Personality Theories

Richard Gerrig (2013), in his book called Psychology and Life, states that psychodynamic personality theory “is the assumption that powerful inner forces shape

personality and motivate behavior” (pg. 363). This theory believes that personality is

formed by events within the mind or intrapsychic events that lead to behaviors in a person. These intrapsychic events can operate consciously or unconsciously. Freud, the main proponent of this theory, stated that early experiences in a person’s life were the

ones that shaped a person’s personality. Basically, he was saying that a person’s

personality was set in place from childhood. The psychodynamic personality theory

believes that behavior is always motivated, meaning that it does not happen by

coincidence, by chance, or by accident. What motivates human actions is known as

psychic energy, which is expressed when a person tries to meet basic needs, tries to meet sexual urges, and tries to preserve its species. This theory states that the structure of personality is formed by the Id, the Ego and the Superego and that the clash among these three parts it’s what causes people’s behavior. A person is able to use repression to protect themselves from the impulses triggered by the Id, but using self defense

mechanisms, such as repression, may lead to mental illnesses. This theory also points out that if a person is not able to move along the psychosexual stages of development, they might develop a fixation and fixations leads to a production of a wide variety of different characteristics in adults.

On the opposite side of psychodynamic personality theory, the humanistic theory

can be found. The humanistic theory states that a person’s personality is developed as a

person strives for happiness and self-actualization unlike the psychodynamic theory that establishes that personality is created by conflicts or anxieties that take place when aninner force is being repressed by a person’s ego. Also, another...