Instructions:
Be sure to read each question carefully and answer each part of each question completely.
1. What does it mean to say that a perspective on personality is inherently deterministic? Give an example of a perspective we discussed in class that has, at its core, a deterministic worldview. Support your assertion by giving examples of how this perspective is deterministic.
When a personality is inherently deterministic, it means that personality is pre-determined from birth or due to life conditions and specific events. It is very similar to psychoanalytic theory in which Freud believes there are 4 stages that everyone must go through and their ability to successfully move on from these stages determine their personality in the future. If they fail at one stage, they are fixated there. Any event that occurs outside of early childhood has little influence on a person's personality. Determinism is the opposite of freewill. An example is if a child fails at the anal stage of the psychoanalytic theory because it fail to develop a sense of the right time and place to produce things, then that child be fixated on that stage and would grow up to have either compulsive or retentive traits. This is deterministic because children learn at a young age the right time and place to do certain things, such as to go to the bathroom. If they don’t learn it right and are ridiculed by their parents, then they tend to be cruel and destructive later on. If children try to get even with their parents’ punishments, they grow up to be stingy and very orderly.
2. What are the strengths and useful qualities of the Trait Perspective? What are its drawbacks and shortcomings? In your opinion, can it be used as a standalone determinant of a person’s qualities as an individual?
The strengths of the Trait Perspective is that it’s intuitively appealing, descriptive, involves a lot of research, and provides a way to evaluate attributes. Its drawbacks are that it