The University Interamericana of Puerto Rico, San German Campus, Department of Social Sciences, Education, and Humanities offers the course PSYC 5060 “Personality Psychology” taught by Dr. Cristian Marrero Diaz. On March 12th, 2023, the class conducted a critical analysis of theoretical approaches comparing Cognitive Theories to Biological Theories.

Allport (1977) defined “Personality” as a dynamic organization of psychophysical systems within an individual that determines their unique adjustment to the environment. He emphasized that a person’s decisions and development are influenced by both biological and social factors.

Eysenck’s biological perspective defines personality as the total sum of current and potential behavior patterns of an organism. The individual traits are determined by heredity and the environment, which interacts with cognition, character, temperament, and constitution. In contrast, from a cognitive perspective, Beck defines personality as a set of traits that include various strategies for adjustment.

This paper critically analyzes personality from the two main perspectives of Personality Psychology, which show how personality develops from both brain structure and function and from formal and non-formal learning throughout an individual's life, as explained by Eysenck’s biological approach and Beck's cognitive approach.

Eysenck proposes a trait-centered theory that aims to determine the development of antisocial conduct in an individual's personality. His model focuses on the causal explanation determining the biopsychosocial basis of personality from a dimensional perspective. On the other hand, Beck’s perspective is based on the idea that individuals suffer due to the interpretation they give to their experiences. His model claims that individuals perform cognitive processes when faced with a situation, accessing information built-up before responding. He further believes that people can be taught alternative problem-solving methods and ways of thinking to overcome symptoms.

On the other hand, Beck suggests that there is a relationship between a person's thoughts, emotions, and the feelings they experience, which will influence their behavioral response to any situation, the behavior of others, and symptoms experienced, depending on each case. He also emphasizes that intense emotions can hinder behavior or make it maladaptive, worsening or maintaining the problem. According to Beck, individuals may make mistakes in the interpretation or reasoning process. This occurs when a person is unable to be objective in a particular situation and distorts the available information, drawing negative conclusions without sufficient information or ignoring available information. Beck indicates that these responses may be based on schemes or beliefs learned through education or previous experiences of each person.

For Eysenck, the biological basis of personality encompasses the set of systems and brain mechanisms underlying behavioral and temperamental differences. This includes everything from genes to brain structure and chemicals that regulate emotions. Researchers are only beginning to understand the complex interplay between biology and the environment that shapes human personality. However, there is evidence that biology plays an essential role in determining who we are and how we behave.

The theorist argues that any model of personality must aspire to the causal analysis of individual behavior and not spare any effort in identifying the biological bases related to these responses. He emphasizes two important aspects in the development of personality from the biological perspective. Firstly, the Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) is responsible for mood, motivation, and attention. Secondly, the hypothalamus and limbic system are responsible for the emotional response, along with the autonomic nervous system that regulates the fight-or-flight response in the body and is highly responsible for stress reactions in individuals.

Both authors have had a significant impact on the psychology of personality from their individual approaches. It is worth noting that both promote positive frameworks for identifying individual needs and improving access to therapeutic resources in order to balance moods and promote stable personalities. To this end, both theorists developed questionnaires or inventories to obtain more reliable and definitive results when evaluating an individual's personality. These instruments are still used today with validity and reliability, such as the Eysenck Personality Inventory (adults and children) based on what the individual does and the Beck Depression Inventory. The latter is one of the most commonly used inventories for adults and adolescents to measure the severity of depression based on what the individual feels.

In general, Eysenck's research on the biological bases of behavior and personality and the development of cognitive therapy based on social, environmental and family influences on behavioral change are essential when evaluating the needs of each individual. In a way, the models are simple because they combine biopsychosocial factors that can interfere, or achieve changes in human behavior. These models can be attractive in the practice of psychology because they are integrative, tangible, rational, fact-based, and linked to research. Both provide results that can be scientifically evaluated to establish the basis for a diagnosis supported by the biological and cognitive function of the human being. In the study of personality, it is not possible to use only one model in isolation, if it is limited to describing the behaviors that manifest in each person without taking into account what is happening from different scientific and psychological perspectives.

References

Caro, I. (2013). The Study of Personality in the Cognitive Model of Beck: Critical Reflections. Boletin de Psicología, 109, 19–49. https://www.uv.es/seoane/boletin/previos/N109-2.pdf

Montaño, M., Palacios, J. & Gantiva, C. (2009). Theories of Personality. A Historical Analysis of the Concept and its Measurement. Redalyc, 3(2), 81-107.

Schmidt, V., Firpo, L., Vion, D., Oliván, M. E. D. C., Casella, L., Cuenya, L., Blum, G. D., & Pedrón, V. (2010). Eysenck's Psychobiological Model of Personality: A history projecting towards the future. Revista internacional de psicología, 11(02), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.33670/18181023.v11i02.63