The Theory And The Psychoanalytic Theory - 1475 Words

Although used predominantly to explain the varying characteristics each individual possesses, personality is also a term often coined to define and explain the reasons behind an individual’s motivations and reactions to certain events, entities and decisions. Defined by Larson Buss, 2005, personality is ‘the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organised and relatively enduring, and that influence his or her interaction with, and adaptions to, the intrapsychic, physical and social environments.’ As personality encompasses such a wide array of concepts, there are many competitive theories battling to explain these dynamic ideas. Of these theories, is the unorthodox Psychoanalytic theory, developed by†¦show more content†¦In contrast, the humanistic approach emphasised the conscious awareness of ‘needs, choices and personal responsibilities of the individual’ (Lahey, 2009). They believed that the personal w orth of the particular individual, the centrality of human values, and the creative and active nature of human beings was what defined the person (McLeod, 2007). Basically, the humanistic approach, according to Abraham Maslow, was that humans are born ‘good’ and that human nature is compassionate and positive (Larsen Buss, 2012). Both the psychoanalytic and humanistic theories differ from one another in multiple ways. One of the most prominent differences is their view on human nature. As mentioned above, Freud and his psychoanalytic concept, viewed humans as inherently bad. The id, he defined, operated solely on the pleasure principle, craving immediate gratification without consideration about moral values and the harm it could cause (McLeod, 2008). He also believed that the ego and the superego was the minds way of controlling the id ((Lahey, 2009; Larsen Buss, 2012; McLeod, 2008). In contrast, humanistic psychologists viewed human nature as fundamentally good. Maslow had a positive view on men, believing that each had the ability to grow and mature into proper beings, and make use of their full potential (Boeree, 2000 Larsen Buss, 2012). The main emphasis of the humanistic approach, was that an individual has free will and this plays an important role in shaping