Premise:
Human beings lie in the continuum from being relatively simple to being relatively complex.
Theoretical Constructs of Simple Human Beings
Behaviorism: Stimulus – Response Theory
1. Dollard and Miller’s Stimulus-Response Theory focusing on the law of action (response) and reactions (stimuli) in the natural environment.
2. Pahlov’s classical conditioning Theory
3. B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning behavioral modification through rewards and punishment.
4. Watson and Rayner experiment on Little Albert has shown that classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia.
5. Edward Thorndike’s “Law of effect” which stated that any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be reinforced and repeated, and any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be diminished and stopped.
From the experiments of the above psychologists Bernard posits that simple human behaviors are somewhat akin to animal behaviors and can be conditioned. Simple human beings always reciprocate “If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you. If you are nasty I will reciprocate with nastiness.” Hence simple human behavior is predictable as it is consistent and persistent across situations. Simple human beings can be trained, modified, shaped and controlled.
Theoretical Construct of Complex Human Beings
Social Cognitive Theories: Stimulus – Gap – Response Theory.
The social-cognitive perspective on personality is a theory that emphasizes cognitive processes, such as thinking and judging, in the development of personality.
Albert Bandura’s social learning theory focuses on the cognitive factors involved in the learning processes. He modifies the stimulus-response theory by adding a gap between stimulus and response. The gap acts as a mediating processes between stimuli and responses enabling the use of intellect to analyze the stimuli and to generate and choose the best subjective response based on our experiences to the stimuli.
Julian Rotter’s law of effect posits that human behaviour is sensitive to environmental differences. He conceives that people are motivated to seek positive reinforcement and avoid negative and unpleasant stimulation. To understand behavior, one must take both the individual’s life history of learning and experiences and the environment. Rotter postulates that our behavior is changeable and varies with the external stimuli in the environment. In his social learning model of predicting behavior he envisage that behavior potential is a function of expectancy and reinforcement value. In other words, the likelihood of a person exhibiting a particular behavior is a function of the probability that that behavior will lead to a given outcome and the desirability of that outcome. If expectancy and reinforcement value are both high, then behavior potential will be high. If either expectancy or reinforcement value is low, then behavior potential will be lower.
Walter Mischel’s cognitive-affective personality theory posits that an individual’s behaviour is fundamentally dependent on situational cues. He postulates that our behavior is not consistent but varies across diverse situations and time. Mischel found distinctive but stable patterns of “if-then” situation-behavior relations that form personality signatures: if situation x occurs, then behavior y might result.
Charles Darwin’s Evolutionary and Genetic theory postulates that people born with adaptive genes can survive better than those with docile genes. The process of natural selection and sexual selection have sculpted not merely the body, but also the brain, the psychological mechanisms it houses, and the behavior it produces. Many of those mechanisms are best conceptualized as psychological adaptations vital to solve problems linked to our survival.
Based on the theoretical concepts of the above psychologists, Bernard postulates that complex human beings’ patterns of behaviour are inconsistent and difficult to predict as they vary with the situation and across time. Complex beings have high cognitive skills to analyze the stimuli in the environment, generate and evaluate alternatives before choosing the subjective best alternative as a response to the stimuli for survival and to satisfy their dominant needs.
Definition
Bernard combines the compatible views of the above psychologists and defines the complexity dimension as the need, want and desire to adapt, change, influence, and use others for survival and to satisfy dominant needs.
Description of the High, In-between and Low Complexity Personality.
High Complexity also known as the Dynamic Type of Personality
High Complexity Personality has a high need for information, adaptation, change, influence and the use of others for survival and to satisfy their dominant needs. They are curious and inquisitive. They constantly gather and absorb information from their environment and are alert and aware of what is happening around them. They have the uncanny ability to size up people and situations. They can mobilize resources to make things happen. They can influence others to get support. Their need for survival and growth makes them flexible and adaptable to the environment. They become complicated and difficult to predict as their behavioral pattern varies as they interact with different types of personalities. They are insightful, persuasive and convincing. They can adapt to others’ idiosyncrasies and win them over to pursue their goals. They are strategic and know many ways of making things happen. They can wrangle their way out of a difficult situation. They are smart and are good at maneuvering others to achieve a specific purpose.
In between Complexity or Dynamic-Static Type of Personality
In between or average Complexity Personality has a moderate need for information, adaptation, change, influence and the use of others for survival and to satisfy their dominant needs.
They are partially conscious of what is happening in their environment. They may have some information of what is happening. They have a partial vision. They are able to see parts of the big and small pictures of a given scenario. It is the parts of the picture that they overlook that cause them to err in some of their decisions. They are neither perceptive nor unperceptive and neither are they flexible nor inflexible. As a result they may find difficulty in adapting to certain people and situations. They are moderately tactical and strategic. They know some ways of getting things done.
Low complexity or Static Type of Personality
Low Complexity Personality has a low need for information, adaptation, change, influence and the use of others for survival and to satisfy their dominant needs. They are unclear of what is happening around them. They have little information on what is happening around them. They lack the insight to understand people and situations. Their low need for survival makes them docile and fixed. They may see limited ways of dealing with people and situations. As a result, they are inflexible and find it difficult to adapt to their environment. They are naive, straightforward and blunt in their social interactions. They tend to trust others too much and expect them to honor their words and commitment. They are open and frank in their dealings. They do not keep secrets. They are gullible and tend to believe what others say. They can be influenced by sweet talk. They lack insight into people and situations and find difficulty in guessing the outcomes of a relationship. They tend to use their hearts more than their minds. They are governed by their feeling. Consequently, they are likely to make a rash decision and rush into conclusions when they evaluate a person. They will have problems differentiating between friend and foe. They are quite vulnerable and are likely to be cheated. Under provocation, they tend to react spontaneously and impulsively without much forethought. They are not able to anticipate the outcomes of their actions. They tend to be direct and blunt. In so doing, they reveal their shortcomings. Their opponents can anticipate and predict their behavior and use it against them. They are innocent and fragile. Others can anticipate their moves as they have a single public self.