18 If You Know Nothing About Personality: Your Theory
You’ve read a lot of theories in psychology. You have ideas of what makes people tick. It’s time to write your own theory of psychology!
Or you could start a bit smaller with your theory of personality. I wrote one. You can too. It’s just putting your thoughts down on paper. I’ll even help you.
You’ve already looked at all of theories on this site. So take a look at My Theory of Personality. Jot down some ideas of your own. And take a look at this video on what to include in Your Theory.
17 If You Know Nothing About Personality: Ellis
Albert Ellis is rational, systematic and confrontational. He is the founder of REBT: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Like Beck, Ellis is a cognitive theorist. He maintains that we are the cause of our misery. Fortunately, we also hold the cure. The key to being happy is to control your beliefs. Don’t give in to shoulds and oughts. Accept that you are not perfect but you are good.
16 If You Know Nothing About Personality: Beck
Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy. He combined Freud and Rogers, added his own ideas, and created a new approach to personality and counseling. The heart of Beck’s approach is the impact of beliefs on behavior. What we believe impacts what we do. Just as our perceptual processes can be distorted, our thinking can be biased.
15 If You Know Nothing About Personality: Frankl
Let’s continue our introduction of existentialism with a look at Viktor Frankl. You don’t have to have been interned in a concentration camp (as Frankl was) to appreciate the importance of living each day as if it were your last. Although existentialism is known for its emphasis on anxiety, Frankl proposed that we are responsible for our attitudes, behaviors and reactions. Life may restrict you but we must give life meaning.
14 If You Know Nothing About Personality: Rollo May
Although existentialism is known for its emphasis on anxiety, May offered a solution: love. Not the fluffy thinking of romantic love but the solid thoughtful love that shows care, concern and a willingness to be helpful.
Rollo May helped introduce existentialism to the United States. He was born in Ohio but was greatly influenced by European philosophers and theologians, particularly Paul Tillich.
