How to teach personality theories

The study of personality theory enters the academic field of psychology . It is taught in schools to teach students the nature of human differences, as well as the complexities of an individual's psychological development. The main theories of personality can be through: traits, psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive-social and biopsychosocial perspectives. The aim is to provide students with a thorough understanding of personality theories and to explain the timeline of human understanding of personality in sequential order.

• An academic education in psychology
• The textbooks

one

Choose with prudence, the academic text that you will distribute with your students. Make sure that the assigned text is current and includes contemporary ideas about personality theory. If you are planning to teach a semester course about personality theory, you will have to look for books that focus strictly on the subject and delve into the details. If you are teaching them a basic course in psychology and you are looking for a book to briefly cover personality theory, it is sufficient that the text contains a chapter on personality and includes a thorough analysis of the different theories.

two

Begin to teach your students about personality theory, by defining the personality and its insertion in the broader field of psychology. The personality can be defined generally, as the combination of characteristics of a social and psychological person. Compared to other areas of psychology, such as memory and emotions, personality theories provide insight into how people develop different characteristics and qualities and how specific personality traits can be measured.

3

Generates a discussion about Sigmund Freud's perspective on personality. As the father of psychological studies, Freud had a long and lasting impact on how personalities were seen by the academic community. His ideas produced an entire theory of personality known as the psychoanalytic viewpoint. These ideas were re-elaborated and deepened long after the death of Freud.

4

He discusses how Carl Jung's relationship with psychoanalysis inspired him to create his own theory of personality, known as the theory of types. This theory emphasizes how people can be placed in specific categories, depending on their personality. A well-known example of the theory of types, is the hypothesis that people are personalities of type A or type B. According to this theory, the personalities of type A are hardworking and motivated and those of type B are People who tend to be relaxed and calm.

5

He talks about the theories that try to measure and quantify the different aspects of the human personality. Scientists who were interested in the theory of traits, thought that the personality was composed of different levels of extraversion, neuroticism, pleasantness, consciousness and other characteristics. Some of the first standardized psychological tests were designed by scientists interested in measuring personality levels.

6

Discuss with the students the behavioral theory of personality . The theorists of this current believe that various aspects of personality are learned through conditioning. They believe that certain personality traits are reinforced by our parents when we are children and over time they become consolidated in the personality.

7

Discusses the cognitive-social theory of personality with students . Socio-cognitive theories of personality emphasize the impact of our social environment on the formation of personality. The theorist of Alfred Bandura was one of the first to talk about this theory. He believes that the human personality is greatly influenced by what is observed in the society that surrounds us. Bandura discusses what is known as the mass mentality, where individuals feel remorse or caution in carrying out heinous crimes on a large group of people.

8

Discusses the contemporary biopsychosocial approach . According to this approach, the personality is determined by the biological constitution of the brain. Psychologists began to follow this approach after numerous publications of the Phineas Gage story. Phineas was a railroad worker in the eighteenth century, who survived significant brain damage, where a large part of his brain had been eliminated. It was said that Phineas's personality had changed drastically. Nowadays the aspects of the human personality are studied by means of magnetic resonance or CT. The research carried out with this mechanism has allowed scientists to identify in which part of the brain are specific traits such as, for example, shyness.

9

Complete the lesson with a discussion of how personality theories are used in the field of mental health. Explain to students how personality tests help mental health doctors to better diagnose and analyze patients. Also mention how personality theories help people learn about themselves and how they can improve their lives.

• Try to find examples of personality tests that were designed by some of the theorists. These are a fun way for students to get involved in the learning process and to better understand the theories.
• If you have time, try to discuss the different personality disorders that appear in the DSM-IV with your students. In these diagnoses anomalies about the human personality are described and will give knowledge on the subject.