Question

Compare and contrast three of the following perspectives of personality (psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, biological). How are they similar? How are they different? What strengths and weaknesses do they have?

Answer 1

Approach	Description	Strengths	Weaknesses
Psychodynamic	Sigmund Freud offered a psychodynamic perspective that highlights the significance of one’s repressed or unconscious mental operations, like fears and wishes of which one is not completely aware. It asserts that such processes along with one's childhood history are important for shaping an individual’s overall personality.	1) this perspective allows people to identify their unconscious content which can have an effect on their behavior. 2) It makes people feel good and seek therapy again in the future.	1) It completely overlooks the biological aspects which can be linked with the issue in hand. 2) It is solely based on Freud’s workings with his clients. Thus, it is not scientifically tested.
Humanistic	The humanistic approach examines the person as a whole as well as highlights the distinctiveness of every person. It assumes that people are essentially good and possess a natural need to make the world and themselves better.	1) This view fulfills the idea of many individuals about the actual purpose of being a human. 2) It focuses on more individualistic study methods in various professions like history and criminology.	1) It may encourage frustration among some people as they may not get the causes of their concerns. 2) This perspective may be biased as it is based on the western views of society.
Behavioral	Behaviorism, proposed by John Watson, claims that all human behaviors are learned and all psychological information can be obtained through the overt observation of behaviors. It highlights that learning takes place through conditioning (association of certain stimuli)	1) It highlights overt behaviors which makes it easier to gather and compute information during research. 2) Behavioral therapy approaches have been very effective in altering harmful or undesirable behaviors in adults as well as children.	1) It ignores the fact that learning can take place in other ways, like through observation. 2) Learning established through reinforcement can be unlearned and other new behaviors can be acquired when the environment changes.

All the above-explained approaches are distinct and have clearly defined differences. The psychodynamic perspective entirely emphasizes the hidden and unconscious content, whereas behaviorism holds opposite views that place importance on observable actions. Similar to the behavioral view, humanism also gathers data through observable and overt behaviors.