Theories of Personality

Theories of personality
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(December, 2012)
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Table of contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc344561250 \h 3
Theories of Personality PAGEREF _Toc344561251 \h 3
Traits theories PAGEREF _Toc344561252 \h 3
Psychoanalytic theory PAGEREF _Toc344561253 \h 4
Behavioral or social learning PAGEREF _Toc344561256 \h 4
Humanistic views PAGEREF _Toc344561257 \h 5
Importance of theories of personality PAGEREF _Toc344561258 \h 5
From Theory to Research to Practice PAGEREF _Toc344561259 \h 6
Different Approaches but Similar Goals PAGEREF _Toc344561260 \h 7
Psychoanalytic Theory PAGEREF _Toc344561261 \h 7
Behavioral Theory PAGEREF _Toc344561262 \h 8
Humanistic Theory PAGEREF _Toc344561263 \h 9
Cognitive Theory PAGEREF _Toc344561264 \h 10
The theory that works best for me PAGEREF _Toc344561265 \h 10
Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc344561266 \h 10
References PAGEREF _Toc344561267 \h 12
Introduction
Personality is also known as personality psychology. It is the study of the person, that is, the whole human individual. When people think of personality they think of personality differences (types, traits and the like). They also refer to characteristics of a individual or the person`s social skills. However, when the psychologists talk of personality they are mainly interested in the following; first of all, establishing why people of with same heredity, motivation and experience react differently in the same stimuli and secondly, why the same people with the same experience, heredity, or motivation might reaction the same when exposed to the same stimuli (DiCaprio,1983).
Personality is made up the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. Personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life. When explaining personality, psychologists may use idiographic or homothetic techniques. The study of personality involves many aspects of human behavior; almost everything an adult human organism does or can do. Theories of personality organize what we do know, stimulate new research, and formally specify a view of personality. Four groups of such theories have been developed in the past century: trait, psychoanalytic, behavioral or social learning, and humanistic views (DiCaprio, 1983).
Theories of Personality
Traits theories
The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed broad dispositions. Consider how you would describe the personality of a close friend. Chances are that you would list a number of traits, such as outgoing, kind and even-tempered. A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in certain ways (Cloninger, 2012).
Unlike many other theories of personality, such...