By : Ni Made Ayu Listya Dewi, Guidance and Counseling, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha
Personality theory is a fundamental aspect of human beings that influences the way they think, feel and behave. Based on personality theory, each person has specific and unique characteristics. Every human life includes all aspects of diversity, including emotional, social, psychological, and socio-cultural aspects according to environmental factors. Without personality theory, efforts to understand human behavior and personality would be difficult. There are several experts who develop personality theories and explain how personality and individual characteristics are formed. One expert who is famous for his behavioristic personality theory is Burrhus Frederic Skinner.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner or commonly abbreviated as B.F. Skinner is a psychologist who was born on March 20, 1904, in the United States. In the world of psychology, B.F Skinner is a famous psychologist from the behavioristic school. The paradigm used to build behavioristic theory is that human behavior does not reside within humans, but in their environment. Behavior is a response given when a person is in a certain situation.
Behavioristic theory is controlled by rewards or rewards and reinforcement or reinforcement from the environment. Skinner assumed that behavioristic personality has 3 basic assumptions including: Behavior is lawful, Behavior can be predicted, Behavior can be controlled. Behavior follows certain laws, meaning that science is an attempt to find order, it shows that certain events relate regularly to other events. Behavior is predictable, meaning that science not only explains but also predicts, not only dealing with past events but also the future. This theory predicts future behavior. Behavior can be controlled, meaning that this science can anticipate or determine and shape a person’s behavior. In his view, Skinner was not interested in the structural variables of personality. According to him, illusions in explaining and predicting behavior may occur based on fixed elements of personality, but behavior can only be changed and controlled by changing the environment. On the other hand, behavior itself is an element of personality; relatively constant. According to Skinner, there are two classifications of behavior, including: Respondent Behavior, is a response produced by organisms to respond to a stimulus specifically related to that response. The second, operant behavior, is a response generated by the organism in the absence of a specific stimulus that directly forces the response to occur.
Skinner’s theory prioritizes personality with regard to changes in behavior. According to him, personality can be understood through consideration of the development of behavior in constant relation to its environment. An effective way to change and control behavior in Skinner’s behavioristic theory of personality is by means of reinforcement. Skinner’s theory believes that reinforcement is essential in shaping behavior. Reinforcement is divided into two types, namely: Positive reinforcement, which is a response that causes behavior or action to repeat it repeatedly because it will get a positive impact. Negative reinforcement, which is a response that causes behavior or action to avoid or not repeat it because it will get a negative impact. Skinner coined the term shaping to describe the gradual effort to shape a movement from the simplest to the most complex form when practicing a movement. There are different reinforcements, namely there are responses that are given reinforcement and some are not given reinforcement. And Continuous approach effort refers to the understanding that only responses that match the experimenter’s expectations are amplified.
CONCLUSION
In this behavioristic theory, in the same situation a person can cause different behaviors which are caused by environmental influences. The advantage of the behavioristic personality theory that has been developed by Skinner lies that a person is more directed to appreciate and appreciate each other’s individual behavior. In addition, the advantages of Skinner’s theory are the formation of a good and comfortable environment, thus minimizing the occurrence of misunderstandings. As we know that the theory developed by Skinner there is reinforcement where the reinforcement turns out to be used as motivation for someone to behave correctly in accordance with his wishes. But in its advantages, Skinner’s behavioristic theory also has disadvantages, namely the absence of punishment and the wrong use of punishment. The first drawback of Skinner’s theory is the absence of punishment given to offenders who make mistakes. The absence of this punishment can make individuals less understanding of what discipline means. Such a thing can be an obstacle in life. The second shortcoming of Skinner’s behavioristic theory is the wrong use of punishment. In this case, punishment is not a way to discipline individuals. According to Skinner, a good punishment is a punishment that can be felt by the perpetrator for the consequences of his actions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Karim, B. A. (2020). Personality Theory and Individual Differences. Education and Learning Journal, 1(1), 40-49.
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