38-1 What theories inform our understanding of personality?

Our personality is our characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Two historically significant personality theories have become part of our cultural legacy. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. (Freud’s ideas inspired today’s psychodynamic theorists.) The humanistic theories focused on our inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment. Later theorists built upon these two broad perspectives. Trait theories, for example, examine characteristic patterns of behavior (traits). Social-cognitive theories explore the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context. Let’s begin with psychodynamic theories.