PSY 211 Personality Paper

Personality Why are some people shy and others are outgoing? Why are some people kind and gentle, while others are hostile and aggressive? The answer to these questions can be found in three of the theories that describe personality. These theories are; psychoanalytic, humanistic, and social cognitive. Founded by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis is a theory that “stresses the influence of unconscious mental processes, the importance of sexual and aggressive instincts, and the enduring effects of early childhood experience on personality.” (Hockenbury 2014) This theory states that a person’s behavior and attitude are a result of past experiences, unconscious thoughts, buried memories, as well as a desire for pleasure. The second theory, based upon the potential that all humans have, is called the humanistic perspective. Rather than focusing on negative personality aspects, humanists think of all people as good and completely self-aware. An important concept to be aware of within this area of self-awareness is passed on to children from their parents. This concept is known as conditional positive regard. Hockenbury (2014) describes this as, “the sense that the child is valued and loved only when she behaves in a way that is acceptable to others.” While it is important to feel loved and valued, placing limitations on those feelings can be detrimental to a child, as they may end up in denial and never learn how to express their true feelings. The third theory is the social cognitive perspective. This perspective focuses on how conscious thought affects the beliefs and goals that a person has. Hockenbury (2014) paraphrases a leading theorist, Albert Bandura by saying, “collectively a person’s cognitive skills, abilities and attitudes represent the person’s self-system… it is out self-esteem that guides how we perceive, evaluate, and control our behavior in different situations.” What gives this perspective more credibility is that there is a way to measure its’

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