Understanding Theories Of Personality

Theories of Personality
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Theories of Personality
Everybody has a personality that is influenced by their life experiences since they were born. Children raised from peaceful and non-discriminatory families where parents live happily do not fight and treat their children equally with love and care grow into adulthood, behaving differently from those raised in compromising environments. Thomas's case study is a typical example of how a child's upbringing shapes their adulthood life. Various personality theories and approaches explain the scenario Thomas is in. Despite being a successful lawyer, he is not living a happy life, has not married, does not show interest in marrying, and is not happy. This essay uses Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers's humanistic theories of personality and the trait/biological theorist's perspectives to describe Thomas's personality. It also gives my (the writer's) opinion on the many ways to explain Thomas' personality means for personality theory in general.
Several adjectives describe Thomas's personality. They include brave, hardworking, popular, quiet, selfish, and serious. Thomas is brave because he has faced all the challenges of life on his own without giving up. This personality trait describes Thomas's hardworking nature. From the case study, we learn that "His hard work, again, paid off and was a central trait within him" (Ashcraft, 2015). It needs bravery to work hard in the face of challenges to overcome all odds and make it to the list of the top lawyers in the US. Thomas's hard work made him popular in Los Angeles and the US. Several notable people and organizations know his ability to argue a case and win it. That is why they hire him whenever they have cases facing them in court; as the case study says, "…enjoys the attention that he gets from people talking about him…" (Ashcraft, 2015).
Thomas is generally quiet. He used to be a vocal kid when he was young, but his parents scolded him, making him quiet most of the time. "At home, he felt punished for being loud and was told that "children are to be seen and not heard" (Ashcraft, 2015). Later in his life, Thomas is still quiet because he grew up knowing that he should be seen and not heard as a child. However, his quiet nature made him concentrate on studies earning him good grades that have contributed to his current professional success. Also, the quietness led to a seriousness that Thomas still exhibits today.
Thomas works diligently and follows his schedule with the seriousness it deserves. When he entered into his professional life, Thomas treated everything seriously, offering services for money and little or no pro bono like his colleagues. Realizing that his shareholder colleagues in the law firm were giving many pro bono services, Thomas risked and started his new law firm, which succeeded well. This shows that he is a serious and determined person.
Thomas is selfish. He never engages in community development activities. He believes that everybody should work hard to be successful. He is also a believer in the phrase time is money. Thomas thinks that "Only a fool would give away their time because time is money" (Ashcraft, 2015). For this reason, he wondered why his colleagues were giving out pro bono services saying they were playing games. However, humanistic and trait (biological) theorists explain Thomas's personality based on his upbringing.
Humanistic theories stressed an individual's active role in shaping their internal and external worlds. Two significant humanistic theorists, Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, describe Thomas's personality as resulting from how he was raised by his parents, denying him the chance to shape his internal and external world. Rogers came up with the term 'actualizing tendency that refers to a person's basic instinct to succeed in their highest possible capacities. He emphasized that humans are active, creative, and experiencing beings who live in their present and subjectively to current perceptions, encounters, and relationships (Mcleod, 2014). According to Rogers, people exist in constantly changing environments where the self (the person) is at the center, prompting them to react to the changes externally and internally through...