Theoretical Perspectives of Personality

Question

Discuss and explain the theoretical perspectives of personality.

Answer 1

The Trait Perspective
The Trait Perspective is a concept of personality which focuses on two main points. The first point is that people are consistent in their behaviors, actions, thoughts, and feelings. Essentially, there is an emphasis that people remain the same people over time and throughout situations. The second point of the trait perspective indicates that people are different from each other; a personality partly consists of a pattern of trait qualities. Each pattern differs between people. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
The idea that people differ in wildly fundamental ways goes back through history, as far back as 400 BC, and mentioned by Hippocrates, and later, Galen built upon the idea. Trait theories tend to inquire what traits really makeup personality. Many people disagree on where to begin answering this question. The trait view is often considered to be the most basic of all personality approaches. The core of this approach has remained the same for hundreds of years, even though many concepts have been embellished. While many consider the trait view to be the most basic approach and find this appealing, many believe that the trait view had minimal input regarding how personality works or the path from trait to action. Basically, the trait perspective had little to say about intrapersonal functioning. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
Multiple responses have been offered to this criticism. For one, trait psychology does not claim to provide a complete picture of the person, but just one specific point of view. No matter how much some people try to discard the use of the trait approach, it’s a concept that has retained a place in the working vocabulary of psychologists. The fact that these concepts have withstood the test of time attests to their hardiness and implies a fundamental accuracy in the concepts. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)

The Motive Perspective
While the trait perspective stands by the notion that personality is consistent over time, deeply embedded into ones’ consciousness, the motive perspective believes that personality is a system of multiple motives. Motives exist within each person, and behavior depends on how intense the motives are. The intensity of the motives is determined partly by the personality, partly by the situation. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
The motive theory explains that a motive is either the readiness to approach something or the readiness to avoid something. Motivation to approach would be someone motivated to achieve to try to approach success. However, an achievement task may result in failure – making it likely that there is also the need to avoid failure. The need to avoid failure can be so intense one might avoid achievement situations altogether, but on the other hand, another way to avoid failing is the act of succeeding. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
Just as with the trait perspective, there are criticisms with the motive perspective as well. One criticism is that research regarding the motive approach to personality has been very limited – only studying one motive at a time to examine the dynamics of that motive. Rarely are multiple motives reviewed in clusters. The lack of research on motives causes many to frown more upon the implementation of the motive theory than on the theory itself. Even though these limitations, the views of motive disposition have continued, and many have expressed a renewed interest in the theory for the last decade because people find that humans vary in what motivates them – motives ebb and flow across time, situations, and circumstances. This concept assures of a strong future for the motive perspective. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
There are benefits and drawbacks to each perspective of personality. The trait theory struggles to provide defined, solid explanations of personality, yet at the very core of the perspective, you will find one of the oldest perspectives regarding personality, many of its concepts have withstood the test of time, and have adapted any time new knowledge has been gained on the subject. The motive perspective may be a good theory, but there have been few thorough studies on the perspective that show it is capable of being proven without a shadow of a doubt. Even still, the motive perspective is appealing due to the possibilities it implies – if eve it’s able to be fully studied.
Other perspectives at a glance
There are 10 different personality perspectives out there. The trait perspective, the motive perspective, as well as the inheritance and evolution perspective believe that personality is ingrained in the human genes from evolution and genetic makeup. The biological perspective, which believes that personality is a result of the brain, nervous system, and body all working together to determine behavior. The psychoanalytic perspective is based on the idea that personality is a set of internal psychic forces that compete and conflict with one another. The psychosocial perspective states that human relationships influence personality. The learning perspective emphasizes that change has a tremendous influence over personality, as opposed to consistency, as other perspectives believe.
The self-actualization and self-determination perspective is a bit of a mouthful and has its roots in the belief that everyone has the potential to be a valuable person if given the opportunity. The cognitive perspective uses subjective experiences to shape human nature. Finally, the self-regulation perspective states that people are complicated psychological systems, taking some belief from the idea that self-regulation partly means synthesizing goals and moving towards them. (Carver, Scheier, 2017)
Conclusion
Every perspective of personality psychology has benefits and criticisms, each one unique in the concepts it brings to the table, each one ready to be delved into and understood, for anyone to decide which one seems to make the most sense.