Burham’s phrase, “Everyone knows what personality is, but no one can put it into words,” describes one of the biggest problems we face when studying this psychological concept. Therefore, there are different approaches to personality study.
If we look for a scientific definition, we will find that we have one for each author, yet we can understand personality as a concept that includes characteristics that influence people’s behavior.
- In an attempt to study it.
- Various methodological problems have arisen.
- One of the main ones was the creation of instruments to measure it from a clear and objective approach.
- In this article we will talk about the different approaches or models that have been adopted for research in this area.
- Are: internalist.
- Situationist and intercationist approach.
This theoretical approach includes the person as an active being and responsible for the behaviors he manifests, the main characteristic to study are the personal variables of each, so in this model the important thing is to know the personality traits of each individual.
Being a personalistic model, it can be inferred that it is also stable and coherent, which means that, according to the specialists in approach, the personality will remain in time and in different situations, in this way if we can isolate a characteristics of the person, we can predict their future behavior. From this approach, many tests have been created to try to measure personality or even its features, such as the Big Five Inventory (BFI).
Given the current scientific evidence, this model can be considered outdated and unrealistic, at first glance we see that people change their behavior according to the context, we do not behave in the same way when we are family, at work or with friends In addition, trying to group a person’s personality into certain stable factors that predict their behavior is very complicated , the data obtained in the personality tests show us more the concept of the individual’s self than a real measure of his personality.
Personality is very complex and cannot be reduced to simple personal variables, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth study of the personality to understand its depth.
Unlike the previous approach, it understands the person as a passive subject and sensitive to the context, what will influence the prediction of their behavior will be the situational variables, in this model the characteristics and qualities of a person do not matter, the greater weight lies in the force of the situation.
This model is based on the assumption that any behavior is learned, so it is necessary to explore the learning processes through which we acquire new ways of doing things, here was born a stimulus-response approach very typical of behavioral paradigms. it uses an experimental and highly positivist methodology.
If this approach is more realistic to verify the instability and specificity of personality, it falls into the error of excessive reductionism: it leaves out all personal variables, since, of course, a person’s attitude affects their behavior. in the same way in the same situation.
In an attempt to combine the previous two perspectives and solve their mistakes, the interactionist personality model was born, from this paradigm we understand that behavior is determined by the interaction between personal and situational variables, an important aspect that we must understand is that personality is the product of a person’s interaction with their context.
From the interactionist approach, the person is an active subject who observes and builds his world through his own perception and ways of acting, the interaction of personal variables with the situation in which he is immersed is what triggers one behavior or another. , both aspects should be taken into account:
This is an approach that goes beyond the boundaries of the previous two models, however, the problem with the interactist approach to personality study is that it shows us a reality that is difficult to explore and study. We believe that behavior is the product of inaccessible cognitive factors and impassable context building. Still, it is certainly a very interesting approach to personality study.