COURSE ORIENTATION
Course Code: PSYTHEO212
Credit units: 3 units
Prerequisite/s: None
Course Category: Professional Course / Board Exam Subject
Course Description: Theories of Personality is a professional course / board
examination subject that will involve an introduction to the most important
theories on personality to date. This subject is a survey of the major theories of
personality and theoretical and practical issues involved in the scientific study
and understanding of personality formation and dynamics.
COURSE OUTLINE
PRELIM:
• Introduction to Personality Theories
• Psychology of the Individual
• 16 Personality Factor
• Biologically-based Factor Theory
• Five-Factor Trait Theory
• Psychoanalysis
• Analytical Psychology
• Individual Psychology
COURSE OUTLINE
MIDTERM:
• Psychoanalytic Social Theory
• Psychosocial Theory
• Behavioral Analysis
• Holistic-Dynamic Theory
• Person-centered Theory
• Humanistic Psychoanalysis
• Existential Psychology
COURSE OUTLINE
MIDTERM:
• Psychoanalytic Social Theory
• Psychosocial Theory
• Behavioral Analysis
• Holistic-Dynamic Theory
• Person-centered Theory
• Humanistic Psychoanalysis
• Existential Psychology
COURSE OUTLINE
PREFINALS: FINALS:
• Social Cognitive Theory • Security to Autonomy
• Cognitive Social Learning Theory • Development of the Self
• Psychology of Personal Construct • Separation Anxiety
• Evolutionary Theory of Personality • Attachment Style
• Object Relations Theory
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1.Attendance
2.Quizzes
3.Performance Tasks
4.Seat work
5.Homework
6.Article Readings / Case Studies
7.Group Presentations / Workshop Facilitating
8.Written / Oral Examination
GRADING SYSTEM
Class Participation 10%
(Seat work, Homework, Recitation)
Performance Task 50%
Quizzes 10%
Examination 30%
TOTAL 100%
INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY
THEORY
• Why do people behave as they do?
• Do people have some choice in shaping their own
personality?
• What makes people act in predictable ways? Why are
they unpredictable?
• What causes mental disturbances?
• Is human behavior shaped more by heredity or by
environment?
• Sigmund Freud began to combine
philosophical speculations with a
primitive scientific method
• “Grand Theory” attempted to explain all
personality for all people
INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY
THEORY
• Humans are not alone in their
uniqueness of and variability between
individual members of the species.
• The degree to which individual
humans vary from one another, both
physically and psychologically is quite
astonishing and somewhat unique
among species
PERSONALITY
• Psychologists differ among
themselves as to the meaning of
personality.
• Most agree that the term
“personality” originated from the
Latin word persona which referred
to a theatrical mask worn by
Roman actors in Greek dramas.
PERSONALITY
• Although no single definition is
acceptable to all personality
theorists, we can say that
personality is a pattern of
• relatively permanent traits and
unique characteristics that give both
consistency and individuality to a
person’s behavior.
PERSONALITY
Traits contribute to individual
differences in behavior,
consistency of behavior over time,
and stability of behavior across
situations.
It may be unique, common to
some group, but their pattern is
different from each individual.
PERSONALITY
Characteristics are unique
qualities of an individual that
includes attributes such as
temperament, physique, and
intelligence.
THEORY
A set of related assumptions that
allows scientists to use logical
deductive reasoning to formulate
testable hypotheses
THEORY AND ITS RELATIVES
Broader than
theory
THEORY AND ITS RELATIVES
Must be tied to
emperical data
and science
THEORY AND ITS RELATIVES
HYPOTHESIS
Specific guess
than can be
tested using
scientific method
WHY DIFFERENT THEORIES?
Different Personal Backgrounds
• Childhood experiences
• Interpersonal Relationships
Different Philosophical Orientations
Unique ways of looking at the World
Data chosen for observation is different
THEORISTS’ PERSONALITIES
Psychology of Science
The empirical study of scientific thought
and behavior (including theory
construction) of the scientist
The Personalities and psychology of
different theorists influence the kinds
of theories that they develop
WHY DIFFERENT THEORIES?
Different Unique ways
Interspersonal
Philosophical of looking at
relationships
orientations the world
Data chosen to
Childhood
experiences ? observe is
different
Different Theorists’
personalities &
Personal their theories of
backgrounds personality
WHAT MAKES A THEORY USEFUL
GENERATES The most important criterion of a useful theory
Creates two different kinds of research: Descriptive and
RESEARCH hypothesis testing
IS
FALSIFIABLE A theory must be evaluated on its ability to be confirmed
or disconfirmed; that is, it must be falsifiable.
(VERIFIABLE)
WHAT MAKES A THEORY USEFUL
ORGANIZES
KNOWN A useful theory should also be able to organize those
research data that are not incompatible with each other
DATA
GUIDES It has the ability to guide the practitioner over the rough
ACTION course of day-to-day problems
(PRACTICAL)
WHAT MAKES A THEORY USEFUL
IS
INTERNALLY A useful theory need not to be consistent with other
theories, but it must be consistent with itself.
CONSISTENT
When two theories are equal in their ability to generate
research, be falsified, give meaning to data, guide
IS practitioner, and be self-consistent, the simpler one is
preferred. Simple, straightforward theories are more
PARSIMONIOUS useful than complicated ones.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
DETERMINISM VS. FREE CHOICE
Do we consciously direct our own actions, or are
they governed by other forces?
Some personality theorists take extreme positions
on this issue. Others express more moderate views,
arguing that some behaviors are determined by
past events and some can be spontaneous and
under our control.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
PESSIMISM VS. OPTIMISM
Optimism/Pessimism: are we basically good or
evil?
Some theorists’ views of the human personality are
positive and hopeful, depicting us as humanitarian,
altruistic, and socially conscious. Other Theorists
find few of these qualities in human beings, either
individually or collectively.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
CAUSALITY VS. TELEOLOGY
Past/Present
Is our personality fixed by early events in our lives,
or can it be affected by experiences in adulthood?
Historical determinism: The view that personality is
basically fixed in the early years of life and subject
to little change thereafter.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
CONSCIOUS VS. UNCONSCIOUS DETERMINANTS OF
BEHAVIOR
Equilibrium / Growth
Are we motivated simply to maintain a physiological
balance or state of equilibrium, or does the urge to
grow and develop shape our behavior?
Some theorists believe that people are tension-reducing,
pleasure-seeking animals. Others consider us to be
motivated primarily by the need to grow, to realize our full
potential, and to reach for ever-higher levels of self
actualization and development.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
BIOLOGICAL VS. SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON PERSONALITY
Nature/Nurture: are we influenced more by heredity
(nature) or by our environment (nurture)?
As with the free will - determinism issue, the
alternatives are not limited to extreme positions. Many
theorists assume that personality is shaped by both
sets of forces. To some, inheritance is the predominant
influence and environment or minor importance;
others hold the opposite view.
DIMENSION FOR A CONCEPT OF
HUMANITY
UNIQUENESS VS. SIMILARITIES
Is the personality of each human being unique, or are
there broad personality patterns that fit large numbers
of persons?
We may think of personality as so individual that each
person’s action, each utterance, has no counterpart or
equivalent in any other person. This obviously makes
the comparison of one person with another
meaningless.
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF
PERSONALITY
TRAIT THEORY
Gordon Allport: Psychology of the Individual
Raymond Cattell: 16 Personality Factors
Hans Eysenck: Biologically Based Factor Theory
McCrae and Costa: Five Factor Trait Theory
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF
PERSONALITY
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis
Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology
Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology
Karen Horney: Psychoanalytic Social
Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Theory
BEHAVIORAL THEORY
Burrhus Frederic Skinner: Behavioral Analysis
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF
PERSONALITY
HUMANISTIC THEORY
Abraham Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic
Carl Rogers: Person-centered Theory
Eric Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis
COGNITIVE THEORY
Albert Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF
PERSONALITY
OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY
Melanie Klein: Object Relations
Margaret Mahler: Security to Autonomy
Heinz Kohut: Development of the Self
John Bowlby: Separation Anxiety
Mary Ainsworth: Attachment Style
