Theories of personality 1

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Dr. Aaron T. Beck

(1921 -2021)

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FAZAIA BILQUIS COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FOR WOMEN

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A Way to Address Depression

Almost everyone had a time when they have felt down or had thoughts that could make them feel
badly about their life. When we're depressed, our thoughts can be extremely negative and distort
our view of reality.

One way to resolve our negative thoughts when we are depressed is using cognitive therapy, a
form of psychotherapy developed by psychiatrist Aaron Beck that focuses on altering faulty
thinking patterns.

Aaron Beck

Biographical Background:

Aaron T. Beck was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 18, 1921. He is the third surviving
son and youngest child of Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States. His mother’s
depression following the death of her only daughter in an influenza epidemic.

In 1942, Beck graduated with his bachelor's degree from Brown University, and in 1946, he
graduated from Yale Medical School in psychiatry. Young Aaron developed a near fatal illness
following an infection of a broken arm, which led him to be anxious and to believe that he was
inept and stupid.

At an early age, he began to work cognitively through some of his problems and fears. Later, his
theory and therapy would help others overcome the types of negative beliefs that he himself
experienced.

Who Is Aaron Beck?

Aaron Beck was an American psychiatrist who analyzed how a person's thought process affects
their daily life. Aaron Beck is considered as the father of cognitive therapy. Aaron Beck is best
known for his research on depression and the development of cognitive-behavioral therapy. His
mother's struggle with depression played a role in his interest in treating depression

In the early years of his career as a psychiatrist, Beck strongly endorsed psychoanalysis, which
was the dominant psychotherapeutic modality at that time. He thought that by conducting more

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research into the psychoanalytic explanation of depression, the medical community would take
the discipline more seriously. However, Beck's research led him to develop his own theories of
depression.

Beck developed cognitive therapy with the belief that a person's experiences result
in cognitions or thoughts. These cognitions are connected with schemas, which are core beliefs
developed from early life, to create our view of the world and determine our emotional states and
behaviors. Beck believed disorders are maintained by negative attitudes and distorted thinking.

The Theory Behind Cognitive Therapy:

Cognitive therapy is based on a theory of personality that maintains that how one thinks largely
determines how one feels and behaves. Beck believes that people can consciously change how
they reason, and view the client’s underlying assumptions as targets of intervention.

Aaron Beck's theories begin with his cognitive model, which branches away from his original
psychoanalytic views of depression. He developed his cognitive theory of depression, which
focuses on how a person's schema can affect their mood.

Origins of Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Aaron Beck developed a form of psychotherapy in the early 1960s that he originally termed
"cognitive therapy." Beck devised a structured, short-term, present-oriented psychotherapy for
depression, directed toward solving current problems and modifying dysfunctional (inaccurate
and/or unhelpful) thinking and behavior. Since that time, he and others have successfully adapted
this therapy to a surprisingly diverse set of populations with a wide range of disorders and
problems. These adaptations have changed the focus, techniques, and length of treatment, but the
theoretical assumptions themselves have remained constant. In all forms of cognitive behavior
therapy that are derived from Beck's model, treatment is based on a cognitive formulation, the
beliefs and behavioral strategies that characterize a specific disorder

The idea for developing this form of psychotherapy took root when Aaron Beck began to notice
that his patients with depression often verbalized thoughts that were lacking in validity and noted
characteristic “cognitive distortions” in their thinking.

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His empirical observations led him to start viewing depression not so much as a mood disorder
but as a cognitive disorder. Based on his clinical observations and empirical findings, Beck
outlined a new cognitive theory of depression. He published Cognitive Therapy for Depression.

Cognitive Model

Aaron’s cognitive model suggests that how we perceive our experience can, in turn, impact our
behavioral, emotional, and physiological reactions. Because Beck found that many of
his depressed patients had formed negative beliefs, usually regarding failure and loss, and they
often experienced what he called automatic thoughts. Beck's treatment method was to help
patients assess the validity of their automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions.

For Example:

If someone frequently had the thought, "No one loves me", Beck might help them assess the
validity of this statement. Perhaps by exploring evidence that their friends and family did, in
fact, love them.

CBT is based on a straightforward, common-sense model of the relationships among cognition,

emotion, and behavior. Three aspects of cognition are emphasized:

1. Automatic thoughts 
2. Cognitive distortions
3. Underlying beliefs or Schemas

Cognitive Schemas

Schemas are cognitive structures that consist of an individual’s fundamental core beliefs and
assumptions about how the world operates. Schemas, therefore, develop early in life from
personal experiences and identification with significant others. People form concepts about
themselves, others, and the world that shape personality. The behavioral and emotional patterns
that make up personality, therefore, are derived from individual rules about life and beliefs about
the self.

Examples of schemas are;

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“Unless other people approve of me, I am worthless” or “Unless I can do something

perfectly, I should not do it at all.”

Types Of Schemas

There are four main types of schemas. These are centered around objects, the self, roles, and
events. Schemas can be changed and reconstructed throughout a person's life.

1. Personal schemas;
 Personality, appearance, preference.
2. Social schemas;
 Be respectful, pay for the young’s, don’t eat garlic/onion.
3. Self schemas;
 Future doctor, smart, hates broccoli.
4. Event schemas;
 Professionalism, handshake, portfolio, business suit.

How do schemas affect behavior?

Schemas can influence what you pay attention to, how you interpret situations, or how you make
sense of ambiguous situations. Once you have a schema, you unconsciously pay attention to
information that confirms it and ignore or minimize information that contradicts it.

For example, we consider the personality of a priest as an introvert- one who is calm speaks
quietly and believes in peace. Yet this is not necessary that there is a compulsion of being
introverted for a priest. Instead, it is the schema which defines our expectations from the priest.
Same goes with the personality trait of a teacher or an actor.

Schemas are much more stable than cognitions, but they are somewhat dependent on a person’s
moods. Schemas or underlying beliefs are defined as templates or rules for information
processing that underlie the most superficial layer of automatic thoughts. Beliefs are understood
at two levels in CBT:

1. Core Beliefs

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The central ideas about self and the world

The most fundamental level of belief

They are global, rigid, and overgeneralized

Examples of dysfunctional core beliefs: 

“I am unlovable”

“I am inadequate”

“The world is a hostile and dangerous place” 

2. Intermediate Beliefs

Consist of assumptions, attitudes, and rules

Influenced in their development by the core beliefs

Examples of dysfunctional intermediate beliefs:

“To be accepted, I should always please others.”

“I should be excellent at everything I do to be considered adequate.”

“It is best to have as little as possible to do with people.”

Automatic Thoughts

Our minds are constantly flowing with thoughts. Sometimes we are intentionally thinking about
something (like a task at hand, something that we have to do Other thoughts appear suddenly and
without any effort from ourselves. Have you ever been doing something and suddenly a thought
pops in your head? These are automatic thoughts.

Automatic thoughts are often influenced by our view of ourselves, others, and the world. An
individual’s immediate, unpremeditated interpretations of events are referred to as automatic
thoughts. Automatic thoughts shape both the individual’s emotions and their actions in response
to events.

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For example,
A friend may cross you in the hallway and not say hello to you. If you were to have an
automatic thought of “he hates me,” or “I have done something to anger him,” it is likely
to impact your mood and cause you to feel upset and also to behave in an avoidant
manner when you see him next. On the other hand, if you had the automatic thought, “he
is in a hurry,” you would not be too concerned, and you would not be avoidant when you
were to see him next.

Cognitive Distortions

Systematic errors in reasoning called cognitive distortions appear during psychological distress.
Beck identifies a number of illogical thinking processes (i.e. distortions of thought processes.)
These illogical thought patterns are self-defeating, and can cause great anxiety or depression for
the individual.

Cognitive distortions or ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ are ways that our thoughts can become
biased. As conscious beings we are always interpreting the world around us, trying to make
sense of what is happening. Sometimes our brains take ‘short cuts’ and generate results that are
not completely accurate. Different cognitive short cuts result in different kinds of bias or
distortions in our thinking. Sometimes we might jump to the worst possible conclusion; at other
times we might blame ourselves for things that are not our fault. Cognitive distortions happen
automatically – we don’t mean to think inaccurately – but unless we learn to notice them they
can have powerful yet invisible effects upon our moods and our lives. Cognitive distortions were
first noted by Aaron Beck in his research with depressed patients in the 1960’s. They formed a
central part of his cognitive theory of depression and, later, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Beck included five cognitive distortions in his original list published in 1963, and added an
additional two in Cognitive Therapy of Depression which was published in 1979. Beck’s
cognitive distortions included:

1. Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference is “the process of forming an interpretation of a situation, event, or

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experience when there is no factual evidence to support the conclusion or where the
conclusion is contrary to the evidence”.

Example: As John walked down the street he thought to himself “Everyone can tell that
I’m a loser”. This thought is distorted for a number of reasons: John has no way of
knowing what ‘everyone’ thinks, and it is extremely unlikely that anybody is even
thinking about him since most people are likely to be wrapped up in their own concerns
just as he is.

2. Selective Abstraction
Selective abstraction is “the process of focusing on a detail taken out of context, ignoring
other more salient features of the situation, and conceptualizing the whole experience on
the basis of this element” 

Example: Jenny delivered some teaching at her workplace and got a round of applause at
the end as well as numerous people saying how well she did and how helpful they had
found her presentation. When she looked at the feedback forms she noticed one form
with critical comments and a poor rating. She couldn’t stop thinking about this feedback
and criticized herself saying “I’m such a rubbish teacher”. Jenny’s thinking is distorted in
this case because she has automatically focused on the one negative piece of feedback to
the exclusion of all the positive feedback – her judgment of her teaching was not a fair
reflection of the evidence.

3. Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization is the process of “drawing a general conclusion about their ability,
performance, or worth on the basis of a single incident”.

Example: Carl gets a C- on a piece of homework, thinks to himself “I’m going to fail

everything”, and feels hopeless. Carl’s thinking is distorted in this case because the
conclusion he is reaching is too broad given the evidence. It is equally plausible that his
c-minus is a ‘blip’ and that he will do well on tests in the future, or that there were good
reasons why he got a poor grade this time that could be remedied in the future.

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4. Magnification and Minimization

Seeing an event as more significant or less significant than it actually is.

Example of magnification: Paul’s baby is sick on his only clean shirt before he has to go
to work to give a presentation. He has an image of his boss noticing, giving him a
disgusted look, and firing him on the spot. Paul’s thinking (an image in this case) is an
example of magnification because he is imagining and paying attention to a worst-case
scenario.

Example of minimization: Emma’s friend was the third person to try to tell her that she
thought Emma was drinking too much and putting herself in danger. Emma dismissed her
concerns by saying “You’re like everyone else, you worry too much” and thought to
herself “I don’t know what they’re all so worried about”.

5. Personalization
Personalization describes “the patient’s proclivity to relate external events to himself
when there is no basis for making such a connection”.

Example: On Sam’s journey to work he steps in a puddle, realizes he has forgotten his
watch, and has to rush after his train is late. He thinks “the world has got it in for me” and
feels deflated. Naturally Sam has placed himself at the center of the story (we all tend to
be somewhat egocentric), but his thinking is biased because he has assigned agency to the
world around him and he is implicitly making the prediction that the world will continue
to ‘have it in for him’.

6. Dichotomous Thinking
Dichotomous thinking describes “the tendency to place all experiences in one of two
opposite categories; for example, flawless or defective, success or failure, saint or sinner”

Example: Tanya either did things perfectly or not at all. If she saw the slightest speck of
dust at home she saw it as ‘filthy’. She was similarly strict with descriptions of herself –
she was either doing ok, or was failing in every way. Her thinking is biased because she
fails to see life in the ‘shades of grey’ that it actually operates.

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Aaron Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression

Now that we understand the cognitive model he uncovered, what exactly does Aaron Beck's
cognitive theory of depression state?

Aaron Beck's cognitive theory of depression says that people develop depression due to the
self-deprecating and inaccurate beliefs or schemas they make about themselves, the world, and
others. Beck argued that there are three types of "schemas" that rule over a person's depressed
thinking, commonly referred to as Beck's cognitive triad.

Beck identified following mechanisms that he thought were responsible for depression:

 The cognitive triad (of negative automatic thinking)

 Negative self-schemas
 Errors in Logic (i.e. faulty information processing)
 Automatic thoughts
 Physical sensations
 Feelings

The Cognitive Triad

Beck also developed the notion of the cognitive triad to describe how depressed adults tend to
think about the world. The triad refers to thoughts about self, world, and future. In all the three
instances, depressed individuals tend to have negative views.

Beck claimed that cognitive biases and negative self-schemas maintain the negative triad, a
negative and irrational view of ourselves, our future and the world around us. For sufferers of
depression, these thoughts occur automatically and are symptomatic of depressed people.

The negative triad demonstrates these three components, including:

The self – ‘nobody loves me.’

The world – ‘the world is an unfair place.’

The future – ‘I will always be a failure.’

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For example:

A negative perspective of oneself would lead to a negative view of the world. This perception
would ultimately lead to a negative view about their future. The triad becomes a vicious cycle
that keeps a person stuck in a loop of depression.

Negative Self-Schemas

Beck believed that depression prone individuals develop a negative self-schema. They possess a
set of beliefs and expectations about themselves that are essentially negative and pessimistic.
Beck claimed that negative schemas may be acquired in childhood as a result of a traumatic
event.

Experiences that might contribute to negative schemas include:

 Death of a parent or sibling.

 Parental rejection, criticism, overprotection, neglect or abuse.
 Bullying at school or exclusion from peer group.

People with negative self-schemas become prone to making logical errors in their thinking
and they tend to focus selectively on certain aspects of a situation while ignoring equally
relevant information.

Dimensions Of Personality

Beck further describes personality in terms of two dimensions that have particular relevance to
the tendency toward depression.

1. Sociotropic Dimension
It is characterized by dependence on interpersonal relationships and a need for
closeness and nurturance. This dimension is organized around closeness, nurturance,
and dependency.
2. Autonomous Dimension

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It is characterized by independence and organized around goal setting, self-

determination, and self-imposed obligations.

Although "pure” cases of sociotropy and autonomy exist, most people display features of both,
depending on the situation.

Thus sociotropy and autonomy are modes of behavior, not fixed personality structures.

Beck’s research shows that dependent individuals become depressed when their relationships are
disrupted. Autonomous people become depressed when they fail to achieve a certain goal.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive therapy consists of a set of well-defined therapeutic techniques for psychiatric

disorders. Cognitive therapy was originally designed for the treatment of depression and later
extended to treat other mental health disorders including anxiety, anorexia, bulimia, sexual
dysfunction, body dysmorphic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a type of psychological treatment that identifies and reframes a
person's dysfunctional thinking and encourages affirming behaviors. It has been found to be
useful as a short-term therapy and a long-term treatment model for adults, children, adolescents,
and groups. It also has been demonstrated to be effective as an adjunctive treatment to
medication for serious mental disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. CBT is
incredibly effective in treating depression.

Cognitive therapy is not as simple as replacing negative thoughts with positive self-statements.
Change can occur only if the client experiences affective arousal. In the language of cognitive
therapy, hot cognitions happen when a person experiences arousing emotions and reality testing
at the same time.

Hot Cognition:

A hot cognition is the actual phrase, fear, or critical self-blaming thought, such as “Oh, what a
klutz I am.”An examination of personal experience and logic at the same time allows the client
to change the inner attitude or belief.

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Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

Aaron Beck developed an instrument to measure depression called the Beck Depression
Inventory, which is widely seen as the finest psychometric instrument for this objective.
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a 21-item scale that determines the severity of
depression symptoms using a Likert scale, a psychometric scale that uses a questionnaire. The
BDI is now one of the most common psychometric tests used to assess depression.

Aaron Beck's contributions to psychology

Aaron Beck's contributions to psychology include writing over 25 books and over 600 scientific
articles. The first article was entitled "Thinking and Depression", published in 1963 and
discussed Cognitive Therapy.

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