Comparison Of Theories Essays - American Psychologists,

Comparison Of Theories Comparison of Theories 2 Abstract This paper is a comparison of three different viewpoints on the subject of personality. Carl Jung, B.F. Skinner, and Carl Rogers all had very different outlooks on what defined someone's personality. As an added feature I have included myself as a theorist because my views are also different from the previous mentioned theorists. This paper will also look briefly into the background of each theorist because their views on life began in their childhood. Amazingly you will notice the all had similar backgrounds, but came up with completely different ways of looking at life. Comparison of Theories 3 Understanding Personality Personality is the unique, relatively enduring internal and external aspects of a person's character that influence behavior in different situations. To understand the many different theories of personality you must understand that personalities are as unique as snowflakes. No two people are exactly alike. Everyone has different experiences, parents, and lives.These differences cause all people to view the world a little differently than the person next to them. There are various thoughts of how and when personalities develop and grow. Psychoanalysts, Humanists, Behaviorists, and a psychology student at Ohio University all have different outlooks to personality. Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner and Don Verderosa represent each of these views. To get a better understanding of each theorist you need to look at where each one is coming from. The Backgrounds of the Theorists Carl Jung According to Theories of Personality by Schultz and Schultz, Jung had a very unhappy and lonely childhood. The only ?friend? he had was a wooden doll that he carved himself. His mother was neurotic and when he was three she admitted to the hospital for a mental disorder. His father was moody and very irritable and wasn't a strong figure in the household Comparisons in Theories 4 and one of nine clergymen in the family. Jung had one sister that was born when he was nine years old, which probably added to his loneliness. Jung spent most of his childhood alone in the attic. He felt cut off from the real world and escaped to his own reality of dreams and fantasies. His loneliness throughout his life showed greatly in his work on the inner self on the individual rather than experiences with other people. Carl Rogers Rogers was the fourth of six children in his family. His parents were very strict, religious, and domineering. He and his siblings were not allowed to ?dance, play cards, attend movies, smoke, drink, or show any sexual interest? (Schultz & Schultz, 1998, p. 310). There was a lot of competitiveness between them because Rogers felt that his parents showed favoritism towards his older brother. ?Rogers described himself as shy, solitary, dreamy, and often lost in fantasy? (Schultz & Schultz, 1998, p. 310). This loneliness like Jung reflected in his work. That feeling led him to depend on his own experiences and not those of others. B.F. Skinner Skinner was the older of two sons. His parents were very strict and hardworking. ?I was taught to fear God, the police, and what people would think? (Schultz & Schultz, 1998, p. 362). His grandmother reinforced the fear of Hell by showing him burning coals in the stove. His father showed Comparison of Theories 5 him what would happen if he were to become a criminal by taking him to state prisons. Skinner spent a lot of his time designing and building things like wagons, seesaws, carousels, model planes, and potato guns. That gave him the insight of people was like machines that operated predictively. Many instances during his childhood guided his belief that adult behavior was determined by rewards and punishments. Don Verderosa Verderosa is the oldest of three children. He had a decent childhood, considering the many changes that occurred throughout it. His parents went through a bad divorce when he eleven years, and was put in the middle of it. He moved around a lot, which caused him to become reserved and introverted. Like Jung and Rogers he felt alone in the world. He compensated for this feeling by concentrating on athletics and his schoolwork. Views of Human Nature Free Will vs. Determinism What gives a person his/her personality? Do they choose it on their own or is it predetermined for