Converging Points of Similarity Between Psychoanalytic, Sociocultural,

¶ … converging points of similarity between psychoanalytic, sociocultural, and trait theories for the development of personality, each of these theories largely concentrates on a different approach. For example, the psychoanalytic theory of personality -- which was largely popularized by Sigmund Freud's work in this field -- tends to focus on mental processes as being those most pertinent to the development of personality. Essentially, the great psychologist posited the notion that there were a number of unconscious factors that could result in a repression of these events that would generally cause noxious effects to the mind. The strength of this particular approach is it utilizes mental effects as one of the chief determinants in personality, as they certainly are. Implicit in this approach is that physical interactions or occurrences actually contribute to the unconscious mind and repression (Gerson, 2003, p. 2). However, the general weakness with this theory is its emphasis on explaining negative personality traits or those that are psychosomatic in nature, which does not necessarily apply to personality traits that may be more convivial or genial.

Whereas external factors are implicit in the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, they assume a central prominence in socio-cultural theory. This theory holds that one's surrounding culture is the most influential factor in determining personalities. As such, it tends to group personality types according to cultures, such as Westernized or non-Westernized cultures. The basic tenet of this theory is that people's attitudes and personalities are largely determined by the mores of their surrounding culture, and that violations of these values are generally deemed negative. The chief strength of this particular approach is that it focuses on how external factors shape internal ones, such as personality. However, it does not account for variability within cultures and may sometimes be reduced to simple stereotyping.

The trait theory of personality development, however, does account for vairabilitiy within culture and within families or within any group, however. This theory was initially developed and popularized by Gordon Allport, one of Freud's contemporaries. This theory contends that prior to external influences, each person has individual motives (Barkhuus, 1999, p. 2) and proclivities that account for his or her personality. These tendencies are generally referred to as central traits which people are born with, and which may be genetic in nature. Sometimes, one or two of these traits become more salient than the others, in which case they become a person's cardinal trait. These traits are influenced by external factors, which merely serve to reinforce them to the point where at some point, those traits become so strong that they no longer require external factors to foster them.