UNIT-1

SELF AND PERSONAL GROWTH

Dr. Manisha Kohli

Ayushi Grover

CONTENTS
 Introduction: Self And Personal growth
 Notion of Personality
 Perspectives
 Self as an object and a process.
 Bases of Self-knowledge.

Self and personal growth

Self and personal growth, refer to the characteristic ways in which we define our
existence. From common observation we know that different people hold different
ideas about themselves. These ideas represent the self of a person. The study of
self helps us to understand not only who we are, but also our uniqueness as well as
our similarities with others. By understanding self, we can understand, our own as
well as other’s behavior in diverse settings

Notion of personality

The term personality often appears in our day-to-day discussion. For a layperson,
personality generally refers to the physical or external appearance of an individual.
For example, when we find someone good looking, we often assume that the
person also has a charming personality. This notion of personality is based on
superficial impressions, which may not be correct. Personality is a very broad
concept cannot be defined in a universal manner. Different psychologists have
theorized it in different manner so there's no such, all en-compassing definition of
personality. Hence in Psychology we study about the notion of personality and try
to find out what it means.

Originally, the word “personality” came from the Latin word persona, which
means “mask” worn by the actors in the theatre of ancient Greece and Rome
displaying their dramatic roles (in speaking their part, the actors sound through
mask)

According to Gordon Allport, “Personality is the dynamic organization within the

individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to
his environment.

According to H.J. Eyesenck, “ Personality is the more or less stable and enduring
organisation of a person's character, temperament, intellect and physique which
determines his characteristics, behavior and thought.

In psychological terms, Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding

to individuals and situations. People can easily describe the ways in which they
respond to various situations. Certain catch words e.g., shy, sensitive, quite,
concerned, warm, etc. are often used to describe personalities. These words refer to
different components of personality. In this sense, personality refers to unique and
relatively stable qualities that characterize an individual’s behavior across different
situations over a period of time.

The notion of Personality is characterized by the following features:

  It has both physical and psychological components.
 Its expression in terms of behavior is fairly unique in a given individual.
 Its main features do not easily change with time.
 It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may change due to
internal or external situational demands.

Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality, we can predict how that
person will probably behave in a variety of circumstances. An understanding of
notion of personality allows us to deal with people in realistic and acceptable ways.
For example, if you find a child who does not like orders, the most effective way to
deal with that child will be not to give orders, but to present a set of acceptable
alternatives from which the child may choose. Similarly, a child who has feelings
of inferiority needs to be treated differently from a child who is self-confident.

 Perspectives of Personality

There are various approaches in contemporary Psychology. An approach is a

perspective i.e. view that involves certain assumptions i.e. beliefs about human
behavior: the way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and
what research methods are appropriate for undertaking this study. There may be
several different studies within an approach, but they all share these common
assumptions. You may wonder why there are so many different psychology
perspectives and whether one approach is correct and others wrong. Most
psychologists would agree that no one perspective is correct, although in the past,
in the early days of psychology, the behaviorist would have said their perspective
was the only truly scientific one. Each perspective has its strengths and
weaknesses, and brings something different to our understanding of human
behavior. For this reason, it is important that psychology does have different
perspectives on the understanding and study of human and animal behavior.

Below is a summary of the six main psychological approaches (sometimes

called perspectives) in psychology.

 Behaviorist Perspective:

Behaviorists explain personality in terms of the effects external stimuli have on

behavior. The approaches used to analyze the behavioral aspect of personality are
known as behavioral theories or learning-conditioning theories. One of the major
tenets of this perspective is a strong emphasis on scientific thinking and
experimentation. This school of thought was developed by B. F. Skinner who put
forth a model which emphasized the mutual interaction of the person or "the
organism" with its environment. Skinner believed children do bad things because
the behavior obtains attention that serves as a reinforcer. For example: a child cries
because the child's crying in the past has led to attention. These are the response,
and consequences. The response is the child crying, and the attention that child
gets is the reinforcing consequence. According to this theory, people's behavior is
formed by processes such as operant conditioning. Skinner put forward a "three
term contingency model" which helped promote analysis of behavior based on the
"Stimulus - Response - Consequence Model" in which the critical question is:
"Under which circumstances or antecedent 'stimuli' does the organism engage in a
particular behavior or 'response', which in turn produces a particular 'consequence'?

Ivan Pavlov is another notable influence. He is well known for his classical
conditioning experiments involving dogs, which led him to discover the foundation
of behaviorism.
  Type and trait approach :
Type theories of personality: According to Morgan and King, “A type is simply a
class of individuals said to share a common collection of characteristics.” It means
that people are classified into categories according to the characteristics they share
in common. For example, some people prominently show tendencies of being
outgoing, happy-go-lucky nature, mixing with people, less task orientation etc.
These people are classified as extrovert. A number of thinkers have given their
typological models to explain personality, some of which include (i) Hippocrates’s
typology (ii) Carl Jung's personality types (iii) Sheldon's Typology (iv)
Kretchmer’s Typology (v) Spranger's Typology

 Hippocrates personality types:

In 400 B.C. Hippocrates attempted to explain personality in terms of body fluid or

humors. He postulated that our body has four types of fluid; yellow bile, black bile,
blood and phlegm. Every person is characterized by the prominence of one type of
fluid which determines the temperament of the person concerned. Thus he
classified people into four types which are given below:

 Choleric – people with predominance of yellow bile are irritable, restless

and hot blooded. Choleric individuals tend to be more extroverted. They are
described as independent, decisive, goal-oriented, and ambitious. These
combined with their dominant, result-oriented outlook make them natural
leaders.
 Melancholic – people with high black bile are sad, depressed and devoid of
hope in life. Melancholic individuals tend to be analytical and detail-
oriented, and they are deep thinkers and feelers. They are introverted and try
to avoid being singled out in a crowd. A melancholic personality leads to
 self-reliant individuals who are thoughtful, reserved, and often anxious.
They often strive for perfection within themselves and their surroundings,
which leads to tidy and detail-oriented behavior.
 Sanguinary – When blood content is high the person remains cheerful,
active and he is optimistic in life. Sanguine personality type is described
primarily as being highly talkative, enthusiastic, active, and social. Sanguine
tend to be high risk seeking, more extroverted and enjoy being part of a
crowd; they find that being social, outgoing, and charismatic is easy to
accomplish.
 Phlegmatic – predominance of phlegm makes a person calm and quite and
usually their behavior is marked by inactiveness. Phlegmatic individuals
tend to be relaxed, peaceful, quiet, and easy-going. They are sympathetic
and care about others, yet they try to hide their emotions. Phlegmatic
individuals are also good at generalizing ideas or problems to the world and
making compromises.

 Carl Jung's Personality types:

Jung postulated personality theory based on psychological characteristics. He

divided people into two broad types i.e. extroverts and introverts.

 Extroverts – Such people are socially oriented. They like to mix up with
people, are fun loving, optimistic. They are realistic in their approach
towards life. Often such people exhibit leadership qualities.
 Introverts – They are the opposite of extroverts. They do not like to mingle
with people. They have very few friends. They are self-centered and
conservative. Such people are dogmatic in the sense that they follow
 traditions and customs of the society without ever giving thought to their
justifiability.

Jung’s classification has been criticized on the ground that it is not possible to
divide people into two watertight compartments because a significant number of
people do not fall in either of the categories. They exhibit characteristics of both
the extrovert and introvert type. To compensate for this psychologists placed such
persons into another category called ambiverts.

 Functions—Cognitive Processes

Using metaphors for names, Jung described two kinds of cognitive processes—
perception and judgment. Sensation and Intuition were the two kinds of perception.
Thinking and Feeling were the two kinds of judgment. He said that every mental
act consists of using at least one of these four cognitive processes. Then he
described eight personality types that were characterized by using one of the
processes in either the extraverted or introverted world; extraverted Sensing types,
introverted Sensing types, extraverted intuiting* types, introverted intuiting types,
extraverted Thinking types, introverted Thinking types, extraverted Feeling types,
and introverted Feeling types. He also suggested that these processes operate not
just as the dominant process in a personality but also in other ways.

 Sheldon’s Typology

Sheldon on the basis of physical constitution categorized personality into

somatotypes. These three types are: (a) Endomorphic (b) Ectomorphic (c)
Monomorphic.

 Endomorphic – Such persons are short and fatty with a round shape of
body. Endomorphic people are similar to “pyknic” type mentioned by
 Kretschmer. They like to eat and drink and make merry, gregarious by
nature and have leisurely attitude toward life. Temperament wise Sheldon
termed them “viscerotonia"
 Monomorphic – These people are muscular types. Their muscles and bones
are quite well developed and they are physically well shaped. These people
generally are considered to be tough minded, risk taking, assertive and
aggressive. They like to boss over others. Sheldon called these personalities
as “somatotonia”
 Ectomorphic – Such people are tall but thin. Sheldon called them
“cerebrotonia”. These people like to remain away from people.

 Kretschmer’s Typology

Kretschmer was a German psychiatrist who on the basis of his observation of

patients classified people into four types. He used the physical constitution and
temperament for this purpose the four types he talked about included: a) Pyknic
type b) Asthenic type c) Athletic type (d) Dysplastic type. Let us briefly study each
of these types.

 Pyknic Type – Such people are short in height with heavily built body type.
They have short, thick neck. Temperament wise they exhibit characteristics
of being social and cheerful. They are happy-go-lucky, they like to eat and
sleep. Kretschmer called them “cycloid” as they have high probability of
falling prey to manic-depressive type of psychopathology.
 Asthenic Type – Such persons are tall and thin with underdeveloped
muscles. They are also underweight. They are irritable and shirk away from
responsibility. They have the habit of day dreaming and are lost in the world
 of fantasy. Temperament wise they are categorized as “schizoid” and may
develop disorder of schizophrenia.
 Athletic Type – These are muscular types and have well-built muscles and
are neither tall nor short. They have stable and calm nature and are able to
adjust themselves to changes in the environment.
 Dysplastic Type – This category includes people who do not exhibit any of
the characteristics mentioned above but are mix of all three types.

 Spranger’sTypology

Spranger in his book “Types of Man” described six types of man, taking into
account their value orientation in life. Thus he had theoretical types, economic
types, aesthetic types, social type, political type and religious type.

 Theoretical Type – They are seekers of truth. They try to understand and
make sense of the world around them through reason and logic. They are
interested in finding answers to questions like what is God? How this world
with diversity and complexity beyond comprehension is governed?
 Economic Type – They are basically utilitarian. They view things from the
point of view of practicality and their economic perspective.
 Aesthetic Type – These people are lovers of nature and beauty. They lay
emphasis on form and harmony and believe in making life attractive and
charming.
 Social type – Such people are gregarious, like to mingle with people in
social gatherings. They reach out for help to people in distress. They often
enjoy good prestige in society.
  Political Type – These are persons who value power and influence. Such
persons rank people on the basis of power they yield. Their behavior is
oriented toward gaining power and influence over others.
 Religious Type – This type of person lays emphasis on the unity of cosmos.
They have spiritual bent of mind and believe in God.

 Trait theories of personality:

According to trait theory personality is made up of different traits. Traits are the
building blocks and human behavior can be described in terms of these traits. A
trait generally is a description of behavior, for example, friendliness; social,
assertive are words that describe human behavior. These traits should be consistent
as well as stable.

According to Atkinson, Atkinson and Hillgard “A trait refers to any characteristic

that differs from person to person in a relatively permanent and consistent way.”
Trait approach got maximum impetus from the work of Allport, Cattell, Eysenck
etc.

 Allport’s Trait Theory:

Allport mentioned two types of traits; common traits and personal traits.

 Common Traits – are the traits found in the majority of persons living in a
society or culture. Thus people of a society or culture can be compared on
that trait. Common traits thus are those which are reflected in the behavior of
most of the persons in a society or a community or culture.
  Personal Traits – This refers to the unique characteristics of a person and
not shared by other members of the society or community or culture. Such a
personal trait is not comparable with those of others in that culture. These
traits are inculcated by a person more in the process of socialization and thus
many of do’s and don’ts of the parents or caregivers become part of the
personality and these traits are unique to this individual. Another important
aspect is that, these traits are highly consistent and can be seen in almost all
behaviors of this individual irrespective of the situation concerned.

Allport further divided personal traits into three subcategories: a) cardinal

dispositions, b) central dispositions, and c) secondary dispositions.

 Cardinal dispositions: such traits have overriding and overwhelming

influence on the behavior of a person in that they manifest themselves in all
that a person does and guides the behavior of that person. For example,
Mahatma Gandhi had firm belief and conviction in peace and non-violence.
Message of peace and non-violence were explicitly seen in whatever
Mahatma Gandhi did in his life, whether at home or abroad.
 Central dispositions: This is found in all persons and one can have 5 to 10
central dispositions. These are not equivalent to cardinal traits but one can
assess the personality of an individual in terms of these traits. These traits
actually define the personality of a person. Let us take an example of a
person who has the traits of honesty, punctuality, parsimony, cleanliness and
generosity. Such a person will be always on time to the office, and keep the
scheduled meetings on time and never will waste anyone’s time, will be
always straight forward and deal directly with his employer and employees,
and would ensure that nothing is wasted and will make sure others do not
 waste anything and whenever someone comes for help would be generous
enough to offer help and solve the problem.
 Secondary dispositions: These traits of a person are less consistent, less
explicit and less meaningful for the person and hence are called secondary
traits. These traits are of not much help in explaining the personality, for
example, hair style, dressing sense, eating pattern or preferences etc.

 Cattell’s Trait Theory:

After Allport, major contribution to trait theory was made by R.B. Cattell. He
divided traits into two categories, viz., surface traits, and source traits.

 Surface Traits– As the name suggests these are found on the periphery of
personality i.e. these are reflected in the day to day interactions of the
person. Their expression is so explicit that it leaves no doubt about their
existence in the personality.
 Source Traits – These represent the structure of personality. They are
present in less number than surface traits. These traits are not observable in
day to day interactions of the person. Source traits come to notice when
some of the surface traits are joined together. For example, sociability,
unselfishness and humor are surface traits which when joined together create
a source trait known as friendliness. Cattell mentioned two types of source
traits i.e. environmental mold traits and constitutional traits. In the
development of some source traits environmental factors play more
important role than genetic factors, therefore, such traits are called
environmental mold traits. Source traits determined by genetic factors are
called constitutional traits.
Cattell also divided traits according to the behavior they are related to and these
include the dynamic traits and ability traits. Dynamic Traits are those which direct
the behavior of the person in a particular direction. Attitude and sentiments are
examples of dynamic traits.

 Ability Traits – traits that are instrumental in reaching to a goal are called
ability traits. For example, musical ability is a must for becoming a
musician.
 Temperamental Traits – These develop out of a person’s efforts to reach a
goal and relate to emotional state and energy of the person.

 Eysenck’s Trait Theory

H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced into two broad
dimensions. These dimensions are Neuroticism, and Extraversion-Introversion
dimensions. According to Eysenck, these are biologically and genetically based
and each dimension subsumes under it a number of specific traits. He drew a scale
with one end having normal dimension and at another extreme having the
Neuroticism dimension. In between the person could have in varying degrees many
traits which are part of these dimensions. Eysenck (1947) found that their behavior
could be represented by two dimensions: Introversion / Extroversion (E);
Neuroticism / Stability (N). Eysenck called these second-order personality traits.

Each aspect of personality (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism) can be

traced back to a different biological cause.

 Extraversion/introversion
 Extraverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can
become bored easily. They tend to be carefree, optimistic and impulsive.
They are more likely to take risks and be thrill seekers. Eysenck argues that
this is because they inherit an under aroused nervous system and so seek
stimulation to restore the level of optimum stimulation.
Introverts on the other hand lie at the other end of this scale, being quiet and
reserved. They are already over-aroused and shun sensation and stimulation.
Introverts are reserved, plan their actions and control their emotions. They
tend to be serious, reliable and pessimistic.
 Neuroticism/stability
A person’s level of neuroticism is determined by the reactivity of their
sympathetic nervous system. A stable person’s nervous system will
generally be less reactive to stressful situations, remaining calm and level
headed. Someone high in neuroticism on the other hand will be much more
unstable, and prone to overreacting to stimuli and may be quick to worry,
anger or fear. They are overly emotional and find it difficult to calm down
once upset. Neurotic individuals have an ANS that responds quickly to
stress.
 Psychoticism/normality
Psychoticism – lacking in empathy, cruel, a loner, aggressive and
troublesome. This has been related to high levels of testosterone. The higher
the testosterone, the higher the level of psychoticism, with low levels related
to more normal balanced behavior. He was especially interested in the
characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their
potential as individuals. According to Eysenck, the two dimensions of
neuroticism (stable vs. unstable) and introversion-extroversion combine to
form a variety of personality characteristics.
  Psychodynamic Perspective:
Originating in the work of Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic perspective
emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and
fears of which we’re not fully aware), and contends that childhood
experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality. Later on some other
prominent psychologists added to this pool of knowledge who are popularly
called as Neo-Freudians.
 Psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud:

According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, personality develops through a series

of stages, each characterized by a certain internal psychological conflict. Sigmund
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the
result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and
superego. This theory is known as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places
great emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping
behavior and personality. Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of
the mind are thought to progress through five distinct psychosexual stages of
development. Over the last century, however, Freud’s ideas have since been met
with criticism, in part because of his singular focus on sexuality as the main driver
of human personality development.

Freud’s Structure of the Human Mind

According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he
proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and
superego. Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance
among what each of them “desires,” determines how we behave and approach the
world. What balance we strike in any given situation determines how we will
resolve the conflict between two overarching behavioral tendencies: our biological
aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives vs. our socialized internal control over
those drives.

 The Id

The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant
gratification of basic physical needs and urges. It operates entirely unconsciously
on “pleasure principle". For example, if your id walked past a stranger eating ice
cream, it would most likely take the ice cream for itself. It doesn’t know, or care,
that it is rude to take something belonging to someone else; it would care only that
you wanted the ice cream.

 The Superego

The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many
people call their “conscience” or their “moral compass.” It develops as a child
learns what their culture considers right and wrong. If your superego walked past
the same stranger, it would not take their ice cream because it would know that that
would be rude. However, if both your id and your superego were involved, and
your id was strong enough to override your superego’s concern, you would still
take the ice cream, but afterward you would most likely feel guilt and shame over
your actions.

 The Ego

In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational,
pragmatic part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly
conscious and partly unconscious. It’s what Freud considered to be the “self,” and
its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the practical context of
reality. So, if you walked past the stranger with ice cream one more time, your ego
would mediate the conflict between your id (“I want that ice cream right now”) and
superego (“It’s wrong to take someone else’s ice cream”) and decide to go buy
your own ice cream. While this may mean you have to wait 10 more minutes,
which would frustrate your id, your ego decides to make that sacrifice as part of
the compromise– satisfying your desire for ice cream while also avoiding an
unpleasant social situation and potential feelings of shame.

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult
personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles
throughout childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a
healthy personality and that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis (what
we now think of as anxiety and depression) and unhealthy behaviors.

Thus the personality is divided into the id, ego, and superego. On this diagram, the
smaller portion above the water signifies the conscious mind while the much larger
portion below the water illustrates the unconscious mind.

 Psychosexual Stages of Development

The conflicts among id, ego and superego progress through a series of five basic
stages, each with a different focus: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Their
biological pleasure-seeking urges focus on different areas of the body (what Freud
called “erogenous zones”). The child’s ability to resolve these internal conflicts
determines their future ability to cope and function as an adult. Failure to resolve a
stage can lead one to become fixated in that stage, leading to unhealthy personality
traits; successful resolution of the stages leads to a healthy adult.

 Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused
on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in
 an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation
with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to
smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise,
these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and
perpetual followers.
 Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The child’s focus of pleasure in
this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s pressure,
mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. Anal
fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness,
perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum,
they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).
Phallic Stage (three to six years). The pleasure zone switches to the
genitals. According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong
competition of his father, boys eventually decide to identify with him rather
than fight him. By identifying with his father, the boy develops masculine
characteristics and identifies himself as a male, and represses his sexual
feelings toward his mother. A fixation at thisstage could result in sexual
deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual
identity according to psychoanalysts.
 Latency Stage (age six to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges
remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers.
 Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development
begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened.
Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct
their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of
pleasure is the genitals.
  Neo-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality:

Neo-Freudian approaches to the study of personality both expanded on and

countered Freud’s original theories. Many criticized his theories for being overly
focused on sexuality; over the years since his work, many other theorists have
adapted and built on his ideas to form new theories of personality. These theorists,
referred to as Neo-Freudians, generally agreed with Freud that childhood
experiences are important, but they lessened his emphasis on sex and sexuality.
Instead of taking a strictly biological approach to the development of personality
(as Freud did in his focus on individual evolutionary drives ), they focused more
holistically on how the social environment and culture influence personality
development. Four particularly notable Neo-Freudians are Alfred Adler, Erik
Erikson, Carl Jung, and Karen Horney.

 Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler was the first to explore and develop a comprehensive social theory of
the psychodynamic person. He founded a school of psychology called individual
psychology, which focuses on our drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority.
Adler proposed the concept of the inferiority complex, which describes a person’s
feelings that they lack worth and don’t measure up to the standards of others or of
society. He also believed in the importance of social connections, seeing childhood
development as emerging through social development rather than via the sexual
stages outlined by Freud. From these ideas, Adler identified three fundamental
social tasks that all of us must experience: occupational tasks (careers), societal
tasks (friendship), and love tasks (finding an intimate partner for a long-term
relationship).

 Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson is influential for having proposed the psychosocial theory of

development, which suggests that an individual’s personality develops throughout
the lifespan based on a series of social relationships—a departure from Freud’s
more biology-oriented view. In his psychosocial theory, Erikson emphasized the
social relationships that are important at each stage of personality development, in
contrast to Freud’s emphasis on sex. Erikson identified eight stages, each of which
represents a conflict or developmental task. The development of a healthy
personality and a sense of competence depend on the successful completion of
each task.

 Carl Jung

Carl Jung followed in Adler’s footsteps by developing a theory of personality

called analytical psychology. One of Jung’s major contributions was his idea of the
collective unconscious, which he deemed a “universal” version of Freud’s personal
unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, that are common to all of
us (Jung, 1928). These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are
represented by universal themes as expressed through various cultures’ literature
and art, as well as people’s dreams. Jung also proposed the concept of the persona,
referring to a kind of “mask” that we adopt based on both our conscious
experiences and our collective unconscious. Jung believed this persona served as a
compromise between who we really are (our true self) and what society expects us
to be; we hide those parts of ourselves that are not aligned with society’s
expectations behind this mask.

 Karen Horney

Karen Horney was one of the first women trained as a Freudian psychoanalyst.
Horney’s theories focused on “unconscious anxiety,” which she believed stemmed
from early childhood experiences of unmet needs, loneliness, and/or isolation. She
theorized three styles of coping that the children adopt in relation to anxiety:
moving toward people, moving away from people, and moving against people.

Horney was also influential in the advancement of feminism within the field of
psychodynamics. Freud has been widely critiqued for his almost exclusive focus
on men and for what some perceive as condescension toward women, for example,
Horney disagreed with the Freudian idea that girls have “penis envy” and are
jealous of male biological features. According to Horney, any jealousy is most
likely due to the greater privileges that males are often given, meaning that the
differences between men’s and women’s personalities are due to the dynamics of
culture rather than biology. She further suggested that men have “womb envy”
because they cannot give birth.

 Humanistic Perspective:

Some psychologists at the time disliked psychodynamic and behaviorist

perspective and felt that these theories ignored the qualities that make humans
unique among animals, such as striving for self-determination and self-realization.
In the 1950s, some of these psychologists began a school of psychology called
Humanism.

Humanistic psychologists try to see people’s lives as those people would see them.
They tend to have an optimistic perspective on human nature. They focus on the
ability of human beings to think consciously and rationally, to control their
biological urges, and to achieve their full potential. In the humanistic view, people
are responsible for their lives and actions and have the freedom and will to change
their attitudes and behavior.

Two psychologists, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, became well known
for their humanistic theories.

 Abraham Maslow’s Theory

The highest rung on Abraham Maslow’s ladder of human motives is the need for
Self-Actualization. Maslow said that human beings strive for self-actualization, or
realization of their full potential, once they have satisfied their more basic needs.
Maslow also provided his own account of the healthy human personality.

Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs that is conceptualized as a

pyramid to represent how people move from one level of needs to another. First
physiological needs must be met before safety needs, then the need for love and
belonging, then esteem, and finally self-actualization.
Personality and the Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow is perhaps most well-known for his hierarchy of needs theory, in which he
proposes that human beings have certain needs in common and that these needs
must be met in a certain order. These needs range from the most basic
physiological needs for survival to higher-level self-actualization and
transcendence needs. Maslow’s hierarchy is most often presented visually as a
pyramid, with the largest, most fundamental physiological needs at the bottom and
the smallest, most advanced self-actualization needs at the top. Each layer of the
pyramid must be fulfilled before moving up the pyramid to higher needs, and this
process is continued throughout the lifespan. Maslow believed that successful
fulfillment of each layer of needs was vital in the development of personality. The
highest need for self-actualization represents the achievement of our fullest
potential, and those individuals who finally achieved self-actualization were said to
represent optimal psychological health and functioning. Maslow stretched the field
of psychological study to include fully-functional individuals instead of only those
with psychoses, and he shed a more positive light on personality psychology.

Maslow described several characteristics that self-actualized people have in

common:

1. Awareness and acceptance of themselves.

2. Openness and spontaneity.
3. The ability to enjoy work and see work as a mission to fulfill it.
4. The ability to develop close friendships without being overly dependent on
 other people.
5. A good sense of humor.
6. The tendency to have peak experiences that are spiritually or emotionally
satisfying.

 Carl Rogers Person-Centered Theory

Carl Rogers, another humanistic psychologist, proposed a theory called the Person-
Centered Theory. In Rogers’s view, the Self-Concept is the most important feature
of personality, and it includes all the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs people have
about themselves. Rogers believed that people are aware of their self-concepts.

 Congruence and Incongruence

Rogers said that people’s self-concepts often do not exactly match reality.
For example, a person may consider himself to be very honest but often lies
to his boss about why he is late to work. Rogers used the term Incongruence
to refer to the discrepancy between the self-concept and reality. Congruence,
on the other hand, is a fairly accurate match between the self-concept and
reality.
According to Rogers, parents promote incongruence if they give their
children conditional love. If a parent accepts a child only when the child
behaves a particular way, the child is likely to block out experiences that are
considered unacceptable. On the other hand, if the parent shows
unconditional love, the child can develop congruence. Adults whose parents
provided conditional love would continue in adulthood to distort their
experiences in order to feel accepted.
 Results of Incongruence
Rogers thought that people experience anxiety when their self-concepts are
threatened. To protect themselves from anxiety, people distort their
experiences so that they can hold on to their self-concept. People who have a
 high degree of incongruence are likely to feel very anxious because reality
continually threatens their self-concepts.

 Cognitive Perspective of Personality:

Cognitive theories of personality focus on the processes of information encoding

and retrieval, and the role of expectations, motives, goals, and beliefs in the
development of stable personality characteristics. This approach differs from
personality theories that emphasize either the conditions within which personality
develops (e.g., behavioral theories) or the trait structures that are revealed in those
various conditions (e.g., evolutionary and trait theories). As such, cognitive
theories of personality are particularly relevant for counseling psychology because
of their core assumption that lasting personality change can occur as a result of
rational analysis and insight.

 Kelly’s Theory of Personal Constructs

George A. Kelly’s theory of personal constructs is most frequently cited as the first
modern cognitive personality theory. Kelly proposed and elaborated upon the
metaphor of “person as scientist.” Drawing on the theories of Heider and
attribution researchers, Kelly proposed that people use observations to develop
beliefs about themselves and their world. These observations are organized into
personal constructs, which were described by Kelly in terms very similar to the
current concept of cognitive schemata. Cognitive schemata are meaningful
organizations of related pieces of knowledge. Kelly proposed that people make
predictions and interpretations regarding their experience on the basis of their
personal constructs (or schemata), and they endeavor to behave in a manner that is
consistent with their personal constructs.

Kelly proposed that personal constructs develop and change through processes that
are similar to assimilation and accommodation. As described by the cognitive
developmental theorist Jean Piaget, assimilation is the process by which people
integrate new information into the existing body of information they already
possess. Accommodation is the process by which people change or modify their
existing knowledge based on the information gained from new experiences. Kelly
proposed that individuals are motivated to maintain a hierarchical structure of
personal constructs that is consistent with the world, as they perceive it. Anxiety
results when information does not conform to the expectations generated by their
constructs. This leads to a need to change or reorganize their cognitive structure
(accommodation) or to force the discordant experience to fit their pre-existing
construct hierarchy (assimilation). Often assimilation requires less cognitive effort
than accommodation. Rigidly adhering to assimilation via “obsolete” constructs by
refusing to expend the effort to accommodate, or being unable to accommodate,
can lead to irrational behavior.

 Locus of Control

Julian Rotter developed a social learning theory that emphasized the role of the
cognitive expectancy of reward in determining behavior. The major contribution of
this theory to the psychology of personality was the proposal of a generalized
cognitive expectancy that Rotter called locus of control. Individuals differ to the
extent that they generally believe their own actions are related to personal
outcomes. Those with an internal locus of control have a strong expectation that
success or failure will result from their own efforts. Those with an external locus of
control generally believe that success or failure is determined by fate, chance, or
the will of others.

Currently, psychologists believe individuals can have different locus of control

beliefs for different aspects of their life. For example, an individual could have an
internal locus of control regarding social relationships and an external locus of
control regarding his or her health. Causal attributions also determine whether
events are believed to be stable or transient. For example, a stable causal
attribution might be, “I did poorly on the algebra test because I have never been
very good at math.” A transient attribution could be, “I did poorly on the algebra
test because I did not get enough sleep last night.” Finally, causal attributions may
be general (i.e., relevant to many experiences) or specific (i.e., applicable only to a
single instance). For example, a stable causal attribution might be, “I didn’t dance
well because I have never been coordinated.” A specific attribution could be, “I
didn’t dance well because I have never liked dancing.

 Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory: Albert Bandura expanded cognitive

personality theory by describing processes of observational or vicarious
learning and the role of belief structures such as self-efficacy. Bandura
agreed that people develop and change as a consequence of the direct
rewards and punishments they receive from the environment. These rewards
and punishments occur as a consequence of their actions (the basis of
operant conditioning). However, we also learn by observing others (models)
and noting the consequences that result from their behavior.

The study of observational learning led psychologists to distinguish between the

factors that influence the vicarious acquisition of knowledge and the factors that
influence the actual performance of some behavior. Among the factors that
influence the vicarious acquisition of knowledge are the strength and valence (i.e.,
emotional value) of the observed consequences of the behavior, the similarity of
the model (i.e., person performing or demonstrating the action) to the observer, and
the social status of the model. In contrast, the person’s self-efficacy beliefs
influence the actual performance of some behavior. Self-efficacy is a person’s
beliefs regarding what should be done to achieve a desired goal, and the person’s
beliefs regarding his or her ability to perform those actions.

The first set of beliefs relates to the individual’s locus of control expectancies, but
by themselves these beliefs will not determine whether the goal-seeking behavior
will be performed. The critical factor is the individual’s beliefs regarding his or her
ability to perform the necessary behavior successfully.

Self-efficacy beliefs depend on a number of factors, including previous direct

experience, observational learning, social persuasion, and self-assessment and
interpretation of current and past emotional states. Conditions that lead to the
development of healthy self-efficacy include the positive factors of family
interactions (warmth, support, and challenge), and peer networks (similar models,
access to activities, and social motivation), as well as negative factors such as
competition and stress. Like locus of control, self-efficacy is largely domain
specific (e.g., academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and athletic self-efficacy
can all differ for a given person).

According to Bandura, a complete understanding of the person involves

recognition of the reciprocal interaction of personal (cognitive and affective)
factors with environmental factors. Bandura labeled this concept reciprocal
determinism. By this he meant that personal factors can be influenced by
environmental factors such as rewards, punishments, and information from models,
but behavior and personal factors also cause changes in the environment and in
other individuals. Because of the human ability to symbolize personal experience
and to think ahead about the expected consequences of personal actions, each
individual has the capability to self-reflect, leading to the potential for self-directed
changes in behavior. Self-efficacy beliefs are crucial to making self-directed
changes because they are most functional when they are accurate. When efficacy is
high but skills are poorly developed, harm and trauma can occur. When efficacy
beliefs are low, even when skill level is high, personal growth will not occur and
there will be little motivation for change.

 Self from a developmental perspective

Development of self or personal growth involves the growth and enhancement of

all aspects of the person, his feelings about himself and their effectiveness in
living. It includes development of positive life skills and the development of a
realistic and healthy self-esteem.

In developmental perspective of self, Psychologists study about the emergence or

development of self. How a new born starts differentiating themselves from other
people and objects and can detect their ability to control environmental events.

It involves mental, physical, social, emotional and spiritual growth that allows a
person to live a productive and satisfying life with customs and traditions of their
society. This is achieved through developing life skills.

 Self as an object and self as a process :

A number of theorists have focused their work upon this entity known as self.
Generally speaking the term self has two distinct sets of meanings. One set has to
do with people's attitudes about themselves; their picture of the way they look and
act; the impact they believe they have on others; and their perceived traits, abilities,
foibles and weaknesses. This collection constitutes what is known as the self-
concept or self-image, “attitudes, feelings, perceptions and evaluations of self as an
object” (Hall & Lindzey, 1970).

The second set of meaning relates to the executive functions- processes by which
the individual manages, copes, thinks, remembers, perceives and plans. These two
meanings self as “object” and self as “process" are seen in most theories involving
the notion of self.

 Basis of self- knowledge

Self-knowledge is a term used in psychology to describe the information that an

individual draws upon when finding an answer to the question "What am I like?".
While seeking to develop the answer to this question, self-knowledge requires
ongoing self-awareness and self-consciousness. Self-knowledge is a component of
the self or, more accurately, the self-concept. It is the knowledge of oneself and
one's properties and the desire to seek such knowledge that guide the development
of the self-concept. Self-knowledge informs us of our mental representations of
ourselves, which contain attributes that we uniquely pair with ourselves, and
theories on whether these attributes are stable or dynamic. Most people think of
themselves in a variety of ways. For example, some people think they are
independent, ambitious, and hard-working, whereas others think they are sensitive,
creative, and moody. Still others think they possess all of these qualities. How do
people arrive at these conclusions? What sources of information do they use when
forming these judgments?
  Physical World

The physical world provides some information. If you want to know how tall you
are, you can measure your height; if you want to know how strong you are, you
can go to a health club and take note of how many pounds you can lift. In these
cases, you are using the physical world to gain knowledge of yourself.

 Social Comparison

The comparative nature of self-views means that people must consult the social
world to gain self-knowledge. People learn about themselves by comparing
themselves with others. Suppose I time myself and learn I can run a mile in six
minutes. Before I can know whether this time is fast or slow, I need to know how
fast other people can run a mile. People do compare themselves with others who
are similar to them, but this is not always true. People also compare themselves
with those who are better off than they (a process called upward comparison) and
with those who are worse off than they (a process called downward comparison).

 Reflected Appraisals

We are also affected by other's evaluations of us. These feelings are socially
determined. We imagine how we are regarded by another person, and this
perception determines how we feel about ourselves. The term looking-glass self
was used to call attention to the fact that other people serve as a mirror; that is, we
see ourselves reflected in other people’s eyes.

 Introspection

Introspection is another commonly travelled road to self-knowledge. With

introspection, people attempt to learn about themselves by directly consulting their
thoughts, feelings, motives, and desires. Suppose, for example, I want to know
whether I’m a sentimental person. I can look inward and ask myself how I
generally feel at weddings, college graduations, and other occasions that are
relevant to sentimentality. If I feel soft and warm on these occasions, I conclude
that I am a sentimental person. Introspection would seem to be a very reliable way
of knowing what we are like. After all, what better way to know ourselves than to
examine our own thoughts and feelings?

 Self-Perception

Thoughts and feelings are not the only source of self-knowledge. According to
self-perception theory, people also learn about themselves by examining their own
behavior. To illustrate, suppose you ask me whether I like rock music, if I am a fan
of this type of music, I would immediately answer “Yes.” But suppose my feelings
are not so passionate or well-defined. To answer this question I might recall that I
frequently listen to rock music while driving in my car. So I answer “Yes, I like
rock music.” After all, what other reason can there be? No one makes me listen to
it, so I must like it. Notice that an outside observer would have reached a similar
conclusion. You will also infer I like rock music if you know I frequently choose
to listen to it. People acquire self-knowledge by passively observing their own
behavior and drawing logical conclusions about why they behaved as they did,
much as an outsider would do. This assumption distinguishes self-perception
processes from introspection. Only you can introspectively examine your attitudes,
feelings, and motives; with self-perception, we indirectly infer our attitudes,
feelings, and motives by analyzing our behavior.