It is an undeniable fact that what distinguishes human beings from their peers is their way of thinking, feeling and perceiving reality. It is our way of relating to the environment that differentiates us, and the way in which a person reacts to stimuli is a general definition of what is considered personality.
That is why we see that the reaction to a given stimulus varies from one individual to another. Some people are paralyzed by fear, others cry, and some react effectively and quickly. Why do we react differently to the same situation?
This question has occupied the minds of great thinkers, who have tried to discover the root of this difference. What causes it? And because of them, multiple theories of personality have been developed.
Theoretical study of personality
Many authors have established the causal agent of personality variations as individual differences, which are defined as the result of the social, family, historical and environmental context that surrounds the development of the person, and that determines their interaction and reaction to different stimuli.
Human interactions are a key process in many aspects that involve the order and creation of various systems in the daily environment of society, which is why great exponents of the psychiatric and psychological branch, such as Freud, Maslow and Jung, paid special attention to attention to the factors that determine the development of the human being, on which they based various theories of personality. The field of psychology that studies this area ranges from a simple empirical search for the differences between human beings to philosophical inquiry that seeks to answer the meaning of life.
Many theories start their studies from the definition of the influence on the socio-affective reactions that determined the development and evolution of an individual.; to the historical and environmental context, which exposed the individual to certain events that could push him to generate certain characteristic traits of his personality. The genetic constitution is said in new trends to limit our learning, since it is assumed that genes, in their capacity as a structure that transmits information, act as vectors, through which our ancestors inherited part of the learning that they developed. in its context.
As can be seen, this is an extensive field, and in some ways it enjoys imprecision in its criteria, due to the lack of instruments and methods that determine absolute parameters, which makes subjectivity a present characteristic, to a greater or lesser extent. measure, in psychological studies. However, methods of observation and verification of postulates through trial and error methods have allowed the construction of generalized theories, which are considered to provide answers to questions on the subject of personality.
Aspects that influence the postulate of personality theories
The development of a theory in the field of personality psychology is a delicate task, so the scientist, in his capacity as an evaluating entity, must seek to maintain impartiality of judgment, avoiding errors, or incur in the development of a postulate not in accordance with the phenomenon evaluated. The development of a failed hypothesis represents a loss of prestige for the psychologist who proposes it, and in addition to this it contributes to generating a state of chaos and confusion in the environment in which it is proposed.
In the development of personality theories, three factors have been identified that condition the impartial judgment in the individual carrying out the study:
- Dogmatism: It is closely linked to the concept of the archetype, since the human being clings to the concepts that have worked in past times. That is why when studying how human beings develop in their environment, our dogmatic nature may seek to put past judgments as justification for the observed events. This limits the veracity of the study, and subjects us to the risk of being guided by outdated dogmas.
- Egocentrism: Here the characteristic factors of individual personality are included (experiences, genetic and physiological factors and family history), since it is considered that one's own personality influences the approach of the study carried out, and the conclusions obtained.
- Ethnocentrism: It is considered that the cultural aspect that surrounds the development of the scientist who carries out the evaluation, strongly influences his criteria and perceptions. Culture even determines the topics that people are capable of evaluating, since in other times, psychologists did not dare to openly touch on topics of a sexual or religious nature, due to the great taboo that surrounded the context of their study.
Based on the particular studies of each scientist, an explanation is given below to the theories raised on this topic by the main exponents in the area.
analytical perspective
Personality theories based on this perspective revolve around the development of unconscious actions. It is believed that human beings are unaware of the factors that affect their personality; self-knowledge and self-concept are considered limited.
Jung's archetypal personalities: This scientist believed that personality developed in adulthood. Jung experimented with unconscious processes, based on studies on dreams and fantasies. Jung considered the unconscious a powerful tool for unraveling the mysteries surrounding the psyche.
This scientist, whose studies are not part of mainstream psychology, developed a theory based on archetypes that are images established in a general sense that represent society's general view of an event, concept or principle The main archetypes defined by Jung are: the mother, the father, the shadow, the anima and the animus, the hero and the trickster.
Sigmund Freud: He is the father of psychoanalysis, he believed that the phase of personality development (unlike what was established by Jung) occurred in childhood, and he created a theory based on objects, in which the psychic structure is conceived divided into 3 parts:
Hello: It is the part of the personality determined by basic drives and desires (hunger, sleep, thirst, sex), and that does not establish actions based on rational judgments. The id acts based on immediate satisfaction, and does not consider effects or consequences. By many it is defined as the animal and instinctive part of the human being.
superego: It is the conscious and moral part of the human psyche, defined as the structure that questions actions, taking the rules and other ethical parameters as a principle, considering whether their implementation is adequate.
I: Intermediate structure that puts into trial both extremes, that of the rules, and the instinctive one (of satisfaction of basic needs). To this structure he attributes the development of defense mechanisms to complex psychological situations (denial, reaction, identification, rationing), defining anxiety as the response to failure to adapt to reality.
Psycho-analytical and social perspective: The personality theories of this branch are based on the combination of the postulates of psychoanalysis, with the social environment that surrounds the individual:
Alfred Adler: His theory is known as individual psychology, since the scientist focused his attention on the fact that each person is unique, maintaining that each person must be understood from a social and not a biological perspective. This scientist is based on the fact that the individual develops under an evolutionary desire that induces him to overcome his inferiority complex. This author introduced the concepts of these complexes (superiority and inferiority) as a determinant in the development of psychosis, which can influence the development of wrong lifestyles (ruling type, achiever type, evasive type) or a style of healthy life (useful type).
Erik Erikson: For the development of his contribution to personality theories, He carried out an analysis of the social perspectives of the stages of development defined by Freud, that is, for each Freudian stage he established an analogy from the social perspective.
This scientist's approach brought closer the psychoanalytic approach that considers social and cultural relationships instead of focusing solely on the individual processes of the person.
Karen Horney: She issued a theory that approaches psychoanalysis from an interpersonal point of view. She considered that behavior was affected by conflict and behavioral alterations arose from unresolved problems. She established three types of neurotic actions: Go towards people, go against people or move away from people.
Trait Perspective
Traits are variables that ultimately shape the characteristics of a person. In this current, researchers focused on the study of them:
Allport: This scientist established a theory that has been defined as based on “common sense,” stating that from early childhood there is consistency in personality development. He believed in the influence of biological and psychological factors on personality.
Cattell: This scientist thought that personality was a factor that allowed us to predict how a person would react to specific circumstances, where traits are the units to which we can give predictive value. The most important contribution he made was the systematization of personality, and he worked on the contrast of these traits in various individuals.
Cognitive perspective:
The personality theories developed in this current focus on the cognitive factor as a determinant in the process, in which the individual is assumed to be the entity capable of molding the characteristics that will define their behavior. Among the theories raised in this perspective, we have:
Kelly: His theory is known as “personal constructs,” and was based on the study of the individual's thoughts. It differs from cognitive approaches in the fact that it focuses on the individual, and not on the circumstances that surround them, since, for Kelly, personality is the result of internal processes.
Mischel and Bandura: Psychologists known for their cognitive approach to social learning. Contributing with his theory, support for the fact that the cognitive factor constitutes an important variable in the definition of personality. They are known for breaking with the study variables, defined in terms of traits.