I.

Overview of Personality Theory

Personality theorists (1) make controlled observations of human behavior and
(2) speculate on the meaning of those observations. Differences in theories are due
to more than differences in terminology; they stem from differences among theorists
on basic issues concerning the nature of humanity.
II. What Is Personality?
The term personality has several definitions. In everyday language, the word personality refers to one's
social skills, charisma, and popularity. However, scientists use the term to mean more than a person's
persona, or public image. To them, personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits or characteristics
that give some consistency to a person's behavior.
III. What Is a Theory?
Theories are tools used by scientists to generate research and organize observations.
A. Theory Defined
A theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate
testable hypotheses.
B. Theory and Its Relatives
The term theory is often used incorrectly to imply something other than a scientific concept. Although theory
has some relationship with philosophy, speculation, hypothesis, and taxonomy, it is not the same as any of
these. Philosophy-the love of wisdom-is a broader term than theory, but one of its branches-epistemologyrelates to the nature of knowledge, and theories are used by scientists in the pursuit of knowledge. Theories
rely on speculation, but speculation in the absence of controlled observations and empirical research is
essentially worthless. Hypothesis, or educated guess, is a narrower term than theory. A single theory may
generate hundreds of hypotheses. Taxonomy means a classification system, and theories often rely on some
sort of classification of data. However, taxonomies do not generate hypotheses.
C. Why Different Theories?
Psychologists and other scientists generate a variety of theories because they have different life experiences
and different ways of looking at the same data.
D. Theorists' Personalities and Their Theories of Personality
Because personality theories flow from an individual theorist's personality, some psychologists have
proposed the psychology of science, a discipline that studies the personal characteristics of theorists.
E. What Makes a Theory Useful?
A useful theory must (1) generate research-both descriptive research and hypothesis testing, (2) be
falsifiable; that is, research findings should be able to either support of refute the theory, (3) organize data
into an intelligible framework and integrate new information into its structure; (4) guide action, or provide
the practitioner with a road map for making day-to-day decisions; (5) be internally consistent and have a set
of operational definitions; and (6) be parsimonious,
or as simple as possible.
IV. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity
Personality theorists have had different conceptions of human nature, and the authors list six dimensions for
comparing these conceptions. These dimensions include determinism versus free choice, pessimism versus
optimism, causality versus teleology, conscious versus unconscious determinants of behavior, biological
versus social influences on personality, and uniqueness versus similarities among people.
V. Research in Personality Theory
In researching human behavior, personality theorists often use various measuring procedures, and these
procedures must be both reliable and valid. Reliability refers to a measuring instrument's consistency
whereas validity refers to its accuracy or truthfulness.