Personality Overview

Personality Overview

It is believed that human relationships and behavior are shaped by conscious and unconscious these influence and the study of this influence is called psychodynamic theory. There are several psychodynamic theories that exist in which are based upon several factors such as ones personality, drives, internal processes, motivation, and childhood experiences. How these factors shape an individual's personality is explained within these theories.

Most psychodynamic theories place an emphasis on a person conscious experience how he or she interacts with the unconscious. The role that social factors have in the development of personality is also an important part of these theories (Feist & Feist, 2009). According to Freud's his belief was adult personality was decided by his or her childhood experiences, particularly the Oedipus complex that left residue in the unconscious mind, (Fest & Feist, 2009).

The psychodynamic approach includes each of these theories in psychology in which it sees human operation is based on his or her interaction, of drives, and forces within the person mostly in his or her unconscious mind. These are between the different structures of one's personality, (McLeod, 2007). In Adler theory, he believed the self-motivated force behind a person behavior is the striving for success or superiority and people's subjective perceptions shaped his or her behavior and personality. He also thought a person personality was unified and self-consistent.

Adler believed the value of all people activity must be seen from this viewpoint of social interest. The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person's style of life. A person style of life is molded by an individual's creative power (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 69, 70). A person mental life is divided in two levels, the unconscious and conscious, the unconscious has two levels, the unconscious proper and the preconscious. Freud's theory separated psychoanalysis from other perspectives during his time it focus more on the unconscious mental processes(Feist & Feist, 2009). According to Feist and Feist (2009), sex and aggression were the main basis for Freud theory. These were based on the analysis of Freud own dreams and case studies of his patients.

Freud separated the religious and philosophical underpinnings of his time from unconscious human thought processes, and created a theory based on their dynamic motivational influence on behavior. There have been several theorists, "who have tackled the question of whether people with repressive personality styles actually require longer periods of stimulation for a brief stimulus to be consciously perceived," (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 56). Freud's views on motivation were people are driven by past events, which will motivate their present behavior.

Freud and Adler differ on this theory, Adler view was people are motivated by their present perceptions of the future. According to Alder, these perceptions are not conscious or even understood for that matter. The dispute surrounding free will and determinism is one that has occupied psychologists and philosophers for centuries (Feist & Feist, 2009). It always has been the question of whether human beings are free to decide and act on his or her, own beliefs or whether one's decisions and actions or determined by external forces such as heredity, environment, history, fate.

Freud believed in the determinism versus free choice. Freud trusted strongly in determinism and whereas Adler believed in free choice. Freud believed that people had little or no choice in determining his or her personality. Whereas, Adler believed that people are in control for whom he or she become. Alder believed that no one could