Mankind, since the settlement of the planet, was interested in many things, but only in the 30s of the XX century, a man became interested in the origin of his personal nature. From this period the study of the theory of personality begins.
The concept of the theory of personality is a set of assumptions or hypotheses about the mechanisms and nature of personality development. Their main goal is not only an explanation, but also a prediction of human behavior.
The psychology of personality theory enables a person to understand his nature, helps to find answers to rhetorical questions, which he always asks himself. Psychological theories of personality according to their development are divided into three periods:
- The initial formation of psychoanalysis.
- A clearer definition of analysis.
- Modern psychology.
Personality theories can be counted about 40, if viewed from a theoretical point of view. Let's name the basic theory of personality:
- Analytical theory of personality. It is close to the theory of classical psychoanalysis, because it has many common roots with it. A vivid representative of this theory is the Swiss researcher Carl Jung. According to this approach, the personality is a community of realized and inborn archetypes. The structure of the personality is the individual identity of the relations between the individual blocks of the conscious and unconscious, introverted and extraverted personal attitudes.
- Psychodynamic theory of personality. This theory is also known as "classical psychoanalysis." Its representative and founder is Sigmund Freud. Within the framework of this theory, a person is a set of aggressive and sexual motives, protective mechanisms. In turn, the structure of the personality is a different ratio of individual individual properties and defense mechanisms.
- Humanistic theory of personality. The representative is Abraham Maslow. Its supporters consider the personality to be nothing else than the inner world of the "I" of man. And the structure is the ratio of the ideal and the real "I".
- Cognitive theory of personality. By its nature, it is close to humanistic. The founder was George Kelly. He believed that the only thing a person wants to know is what happened to him and what will happen in the future. Personality is a system of personal constructs, which are processed by a person's personal experience.
- The activity theory of personality. This direction has received the greatest distribution as domestic theories of personality. A bright representative is Sergey Rubinstein. Personality is a conscious subject who occupies a certain position in society and, in turn, performs a socially useful role for society. The structure of the personality - the hierarchy of individual blocks (self-control, focus) and the system properties of each individual.
- Behavioral theory of personality. It also has the name "scientific". The main thesis of this direction is that personality is a product of learning. That is, a person is a set of a system of social skills and internal factors. Structure - a hierarchy of social skills, in which the main role is played by internal blocks of subjective significance.
- Dispositional theory of personality. From the point of view of this theory, the personality is a system of temperament and socially conditioned properties. Structure is a hierarchy of biological properties that enter into specific relationships and form certain traits and types of temperaments.
- Modern theory of personality. They include: socio-dynamic (the theory of the behavior of the individual, in which the dominant behavior
(the interaction of internal and external factors) and the theory of traits (the theory of personality types, which is based on the difference of individual traits of different people or personal integrity).
Today it is difficult to say unambiguously which theory is the most truthful. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Actual now is the concept of the modern Italian psychologist Antonio Meneghetti, who made conclusions about the theory of personality on the basis of previously stated knowledge on this topic.