Different types of psychology

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Personality psychology Personality psychology is a branch of describe human personality. Differences psychology which studies personality and between Cattell and Eysenck emerged due individual differences. One emphasis in to preferences for different forms of this area is to construct a coherent factor analysis, with Cattell using picture of a person and his or her major oblique, Eysenck orthogonal, rotation to psychological processes. Another analyse the factors that emerged when emphasis views personality as the study personality questionnaires were of individual differences, in other subjected to statistical analysis. words, how people differ from each Today, the Big Five factors have the other. A third area of emphasis examines weight of a considerable amount of human nature and how all people are empirical research behind them. Building similar to one other. These three on the work of Cattell and others, Lewis viewpoints merge together in the study Goldberg proposed a five-dimension of personality. personality model, nicknamed the "Big Personality can be defined as a dynamic Five": and organized set of characteristics Extraversion - outgoing and possessed by a person that uniquely stimulation-oriented vs. quiet and influences his or her cognitions, stimulation-avoiding motivations, and behaviors in various Neuroticism - emotionally reactive, situations (Ryckman, 2004). The word prone to negative emotions vs. calm, "personality" originates from the Latin imperturbable, optimistic persona, which means mask. Agreeableness - affable, friendly, Significantly, in the theatre of the conciliatory vs. aggressive, dominant, ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask disagreeable was not used as a plot device to Conscientiousness - dutiful, planful, disguise the identity of a character, and orderly vs. laidback, spontaneous, but rather was a convention employed to and unreliable represent or typify that character. Openness to experience - open to new The pioneering American psychologist, ideas and change vs. traditional and Gordon Allport (1937) described two oriented toward routine major ways to study personality, the John L. Holland's RIASEC vocational idiographic and the nomothetic. model, commonly referred to as the Nomothetic psychology seeks general laws Holland Codes, stipulates that there are that can be applied to many different six personality traits that lead people people, such as the principle of to choose their career paths. This model self-actualization, or the trait of is widely used in vocational counseling extraversion. Idiographic psychology is and is a circumplex model where the six an attempt to understand the unique types are represented as a hexagon where aspects of a particular individual. adjacent types are more closely related The study of personality has a rich and than those more distant. varied history in psychology, with an Trait models have been criticized as abundance of theoretical traditions. being purely descriptive and offering Some psychologists have taken a highly little explanation of the underlying scientific approach, whereas others have causes of personality. Eysenck's theory, focused their attention on theory however, does propose biological development. There is also a substantial mechanisms as driving traits, and modern emphasis on the applied field of behavior genetics researchers have personality testing. demonstrated a clear genetic substrate Philosophical assumptions to them. Another potential weakness with Many of the ideas developed by trait theories is that they lead people historical and modern Personality to accept oversimplified Theorists stem from basic philosophical classifications, or worse offer advice, assumptions they hold. Psychology is not based on a superficial analysis of one's a purely empirical discipline, as it personality. Finally, trait models often brings in elements of art, science, and underestimate the effect of specific philosophy to draw general conclusions. situations on people's behavior. It is The following five categories are some important to remember that traits are of the most fundamental philosophical statistical generalizations that do not assumptions where theorists disagree: always correspond to an individual's Freedom versus Determinism behavior. The debate over whether we have control Type theories over our own behavior and understand the Personality type refers to the motives behind it (Freedom), or if our psychological classification of behavior is basically determined by some different types of people. Personality other force over which we might not have types are distinguished from personality control (Determinism). We may merely traits, which come in different levels respond to external forces like or degrees. According to type theories, government, parents, professors, the for example, there are two types of economic system, etc; or we may even be people, introverts and extraverts. constrained to behave in certain ways by According to trait theories, our genetics, upbringing, etc. introversion and extraversion are part Heredity versus Environment of a continuous dimension, with many The nature vs. nurture debate. Is people in the middle. The idea of personality determined largely by psychological types originated in the genetics and heredity, or by environment theoretical work of Carl Jung. and experiences? There is evidence for Building on the writings and both sides, and the field of behavior observations of Carl Jung, during WWII genetics has demonstrated interesting Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother new results in this area, such as the Katharine C. Briggs delineated importance of unshared environmental personality types by constructing the effects (such as individual experiences) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This model over shared environmental effects (such was later elaborated further by David as family and demographics). Keirsey. It is an older, more Furthermore, twin studies indicate that theoretical approach to personality, there is a substantial genetic accepting Extraversion vs. Introversion contribution to most personality traits. as basic and further adding three more Uniqueness versus Universality dimensions: The argument over whether we are all Extraversion vs. Introversion (see unique individuals (Uniqueness) or if above) humans are basically similar in their Intuition vs. Sensing (trust in nature (Universality). conceptual/abstract models of reality Proactive versus Reactive versus concrete sensory-oriented facts) Do we primarily act through our own Thinking vs. Feeling (thinking as the initiative (Proactive), or do we react prime-mover in decision-making vs. to outside stimuli (Reactive)? feelings as the prime-mover in Optimistic versus Pessimistic decision-making) Finally, whether or not we can alter our Perceiving vs. Judging (desire to personalities (Optimistic) or if they perceive events vs. desire to have remain the same throughout our whole things done so judgements can be made) lives (Pessimistic). This personality typology has some Personality theories aspects of a trait theory: it explains There are several theoretical people's behaviour in terms of opposite perspectives on personality in fixed characteristics. In these more psychology, which involve different traditional models, the intuition factor ideas about the relationship between is considered the most basic, dividing personality and other psychological people into "N" or "S" personality constructs, as well as different types. An "N" is further assumed to be theories about the way personality guided by the thinking or objectication develops. habit, or feelings, and be divided into Critics of personality theory claim that "NT" (scientist, engineer) or "NF" personality is "plastic" across time, (author, human-oriented leader) places, moods, and situations. Changes personality. An "S", by contrast, is in personality may indeed result from assumed to be more guided by the diet (or lack thereof), medical effects, perception axis, and thus divided into significant events, or learning. "SP" (performer, craftsman, artisan) and However, most personality theories "SJ" (guardian, accountant, bureaucrat) emphasize stability over fluctuation. personality. These four are considered Trait theories basic, with the other two factors in According to the Diagnostic and each case (including always Statistical Manual of the American extraversion) less important. Critics of Psychiatric Association, personality this traditional view have observed that traits are "enduring patterns of the types are quite strongly stereotyped perceiving, relating to, and thinking by professions, and thus may arise more about the environment and oneself that from the need to categorize people for are exhibited in a wide range of social purposes of guiding their career choice. and personal contexts." Theorists This among other objections led to the generally assume that a) traits are emergence of the five factor view, which relatively stable over time, b) traits is less concerned with behavior under differ among individuals (e.g. some work stress and more concerned with people are outgoing while others are behavior in personal and emotional shy), and c) traits influence behavior. circumstances. Some critics have argued The most common models of traits for more or fewer dimensions while incorporate three to five broad others have proposed entirely different dimensions or factors. The least theories (often assuming different controversial dimension, observed as far definitions of "personality"). back as the ancient Greeks, is simply Type A personality: During the 1950s, extraversion vs. introversion (outgoing Meyer Friedman and his co-workers and physical-stimulation-oriented vs. defined what they called Type A and Type quiet and physical-stimulation-averse). B behavior patterns. They theorized that Gordon Allport delineated different intense, hard-driving Type A kinds of traits, which he also called personalities had a higher risk of dispositions. Central traits are basic coronary disease because they are to an individual's personality, while "stress junkies." Type B people, on the secondary traits are more peripheral. other hand, tended to be relaxed, less Common traits are those recognized competitive, and lower in risk. There within a culture and thus may vary from was also a Type AB mixed profile. Dr. culture to culture. Cardinal traits are Redford Williams, cardiologist at Duke those by which an individual may be University, refuted Friedman’s strongly recognized. theory that Type A personalities have a Raymond Cattell's research propagated a higher risk of coronary heart disease; two-tiered personality structure with however, current research indicates that sixteen "primary factors" (16 the hostility component of Type A may Personality Factors) and five "secondary have health implications. Type A/B factors." A different model was proposed theory has been extensively criticized by Hans Eysenck, who believed that just by psychologists because it tends to three traits - extraversion, neuroticism oversimplify the many dimensions of an and psychoticism - were sufficient to individual's personality. 1 A B C D 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103