Psychoanalytic and humanistic theories look at personality from almost opposite directions. Freud’s psychodynamic approach says personality is driven by unconscious conflicts among the id, ego, and superego, shaped during childhood psychosexual stages. Humanistic thinkers like Rogers and Maslow take a sunnier view, emphasizing free will, our natural goodness, and the conscious drive toward self-actualization.
Entrance exams often ask you to match each Freudian structure with its guiding principle, so lock this in: the id follows the pleasure principle and the ego follows the reality principle. Students often mix up the psychoanalytic focus on unconscious determinism with the humanistic focus on conscious free will, so keep those two camps clearly separated in your mind. You should also be ready to tell conditional and unconditional positive regard apart in applied scenarios.
Part of Basic Psychology, module “Personality”. Sign in (free) to read the full notes, flashcards and the lesson quiz.