Personality

-can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that
uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations. The
word "personality" originates from the Latin persona, which means mask. Significantly, in the
theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise
the identity of a character, but rather was a convention employed to represent or typify that
character.

-is the sum total of the traits and characteristics and patterns of adjustment of an
individual that sets him apart or makes him different from other individuals.

COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY

1. Physical or biological traits and characteristics

2. Capacities
3. Psychosocial traits
4. Spiritual and moral values
5. Temperament

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

• TRAIT THEORIES
-describes a personality by its position on a number of scales, each of which
represents a trait

1. Allport’s Personal Dispositions.

a. Secondary traits-when the traits are so many that they merely express
isolated interests; better characterized as attitudes than traits such as
likes and dislikes, positive or negative attitude towards something
b. Central traits-when the traits are too few to describe a person.
c. Cardinal traits-when a person is dominated by a single outstanding trait
that makes him stand out
2. Cattell’s Theory of Surface and Source Traits
a. Surface traits- mostly learned or acquired values that make man socially
acceptable or not
b. Source traits- innate or inborn traits

• DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
1. Psychoanalytic Theory of Development- the theory holds that we undergo
maturational scheme of psychosexual stages and at each stage, psychosocial
crises occur which if successfully met lead to maturity of psychological
development; if unsuccessfully met, leaves a neurotic residue.
a. Compulsive personality- characterized by excessive cleanliness,
orderliness, stinginess and punctuality
b. Authoritarian personality- characterized by highly conventional behavior ,
superstition, destructiveness, desire for power, concern over sex
2. LEARNING THEORIES- personality is the result of learning through reward and
punishment. The things learned become habits and traits that make up the
individual’s personality distinct from others.

3. ROLE THEORIES-describes personality according to the manner in which the

individual meets the various demands that society makes upon in his role as
a child, parent, man, woman, worker or citizen
a. Age-sex positions
b. Occupational positions
c. Prestige positions
d. Family, clan or household
e. Position in association/groups based on congeniality or common interest

• THEORIES OF PERSONALITY DYNAMICS

1. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory.

a. The Id – consists of innate instinctual drives of sexual and aggressive in
nature which seeks immediate gratification of primitive, irrational pleasure
seeking of drives
b. The Ego- personality responsible for controlling behavior in socially
approved ways; there is rational thinking
c. The Superego-the conscience, the sense of right and wrong

2. Lewin’s Field Theory- the individual is in a field called his life space/
environment in which conflicts arise and there are alternatives to resolve the
conflicts. The ways the individual reacts and resolves the conflict are what
makes him different from other individuals.

• OVERCOMPENSATION THEORY (Alfred Adler) – described as trying to excel in

something to compensate a weakness or deficiency.

• NEED THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

1. Karen Horney’s Theory of Personality- a child may resolve conflicts in one of

three ways:
a. Moving toward people- an individual tries hard to please people to win
their love, affection and approval
b. Moving against people- an individual works hard to attain power, prestige,
dominance, financial and sexual success to the point of becoming ruthless
and unscrupulous
c. Moving away from people- an individual hates to be tied down and so he
avoids being too close to others; he likes to be superior and strives for
perfection

2. Erich Fromm’s Isolation Theory- man has been isolated from nature and from
other men and this has given rise to five basic needs which if not satisfied
would result in frustration and problems. These 5 basic needs are:
a. Relatedness
b. Transcendence
c. Rootedness
 d. Identity
e. Frame of orientation

3. Maslow’s Self-actualization theory- man is innately good and self

actualization is his goal. Blocking this goal gives frustration and neurosis to
man.
a. Biological needs
b. Psychological needs
c. Self actualization needs