Freud's Personality Theory

How humans respond, how humans behave, how humans are interesting to others and how humans are different to others are all influenced by a person’s personality. Personality is the tendencies within a person that influences how they respond to their environment. There are different approaches to personality. One being the nomothetic approach which focuses on identifying the general laws that are put in place for all. The other being idiographic approach that focuses on identifying unique correlations of characteristics and life experiences to explain personality.Many psychologist use behavior to help determine and study personality. There are four main personality theories; psychodynamic,social cognitive, humanistic and trait model. Psychodynamic …show more content…
Many critics have said many of the features of the theory are unfalsifiable. Though the predictions that could be falsified have been, mostly because there is little scientific support. Some examples of this is the fact that there is little evidence for many of the defense mechanisms or that people are able to remember negative experiences the same as positive life experiences. Many critics question the part of his theory dealing with the unconscious as there is no clear evidence or location of the unconscious. Freud also was criticised for his very limited variety in that he did not use subjects of different cultural background and in different areas. Many critics also found Freud’s assumption of a shared environmental influence, with studies such as the behaviora-genetic studies which have proven …show more content…
He agrees with behaviorist that classical and operant conditioning play a role in our personality, but also that thinking was a cause of personality. Social learning theorist believe in reciprocal determinism, in which it is a form of causation where personality and cognitive factors, behavior, and environmental factors work off each other. They believe that most of our learning comes from watching others. Parents and teachers play a significant role in this which influences our personalities as we acquire both good and bad habits by observing and copying them. Social Learning theorist believe the locus of control, the extent in which people believe reinforcers and punishers are in or out of our control , is every important to the shaping of our personality. They believe that people with internal locus of control believe life events are caused by their own efforts and personal characteristics. Those with an external locus of control life events are decided by fate and