Who am I, who are you?

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The area of psychology that has always been most interesting to me is personality. There are so many different theories for what makes us the way we are. Clearly, biology has at least a little something to do with it. As for the rest; personality head.jpegPsychoanalytic, Behavioral, Social, The Big 5, and Humanistic theories all have factors that can be argued as to why that theory is THE theory. I've found at least a bit of truth in each of these. I really think that the best answer is one that might combine ideas from more than one of these areas. Behavioral theories show a lot of promise by claiming that our actions are beyond our control. There are certain factors that affect who we are, whether we like it or not. I think that social theories are also valid because of how powerful the effects of our thinking and the people around us are. The Big 5 is so relatable...you can apply these to anyone, and with varying degrees/branching off into more detailed traits. Humanistic theories seem to fit too. I remember my parents telling me, "You can do anything you set your mind to."
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In the end, I still don't entirely know what to think about personality. I DO know that I'm even more intrigued than before....I definitely want to learn more about why we are the way we are.

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4 Comments

I really think it is an interesting point you bring up about the combination of all. I definitely saw myself relating to various parts of all of them. But then many seemed very far fetched, for example, some of the Freudian Psychoanalytical theories seemed spot on but others seemed outlandish and too primal and sex driven. I also thought the Behaviorist's approach to our behavior was out of control and interesting too, it makes one think of the influences that have caused many of our actions.

I agree with you that I found that personality very interesting. I also think that that the Big Five traits are something amazing. Being able to relate everyone in the whole world to these five traits is something to be shocked about. After taking the BIg Five test I learned a lot more about myself and tried to pay attention how I use those traits in my every day life.

I think that personality is absolutely something that is a compilation of all the things that pyschologists have found so far. It is important to remember that each set of research and results is a part of the whole picture but sometimes, like Freud had done with his interpretation of cognition, we err in overestimating the validity of a theory or idea we have. I feel the same way that it is interesting to understand why we are the way we are.

Personality is a very interesting topic in psychology. I agree with you on how a combination of all the theories or more than one of those ideas is probably the best or a best answer to the question of personality.

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This page contains a single entry by dykst024 published on April 24, 2012 7:03 PM.

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