4) Humanistic Theory of Personality and Trait Theory

humanistic theory

emphasizes idea that individuals’ control their own behavior; views people as innately good

self actualization

Maslow believed we try to fulfill our unique potential, and can be thwarted by environment

Rogers

believed in individual’s personal growth tendencies and the idea that people are naturally good; asked people to describe themselves to be ideal or real = similar means positive self concept

trait

a tendency to respond in a certain way in many situations

Allport

described personality in terms of fundamental traits, or characteristic patterns of behavior or dispositions to feel or act in a certain way

cardinal trait

characteristic or feature so important that a person is identified by it; defines or dominates one’s personality and behavior

central trait

traits that make us predictable in most situations: ex: he’s the talker; general characteristics present to some degree in all

secondary trait

least important of the 3, but conveys our preferences of items such as music or food

Cattell

using statistics (factor analysis) identified 16 personality factors that he believed made up the building blocks of each individual’s personality; everyone has the same 16 to varying degrees

Eysneck

dimensions of personality: scales of extraversion to introversion, and emotional stability to emotional instability

Big Five

OCEAN; set of slightly expanded factors and currently the best approximations of basic trait dimensions; not by a single theorist but of many works

neuroticism

BIG 5: opposite of identifies individuals who experience things relatively easily and without getting upset (emotional stability); being constantly worried or angry and complaining all the time

extraversion

BIG 5: associated with warmth, talkativeness, and being energetic

agreeableness

BIG 5: involves being sympathetic, cooperative, kind, trusting and good-natured; opp is antagonism, so being jealous/irritable

openness to experience

BIG 5: describes people open-minded and willing to try intellectual experiences, new ideas, or creative experiences

conscientiousness

identifies individuals who are dutiful, dedicated to completing tasks, organized, and responsible

personality inventories

used to assess traits they are questionnaires on which people respond to a wide variety of items, covering feelings and behaviors; ex: Myers-briggs

MMPI-2

most used and research inventory; developed to identify “abnormal” personality tendencies and scored objectively

genuineness, acceptance, empathy

growth-promoting environments by Rogers

unconditional positive regard

when people are treated with complete acceptance, regardless of flaws

conditions of worth

what we develop when we take on board other people’s values and ideas about how we should be;

the messages we receive from society and from those around us regarding acceptable behaviour if we are to be loved.