Personality Theories

Personality Theories

BEH 225
7/20/14

Personality Theories

I want to start with Maslow. Through Maslow the Humanistic Theory is a common theory in psychology. This theory beliefs that all people are naturally good. They want to grow and improve on their faults etc. When you think about Maslow, you will probably think of the famous “Hierarchy of Needs”. To be very visual, there is a pyramid. The bottom of the pyramid shows you the psychological, moving upwards, Safety, Love and Belonging, Self-Esteem and achieving excellence and most important is self-actualization. Reading this was very conflicting because this theory only beliefs that 1% of humans reach self-actualization. I don’t agree fully. I think self-actualization is very personal and not everyone has to be Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King etc. Regardless whether I agree or not, his theory contributes immensely to psychology and the study of personality. I can see where he came up with this theory because of the way we are as human beings. We have needs, we want gratification, we want positive outcomes, to be loved and belong, we have self-esteem needs. Women get breast augmentations many times for vain purposes because in reality, big breasts are not needed to breastfeed or live. We get boob jobs because we have a void in our DNA, we have a need to be more attractive, be socially accepted etc etc. This brings me to Freud.
Freud was the first to discuss the unconscious mind. We typically see the glacier like model of the id, ego, conscious and unconscious. The ego is the idea that the desires of the id must be satisfied in a method that is both socially appropriate and realistic. He is famous for talking about the oral stage, anal stage, latency stage and genital stage. From birth to 18 months children are in the oral stage biting and chewing on everything and totally dependent on mom. The next stage the anal stage, means they gain a sense of control over the environment when being potty trained. I assume he relates the anus because there is pleasure in using your bladder and sphincter muscles. When you use these muscles you become more independent 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvOoYX45G_0). This will make you look at your kids way differently if you buy into this theory. Like we see the demands of id. It requires instant gratification. The id wants more, in regards to sex and satisfaction. Researching this online brought me to many drawings and videos with the little angel and demon on our shoulders. I don’t understand why we still must study this theory as it proves that there is no actual psychological evidence that this theory is even remotely true. I don’t remember being such a sexual child obsessed with my dad and being jealous of my mother. I also noticed that its always directed towards men which makes this theory even more pointless and inconclusive for me. I think he was a little obsessed with sex and its driving force. Maybe he was sexually abused as a child or exposed to sexual material too early to understand. That is my own personal belief. I don’t believe we are motivated only by our unconscious and repressed urges we are unaware of. I am sure this is not 100% accurate or provable. I don’t believe its sex or nothing like Freud believed, this is too narrow and close minded. This leads me to Carl Jung who collaborated with Freud but was perplexed by his intense theory and decided, he didn’t agree after a while.
Carl Jung championed individuality. I love his theory. His work empowered you to question things you were taught and think to yourself if that had anything to do with you and your personal beliefs. According to psychology.about.com, Jung became more organized about his theoretical approach, broke from psychodynamic theories and formed his own theory called Analytical Psychology. Parting with Freud was certainly not easy. Freud closed ranks among his other followers. Jung's colleagues in the psychoanalytic community turned against him, as did many of his former friends. Can you imagine? You are buddy-buddy with someone who is revolutionizing the theory of personality and behavior and openly and painfully disagree one day. I admire it. Jung did believe in the human psyche and that for a person to become whole and fully developed as a human being, one must recognize individuation. Individuation is a process in which the various parts of a person, including the conscious and unconscious, become completely integrated so that the individual becomes his or her “true self” http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/jungprofile.htm.
Carl Rogers reminds me of Mr. Rogers. Yes the one we watched as children if you are my generation. Carl Rogers believed that people need an environment that provides them with genuineness, openness and self-disclosure, acceptance and being seen with unconditional positive regard. http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html. I watched some YouTube videos on Carl Rogers and I admire his work. I believe he was a very empathetic being and genuinely believed that humans respond to positive regard. He was huge on hearing people out by actively listening. His contribution to personality and behavior is outstanding in my own personal view. I also share his belief in regards to positive reinforcement. His belief was also that anyone can achieve their goals wishes and desires in life. This is where Maslow would say you’ve reached self-actualization and where I don’t agree that only 1% of us can reach that. His humanistic approach of the self-concept includes Self Worth or self-esteem which is how we think of ourselves. Self-image is how we see ourselves including body image and inner personality and Ideal self which is the person we would like to be http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html. Everyone wants to be better, whether it is personality related or career related or just in life. He believed that we need to be regarded positively by others and have a need to feel valued, respected and loved. Look at children, they respond better when you pay them attention instead of your iphone, they grow to be more confident and bloom before your eyes. After having four children, I have learned that the best way to get them to obey, behave and be happy is to embrace them always with discipline, love and empathy. Maybe I am off, maybe this is not the “best” way for everyone but it is the best theory for me.
It has been very intriguing and challenging to read about these psychological theories and relate to some while rejecting others.