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Two Theories Of Personality Essay

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Two Theories Of Personality Essay
Compare and Contrast two theories of Personality

Our personality is our characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting (Psychology David G Myers), it’s the combination of traits that ‘outlines the doctrine of uniqueness’ (Gifts Differing – Understanding Personality Types) that sets us apart from everyone else. Psychologists vary between themselves concerning the meaning of personality. Most would agree that it originated from the Latin word persona’ – meaning a theoretical mask – but they differ on how an individual obtains this ‘unique mask’ (i.e. how they develop their personality) and thus this brings the divers theories of personality. This essay will compare and contrast two popular theories: one being the: Psychoanalytic theory, and the other a Humanistic approach. …show more content…
It’s based on the assumption that personality is a reflection of these internal conflicts (Personality and Research, Gordon L Flett) and the levels of consciousness in human experiences. Freud’s theory suggests that there are in fact three levels of consciousness. The: Consciousness, –which ironically only occupies a minor place within the theory – functions as the level of mental health that is directly available to us, Pre-consciousness which contains experiences that are not yet conscious, but can become so, and The Unconsciousness (where the bulk of his theory is grounded on) which contains experiences that are beyond the individuals awareness; by repression, due to its content. In his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality he claims that the development of personality could be understood in relation to ‘motivations’, which brought about his Structural Model and the introduction of his ‘tripartite model; the: Id, Ego and Super-ego (The Handbook of Personality, Oliver P Joh et
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