Personality: Theories and Applications

Chapter 1

Personality

The Study of Human Nature

• Goals of the Book
• Organization of the Book
• Choice of Topics
• What Is Personality?
• Personality Theory Defined
• The Root Ideas of Personality Theory
• Practical Application: Assessing a Job Applicant’s "Fit"

Much of what we do in our lives each day depends on how we think about other people—whether we think they are funny or hateful, whether they can be trusted, whether they will help us when we need them. Within academic psychology, the discipline that studies what people are like is called personality psychology.

Although most of our theories about others are not very clear or detailed, they are what we rely on when we deal with other people. Other academic disciplines, such as anthropology, criminology, economics, history, sociology, and political science, also depend on assumptions about human nature. Economists, for example, assume that people make decisions based on rational self-interest; anthropologists and sociologists assume that human nature is quite flexible and that people are primarily shaped by their cultures; historians and political scientists use ideas about personality to explain the biographies of famous people.

The unique role of personality psychology in modern life is that it concerns theories about human nature and tries to evaluate them in an empirical way—an effort in which it is essentially alone. In fact, this emphasis on the empirical study of human nature is what makes personality psychology a unique discipline.

Goals of the Book

This book has three goals. The first is to describe and present the most important theories of human nature. Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, and B. F. Skinner strongly influenced the way we think about history, political behavior, management practices, and social policy, and every educated person should be familiar with these theorists. In contrast with narrow academic specialties, the study of personality influences many fields outside psychology and is an essential part of any liberal education. Ideas have consequences; thus we should be clear about what our ideas are and how we justify them.

A second goal of this book is to evaluate the major theories of human nature. Some of these theories can be evaluated in terms of how well they are supported by empirical research; others can be evaluated in terms of their logical consistency. Such evaluations reveal that every theory of personality—like every theory in science generally—contains some valid points and some critical flaws.

Finally, we hope that you, the reader, will develop some feeling for the spirit of personality psychology. Each of the theorists we discuss offers ideas that help us address the major problems of life. We find these ideas both useful and fascinating, and hope you will come to share our enthusiasm.

Organization of the Book

The organization of this book is different from that of most personality texts. It is based on our understanding that the authors of the major personality theories were concerned about specific questions, and that the theories were designed to answer those questions. Accordingly, each theory is organized around a key issue.

This format characterizes most of the chapters, each of which contains five sections. The first presents a short biography of the theorist and describes the major influences on his or her ideas. The second section describes the core issue with which the theorist was concerned and how he or she analyzed it. The third section outlines the theory’s image of human nature in terms of the six “root ideas” that form the conceptual backbone of personality psychology. (These root ideas are defined later in the present chapter.) The fourth section evaluates the theory, describing its unique strengths and shortcomings. And the fifth section applies the theory to a problem or situation that almost everyone faces at one time or another.

The chapters themselves are presented in chronological order, reflecting the development of personality psychology from Freud to the present. We believe that ideas about human nature have evolved over time—in other words, that all personality theorists are influenced by their predecessors (even those they disagreed with) and that all personality theories build on earlier ones.

Chapter 2 provides brief history of personality theory. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 deal with traditional European depth psychology, which is where modern personality theory began. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 describe the American reaction to the European tradition. Chapter 9, on the sociological tradition, is unique to this book; but we believe that an understanding of how sociologists think about human nature is essential for understanding personality. In addition, because the sociological viewpoint criticizes the psychological perspective on human nature, it deserves close attention. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 present possible replies to the sociological challenge.

Robert Hogan, Ph.D.

Robert Hogan received his Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. He was McFarlin Professor and Department of Psychology Chair at The University of Tulsa for 17 years. Dr. Hogan was previously Professor of Psychology and Social Relations at Johns Hopkins University. His many publications include Personality and the Fate of Organizations. Dr. Hogan currently is president of Hogan Assessment Systems.

Robert Smither, Ph.D.

Robert Smither is professor of psychology and director of the Organizational Behavior Program at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He is also the author of The Psychology of Work and Human Performance and a co-author of Organization Development: Strategies of Changing Environments.

"This book provides a thorough and engaging review of personality theory...a 'must read' for those who study personality or use personality constructs in applied settings."

Keith Hattrup, San Diego State University

Readers of this absolutely unique personality textbook will experience excitement, delight, surprise, and joy as they accompany Hogan and Smither on an adventure of ideas. The book reads like a beautifully written novel. Literate and scholarly without being the least bit pedantic, this textbook will captivate readers and provide them with a deep understanding of personality theories and their practical applications. Hogan and Smither's Personality: Theories and Applications is the perfect choice for those of us committed to teaching personality in the context of a liberal arts education."

Dr. John A. Johnson, Pennsylvania State University

The major theories of personality contain important insights about human nature, but they are often unconnected with modern research. Personality: Theories and Applications bridges the gap between research-oriented books and traditional theory books by organizing each chapter around the specific topic that interested each of the major theorists. Designed for the first course in personality psychology, Personality: Theories and Applications combines a strong historical perspective with practical applications that largely concern the world of work.