Psychodynamic Theory and Trait Theory of Personality

Psychodynamic Theory and sign Theory of dispositionThe purpose of this stem is to transform the deportment exhibited in a special case probe using Freuds psychodynamic scheme and Allports trait supposition of genius. Personality is defined as the thoughts, persuasions and demeanor of an separate that perseveres everywhere time and divergent situations (Perelberg Ebooks, 2008). Following a summary of the case study the paper ordain go in by dint of a brief overview of each theory and go into enlarge ab issue how each theory explains the behaviour and genius of Judy, a puzzle who is the focus of the case study.Judy loves change her stomach. She desires receiving compliments regarding her cleanliness. Judy spends every weekend cleaning. Whenever guests were invited over Judy would spend a lot of time and effort making sure her house was spotless. She would instruct the kids on acceptable parley and organise popular family meetings. Judy did non render why other family members wouldnt take cleaning seriously. A neighbour once accidently left grass clippings on her expect lawn which resulted in Judy ignoring that neighbour for two years. Even though the family were not in all pecuniary troubles Judy would force everyone to take extreme notes to save money. Judy would buzz off mad when her friends didnt invite her to dinner parties. She frequently criticises her friends and does not understand why person would not want to be her friend.The starting line theory that will be discussed is Freuds psychodynamic theory. Psychodynamic theory explains disposition by focal point on the conscious and unconscious pauperization behind benevolent behaviour, feeling and emotion (Shelder, 2010). Freud stressed that the mind is not a single construct, totally is in fact made up of separate sh atomic number 18s. These mental processes atomic number 18 fuelled by sexual and aggressive urges. These urges stem from instinctual and biologi cal totes (Perelberg Ebooks, 2008). Some of these urges whitethorn be unacceptable on a conscious level and be repressed into the unconscious where they build up over time until they crop thoughts, feelings or behaviour.The mind is divided into deuce-ace components that house these urges. The id is an unconscious component that seeks pleasure. The superego is constructed from internalised rules and expectations. The ego mediates between the unconscious urges of the id and the firm rules of the superego. The interactions between these components determine human personality and behaviour. This model on human behaviour is called Freuds morphologic Model (Freud, 1961).Freud proposed that adult human behaviour is baffled by childishness experiences (Freud Hall, 2014). specifically he proposed a model where childhood sexual development would crop adulthood personality and behaviour. Inadequate development in a psychosexual power point would result in a fixation that would neg atively influence behaviour and personality later on in emotional state.In value to deal with these issues the mind croup employ a range of self-abnegation mechanisms. Defence mechanisms are unconscious processes that distort reality to reduce acerbic feelings and thoughts much(prenominal) as disquiet (Freud, 1992). These processes arise from the ego. Anxiety and other acid feelings are a result of the id or superego becoming as well as demanding and causation distress.The second military position that will be used is Allports Trait Theory. Allports theory suggests that human behaviour and personality is influenced by emotional, cognitive and behavioural tendencies called traits (Allport Allport, 1921). A trait bottom either be a predisposition to be consume in a certain manner or it could be a personality mark. These traits cannister be used to determine an understanding of a subjects overall personality.Allport organised these traits into a hierarchical structure w ith three levels. Cardinal traits lie at the brighten of the hierarchy and are traits that govern an individual(a)s whole behaviour or personality (Allport, 1966). Most people dont cause profound traits but if they do they generally only have a singular trait that dictates their behaviour and personality. The next level of traits is called central traits. These contain of general characteristics of personality present in most individuals. These traits affect behaviour the most (Allport, 1937b). The last level of traits is secondary traits which are characteristics that are only apparent when in contact with specific external stimuli. These secondary traits can conflict with central traits when activated and account for uncommon displays of behaviour which may contradict overall personality.A major theme of Allports theory is that of functional autonomy, which states that adult behaviour and personality is not related to previous experiences but behaviour first started as a dr ive for a separate motif which over time the desire for the drive outgrows the motive resulting in the drive being separate, or autonomous from the original drive (Allport, 1937a). Since the original motive for the behaviour is lost it is difficult to find the commencement or reasoning behind behavioural traits.Freud will be the first theorist that will be used to discuss Judys behaviours and personality. Freud explains Judys excessive cleanliness overdue to an pathetic development of the anal stage of psychosexual development in childhood (Freud Hall, 2014). In the anal stage, which lasts from 18 months to three years of age the child is learning to become toilet instruct which is the first step in autonomy from parents. Properly developing this achievement leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.The outcome of this stage is dependent on the methods employed by the parents to teach bowl control (Freud Hall, 2014). If parents are too strict then the child may dev elop an anal-retentive personality which results in the child being orderly, rigid and obsessive. In this case study Judy is viewing signs of an anal-retentive personality by her obsession on having a clean house and her strict rules on where items go in the kitchen.This behaviour is chief(prenominal)tained by her superego which dominates her thoughts, feelings and behaviour (Freud, 1961). Judys strict rules on cleanliness and order may be the reason why she is so controlling in the familys financial situation, due to her strict nature on cleanliness carrying over to other aspects of her life such as finance.Judy maintains order by frequently organising family meetings which are an dismission for her unconscious desires of order to manifest. Her feelings regarding her relationships with other people are repressed into her unconscious where they build up and come out via criticism to Sarah, her daughter or to the recipients face.Judy seeks acclaim from her guests. This approval is a major part of her id. Judy pursues approval for her id by using strict rules from her superego to gather compliments regarding her home.Judys quest for approval results in anxiety from safekeeping a clean house and foiling from guests not inviting her to dinner. Anxiety is a threat to the ego from impulses generated by the id (Freud, 1992). She uses disproof mechanisms to reduce anxiety. Defence mechanisms are an unconscious process that distorts reality so that the threat impulses to the ego do not become conscious (Freud, 1992). Whenever someone does not want her friendship Judy uses denial to ignore any criticisms she may have tell which resulted in her loss of friendship. She may repress any memories where she acted in a way that is not friendly.To gain more randomness a psychodynamic psychologist would use performance base measures such as a projective test or destitute association (MacCann, Matthews, Zeidner, Roberts, 2003). Performance based measures introduce u nderlying attitudes and implicit motivations due to their indirect nature. These tests do not provide cultivation just about what the subject is thinking or feeling.A specific measure that would be used to gather more information is free association (Oxburgh Dando, 2011). Free association is a psychoanalytic technique where the individual is allowed to talk about whatever thoughts come to mind. This is an indirect measure that can provide information on an individuals thoughts and feelings. The therapist would itemization and take notes to try and find any underlying unconscious motivation to gain a better understanding of the individuals personality and behaviour. This method can reveal dispositions about personality and behaviour that an individual is not consciously aware of possessing.The second theorist that will be used is Allport. Judy is obsessive to the point that it is classed as a primordial trait. Her obsessive trait affects nearly every other aspect of her persona lity and behaviour. Her main high central traits are compulsory, economical, cleanly and sociable, which are all stirred by her cardinal trait. These trait names are from Allports list of trait names that best define personality (Allport Odbert, 1936).Judys authoritative trait is evident in the way she informs her children on proper conversation topics and when organising family meetings to discuss the proper procedure and location of items. Her economical trait is shown through her strict rules governing her familys finances. This is a clear example of how her cardinal trait has affected a central trait to the extreme. The trait of cleanliness is understandably shown to be an important trait of her personality as evident by her passionate cleaning ritual. Her sociability has a secondary trait where she gets provoked when someone disrupts her clean home, shown by the neighbour who she ignored for two years. Judy in like manner gets frustrated when other family members dont see the value in keeping the home organised and clean, further supporting her secondary trait. angiotensin-converting enzyme method to gain more information on Judys personality and behaviour can be to administer a self-report schedule such as the California Personality Inventory (CPI). The CPI is an inventory that measures personality traits (Groth-Marnat Mullard, 2010). The questions on the CPI relate to normal behaviours, feelings and attitudes regarding family and cordial matters.Self-report inventories directly measure how a person thinks and feels (MacCann, et al., 2003). Due to this explicit method the inventory is a good way to identify personality states and other behavioural traits that they can recognize about themselves.The two different perspectives share many similarities in their assessment of Judys behaviour and personality. Both perspectives conclude that her obsessive trustfulness on strict rules is a major factor in her doctrine on financial matters. Both perspect ives believe that a certain characteristic (obsessiveness/cleanliness), dominates her whole personality and its effect carries over into other aspects of her personality and behaviour. at long last both perspectives agree that her frustration at not being invited out to dinner parties by her friends is social in nature.Although the two perspectives seem to come to similar conclusions regarding Judys behaviour there are a join of major differences. Freuds perspective believes that her obsession towards cleanliness is due to a childhood experience concerning toilet training while Allport believes that cardinal traits such as this are developed later on in life and due to functional autonomy it is not possible to find out the yard of this trait.Freuds theory has many positive benefits. It is a theory that is based on experimental psychology and it explains characteristics of personality (Freud Hall, 2014). Unfortunately the theory has an overemphasis on the unconsciousness and reli es too heavily on childhood experiences (Perelberg Ebooks, 2008). The theory is in the main backed by data gathered via case studies and clinical observations which are not reliable as data gathered from a all-inclusive range of sources.Allports theory is based on objective and statistical data (Allport, 1966). thither are no biases compared to Freud whose relationship with his mother is said to have greatly influenced his work (Allport Allport, 1921). The theory can account for any behavioural or personality aspect with traits. The theory itself is easy to understand and can be used with many different assessment measures.There are a few negative connotations with Allports perspective. The theory is a poor predictor of future personality and behaviour since the theory does not explain how traits are maintained (Bertocci, 1940). The theory does not discuss how the traits themselves have developed nor does the theory explain how personality works due to functional autonomy. There is also some discrepancy on the consistency of traits although that is partly explained via secondary traits. Allports theory does not take into account ecological, social or situational factors that may affect behaviour or personality. The definition of trait is broad and includes attitudes, habit and other tendencies such as need under one classification which may decrease the validity of traits.Freuds perspective states that Judys major behavioural and personality attributes are due to an inadequate development in her childhood anal psychosexual development stage which has caused Judy to exhibit an anal-retentive personality that affects her behaviour negatively. Her behaviour results in the production of anxiety and Judy uses ego defence mechanisms to reduce anxiety. More information about Judys personality and behaviour can be gathered via free association.Allports perspective suggests that Judys behaviour and personality is due to a cardinal trait of obsessiveness which affe cts every other aspect of her personality from keeping her house clean and organised to managing her familys finances. More information about Judys personality can be gained by conducting a self-report inventory on personality.Both perspectives focused on different aspects of Judys personality. Freuds theory focused on the unconscious motivation behind Judys actions while Allport looked at the actions in detail. They both came to similar conclusions in that Judy is obsessive and that this is negatively affecting her relationships.ReferencesAllport, F. H., Allport, G. W. (1921). Personality Traits Their Classification and Measurement. 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