Answer to Question #199359 in Psychology for AQsA Shahid

Question

Select a Random Case Study and Evaluate it from Psychoanalytic perspective, Cognitive Perspective, Dispositional and Trait Theories, and Humanistic and Existential Theory.

Answer 1

Trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are aspects of personality that are relatively stable over time, differ across individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are not), are relatively consistent over situations, and influence behavior. Traits are in contrast to states, which are more transitory dispositions.

In some theories and systems, traits are something a person either has or does not have, but in many others traits are dimensions such as extroversion vs. introversion, with each person rating somewhere along this spectrum.

The psychoanalytic approach focuses on the importance of the unconscious mind (not the conscious mind). In other words, psychoanalytic perspective dictates that behavior is determined by your past experiences that are left in the Unconscious Mind (people are unaware of them).

The cognitive perspective is concerned with mental functions such as memory, perception, attention, among others. It views people as being similar to computers in the way we process information. The cognitive approach has many applications including cognitive therapy and eyewitness testimony.

Humanistic and existential approaches share a belief that people have the capacity for self-awareness and choice. The humanistic perspective views human nature as basically good, with an inherent potential to maintain healthy, meaningful relationships and to make choices that are in the interest of oneself and others.