa.org/topics/personality/
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/theory.html#ix
zz3GvzEq3zC
http://theprofitablelife.com/wp-content/
themes/thesis_151/rotator/growing-tree.jpg
www.authorstream.com/.../ratheeshthapasya-1713618-allport-2007

23. THANK YOU