Two views on the nature of personality We often hear that people have different personalities, but the meaning of this word is not the same when compared to an ordinary person and a professional psychologist. Trying to put the concept of personality in the right form, many researchers face misunderstandings of some colleagues, when everyone sees the essence of the matter in his own way. Since the concept of personality became one of the key questions in psychology, many theories of personality have been proposed. Despite this, the conflict of opinion still exists, because the nature of identity and how it is formed are fundamental to understanding why we are the way we are.
Two views on the nature of personality We often hear that people have different personalities, but the meaning of this word is not the same when compared to an ordinary person and a professional psychologist. Trying to put the concept of personality in the right form, many researchers face misunderstandings of some colleagues, when everyone sees the essence of the matter in his own way. Since the concept of personality became one of the key questions in psychology, many theories of personality have been proposed. Despite this, the conflict of opinion still exists, because the nature of identity and how it is formed are fundamental to understanding why we are the way we are.
In his theory, Alfred Adler reveals the main reason why people do what they do and highlights different personalities. Thanks to his efforts, a new branch called individual psychology appeared. Adler refrained from general concepts of personality that divide it into basic subjects because he believed that each personality is indivisible. His theory of personality is based on four central principles. To begin with, human personality is fixed and unique; it cannot be broken down because it acts as a complex.
The goal of every person’s life is the constant search for superiority (Carlson and Slavik, 2013, p. 9). In addition, we all have our own creative power that is used to improve life. Finally, the social context has an important influence on the development of personality. Everyone has a sense of inferiority triggered by an unpleasant experience in childhood. Struggling with this, all people want to surpass other people or enjoy the fruits of self-improvement. According to Adler, the urgent need for self-affirmation is the main cause of all activity.
The personality types he mentions do not define the nature of people; they are frames that are then covered with unique properties. The first type of people are aggressive and their energy can be channeled into influence or even self-destruction. Another type of person shows defensive behavior; they are shy and lack energy. The third type of people lack energy so much that they have to avoid activities and socializing, and the fourth type is the most accepted in society because these people have energy and a willingness to cooperate with others.
The work of Karen Horney helped to develop the theories of Freud. Horney believed that society has the most important influence on the formation of personality. According to him, the development of an individual is not only influenced by innate desires and instincts, but the individual has a certain ability to control the process of personal transformation. In his opinion, the dominant force influencing human action and behavior is the unrealized feeling of anxiety (Schultz and Schultz, 2000, p. 135). Horney compares this anxiety to the feeling experienced by a newborn baby who sees this dangerous world for the first time.
Horney introduced the self-image in psychology. In his opinion, overcoming anxiety requires an acceptable self-image. It consists of three parts: a person’s perfect self-image, the real one, and how other people see that person. A person who shows adequate personality development is unlikely to have conflicts between these parts of the self-concept. However, the correct self-image is not often born, and therefore many people experience various psychological problems.
People whose perfect and true self-image are completely different are likely to feel dissatisfied with themselves. In his theory, Horney distinguishes three types of defense mechanisms that people use to suppress feelings of anxiety. Therefore, there are three types of behavior: adaptive, aggressive and detached.
These two theories cannot be called the same because their authors used different key concepts in their research. However, they share some common characteristics. First, both authors consider society as one of the factors that have a great influence on the development of our personality; they believe that society shapes our behavior and reactions to other people and circumstances.
In addition, they both believe that the behavior of each individual is a response to some subconscious that bothers them, and any behavior becomes a defense mechanism used to end the feeling of helplessness. Both believe that this negative feeling appears in childhood. Regarding the classifications proposed by Adler and Horney, they both consider how a person relates to other people.
The difference between the two theories arises from the disagreement of the authors about the main motive of all the actions of the individual. Adler assumes that the feeling of inferiority is central to the development of the individual. This feeling is due to the constant pressure that children feel when they interact with adults who have more authority and power. Unlike Adler, Horney prioritizes feelings of anxiety caused by uncertainty and boredom.
Adler believes that the personality of an individual is a whole that cannot be divided, while Horney develops a concept of self-image in which the components of personality are considered separately. According to Adler, everyone uses all available means to gain superiority over something and satisfy their ego. Horney sees all behavior as the overall goal of experiencing a sense of security and gaining someone’s approval. This difference of opinion affected their approach to classifying the behavior of individuals. Adler classifies people according to their energy level, which defines their potential for self-actualization, and Horney’s classification describes people according to how much they want to be accepted by others.
In short, it can be said that both theories touch on the subject of motivation and the formation of individuality, but they have much more differences than similarities, because their central concepts are not close to each other. However, each theory is psychologically interesting because both authors make great efforts to explain the nature of personality as they saw it.
