How to Teach Personality Theories

The study of personality theory falls into the academic realm of psychology. It is taught in schools to give students insight into the nature of human differences, as well as the intricacies of an individual's psychological development. The primary theories of personality can be broken down into: trait, type, psychoanalytic, behaviorist, social-cognitive and biopsychological perspectives. To provide students with a well-rounded understanding of personality theories, explain to them the timeline of the human understanding of personality in sequential order.

Things You'll Need

• An academic background in psychology
• Textbooks
• Teaching credentials

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Instructions

• 1

  Choose the academic text you will be distributing to your students wisely. Make sure the text you assign is up to date, and includes contemporary ideas about personality theory. If you are planning to teach a semester-long course on personality theory, you will want to look for textbooks that focus strictly on the topic, and delve deep into specifics. If you are teaching a basic course in psychology, and are looking to briefly cover personality theory make sure the text you assign has a chapter on personality with a thorough discussion of various theories.

• 2

  Start teaching your students about personality theory by defining personality and describing how it fits into the larger field of psychology. Personality can be generally defined as the combination of characteristics in a person's social and psychological make-up. Compared to other areas of psychology, such as memory and emotions, personality theories look at how people develop different traits and qualities, and how specific personality traits can be measured.

• 3

  Move to a discussion of Sigmund Freud's perspectives on personality. As the father of psychological studies, Freud had a long and lasting impact on how personalities were viewed by the academic community. His ideas produced an entire theory of personality known as the psychoanalytic perspective. Those ideas were elaborated on and added to long after Freud's death.

• 4

  Discuss how Carl Jung's work with psychoanalysis inspired him to create his own theory of personality, known as type theory. This theory emphasizes how people can be placed in to specific categories based on their personality. A well-known example of type theory is the hypothesis that people are either type A or type B personalities. Type A personalities are said to be hard-working and driven. Type B people tend to be relaxed and calm, according to the theory.

• 5

  Discuss the trait theorists, who attempted to measure and quantify different aspects of human personality. The scientists who were interested in trait theories thought that a person's personality was made up of varying levels of extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and other traits. Some of the earliest standardized psychological tests were designed by scientists interested in measuring people's levels of personality.

• 6

  Discuss with students the behaviorist theory of personality. Theorists of this persuasion believe various aspects of a person's personality are learned by way of conditioning. They believe that certain personality traits are reinforced by our parents when we are children, and eventually become habituated into a whole personality.

• 7

  Discuss social-cognitive theories of personality theory with the students. The social-cognitive theories of personality emphasize the impact of our social surroundings in the formation of personality. The theorist Alfred Bandura was one of the first people to discuss this theory. He believed human personality is significantly influenced by what we observe in society around us. Bandura discussed what is known as the mob mentality, where individuals feel little remorse or caution when committing egregious crimes in a large group of people.

• 8

  Discuss the contemporary biopsychological approach. This approach purports a person's personality is determined by the biological makeup of their brain. Psychological scientists began to follow this approach after the widely published story of Phineas Gage. Phineas was a railroad worker in the 18th century who survived significant brain damage. After a large portion of his brain had been removed, Phineas' personality was said to have changed drastically. Today aspects of the human personality are studied using MRI or CAT scans. The research done with this machinery has allowed scientists to pinpoint where in the brain specific traits such as timidity are located.

• 9

  End the lesson with a discussion of how personality theories are used in the field of mental health. Explain to students how personality tests help mental health clinicians to better diagnose and analyze the patients they work with. Also mention how personality theories help people to learn about themselves, and how they can improve their lives.