For Sigmund Freud, personality was hidden and unknown. Different personality theorists define the term differently based on their theoretical positions.
A theory is a set of abstract concepts about a group of facts or events to explain them. A theory of personality therefore is an organized system of beliefs that help us to understand human nature. The theories are constructed by people to enable them to understand the world.
The study of personality became a scientific specialization in American Psychology in the mid 1930's. Even before the study of personality became a specialization of academic scientific psychology, questions of personality were generally included under philosophy. Many of the personality theories resemble philosophical investigations. Science is an offspring of philosophy. As science developed, it provided new knowledge, tools and methods of self-understanding and improvement. The scientific theories of personality not only have their origin in philosophy butt also lead to some form of art or practical application.
Philosophy, science and art 3 complementary activities that personality theorists engage in. As scientists, personality theorists develop a workable set of hypotheses that will help us to understand human behaviour; as philosophers they seek to explore what it means to be· a person: as artists, they ask to apply what is known about people and behaviour to foster better life. Each activity is conducted according to certain rules with their own criteria for success. Some personality theories reflect philosophical concerns (e.g. Psychoanalytical theories), others are scientific theories (e.g. Behaviour and Learning theories) others are concerned with practical applications, some seek interdisciplinary approach (e.g. Murray). None of them are purely philosophical, scientific or practically oriented. All theories reflect each of these.3 in a greater or lesser degree. Hence we need to evaluate them in terms of the criteria that suit their goals.
Philosophical Assumptions
All personality theories hold some basic philosophical assumptions that influence the way in which they perceive and understand the world. Many of the differences among personality theories can be attributed to fundamental differences in philosophical assumptions. Each assumption is presented as a bipolar dimensions. Some theorists may agree with one or the other extreme. Others are neutral or seek a synthesis. Some of the assumptions on which personality theories commonly disagree are:- Freedom v/s Determinism: -Theorists vary as to whether they believe that people basically have control over their behaviours and understand the motives behindthem or whether they believe that the behaviour of the people is determined basically by internal or external forces over which they have little control.
- Hereditary v/s Environment: -Theorists differ over whether inherent and inborn characteristics or factors in the environment have more important influence on the person's behaviour.
- Uniqueness v/s Universality:- Some theorists believe that each individual is uniqueand cannot be compared with others. Others counted that people are basically very similar in nature.
- Pro-active v/s Reactive - Pro-active theorists view human beings as acting on their initiative rather than simply reacting. The sources of behaviour are perceived as lying within the individual who does more than just react to stimuli from the outside world.
- Optimistic v/s Pessimistic: -Some personality theorists are decidedly more optimistic, hopeful and motivated in bringing about changes in personality and behaviour throughout life by restructuring the environment than others concerning these possibilities.
Evaluating Philosophical Assumptions
Some of the theories are explicitly (clearly) philosophical. In others, the philosophical assumptions are implicit (not clearly stated) but they are present.
There are 4 criteria for evaluating the philosophical assumptions that underlie personality theories. These are:
- Coherence
- Relevance
- Comprehensiveness
- Compellingness
Relevance implies the need to be compatible with empirical reality. For the philosophical assumption to be meaningful it must have some bearing to our view of reality. It should share the same view of reality in order to judge the assumption.
Comprehensiveness refers to the scope or completeness of the philosophical assumption. A philosophical assumption may be covered extensively or superficially. The superficial assumption leaves too many questions unanswered or deals with only a few aspects of the phenomenon of interest. Ideally, a theory should deal generally or inclusively with the empirical events that the theory purports to embrace.
Compellingness refers to the extent to which the assumption and the underlying philosophy are convincing. and compel the person to believe in them. The philosophical assumptions are not clearly subjective opinions that the person has about the world. Rather they emerge out of a person's encounter with the world (reality) that he finds inescapable.
Scientific Statements
As scientists, personality theorists develop a number of tentative assumptions to understand human behaviour. These hypotheses are confirmed by testing them according to generally agreed upon methods. Thus, science is a group of methods of acquiring knowledge based on certain principles.The scientific statements a..e statements about the world based on observation arising . from currently accepted paradigms. A paradigm is a model or concept of the world that is shared by the members of a community and that governs their activities. The simplest kinds of statements in science are empirically based on objective or subjective data. Most personality theorists emphasize in both objective and subjective data in order to understand behaviour. The operational definitions are developed to specify which behaviours are included in the concept.
Basic Scientific Constructs
Many constructs such as trait, reinforcement and self are used to understand personality scientifically. A construct is imaginary or hypothetical which cannot be observed with the naked eye, that is used to explain what we observe.Many personality theorists conceive of the term 'personality" itself as a scientific construct. The scientific constructs of a personality theory tie together the empirical findings of that theory and suggest new relationships that hold true under certain.conditions.
Evaluating Scientific Statements
Personality theorists use a variety of techniques to evaluate their work.- The scientific statements should be based on the perception of the sense organs.
- The scientific statements must be open to falsification. The personality theories should indicate the conditions under which the statement might be proved false or incorrect. Information producced by the scientific methods should not be considered as the ultimate truth.
- When more than one hyphothesis is developed, the personality theorists use 3 criteria to decide about the sound and valid hypothesis. The 3 criteria are:
- Compatibilty
- Predictive power
- Simplicity
Predictive power refers to the range or scope of the statement. Social scientists not only seek to explain the phenomena that we observe but also to predict and anticipate them. If the hypothesis is to be useful, it should be able to generate prerdictions about consequences we infer from a hypothesis. On the other hand, too strict a reliance on this criterion may lead the theory to be valuable only in the amount of research and predictions it generates. Some theories express their scope by integrating and encompassing ideas rather than by generating specific predictions and research projects.
The last criterion is that of Simplicity, Explanations should be as simple as possible. If there is too rigid an emphasis on the criterion of simplicity, the hypothesis may fail to account for all of the complexity of human behaviour. However, all other things being equal the simplest explanation is best.
The Application of Personality Theories
Personality theories have found application in many areas such as assessment, research and psychotherapy.Assessment
There are 2 major approaches to assessing personality, Psychometric tests and Projective techniques.- Psychometric tests measure: personality characteristics through carefully designed questionaires developed with theoretical and statist.ical techniques, e.g., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality lnventory (MMPI) used for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders.
- Projective tests are particulary used in clinical settings
Research
Personality theorists also differ widely with type of research methods that they use. Some follow strict scientific guidelines in their work. Others use a wider range of respectable methodologies, making use of interdisciplinary and eclectic approaches. Three primary research approaches used in personality are Clinical approach, the correlational approach and the experimental approach.
The Clinical approach: Many of the personality theories originated in the clinical setting. The primary tool used is the case history (Biography of the individual).
The Correlational approach: Here the events or variables are carefully and systematically assessed, as they naturally occur to see the extent to which they occur together.
The Experimental approach: Many psychologists favour this approach because it permits them to infer cause and effect relationship between 2 factors.
Psychotheraphy
Another area where the findings of personality theory can be applied are psychotherapy. assessing individuals and meet human goals. The 3 goals of psychotherapy:
- Scholarly
- Ethical
- Curative Motives
Scholarly therapies should be evaluated on the basis of their contribution to the understanding of the self and the human nature.
Ethical therapies should be evaluated in terms of the suitability of the climate they create for fostering change and life improvement.
Curative therapies should be evaluated on basis of symptom remission and number of causes. Each method of psychotherapy must be evaluated in terms of it's own goals and purposes.
Thus, the evaluation of a personality theory is best accomplished when the theory is broken down into its component parts- philosophy, science and art,and also when judged according to the criteria appropriate to each function in order to do justice to the full range of human existence and potentiality.
Summary
- The term 'personality' is difficult to define because there is little common agreement on how the term should be used. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of the word based on their theoretical positions.
- A theory is a set of abstract concept about a group of facts or events in order to explain them.
- The study of personality became a formal and systematic area of specialization in American psychology in mid 1930's.
- Personality theories may function as philosophy, science and art. As scientists, personality theorists develop hypotheses that help to understand human behaviour. As philosophers, they explore what it means to be a person. As artists, they seek to apply what is known about human behaviour to make a better life.
- Some of the basic issues on which personality theorists differ are freedom versus determinism versus environmental factor, proactive versus reactive theories and optimism versus pessimism.
- Science has its basis in philosophy because observation on which science relies depends upon a prior paradigm that is established philosophically. The values and standards of science also function as philosophical commitments.
- The simplest kinds of scientific statements are empirically based directly on observation. These statements are based on objective or subjective data. Scientists use operational definitions; make generalizations and also scientific constructs, which use imaginary hypothetical concept to explain what we observe.
- Scientists use a number of techniques to evaluate their work. All of these techniques are ultimately based on observation, the perceptions of our sense organs although some statements can be tested only indirectly. The statements should be open to falsification and judged by their usefulness rather than their truth. The criteria used for deciding about sound hypotheses are compatibility, predictive power and simplicity.
- Personality theories can be applied in assessment, research and psychoterapy. Personality assessment is done by psychometric tests and projective test. Three research approaches used in personality are clinical approach, correlational approachand experimental approach.
- Psychotherapy has 3 goals: scholarly, ethical and curative. Each method of psychotherapy should be evaluate in terms of its goals and purposes.
