The seven perspectives of Psychology are Psychoanalytic, Trait, Biological, Humanistic, Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sikolohiyang Pilipino (which is a perspective that is uniquely Filipino). Throughout the semester we have been discussing these perspectives and how each one explains Personality in our Psych 150. These perspectives, although claim to be able to stand alone, really are not capable of doing so, they need each other to get the bigger picture of what personality really is (as demonstrated by the blind men and the elephant; seen below).
Source: www.nature.com
Probably one of the best and most salient lessons that I learned from 150 is that each person can identify to different perspectives. This blog is dedicated to that lesson, hence it would contain posts about the perspectives and theories that I identify to, enjoy, and curious of.
For those that are not familiar with the seven perspectives here's a crash course on most of the perspective I mentioned...
Source: www.youtube.com
... and here's another.
Source: www.youtube.com
If you are further behind and no nothing about Psychology don't yah worry here's a crash course on it.
Source: www.youtube.com
Or if you want to proceed to my other posts just click on the links on the side. It is advisable to work your way up from the Cognitive Perspective since some posts are sort of related.
Here is the real video it wouldn't embed for some reason, although the link above is almost the same
Above is an interesting video I found while doing this project it really gave interesting insights on the differences of the two perspectives. Since I already discussed the behavioral approach extensively on a previous post I would not discuss is it much here and instead I would focus on the the Humanistic Perspective and the difference between the two.
Generally, I think the biggest difference between the two is that the other shows freedom while the other exhibits determinism. Behavioral approach shows determinism among the two, it is a perspective that mainly says that people can be shaped an molded into bahaving a certain way. Humanistic approach on the other hand states that we are the captain of our own ship and that we are capable of choosing our own destiny. Another difference is the empirical nature of the Behavioral Perspective. Unlike the humanistic approach which is weak in empirical data the beahvioral perspective is more scietifically proven. This is actually one of the criticisms of the humanistic approach.
Humanistic Approach
The Humanistic Perspective is a perspective that focuses on four main things: the here and now, personal growth, personal responsibility, and phenomenology of the individual (Burger, 2011). Basically this means that this approach is geared towards self actualization, the present and the self.
Humanistic Perspective is another approach aside from the cognitive perspective that I can relate to. I also believe that we are capable of making our own path and we are the ones who are most capable of stirring the wheel that God gave us. Unlike most of the other perspectives it is really refreshing how the humanistic approach sees life this way since the other perspectives attribute our personality to preexisting or uncontrollable reasons.
Since you are human and wants to know the causes (woah! Philo 1 nostalgia) here is a more detailed discussion of this perspective.
source: youtube.com
Below is a video that highlights a popular theory in the humanistic perspective, the Hierarchy of Needs.
source: youtube.com
Solitude
source: google.com
Solitude is often viewed in a bad light, people who like spending time o their own are often seen as either introverted or socially anxious but that is not that case at all time, according to the humanistic perspective it may be because of a positive reason (Burger, 2011). Time spent alone is viewed as a reflection or reason for personal growth (Burger, 2011).
During the period when we were studying this perspective we were asked to do an activity called "Date with the Self". As the name suggests the activity required us to an activity usually done with others on our own. This experience only heightened my want for solitude at certain times to just reflect and get to know myself more. Yes, I do a lot of activities by myself a lot but this is the first time that I had to reflect on its effects this, I think, made me more aware of the good effects of being on my own sometimes. The activity also made me want to explore different thing on my own like travelling by myself or studying in a foreign country.
Reference(s): Burger, J. M.
(2011).Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif:
Wadsworth Pub. Co.
I was in fourth year High School when I first heard of Psychoanalysis but we used it in analyzing literature. During that time I didn't really understand the perspective I only know that we use it to analyze how the life of the author from childhood till he died affects his works. Studying it now that I am in University and have a more focused view on it made me see how it really is. It often uses what happened in the child's past to justify his/her actions and although I admit that childhood experiences may affect their behaviors I do not believe that this is the only basis on understanding personality. I also find most of Freud's theories like the Interpretation of Dreams (which I will discuss later on this post) and the complexes that we develop as children to be absurd.
If you are as curious as I am about this perspective I'm sure you want to view the video below so don't be shy just hit play...
Source: youtube.com
...and since I know you're one curious cat like me here's another video (it's more of a Freudian-centered video).
Source: google.com
Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
Source: google.com
The Interpretation of Dreams by Freud is Probably on of the things from him that I find to be really absurd. I just find it so silly that almost all objects you cab dream about would be an image of a phallic symbol for him and makes me feel that he should've saved himself the trouble of writing a whole book by just saying that he all our dreams are manifestation of our sexual frustrations (sorry for the feels). I know that this is a way for him to let go of his sexual frustrations due to the era in which he lived in but this is a great example of why most psychologists are not very welcoming of his ideas.
Another thing that I don't particularly like about Freud is his view on women. His theories suggest that he has a not so good perception on women (as is demostrated on the picture abive). I know that this, again, is a product of the times where he was born but I find it ironic since it was stated that most of his clients are women.
Karen Horney
Karen Horney is one of the Neo-Freudian Psychologists that we discussed. She is like a breath of fresh air after studying Freud. I find her theories more relateable and believable and no I am not just saying this because she is the only woman theorist but because of how much her theories on neurosis and how people either move towards, away, or against people to help their anxieties (Burger, 2011). Personally, I think I use both moving towards people and moving away from people to cope with anxious times. I am a very dependent and sometimes clingy person especially when faced with unfamiliar settings and would often use the familiarity of those near me to make me calm. I also often times look for affection although I never lacked this growing up maybe it was too much and I found it to be normal to look for this kind of affection. I also tend to move away from people to avoid rejection. I even move away from my those that are close to me in fear of them leaving me behind in the end.
Another thing that made me admire Horney more is her drive to achieve what she wants despite her gender (which is a huge issue in their time). I also admired her rebuttal to Freud's theory of how women have penis envy by saying that men are the ones who are envious of the ability to give life and this envy fuels their want to provide for their family.
And since I love her so much here is another one of her quotes.
Source: google.com
Reference(s): Burger, J. M.
(2011).Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif:
Wadsworth Pub. Co.
The Trait Perspective is primarily concerned with behaviors that are stable over a period of time and does not focus on one person's behavior but instead describes how certain people may act at certain joint along a continuum (Burger, 2011). Possibly the most known product is Costa and McCrae's Big Five or O.C.E.A.N. (seen below).
source: google.com
If you want to have a teat here's a trait videos to help you understand it more...
source: youtube.com ...and if that treat is not enough here's another one.
source: youtube.com
I chose this perspective not for it's characteristics but for the relevant research that we encountered while studying this. In fact, most of the relevant research is often faced by students and adolescents. Here are some of the researches that is applicable to me.
Defensive Pessimism
Defensive pessimists, unlike pessimists who simply expect the worst, use a negative outlook in dealing with an upcoming event and expects the worst possible results and they often fret over things since they expect that they would fail (Burger, 2011). Defensive pessimists are most likely to think that they would fail an exam even if they actually did good in it and this is also true for any activity that defensive pessimists do (Burger, 2011). The reason behind this outlook is the fear of failing, setting low expectations would save them from the pain of failing. Another thing that researchers see as the cause of this is that their fear of failing is what pushes them to do better and the possibility of failing is like an incentive for them (Burger, 2011).
When I first heard and read about Defensive Mechanism I immediately identified it to myself. Ever since I was a child my greatest fear was failing. Whenever I would answer a question during recitation I would hesitate even if I am a hundred percent certain of the answer since I am thinking that I would not be able to answer correctly. This also happens to me during exams I often feel afraid of feeling confident about my results since I am scared that this might "jinx" it so I just expect that I would either fail or get a really low score. I stated in my post about the cognitive perspective that I accept my failures and let it go easily, I am realizing that my being a possible defensive pessimist might have something tot do with it. Yes, I am afraid to fail and this fear I think is what fuels my capability of letting go of my mistakes since I want to do not fail the secnd time around.
source: google.com
Seeing this quote made me realize that I should try to get over my fear of failing because although it fuels my will to not fail it can also be a barrier for me to succeed. My often low expectations may become permanent and I might end up not expecting myself to ever succeed so I might eventually become a pessimist who would not do anything at all because of this expectation. I just wish it was that easy to overcome it.
Social Anxiety
source: google.com
Social Anxious people are often mistaken to be introverted but these two terms are not synonymous. Introverts choose to be by themselves most of the time while socially anxious people do not choose to be alone but they end up being alone since they get awkward and nervous when dealing with other people, especially those that they do not know (Burger, 2011). This is another topic that I can identify to. I often feel anxious and awkward in social gatherings if I know no one there or if I have to meet new people. I even still feel social anxiety in our org's tambayan if none of my close friends or batchmates are there. Reporting in front and reciting are other platforms where I feel uneasy. I stated in the last part that I have a fear of reciting because of my fear of failure but I guess this also overlaps with me being socially anxious at time and not wanting to be the center of attention. My social anxiety is something that is slowly getting better as I am growing I think being in an environment like what we have in UP helps me to overcome this anxiety, I wish the day when I wouldn't feel anxious when dealing with would come sometime in the near future.
Here is a video I found about how someone can overcome social anxiety.
source: youtube.com
Reference(s): Burger, J. M. (2011). Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co.
Behavioral Perspective states that behaviors can be learned and that we are capable of being molded into doing something through the method of giving rewards and punishments (Burger, 2011).
If you are still confused or just want to learn more about this interesting perspective (I am totally unbiased) click on the video below.
Source: youtube.com
The first time I heard about this Perspective was in my Psych 101 class when we were introduced to the topic my interest why immediately piqued and by the time our professor was discussing classical conditioning I was completely taken by it. I have no idea why since out of all the perspectives (aside from psychoanalytic) this would probably the most inhumane one in terms of how they view people. Maybe this is an indication of me being a controlling person (I hope not!) since this perspective mainly involves molding people, or maybe I just find it interesting how people can be made to do things either way I find this perspective really interesting (I'm guessing it's obvious by how much I'm fangirling about it).
Classical Conditioning
source: google.com
I find this theory by Pavlov to be fascinating. I found it hard to believe at first that this is actually possible but when I found out and understood better what happened to Pavlov's dogs I was a skeptic no more. Thinking deeper into how it is done I realize that it is no different from how our parents raise us. Growing up most of us would often receive rewards for a certain behavior such as being able to walk in our early years was usually rewarded by praise and affection. These rewards motivated us to increase the chance of this behavior's frequency. I can personally recount a few times when my parents used this strategy to increase a wanted behavior. The most salient of these would probably be rewards for doing good in school they gave me rewards for this behavior so frequently that I thought all parents did that but I must admit it did (mostly) work in my early school years.
The theorists
For some reason I can say that I remember more and am more attached to the theorists of this perspective maybe because we focused on them a lot in our 101 class and probably because I encountered them three time now. Anyway, because of my affection (char!) to them I am dedication one whole section of this post to quotes and sayings by Pavlov, Skinner, and Watson.
Ivan Pavlov discovered Classical Conditioning accidentally with the the help of the salivating dogs.
B.F. Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is by knowing its consequences. He is a firm believer in Operant Conditioning.
John B. Watson the psychology school of behaviorism and was the proponent of the famous little Albert experiment.
And of course I couldn't leave out everyone's favorite baby (Little Albert don't worry we don't have anything that's white and fluffy here).
source: google.com
Reference(s): Burger, J. M.
(2011).Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif:
Wadsworth Pub. Co.
The Cognitive Perspective focuses on what goes on the mind of a person, it looks at the way human process information. It states that difference in Personality is caused by the different ways humans process information which causes them to react in different ways (Buger, 2011). For example people reading this blog post would find it either entertaining or boring while others may use informative and lacks information to describe it, these differences is what the cognitive perspective focuses on. Let's say 10 people are reading this blog right now (haha! I wish) a certain percentage of those viewers would lean towards one of the bipolar choices while others may lean towards the other choice or a totally different one. From that pool of people with common bipolar categories (for example entertaining and boring) a certain percentage would choose one end (let's say entertaining) while others would choose the other end (boring). The difference in choice indicates the different ways people process information despite being exposed to the same situation.
If you are reading this post and still feel a bit confused about what the cognitive perspective is don't fret I got your back here's a video about the cognitive perspective.
Source: www.youtube.com I can personally relate to the Cognitive Perspective because I see it in action everyday. I see people having different opinions although they were exposed to the same situation and although these differences sometimes cause disagreements it shows what this perspective tells us, that human process information differently.
Ought Self
Someone's ought self maybe someone who is thin and fit (like what is implied in the picture) or maybe someone who is rich and successful whatever it may be we fight hard to achieve our ought self and often feel anxiety when we are not able to (Burger, 2011). As a University student whose whole life seems to be dependent on how I do in school I can especially Identify to the concept of the ought self and how it affects a person. I feel like every move and decision I make is geared towards who I believe I should be and like how Kelly theorized I often feel anxious whenever something happens that would give discrepancies to this belief. I also often feel guilt (another concept that Kelly believes to be caused by us doing something that does not fit our ought self) at times when I feel like my actions are not in line with my ought self.
Man as Scientist
source: google.com
This theory of Kelly really fits how I go about my life these days. According to this theory people, like scientist, hypothesize to try to predict and color what would happen. Like scientists we also go about life in a trial and error way by trying to modify hypothesis that does not work. This is exactly what I (and probably everyone else) do. I admit that yes there are still times where I try to hold on to a hypothesis that did not work but I immediately learned how to let go and although I still wallow in self pity sometimes due to my mistakes I am slowly learning to not let these out-dated beliefs to pull me back.
Gender and Memory
source: google.com
This topic in the relative research section of the book for Cognitive Psychology really got to me. It also finally gave me the answer as to why women tend to always remember the "important" events in life as compared to men. This topic made me see that men aren't necessarily forgetful they only mostly remember facts unlike women who use their emotions to link with their memory.
Often wondered why women use things and events from the past as paraphernalia whenever they fight with someone of the opposite gender (I see some men nodding their heads)? This is because men and women deem different information as important, women often remember personal things while men remember more impersonal events. This tidbit of information made me realize why my mom always use things from the past when in argument both with me and my dad. So ladies be understanding with your men they don't mean to forget they're just made that way and men please don't tell this to your lady when she's angry you might sleep on the couch longer.
Reference(s): Burger, J. M.
(2011).Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif:
Wadsworth Pub. Co.
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