Integrative Personality Theory

Major Concepts  

The psychodynamic model

The psychodynamic model consists of concepts by Sigmund Freud that explains most aspects of personality.
These theories were based on Sigmund’s the patients’ therapy whereby he was able to collect many theories and later became the psychodynamic approach to personality.

Throughout the years, these theories have become of much importance in the field of psychology. They have been widely used by therapists to treat patients suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.

The psychodynamic approach assumes that the behavior and feelings of a person are highly affected by their unconscious motives (Henning, Cilliers, 2012).  For adults, their behavior and feelings are developed from their childhood experience. According to Freud, personality consists of three parts namely; the id, super-ego, and super-id. These three sections are shaped differently based on one’s childhood experiences during the psychosexual development stage. The unconscious mind consists of the super-ego and the id while as the conscious mind is the ego. These three parts are in constant conflicts that result to anxiety. This anxiety can be dealt with by the ego using defense mechanisms.

The neurobiological model

The neurobiological approach deals with the functioning of the neurons. In psychology, this approach is more concerned with how the neurotransmitters affect the behavior of a person. For instance, when trying to understand mental illness, an analysis on how biological aspects influence the human behavior is necessary. This will focus much on how learning and information processing occur in people.

Since this approach deals with how individual think, relates to others and perceive external events, it is very much related the antisocial personality. People suffering from neuron related disorders do not consider what is right or wrong when making decisions. According to neurobiological approach, the functioning of the effect neural functioning of the morally emotionally (Dodman et al., 2016).

According to this model, components that affect the way people behave are; the level of knowledge and skills, environmental constraints such as attitude, habits, and norms. This theory tries to explain how the mind affects the body and how the body affect the mind resulting in certain behaviors from a person.

Excluded Concepts  

While discussing the psychodynamic model, there were some assumptions made. One of the assumptions made is that every behavior has a cause. By making this assumption, aspects such as feelings, thoughts and behavior are taken to be as a result of a certain cause either genetically or environmental. Other assumptions made are that personality consists of two parts, one's childhood experiences play a great role in shaping one's personality and that the conscious and the unconscious mind are in endless conflicts.

However, the assumption that behavior is either motivated by the life instinct or the sex drive was omitted. The reason behind my omission of this concept is that there are very few supporting materials and research on it, and besides, it conflicts with other concepts discussed.  According to the psychodynamic model, these two drives are from the id part. This presents a conflict since these two drives are in the id part yet only one of them influence one's behavior at a time. We would expect that the id is only in conflict with the super-id part (Larsen & Buss, 2008).

The Differences between Healthy and Unhealthy Personalities

 Personalities can either be healthy or unhealthy. The difference between these two is based on the flexibility of a person in different environments. Different situations need to be interpreted differently such that the unique demands they present are meet (Engler, 2013).

A person is said to have a healthy personality if he/she interprets his/her environment accurately such that their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are by their environment. Such a person can navigate their environment efficiently and productively.

On the other hand, a person is said to have an unhealthy personality if he/she lacks a skill called metallization. Such a person is not able to adjust their behavior as per different environments with ease. They have rigid feelings, thoughts, and behaviors (Engler, 2013).

The Roles of Heredity, the Environment, and Epigenetics

Personality development is highly determined by some factors namely; the environment, heredity, and epigenetics. The personality of different people differs significantly based on the above factors.

Heredity refers to the aspects of a human being that are passed at conception from parents to children (Boeree, 2006). Psychology argues that the personality of a person lies in his/her molecular gene structure. This genetic structure of an individual is found in the chromosomal makeup of a person as passed from their parents. Research done supports the fact that heredity plays a great role in determining a person’s personality. Epigenetics, on the other hand, deals with the change in genetic makeup that does not have to do with the change in the DNA makeup of a person. In most cases, epigenetics process is natural but it can also be influenced by factors such as disease, lifestyle, and the environment. Change in the genetic makeup will have an effect on one’s personality.

An environmental factor that affects one's personality mostly includes ones culture. The culture of the place where one is raised affects his/her norms, attitudes, values and behaviors. These aspects in most cases are passed from one generation to the other hence changing people’s personality. The parenting style of parents to their children can is another environmental factor that determines one’s personality (Hjelle & Ziegler, 1992). When growing up, people learn to do different things differently depending on their environment. However, the impact of culture on different people’s personality is different since different people pass these values.

Self-Reflection                                                                                        

This class has been of much importance to me whereby I have been able to understand my personality better. Through it, I have added knowledge about personalities. When the course began, I knew little about the seven common models of personality. The most interesting concept was learning about the psychodynamic model. Aspects of it were so convincing that they caught my attention. Another concept that I learned was the big five personality.

By using this knowledge, I can now analyze my personality. I believe I have a healthy type of character since I can adapt to different environments with ease.  Besides, I can assess my achievements, behave responsibly, control my emotions and remain goal oriented.

References

Boeree, G. C. D. (2006). Personality theories.

Dodman, N. H., Ginns, E. I., Shuster, L., Moon-Fanelli, A. A., Galdzicka, M., Zheng, J., Ruhe5, A. L., Neff, M. W. (2016). Genomic Risk for Severe Canine Compulsive Disorder, a Dog Model of Human OCD.

Engler, B. (2013). Personality theories. Nelson Education.

Henning, S., Cilliers, F. (2012).Constructing a systems psychodynamic wellness model.

Hjelle, L. A., & Ziegler, D. J. (1992). Personality theories: Basic assumptions, research, and applications. McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages.

Larsen, R. J., & Buss, D. M. (2008). Personality psychology. Jastrebarsko: Naklada Slap.

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