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The two theories of personality that I will compare and contrast are the Humanistic Theory and the Psychodynamic Theory. Out of the five theories that I read about these two intrigued me the most. They both try to explain why we as humans act the way we do, and why we make certain choices.
The major contributors to the Humanistic theory were Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. The Humanistic theory states that people are not controlled by internal or external forces, unlike the Psychodynamic theory that believes our actions are a result of the inner struggle between the id, ego, and superego. The Humanistic approach focuses on the ability to choose our own actions but being held responsible for those actions. These theorists believe in self actualization or living up to one’s full potential, which is easily done by meeting basic needs then moving on to more complex goals. This is represented by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, with basic survival skills at the bottom and self actualization at the top. Humanistic theorists believe that deep down people are fundamentally good, which contrast to the Psychodynamic thought that suggests that the Id may cause aggression and would be considered bad. Humanistic theorists put an emphasis on an individual conquering problem, while Psychodynamic theorists believe that the unconscious is the core of one’s actions. Psychoanalysis is a popular method that is practiced by Psychodynamic psychologists to help someone gain insight on their unconscious. Both theories include reasoning that states how one is prone to behave a certain way if treated a certain way as a child. Freud believed development is psychosexual in nature, and that there are five stages to the psychosexual development. He believed certain extremes in each stage could lead to personality problems as an adult. Humanistic Theory suggests that children may develop conditions of worth that are carried with them in life from lack of conditional positive regard.