Psychology

While other psychologists are concerned with human perception, intelligence, motivation, or development, personality theorists are in the unique position of studying the entire person. They have the monumental task of synthesizing the best information from the diverse fields of the discipline into a coherent, holistic configuration. In the course of their work, personality theorists address fundamental issues of human nature and individual differences. A theorist's answers to the following basic questions define his or her image of human nature.

1. Free will or determinism? Do we have a conscious awareness and control of ourselves? Are we free to choose, to be masters of our fate, or are we victims of biological factors, unconscious forces, or external stimuli?
2. Nature or nurture? Is our personality determined primarily by the abilities, temperaments, or predispositions we inherit, or are we shaped more strongly by the environments in which we live?
3. Past, present, or future? Is personality development basically complete in early childhood? Or is personality independent of the past, capable of being influenced by events and experiences in the present and even by future aspirations and goals?
4. Uniqueness or universality? Is the personality of each individual unique or are there broad personality patterns that fit large numbers of persons?
5. Equilibrium or growth? Are we primarily tension-reducing, pleasure-seeking animals, or are we motivated primarily by the need to grow, to reach our full potential, to reach for ever-higher levels of self-expression and development?
6. Optimism or pessimism? Are human beings basically good or evil? Are we kind and compassionate, or cruel and merciless?

Freudian Slips

The president of the Austrian parliament opens a session by thundering, "I declare this meeting closed!" In answering his phone, a preoccupied business executive picks up the receiver and bellows, "Come in." At a copying machine, a secretary counts copies: "eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king."

Freud believed that such slips were motivated by unconscious conflicts. A hidden motive could presumably be found for even the most innocuous mistake if it were investigated with psychoanalytic methods. "The Austrian president," wrote Freud, "secretly wished he was already in a position to close the meeting from which little good was to be expected."