Discussion Of Personality Theory As A Discipline

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When studying Personality Theory as a discipline, as well as other fields in psychology, it is important to understand why it is a discipline. Well known theorists have attempted to view and understand human life though a certain lens in order to explore the many convolutions of an individual’s personality, and wonder and ask questions about human nature and personality. It is through this exploration that the discipline has evolved as a science since Freudian times.
As in all aspects of science, ideas, questions and notions need to be researched and tested to be understood fully or proven. Researchers’ start with formulating a theory where the principles are precisely stated in order to express a clear hypothesis (Feist et al p. 5). A theory is a system or a group of related assumptions that help to explain a certain phenomenon, a tool where ‘scientists use logical deductive
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5). The hypothesis is a suggested explanation or preliminary idea of how something works, many call it an educated guess or possible explanation for something, which should be able to be tested and needs to be able to be proven false if necessary. This is a cyclical process, where more hypotheses can be added and determined as the theory develops (p. 8). A theory must be able to generate research, be able to be organized or categorized as well have the ability to give a platform or structure to ‘guide actions’, like using the ‘if this then, what?’ notion (Jameson, PPT). For example, in order to find a workable answer a psychologist could ask: if the patient suffers from low self-esteem and melancholy, then

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