Psych 4

Theories of Personality

Portrait of Magnetic Personality

• Ana N. Javarez, MACP, RPm

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Derivation:
Theater and Self-Presentation
• The word personality originated
from the Latin word persona,
which refers to a theatrical
mask worn by Roman actors in
Greek dramas to project false
appearance or roles.

“All the word’s a stage, and all men and women merely players”
- Shakespeare in As You Like It

Social Philosophers coined Relative Self- stating that there is no underlying self
behind the mask. It is already the true self.
Luigi Pirandello, 1867-1936, Mead, 1968)

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Personality
Personality is defined as
the pattern of behaviour
that is enduring,
distinctive thoughts,
emotions and behaviours
that differs from every
individual and is used to
adapt to the world.

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 Definitions of Personality
Theorists have provided definitions that reveal their unique
view of the human person.

1. Sigmund Freud (1916-1920’s): Personality is the

integration of the Id, Ego, and Superego.

2. Gordon Allport (1937): Personality is the dynamic

organization within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his/her unique
adjustments to the environment.

3. Dennis Coon (1980): Personality is an individual’s unique

and psychological characteristics and the dynamic
relationship among them.
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 Definitions of Personality
4. Hjelle and Zeigler (1992): Personality is an abstract
concept which integrates the many concepts (like
emotions, thoughts, perceptions, motivations, etc.) that
characterize what a person is like.

5. Sikolohiyang Pilipino, the translation pagkatao is

preferred rather than katauhan. The Filipino
personhood according to Covar (cited in Enriquez, 1994)
is based on four elements: kaluluwa (spirit), budhi
(conscience), katauhang panlabas (external
appearance), and katauhang panloob (innermost being).

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 Beginnings of
Personality Psychology

Hippocrates Plato Aristotle Gall

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 Hippocrates
• 460 BC- 370 BC
• Greek Physician, The Father of Western
Medicine

• Proposed two axes of

temperament which
combined to form Four
Humors.

• Individual differences in
personality and behavior
can be explained by
humoral variances and
imbalances.

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 Plato
•428/427 BC- 348 BC
•Greek Philosopher, Founder
of the Academy

He introduced Four
Groupings, the Personality Aristotle
•384 BC- 322 BC
types as Artistic, Sensible, •Greek Philosopher, Founder
Intuitive, Reasoning. of the Academy

His renowned student, Aristotle, proposed a

similar set of factors that could explain
personality: Iconic (or artistic), Pistic (or
common sense), Noetic (intuition) and
Dianoetic (or logic).

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 Franz Joseph Gall
•1758-1828
•French neuroanatomist and
physiologist who founded
PHRENOLOGY.

There were 27 fundamental faculties, among

• Collected and observed over them were:
•Recollection of people
120 skulls in order to test his
•Mechanical ability
hypotheses •Talent for poetry,
•Love of property,
• Believed that the bumps and •Murder instinct, etc.
uneven geography of the
human skull were caused by
pressure exerted from the
brain

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William Sheldon (1898-1977)

He was an American psychologist who classified personality

according to body type. Through a meticulous examination of
the carefully posed (front view, side view, and back view)
photographs of some four thousand, decently but scantily
clothed, college-age men, Sheldon became persuaded that
there were three fundamental elements that, in various
proportions, contributed to each person's actual physique or
somatype.

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 Important concepts:

• Traits: contribute to individual differences in

behavior, consistency of behavior over time,
and stability of behavior across situations.

• Characteristics: are unique qualities of an

individual that include such attributes as
temperament, physique, and intelligence.

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 Concept of Theory
Theory is a set of related assumptions that
allows scientists to use logical deductive
reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis.

Its uses are:

1. It generates a number of hypotheses;
2. It organizes research data into a meaningful
structure and provides an explanation for the
results of scientific research; and
3. It provides acceptance or rejection of the
researcher.

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Sources of Personality Theories
Deductive approach
(General to specific)
An approach to psychology
in which the conclusions
follow logically from the
premises or assumptions.
Inductive approach
(Specific to general)
An approach to psychology
in which observations are
systematically collected and
concepts are developed
based on what the data
reveal.

Multidisciplinary approach. It involves analogies and concepts

borrowed from related disciplines. Positron emission tomography to see
ongoing brain activity by tracing where radioactive glucose travel as people
think and respond.
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