Personality psychology

Personality psychology is a part of psychology that looks at what makes each person unique. It studies why people think, feel, and act differently from each other.

Personality is like a special pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that stay with a person over time. It helps predict how someone might react to new situations, other people, or problems.

The word "personality" comes from a Latin word meaning "mask". This shows how people might present themselves in different ways.

There are many ways to study personality. Some focus on general patterns, like being very outgoing. Others look at what makes each person special. Researchers use many methods to understand personality better.

Philosophical assumptions

Personality psychology studies what makes each person unique. Many ideas about personality come from basic beliefs by thinkers. These beliefs mix art, science, and philosophy.

One big question is whether people control their own actions or if outside forces decide for them. Another question is whether our traits come from our genes or from our life experiences. Some experts think we are all unique, while others focus on what we share. We also wonder if people act on their own or react to what happens around them. Finally, some theories are hopeful about people changing, while others are more cautious.

Personality theories

Type and trait theories

Personality type groups people into different classes. Personality traits vary in degree. For example, in type theory, people are either introverts or extroverts. In trait theories, introversion and extroversion exist on a scale, with many people in the middle.

Personality is complex, and theories about it grow as more psychologists study it.

The most accepted model of lasting personality traits is the system of Big Five personality traits: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion-introversion. This model is based on grouping verbal descriptions from self-reporting surveys. These traits show significant genetic heritability.

An ancient attempt at personality psychology comes from Buddhist Abhidharma schools, focusing on negative traits like greed, hatred, and delusion, and meditation practices to counter them.

A European tradition of psychological types began with Carl Jung’s theoretical work, continued by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine C. Briggs through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and later by David Keirsey and Aušra Augustinavičiūtė.

These theories can also be seen as approaches to understanding personality. They often describe behavior in terms of fixed, opposite characteristics. For example, the sensing/intuition preference divides people into "N" (intuitive) or "S" (sensing) types. These are further divided into temperaments like "NT" (scientist, engineer) or "NF" (author, humanitarian), and "SJ" (guardian, traditionalist) or "SP" (performer, artisan). Critics argue these types can stereotype people by profession, leading to the development of the five-factor view, which focuses more on personal and emotional behavior.

Type A and Type B personality theory, defined by Meyer Friedman and his team, suggests that intense Type A personalities have a higher risk of health issues due to stress, while Type B personalities are more relaxed and lower-risk.

Eduard Spranger’s personality model describes six basic types of value attitudes. The Enneagram of Personality is a model of nine interconnected personality types, though it has been criticized for being hard to test scientifically. John L. Holland’s RIASEC vocational model, or Holland Codes, focuses on career choices and proposes six personality types influencing people’s career paths.

Psychoanalytical theories

Psychoanalytic theories explain behavior through the interaction of personality components. Sigmund Freud founded this school of thought, drawing on physics to coin the term psychodynamics. He proposed that psychic energy could be converted into behavior. Freud divided personality into three parts: the id, ego, and superego. The id acts on the pleasure principle, the ego balances the id’s demands with reality, and the superego instills moral judgment and societal rules.

Freud also proposed five psychosexual stages of development, believing that adult personality is shaped by early childhood experiences. One of Freud’s associates, Alfred Adler, emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences and birth order in shaping personality. Another important figure, Karen Horney, developed feminist psychology and disagreed with Freud on some points.

Behaviorist theories

Behaviorists explain personality through the effects of external stimuli on behavior. These theories emphasize scientific thinking and experimentation, developed by B. F. Skinner, who focused on the interaction between the person and their environment. Skinner believed behavior is shaped by consequences, such as attention, through processes like operant conditioning.

Richard Herrnstein extended this theory, accounting for attitudes and traits, while Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments with dogs laid the foundation for behaviorism.

Social cognitive theories

Cognitive theories explain behavior as guided by thoughts about the world, especially others. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, known for the Bobo doll experiment, showed how children learn through observation and modeling.

Early cognitive approaches include work on field dependency by Witkin, category preferences by Gardner, and confidence in line discrimination by Block and Petersen. Central to this field are attributional style theory, which deals with how people explain events, and achievement style theory, focusing on locus of control and its impact on academic performance.

Walter Mischel defended a cognitive approach to personality, referring to “Cognitive Affective Units.” Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST) posits two information-processing systems: experiential (fast, emotion-driven) and rational (slow, logic-driven). Personal construct psychology, developed by George Kelly, views people as scientists interpreting the world through unique constructs.

Humanistic theories

Humanistic psychology emphasizes free will and subjective experiences. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers were proponents, focusing on the whole person rather than separate traits. Maslow studied “self-actualizing persons,” describing characteristics like awareness, reality and problem focus, acceptance, and a non-hostile sense of humor.

Rogers emphasized the therapeutic relationship and reflective responses, allowing clients to guide their own healing.

Biopsychological theories

Biology plays a key role in personality development. Early thinking about biological bases of personality came from Phineas Gage’s accident, where an iron rod changed his personality. Researchers now use techniques like electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study personality traits in the brain, leading to the field of personality neuroscience.

Genetic basis of personality

Since the Human Genome Project, there has been debate about the role of genetics versus environment in personality. Genes influence personality, but the environment determines which genes are activated. Twin studies compare genetically identical twins to understand the impact of genetics on personality. These studies show that identical twins are more similar in personality traits than fraternal twins, indicating a genetic influence.

Evolutionary theory

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution influences personality psychology by examining how natural selection shapes personality differences. Traits that aid survival and reproduction, such as conscientiousness and sociability, are emphasized. Evolutionary psychiatry suggests that personality traits might be risk factors for conditions depending on environmental context.

Drive theories

In the 1930s, John Dollard and Neal Elgar Miller tried to integrate drives into personality theory, building on Clark Hull’s work. They believed personality could be seen as habitual responses based on secondary, or acquired drives. These drives are learned through classical conditioning and build on primary biological drives like hunger and thirst. Secondary drives, such as the need for money, arise from multiple primary drives and social conditions. Dollard and Miller emphasized the importance of learning secondary drives in childhood development.

Personality tests

There are two main kinds of personality tests: projective and objective.

Projective tests, like the Rorschach test, show people unclear pictures such as ink blots. People describe what they see. This can give clues about their hidden thoughts. Another projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test. In this test, people look at scenes and tell stories about them. These tests help explore deeper feelings and ideas.

Objective tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, ask people directly about their thoughts and feelings through questions they answer themselves. These tests are often used because they can be easier to score and understand than projective tests. Both types of tests help researchers and therapists learn more about what makes each person unique.