Personality Theory Analysis: Dispositional and Existential Theories

Personality Theory Analysis: Dispositional and Existential Theories
Introduction
The human temperament may be a complicated and complex aspect of human development and evolution. It’s the part of us that makes us who we are. Since the very start, people at large have been making an attempt to grasp each other, and it is with theoretical rationalization that we come virtually close to doing this. Personality theories, overall, are tries created by psychologists and philosophers throughout time to put understanding into something so superficially non-understandable as the huge expanse of the human temperament. Philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle presented this particular question “Who are we?” ; psychoanalyst Freud, Skinner, and Pavlov continued the seek the answers; and many more have additional their takes on- What is so unique about the human mind – what influences the event of the human personality? Here we are going to discuss Dispositional Personality Theories and Existential Personality Theories; we will also discuss their differences and similarities, and their views on situational behavior, temperament features, and social relationships.

Existential temperament Theories
After the war Angst, came the birth of Existential theory, with a loss of assurance reason and progress (Wyatt, 2010). This led to a craving to come back to reliance on the “inner self”; as a result of after all the sole real hero is he who lives freed from the limitations of custom and pledges himself to the difficulties of his inner being. Though there is no actual explanation, no single belief, for existentialists to follow, it is delineated as college of thought that focuses on the free-will of the individual and gives the rise to judgment of human development.
Further, it is said that people take memories and images from past experiences, known as phenomena, and use them to make their own unique choices about what they will do in similar situations. Existentialists state that life is hard, and that the individual is responsible for what happens in his or her own life. When the individual accepts responsibility for his or her own life, along with the impending stress and anxiety of life, and the imminent death he or she is then said to be living authentically. A mundane, conformist type of lifestyle without acceptance of these inevitabilities leads to an unauthentic life (Boeree, 2003). Jean-Paul Sartre is said to have coined the term Existentialism, but due to his movement toward Marxism the father of modern Existentialism is Rollo May, an American-born psychologist who put in much work to solidify the theory as a powerful branch of personality psychology. May’s approach to psychology was based on the individual living in the ‘now’ and being responsible for what direction his or her life took. It was not based on scientific data, rather it was a compilation of clinical experience that led May to believe that he who takes his own destiny in his own hands and makes his own decisions is the man who lives a healthy life of sovereignty; whereas the man who forfeits his freedom and conforms to social norms will be damned to a life of impotence and powerlessness (Feist & Feist, 2009). The healthy individual accepts the trials and tribulations of life, and its inevitable death, and has the courage to live life in the present.

Dispositional Personality Theories
Dispositional Personality Theories evolved from an awkward meeting between Gordon Allport and Sigmund Freud that left Allport contemplating the concept of a broader attempt at explaining the human personality (Feist & Feist, 2012). Allport did not quite agree with the “non-human psychoanalysis” Freud was known for, or the aminal – based learning theories of some other theorists, so he rejected Freud’s collective psychoanalysis theory as well as many of the other theories and turned, instead, to an idea focusing on the uniqueness of the individual (Fesit & Feist, 2009). Allport borrowed certain concepts that he did agree with from some of the more popular personality theories and formed his dispositional theory of personality. He warned other psychologists not to rely solely on a single theory because not every person falls into the parameters of any one theory, thus a more comprehensive theory was born. Dispositional theories rest on the assumption that each individual has a set of stable, long-lasting dispositions that display and determine certain behaviors, attitudes and emotions (Theories of Personality, 2002). These personal dispositions are unique to the individual, exhibited by that individual’s unique set of traits that serve to distinguish him from others; this is opposed to the idea of common traits which are shared by others and are the basis of many other personality theories. In addition to personal dispositions, Allport believed that behavior was motivated by present events, and that people know what they are doing and why, thus giving way to a more conscious thought process (Feist & Feist, 2009).

Compare and Contrast
Both the Existential Personality Theory and the Dispositional Personality Theory are very similar in conceptual structure. They both base their ideas on the individuality of each human being. They were both also created in response to a rejection of Freudian psychology, and stress the importance of conscious choices and decisions. That being said, these two theories are also very different. Existentialists believe that ideas, thoughts, and emotions from past events help the individual make choices about similar current events; where Dispositionalists believe that people make choices based on what is happening here and now. Existentialist base much of their theory on being pro-active in life and not following a pre-cut stencil of what is expected , while Dispositionalists base much of their theory on personal traits and dispositions that pre-curse certain types of personalities and behaviors and are innate to the individual.
Existentialists believe that the healthy individual accepts the inevitabilities of life and takes them head-on; while Dispostionalists believe the healthy individual has a need to adjust to their environment and to grow toward individuality. Existentialists are proactive in life; Dispostionalists are reactive and proactive in life (Theories of Personality, 2002).

Situational Behavior
The exhibition of situational behavior is dependent on individual personality. For the Existentialist personality can be described as a combination of objects of consciousness, things, ideas, memories, images, feelings, events, etc. that we have experienced, along with the ways in which those phenomena speak to us to allow us to make certain choices and behave in certain ways (Boeree, 2002). Personality Analysis 6 That is to say that existentialism explains behavior in terms of individual experiences influencing individual behavior with an acceptance of the stresses and anxiety that are bound to come along in life. Dispositional theorists define personality as the organization within the individual of common traits and personal dispositions that determine a person’s characteristic behaviors and thought processes (Feist & Feist, 2009). With that it is noted that Dispositional theory followers believe behavior is determined by unique combinations of the individual’s common traits and personal traits.

Personality Characteristics
Existential and Dispositional Personality Theories both have a specific theme, or list of criteria, that distinguish personality characteristics. Existential psychology has five basic themes that are approached when discussing personality characteristics; existence precedes essence – what you are (your essence) depends on the choices you make (your existence), time is important because we are only on this earth or a moment – choices must be meaningful, the focus is on the self – personality characteristics lead to pursuit of identity and meaning, freedom and responsibility – we can stand back and reflect on our lives but still hold true to the responsibility of our freedom to make our own choices, and ethical considerations are dominant – admitting concerns for self and society (Wyatt, 2010). Dispositional psychology mentions six basic criteria when discussing personality characteristics; an extension of one’s sense of self, overall warm relationships with others, self-acceptance and emotional security, insight and humor for situational events, a realistic view of the world, and a basic unifying view of life (Feist & Feist, 2009).
Interpersonal Relationships
The ways in which we connect with others are also influenced by our personalities. Dispositional theorists suggest that there is an extended sense of self and acceptance for who one is, which resonates in the warmth shown to others. Healthy interpersonal relationships are fostered by one’s realistic views of the world; as well as the healthy individual’s insight, humor, and unifying life views (Feist & Feist, 2009). Existential theorists, on the other hand, believe that interpersonal relationships are formed through similar unities of people and their phenomenological world – basically people with similar experiences will tend to bond (Feist & Feist, 2009). Furthermore, it is said that our relations with other depends largely on communication and language; how we make descriptions affects others’ perceptions (Wyatt, 2010).
Conclusion
There are numerous theories that attempt to explain how human beings develop personality, and how that personality affects behavior. From psychoanalytic theories that focus on unconscious drives in early childhood, to humanistic theories that focus on basic human needs, to behavioral theories that focus on conditioning and reinforcement - all aspects of the human being are related in one theory or another. The Existential Personality Theory and the Dispositional Personality Theory are just two of those theories that have been analyzed here; complete with a comparison, description of personality characteristics, and summary of the affects on situational behaviors and interpersonal relationships.

These theories fit neither the Freudian nor the Behaviorist schools of thought; rather they are evolved from those ways of thinking, but unique in many conceptual areas. “People cannot endure their own littleness unless they can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level.” (Becker, 1973. 196.)

References:
Becker, E. (1973). The Denial of Death. p. 196. Retrieved July 17, 2014 from Existential
Quotes: http://www.existential-therapy.com/Existential_Quotes.html. Boeree, C.G. (2003). Individual, existential, and humanistic psychology. General Psychology.
Retrieved July 17, 2014 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsyhumanists.html. Feist, G. J., & Feist, J. (2009). Theories of Personality. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Retrieved July 18, 2014 from PSY405 materials database.
Theories of Personality: Dispositional theories: Types and traits. (2002). Westmont
College. Retrieved July 18, 2014 from http://www.westmont.edu/~bsmith/general/lectureoutlines/15personality/dispositional.html. Wyatt, C.S. (2010). Introduction to existentialism: When a school of thought is many things. The Existential Primer. Retrieved July 18 from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.html.