The Psychology of Personality: A Three Theory Comparison

Personality is one of the most elusive areas of psychology, its difficult to define, difficult to understand, and difficult to test. However, despite all this psychologists have come up with a number of theories to explain personality with its many facets and intricacies. Three of the major theories, and the ones to be discussed here, are the social cognitive view, humanistic view, and the biological perspective. These three are some of the most popular theories on personality to date due to their prominent supporters and founders and their contributions to modern day psychology. It is also for this reason that Freud's psychoanalytic theory, although notable, is not mentioned. Over time Freud's psychologically valid contributions have been lessened since many of his theories lack empirical evidence even to this day. As Doctor Nancy Melucci notes in her book on psychology, "Freud's most lasting contributions will be cultural and not scientific" (Melucci, 2004). That being said, it should be noted that the humanistic view on personality may be placed along the same lines; however, this will be addressed later in the humanistic view section.

Social Cognitive Theory