By far the most influential and eloquent voice in self-concept theory was that of Carl Rogers (1947) who introduced an entire system of helping built around the importance of the self. In Rogers' view, the self is the central ingredient in human personality and personal adjustment. Rogers described the self as a social product, developing out of interpersonal relationships and striving for consistency. He maintained that there is a basic human need for positive regard both from others and from oneself. He also believed that in every person there is a tendency towards self-actualization and
Freud believed that conscience was a construct of the mind built up through repressed feelings and emotions. For Freud, during our upbringing we accept values and beliefs about morality, and at some point, these may be rejected by our moral reasoning. Even though these early views have since been rejected, they continue to influence our ‘conscience’. Freud separated the conscious into three clear parts: the ID, the EGO, and the Super-Ego. The ID is considered part of the unconscious personality, and is driven by impulses to seek pleasure and satisfaction.
This means early experiences play a critical role in our lives. Freud believed the human mind has both unconscious and conscious areas. The unconscious part is seen as being dominated by the id, a primitive part of the human personality that seeks only gratification and pleasure. It isn’t concerned with social rules, only with self-gratification and it is driven by the ‘pleasure principle.’ It is said psychopaths are ID led. The disregard for our consequences of behaviour is referred to as ‘primary process thinking’.
This is the belief that everything in the universe including all human actions and choices has a cause. Thus, all events are causally determined and theoretically predictable; you just need to know the effect of the causes. This is a mechanistic philosophy, put forward in the Cosmological argument by St. Thomas Aquinas. In addition, other philosophers agree with the illusion of moral choice such as John Locke who used a strong analogy in
Furthermore the term Identity describes a unique personality structure in combination with the picture that others have of this structure. The reflection of ourselves and who we want to be determines our identity. This concept is also described by some as the self image. Self-image: A person's self-image is the own mental
However, the thoughts which are formed in the unconscious are governed by the Ego, the conscious part of the brain. The Superego controls the Id (the unconscious) drive through guilt. The three parts work together in the psychodynamic approach by affecting individual personalities. Psychodynamic psychology concentrates its focus on the core of what a person may be thinking, as a focus to understand one’s relationship with others. Psychodynamic theory includes all theories in the field of psychology that focuses on “functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious between the different structures of the personality” (McLeod, 2007).
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was created to help measure the needs for power, intimacy, and achievement in regards to motivation. The motivational view I agree with the least is the psychoanalytic view. “The psychoanalytic view of human motivation suggests that behavior is ultimately determined by unconscious sexual and aggressive drives and by the complex intrapsychic conflicts that arise in daily life.” (Pinel, J.P.J. 2008. p. 299). Freud had some beliefs that I believe have been outdated and further researched since his time.
In Freud theory of identity, a person’s identity is made up by three distinct parts the id, the superego, and the ego. A person is born with the unconscious id. The id is responsible for a person’s basic desire or instinctual drives. The id is un-logical and un-moral with that being said, the id wants its desires fulfilled immediately no matter what the consequences are which can be seen as sexuality and aggression. On the other hand, a person’s superego is one’s conscious, which is a collection of moral lessons learned from parents, organized religion, and society.
This paper seeks to define the effect humanistic and existential theories have on personality as well as interpersonal relationships. Humanistic and Existential Theories Affect on Personality Humanistic theories of personality believe that all humans are good. This theory also stresses the importance to achieve an individual’s full potential. The focus of the humanistic theory is on the self, which translates into "YOU", and "your" perception of "your" experiences. Abraham Maslow’s introduced the hierarchy of needs that emphasizes the importance of self-actualization.
However, the study of personality is based upon the essential knowledge that all people are the same, yet different in other ways. The most up to date definition of personality is that found in the Feist and Feist texted of Theories of Personalities and that would be “Personality is a pattern of characteristics of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish one person from another” (Feist and Feist; 2009). In the field of