You’ve read a lot of theories in psychology. You have ideas of what makes people tick. It’s time to write your own theory of psychology!
Or you could start a bit smaller with your theory of personality. I wrote one. You can too. It’s just putting your thoughts down on paper. I’ll even help you.
Start with the story of your life. From your own experience, identify what do you know to be true about yourself and other people. Start with what you know: your friends, family, bosses and enemies. Identify the basics.
There is no list of what must be included. It is up to you. But if you don’t know where to start, here is an outline of what you might want consider:
- The unconscious, pre-conscious, subconscious
- Self-concept, self-esteem & personal identity
- Depression, anxiety & emotional disorders
- Self-awareness & self-consciousness
- Do personality traits really exist?
- Moral character & development
- Heredity versus environment
- Personality and relationships
- Personal efficacy & expertise
- Control (internal, external)
- The biology of personality
- Personality measurement
- Personality development
- Dualism versus monism
- Change versus stability
- Optimism/pessimism
- Personality disorders
- Stress and illness
- Motives & drives
- Human sexuality
- Sex and gender
- Soul & spirit
- Aggression
- Creativity
- Thinking
- Emotion
And some theorists to consider:
- Adler, Alfred
- Allport, Gordon
- Bandura, Albert
- Beck, Aaron
- Breuer, Joseph
- Cattell, Raymond
- Costa & McCrae; Tupes & Christal; Digman & Goldberg (Big Five)
- Dollard & Miller
- Ellis, Albert
- Erikson, Erik
- Eysenck, Hans
- Fliess, Wilhelm
- Frankl, Viktor
- Freud, Anna
- Freud, Sigmund
- Fromm, Erich
- Galen
- Gall, Franz
- Hippocrates
- Horney, Karen
- Jung, Carl
- Klein, Melanie
- Maslow, Abraham
- May, Rollo
- Morgan, Christiana
- Murray, Henry
- Pavlov (Ivan) & Watson (John)
- Perls, Fritz (Gestalt Theory)
- Rogers, Carl
- Rotter, Julian
- Sheldon, William
- Skinner, BF
- Tangen (of course)