Psy 560 - Chart of Theories

Theory

Key Figures

Key Concepts of Personality Formation

Explanation of Disordered Personality

Psychodynamic

Attachment

John Browlby

Mary Ainsworth

Browlby felt that there is a part of the psychological process that is individually and specifically related to the parent- child attachment bond. He coined this Attachment Behavioral system and he felt that this was biological.

Parents in general respond differently to infants and children, this leads to different types of attachment forming. This type of attachment that is formed will affect the child over their whole life span.

 Ainsworth: She developed an experiment known as The Stranger situation, to measure different types of attachment and helped to identify these types.

Infants fall under the classification of secure attachment types. Do not want their parents to leave them.

The effects form the different attachment types can be carried into adulthood. These can be displayed in work and personal relationships

If during infant development and disordered personality or way of thinking develops then an anxious/avoidant attachment may exist and attach to the maternal individual.

These tendencies will be carried on to future relationships.

Psychosocial

Eric Erikson

He felt that individuals went through eight stages of conflict during development. Basic trust vs. mistrust, Autonomy vs. shame & doubt, initiative vs. guilt, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, ego integrity vs. despair. Erikson’s stages are close to Freud’s set up but differ in the fact that Erikson focuses on the whole person rather than just sexual desires.

Disordered personality is the result of the failure to complete a stage accordingly. This can lead to issues in completing other stages

Humanistic

Carl Rogers

Abraham Maslow

Both Rogers and Maslow believed that humans were motivated by their needs. Rogers’s theory showcased though a person centered approach, this is where a person has certain need throughout life that must be ascertained or met.

Both also agreed on the end result that would be gained is self-actualization. Rodger’s felt that 5 steps were needed to be reached for a person to be a fully functioning human. They need to be open to experiences, be creative, trusting of feelings, and live existentially.

Maslow believed that humans were motivated by their needs.

Base needs had to meet before other needs were able to be met. His theory was set up in a pyramid style.

Roger’s felt that it was important to help the client learn to teach themselves. If a person has established a disordered personality they will have not succeeded in meeting one or multiple of the 5 needs a person has to have to function

Behavioral

John Watson

B.F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

In behaviorism a person is a product of the environment they are in. A factor that is a part of behaviorism is conditioning. According to B.F. Skinner positive reinforcement will reinforce the behavior this is referred to as operant conditioning

There can be issues if a person is conditioned the wrong way and can result in either through improper behavior or reacting in certain ways to different stimulus known as the maladaptive response.

Cognitive

George Kelly

Different Constructs are what help to create a person’s personality. Constructs are important and they are what individuals use to understand what will happen based on their actions, decisions, or the current happenings around them. In the end the construct will be proven valid or true depending on the outcome, or it could be modified so it will work correctly the next time. According to Kelly people look at their own understanding of things and or events and in the end their behavior comes out of the understanding they achieve.

It is possible for a person to experience a disordered personality when they experience fear, anxiety, and or a threat. When a person is presented with one of these they cannot accurately use their constructs to predict what their actions will be.

Social Learning

Albert Bandura

Learning is a cognitive process that takes place within a social context. This social context can happen through observation or instruction and can occur without direct reinforcement. Bandura studied learning concepts that happened through interpersonal experiences but were not explained through other theories. Looks heavily at modeling through 3 traits, live model, verbal instruction, and symbolic. A major factor in this theory is reciprocal determinism. This is thought that the individual’s behavior is influenced by their environment, and the environment is also influenced by their behavior.

It is possible for a person to experience disordered personality when experiencing stressful environments.

Trait

Gordon Allport

Raymond Cattell

Hans Eysenck

The theorists in this category felt that traits are the building blocks of personality. When it comes to traits they tend to be consistent, this means that the individual will routinely react in the same manner when presented different situations based on the individuals traits. Traits are not to be confused with attitudes due to the facts attitudes frequently change. Traits are not only biological but also there is an influence from nature as well. There are different levels of traits, cardinal trait is one that is visible in pretty much everything the individual does. A central trait is one that is strong but does not appear in everything that the individual does.

Disordered personality is a heightened combination of the personality traits.