Personality psychology refers to the division of psychology which studies personality and how it varies between individuals. In this context, personality refers to the design of feelings, behaviors, thoughts and social adjustments that are displayed consistently over time and influences an individual expectations, values, self-perceptions, and attitudes, as well as predicting human reactions to stress, problems or other people (McLeod, 2012). According to Friedman and Schustack (2016), the eight perspectives of personality psychology includes biological, psychoanalytic, cognitive, behaviorists, trait, humanistic and interactionist.
Behaviorist approach view human as controlled by their environment and how stimuli (environmental factors) affect the response, which is one’s observable behavior, thus generally, it proposes that personality is conditioned through occasions which enforce and shapes behavior patterns (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Psychoanalytic approach by Sigmund Freud explains that personality development is influenced by a structure of unconscious mind and reactions from desires of that unconsciousness. Freud believes that the childhood experience of a person can have an enormous impact on adulthood behaviors. Hence significant determinants of behavior and personality are childhood experiences and unconscious mind.
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On the other hand, Neo-analytical explains that a person’s behavior and personality is defined by the internal expectations or unconscious motivations of an individual. Biological perspective explains how our biological components such as hormones, brains, genes or chromosomes shapes our behavior and uniqueness. Conversely, cognitive approach states that personality is defined by the thoughts and mental processes such as perception, memory, and attention among others (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Humanistic /Existential proposes that an individual is determined by his self-image and inner feelings and that a person has the free will to change, while Trait explains that each person has unique characters, skills, and predispositions that define his or her personality. Finally, interactionist is a sociological perspective that suggests that an individual’s interaction with his or her environment forms the personality and beliefs of such a person (Friedman & Schustack, 2016)
The study of perspectives of personality psychology is of great significance because through studying personality, the knowledge gained may be applied in selecting best candidates in a job interview, used by psychiatrists to treat patients with mental problems, used to improve education and relationships as well (McLeod, 2012).
References
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2016). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Psychology Perspectives. SimplyPsychology . Retrieved November 28, 2017, from www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html
