Dispositional vs. Biological Theory Sarah Quincey PSY 405 September 15, 2014 Leslie Binnix Dispositional vs. Biological Theory Dispositional personality theories are quite different from biological personality theories. The two will be compared and dissected in this article. The Big Five Personality Test will also be analyzed and how it is used to study personality will be examined. Dispositional personality theories contend that each person per certain stable, long lasting dispositions. These dispositions make a person display certain emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. These dispositions appear in many different kinds of situations, which lends the belief that people behave in predictable ways even when they are in different …show more content…
Trait theories assume people have many traits that are continuing qualities that individuals have in different amounts. Allport’s theory suggests that there are 3 main traits: central, secondary, and cardinal. A central trait is a characteristic that controls and organizes behavior in various situations. A secondary trait can be described as a preference and is specific to certain situations. A cardinal trait is very general and pervasive. It is so pervasive that an individual is governed by it and it dictates everything a person does. The limitations to dispositional theories are that they describe people more than they strive to understand them. It is also confining to think of a personality being put into a box instead of being given room to grow and change as lives and experiences evolve. As an individual one does not like to think they are always to have the same personality or be the same for their entire lifetimes. One wants to learn, grow and change as they experience life instead of depending on the levels of body fluid they might have on a particular day. The strengths are that they helped develop objective personality tests that have become very common in personality assessment. Biological theories suggest genetics have a big part to play in personality. Some have suggested that people with high cortical arousal are introverts who avoid stimulation. While individuals with low cortical arousal are extroverts who look for stimulating
Burger (2008), says that there are many theories of personality and psychologists try to explain it with their own approaches. Discussed here will be the psychoanalytic approach, the trait approach, the biological approach the humanistic approach, the behavioural/social learning approach and the cognitive approach. They were devised to search for specific patterns in behaviour and ways of thinking about these
Personality and how we behave have been of much interest to psychologists for a long time now and because of this there have been many theories and theorists that have been developed. Personality is defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within and individual (Fritzley, 2012, p. 10). There are six main approaches to personality psychology they include: biological approach, humanistic approach, behaviorist approach, trait approach, psychoanalytic approach and cognitive approach. Each approach shines a little light onto why we behave the way we do and how our personalities are formed, the approaches contain many different theories from
The personality theory that I have chosen to focus on will be Identity Theory. It was developed by Erik Erikson in the nineteen hundreds. Erik Erikson believed that every individual goes through a certain number of stages to reach his or her full development or potential (Erikson, 1994). He theorized that a human being goes through eight different stages ranging from birth to death (Erikson, 1994). Identity Theory focuses on eight psychosocial stages of development, and an epigenetic principle of maturation (Schultz, 2008). The stages of development are
The argument of whether an individual’s personality is defined by nature or nurture is one of the oldest debates in psychology. On one hand, are biological theorists who use research to support the importance of genetics on behavior (Zaky, 2015). On the other hand, are theorists who support the theory of tabula rasa, which is the stance that we are born with blank slates and acquire our personality from experiences (Zaky, 2015). An example of a biological theorist is, Bowlby who viewed infant attachment as being an innate process for survival (Zaky, 2015). By contrast, behavioral theorist Bandura states that personality is developed based upon social experiences Zaky, 2015).
Personality theory has come a long way since its beginning in psychology. Many theorists have based their work on theorists before them, but made changes that indicate that the characteristics of the individual affects the ideas behind their work (Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2013). Comparing dispositional, biological, and evolutionary theories indicates the similarities and differences between the theories; as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The use of these theories has led to research and tests, such as the big five test, that help indicate personality characteristics of individuals (Feist, et
Most theorists have argued that personality is a product of biological and environmental factors. To help individuals understand the different approaches used to analyze the theories of personality, many theorists have given emphasis to different personality and development. One has included four approaches to help individuals gain
Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. Dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors. An internal factor is an attribute of a person and includes personality traits and temperament In America, people are said to be dispositional because internal turmoil determines the outcome of one’s behavior, like getting fired for consistently doing poor, this can be attributed to the person having a careless trait or temperament. Situational can be attributed to our surrounding and fitting into the environment we are in. (Module 11.1).
There are many theories that attempt to clarify the structures that influence personality, for example dispositional, and Evolutionary theory. This paper will discuss the differences that are among dispositional and evolutionary personality theories, as well as, strengths and limitations of dispositional and evolutionary and biological personality theories their bearing on human behavior. Furthermore, the Big Five personality test and what technique is used to study personality.
This paper will offer an overview of the trait model of personality, it will show the similar and different basic assumptions of this model and the psychodynamic model of personality to do with the variances amongst both healthy and unhealthy personalities. It will also describe each of the five traits. Finally, this paper will show my results from The Big Five Personality Test and discuss how I scored on each of the five traits.
Theory, “consisting of a systematic body of ideas about a particular topic or phenomenon (Cozby & Bates, 2012),” is arguably the most important part of research studies. The theory guides which assessment will be used to study which aspect of personality. The information
Raymond B. Cattell (1906-1998) studied the personality traits of large groups of people, calling the visible features of their personalities “surface traits.” During his studies, Cattell observed that certain “surface traits” would appear simultaneously in individuals. When Cattell noticed this trend occurring frequently he renamed the group of “surface traits” “source traits”.
This essay will firstly assess a variety of models of personality, firstly taking into account Gordon Allport’s model, followed by Raymond Cattell’s 16 trait factor model and Eysenck’s, 3 factor model. Before, critically discussing the five factor model of personality and individual traits, these are made up of the characteristics of an individual which includes their, thoughts and behaviours that make a person unique.
Personality theory is a complex process that can be influenced by many factors. There are a few factors by which psychologist seem to measure how people adjust and adapt their personality. These factors are nature versus nurture, the unconscious, view of self, development, motivation, and maturation. Each one of these factors has their own distinguishable elements that when factored with personality can have different effects on personality development. These factors will be discussed in different context as how they relate to and affect personality.
This course aims to provide the students with a basic understanding of man’s behavior through a detailed overview of personality theories. The course will include a critical
The understanding of personality has evolved over the years as numerous researchers have added their thoughts and findings to create the depth of knowledge that can be found today (Schneider, 2007). Included in this evolution were trait theorists such as Gordon