Theories of Personality (Introduction to Personality Theory) PDF

Theories of Personality (Introduction to Personality Theory)  Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY THEORY (Continuation) Learning Concentration: 1. What is Personality?; 2. What is a Theory?; 3. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity; 4. Research in Pe...

Theories of Personality (Introduction to Personality Theory)  Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY THEORY (Continuation) Learning Concentration: 1. What is Personality?; 2. What is a Theory?; 3. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity; 4. Research in Personality Theory Theorists’ Personalities and their Theories of Personality Because personality theories grow from theorists’ own personalities, a study of those personalities is appropriate. In recent years a subdiscipline of psychology called psychology of science has begun to look at personal traits of scientists. Theorists’ Personalities and their Theories of Personality An understanding of theories of personality rests on information regarding the historical, social, and psychological worlds of each theorist at the time of his or her theorizing. Theorists’ Personalities and their Theories of Personality Although a theorist’s personality partially shapes his or her theory, it should not be the sole determinant of that theory. Likewise, your acceptance of one or another theory should not rest only on your personal values and predilections. Theorists’ Personalities and their Theories of Personality Some observers (Feist, 2006; Feist & Gorman, 1998) have distinguished between science as process and science as product. What makes a Theory Useful? A useful theory has a mutual and dynamic interaction with research data. What makes a Theory Useful? First, a theory generates a number of hypotheses that can be investigated thru research, thus yielding research data. These data flow back into the theory and restructure it. What makes a Theory Useful? Second, a useful theory organizes research data into a meaningful structure and provides an explanation for the results of scientific research. What makes a Theory Useful? What makes a Theory Useful? In addition to sparking research and explaining research data, a useful theory must lend itself to confirmation or disconfirmation, provide the practitioner with a guide to action, be consistent with itself, and be as simple as possible. What makes a Theory Useful? Therefore, we have evaluated each of the theories presented in this book on the basis of six criteria: A useful theory (1) generates research, (2) is falsifiable, (3) organizes data, (4) guides action, (5) is internally consistent, and (6) is parsimonious. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 1. Generates Research The most important criterion of a useful theory is its ability to stimulate and guide further research. Without an adequate theory to point the way, many of science’s present empirical findings would have remained undiscovered. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 1. Generates Research A useful theory will generate two different kinds of research: descriptive research and hypothesis testing. Descriptive research, which can expand an existing theory, is concerned with the measurement, labeling, and categorization of the units employed in theory building. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 1. Generates Research The second kind of research generated by a useful theory, hypothesis testing, leads to an indirect verification of the usefulness of the theory. As we have noted, a useful theory will generate many hypotheses that, when tested, add to a database that may reshape and enlarge the theory. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 2. Is Falsifiable A theory must also be evaluated on its ability to be confirmed or disconfirmed; that is, it must be falsifiable. To be falsifiable, a theory must be precise enough to suggest research that may either support or fail to support its major tenets. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 2. Is Falsifiable Science is distinguished from nonscience by its ability to reject ideas that are not supported empirically even though they seem logical and rational. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 3. Organizes Data A useful theory should also be able to organize those research data that are not incompatible with each other. Without some organization or classification, research findings would remain isolated and meaningless. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 3. Organizes Data Unless data are organized into some intelligible framework, scientists are left with no clear direction to follow in the pursuit of further knowledge. They cannot ask intelligent questions without a theoretical framework that organizes their information. Without intelligent questions, further research is severely curtailed. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 4. Guides Action A fourth criterion of a useful theory is its ability to guide the practitioner over the rough course of day-to-day problems. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 4. Guides Action Good theory provides a structure for finding many of those answers. Without a useful theory, practitioners would stumble in the darkness of trial and error techniques; with a sound theoretical orientation, they can discern a suitable course of action. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 4. Guides Action Also included in this criterion is the extent to which the theory stimulates thought and action in other disciplines, such as art, literature (including movies and television dramas), law, sociology, philosophy, religion, education, business administration, and psychotherapy. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 5. Is Internally Consistent A useful theory need not be consistent with other theories, but it must be consistent with itself. An internally consistent theory is one whose components are logically compatible. Its limitations of scope are carefully defined and it does not offer explanations that lie beyond that scope. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 5. Is Internally Consistent Also, an internally consistent theory uses language in a consistent manner; that is, it does not use the same term to mean two different things, nor does it use two separate terms to refer to the same concept. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 5. Is Internally Consistent A good theory will use concepts and terms that have been clearly and operationally defined. Evaluating Theory based on Six (6) Criteria of Usefulness 6. Parsimonious When two theories are equal in their ability to generate research, be falsified, give meaning to data, guide the practitioner, and be self- consistent, the simpler one is preferred. This is the law of parsimony. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity Personality theories differ on basic issues concerning the nature of humanity. Each personality theory reflects its author’s assumptions about humanity. These assumptions rest on several broad dimensions that separate the various personality theorists. We use six of these dimensions as a framework for viewing each theorist’s concept of humanity. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 1. Determinism V.S. Free Choice Are people’s behaviors determined by forces over which they have no control, or can people choose to be what they wish to be? Can behavior be partially free and partially determined at the same time? Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 2. Pessimism V.S. Optimism Are people doomed to live miserable, conflicted, and troubled lives, or can they change and grow into psychologically healthy, happy, fully functioning human beings? Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 3. Causality V.S. Teleology Briefly, causality holds that behavior is a function of past experiences, whereas teleology is an explanation of behavior in terms of future goals or purposes. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 4. Conscious V.S. Unconscious A fourth consideration that divides personality theorists is their attitude toward conscious versus unconscious determinants of behavior. Are people ordinarily aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it, or do unconscious forces impinge on them and drive them to act without awareness of these underlying forces? Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 5. Biology V.S. Social The fifth question is one of biological versus social influences on personality. Are people mostly creatures of biology, or are their personalities shaped largely by their social relationships? A more specific element of this issue is heredity versus environment. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 6. Uniqueness V.S. Similarities Is the salient feature of people their individuality, or is it their common characteristics? Should the study of personality concentrate on those traits that make people alike, or should it look at those traits that make people different? Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity 6. Uniqueness V.S. Similarities In building a theory of personality, psychologists should begin on a limited scale and avoid sweeping generalizations that attempt to explain all of human behavior. Research in Personality Theory As we pointed out earlier, the primary criterion for a useful theory is its ability to generate research. We also noted that theories and research data have a cyclic relationship. Research in Personality Theory To observe simply means to notice something, to pay attention. Research in Personality Theory In making observations and asking questions, you are doing some of the same things psychologists do, that is, observing human behaviors and trying to make sense of these observations. However, psychologists, like other scientists, try to be systematic so that their predictions will be consistent and accurate.