The psychodynamic theory is based on a Viennese physician’s, Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory. Freud believed that the mind is divided into three divisions the conscious, preconscious and unconscious. He also believed that the conscious division was the key to understanding personality. According to freud, the three parts of personality are the id, ego, and superego. The id works on the pleasure principle while the ego works on the reality principle. The superego is the moral center of personality, containing the conscience. The conflicting demands of the personality structures produce anxiety. In response to the anxiety, the ego uses defense mechanisms as protective methods to resolve conflicts and reduce the anxiety. Personality then develops into a series of psychosexual stages. The stages of psyschosexual include, oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Sexual impulses play a large role in personality, for example oral is where id dominates, the anal …show more content…
He came up with the concept of reciprocal determinism, in which behavior, environment, and person/cognitive factors mutually influence one another. Two psychological factors that illustrate reciprocal determinism are personal control and optimism. Different levels of personal control are illustrated in self-efficacy, the belief in one's ability to succeed in situations or to accomplish a task. One's sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how one approaches goals, tasks, and challenges. Optimism refers to the tendency to explain bad events as external, unstable, and specific. Optimism is a cognitive factor that has been associated with being more effective and being physically and mentally healthy. Overall a situation can alter a person’s personality. Advantages of this theory include a focus on cognitive processes and self-control. Disadvantages, however, include a failure to consider biological factors and individual