Theories of Personality (PSY 235 Theories of Personality)

Introduction to the discipline: Personality and the scientific outlook -- Psychoanalytic and neoanalytic perspectives: Freud's psychoanalytic theory; Jung's analytical psychology; Adler's individual psychology; Horney's social and cultural psychoanalysis; Erikson's psychoanalytic ego psychology; Kohut's self psychology -- Trait perspectives: Allport's trait theory; Cattell's structure-based systems theory; Eysenck's biological typology -- Cognitive perspectives: Kelly's theory of personal constructs -- Humanistic/existential perspectives: Maslow's self-actualization position; Roger's person-centered theory; May's existential-analytic position -- Social-behavioristic perspectives: Skinner's operant analysis; Rotter's expectancy-reinforcement value model; Bandura's social-cognitive theory -- Role of grand theories in contemporary personality psychology: Theory and research in contemporary personality psychology.;[This text] reviews the basic concepts and principles of the major, grand theories of personality. These grand theories attempt to explain much of our behavior in a variety of life situation. The text is designed to assess how well each of these theories meets criteria for judging its scientific worth. It also introduces students to the many research studies that test the validity of the major concepts in the theories. In addition, this [text] presents issues that currently challenge personality psychologists, and discusses some of the major theoretical and research areas and ideas in contemporary personality theory and research.-Pref. Thoroughly updated to include the latest research references, Richard Ryckman's "theory by theory" approach to personality carefully guides students through major theories in a way that helps them develop a comprehensive understanding of personality. Ryckman's personal writing style presents the major theories in a straightforward way helping readers more easily distinguish between them. At the beginning of the text, Ryckman provides a framework that defines personality, and emphasizes the science of personality (including the interrelation between research and theory). Then, he introduces each major theoretical position with an objective overview of the theorist's basic concepts and principles. Ryckman concludes by noting the ways in which the different theories stimulate additional research efforts, and by presenting five current research trends that have resulted from the work of these earlier theorists. The result is a text that merges the best of classic and contemporary research in the field leaving students with a solid working knowledge of personality