Personality Theories Flashcards
Alfred Adler
Psychodynamic theorist best known for the concept of the inferiority complex. Thought that striving towards superiority drives personality (good = when striving is socially oriented, bad = when striving is selfish)
Also studied the effect of birth order on personality
Gordon Allport
Trait theorist best known for the concept of functional autonomy
Determined three basic types of traits:
- Cardinal (traits around which a person organizes his/her life)
- Central (major characteristics that are easy to infer)
- Secondary (more personal traits, limited in occurence)
Also distinguished between idiographic (individual case studies) and nomothetic (groups, commonalities) approaches to personality
Albert Bandura
Behaviorist known for his social learning theory. Did modeling experiment using Bobo dolls to come up with theory of vicarious reinforcement
Sandra Bem
Suggested that masculinity and femininity were two separate dimensions
Linked with the concept of androgyny
Raymond Cattell
Trait theorist who used factor analysis to study personality and determined 16 basic traits as the building blocks of personality (continuous in all of us)
John Dollard and Neil Miller
Behaviorist theorists who attempted to study psychoanalytic concepts within a behaviorist framework
Also known for work on approach-avoidance conflicts
Erik Erikson
Ego psychologist whose psychosocial stages of development encompass the entire lifespan
Hans Eysenck
Trait theorist who proposed two main dimensions on which human personalities differ (“Two-Factor System”):
- Introversion-extroversion
- Emotional stability-Neuroticism
Anna Freud
Founder of ego psychology - studied the conscious ego’s relation to the world, the unconscious, and the superego
Sigmund Freud
Originator of the psychodynamic approach to personality
Karen Horney
Psychodynamic theorist who focused o the role of unconscious anxiety. Suggested there were three ways to relate to others:
1. Moving toward
2. Moving away
3. Moving against
Theorized that neurosis was related to using only one of these strategies rigidly
Carl Jung
Psychodynamic theorist who broke with Freud over the concept of libido
Suggested the unconscious could be divided into the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious, with archetypes being in the collective unconscious
Also proposed two attitudes towards life: introversion and extroversion (individuals have both, but one is dominant)
George Kelly
Based personality theory on the notion of “individual as a scientist” who hypothesized the behavior of important people in one’s life based on knowledge, perception, and relationship with the person
Otto Kernberg
Object-relations theorist
Melanie Klein
Object-relations theorist
Kurt Lewin
Phenomenological personality theorist who developed field theory
Margaret Mahler
Object-relations theorist
Abraham Maslow
Phenomenological personality theorist known for developing a hierarchy of needs and for the concept of self-actualization
David McClelland
Studied need for achievement
Walter Mischel
Critic of trait theories of personality who asserted that behavior is determined by the situation more than personality (Person-Situation Debate)
Also studied will power/delayed gratification with the marshmallow test
Carl Rogers
Phenomenological personality theorist
Julian Rotter
Studied locus of control