Genetic Versus Environmental Influences
Are people born with the seeds for their adult personalities already intact? Or
do we enter this world with no inherited personality orientation, with eachhealthy baby just as likely as any other to become a great humanitarian, a
criminal, a leader, or a helpless psychotic? In one way or another, each major
theory of personality addresses this question: To what extent are our personal-
ities the result of inherited predispositions, and to what extent are they shaped
by the environment in which we grow up? Many biological and trait theorists
argue that too often psychologists fail to recognize the importance of inheritedpredispositions. To a lesser degree, psychoanalytic theorists also emphasize in-
nate needs and behavior patterns, albeit unconscious. However, humanistic, be-
havioral/social learning, and cognitive theorists are less likely to emphasizeinherited influences on personality. To some extent, the answer to this question
is an empirical one. And growing amount of research implicates at least some
inherited factors in the development of personality (Chapter 10).
Conscious Versus Unconscious Determinants of Behavior
To what extent are people aware of the causes of their behavior? PsychoanalystSigmund Freud argued that much of what we do is under the control of uncon-scious forces, which by definition are outside of our awareness. B. F. Skinner, an
influential behavior theorist, argued that people assume they understand theGenetic
InﬂuenceEnvironmental
Inﬂuence
Biological Trait Psychoanalytic Humanistic
Behavioral/Social Learning 
Cognitive
Unaware of
DeterminantsConscious ofDeterminants
Behavioral/Social 
LearningBiologicalPsychoanalytic Humanistic
TraitCognitive
Determinism Free Will
Psychoanalytic Behavioral/Social Learning Trait
Cognitive
BiologicalHumanistic
FIGURE 1.1 Position of the Six Approaches to Personality on Three Theory IssuesThe Study of Personality: Theory, Application, Assessment, and Research 13