often vary only in emphasis —with each providing a legitimate, compatible
explanation —in many instances the explanations of two or more approaches
appear entirely incompatible. Thus people who work in the field often align
themselves with one or another of the six approaches as they decide which of
the competing explanations they accept.
Returning to the blind men and the elephant, suppose someone were to
ask how an elephant moves. The man feeling the trunk might argue that the
elephant slithers along the ground like a snake. The man holding the ele-phant ’s ear might disagree, saying that the elephant must fly like a bird with
its big, floppy wings. The man touching the leg would certainly have a differ-ent explanation. Although in some instances more than one of these explana-tions might be accurate (for example, a bird can both walk and fly), it should
be obvious that at times not every theory can be right. It also is possible that
one theory is correct in describing one part of human personality, whereasanother theory is correct in describing other aspects.
No doubt some theories will make more sense to you than others. But it is
worth keeping in mind that each approach has been developed and promoted
by a large number of respected psychologists. Although not all of these men
and women are correct about every issue, each approach has something of
value to offer in our quest to understand what makes each of us who we are.
Two Examples: Aggression and Depression
To get a better idea of how the six approaches to understanding personality
provide six different, yet legitimate, explanations for consistent patterns of be-
havior, let ’s look at two common examples. Aggressive behavior and the suf-
fering that comes from depression are widespread problems in our society,
and psychologists from many different perspectives have looked into the
causes of aggression and depression.
Example 1: Aggression
We have all seen or read about people who consistently engage in aggressive
behavior. Adults arrested for assault typically have a history of aggressivebehavior that goes back to playground fights in childhood. Why are some
people consistently more aggressive than others? Each of the six approaches
to personality provides at least one answer. As you read these answers, think
about an aggressive person you have encountered. Which of the six explana-
tions seems to do the best job of explaining that person ’s behavior?
The classic psychoanalytic explanation of aggression points to an uncon-
scious death instinct. That is, we are all said to possess an unconscious desireto self-destruct. However, because people with a healthy personality do not
hurt themselves, these self-destructive impulses may be unconsciously turnedoutward and expressed against others in the form of aggression. Other psy-
choanalysts argue that aggression results when we are blocked from reaching
our goals. A person who experiences a great deal of frustration, perhapssomeone who is constantly falling short of a desired goal, is a likely candidate
for persistent aggressive behavior. In most cases, the person is unaware of the
real reasons for the aggression.6 CHAPTER 1 What Is Personality?