Psychological theories are fact-based ideas that describe a phenomenon of human behavior. These theories are based on a hypothesis, which is backed by evidence. Thus, the two key components of a psychological theory are:
- It must describe a behavior.
- It must make predictions about future behaviors.
The term “theory” is used with surprising frequency in everyday language. It is often used to mean a guess, hunch, or supposition. You may even hear people dismiss certain information because it is “only a theory.”
In science, however, a theory is much more than just a guess. A theory presents a concept or idea that is testable. Scientists can test a theory through empirical research and gather evidence that supports or refutes it.
As new evidence surfaces and more research is done, a theory may be refined, modified, or even rejected if it does not fit with the latest scientific findings. The overall strength of a scientific theory hinges on its ability to explain diverse phenomena.1
5 Major Psychological Theories
Some of the best-known psychological theories stem from the perspectives of various branches within psychology. Each represents a different way of thinking about the human mind and behavior. This doesn’t mean that any particular theory is “right” or better than the others. It just means that various approaches exist to understanding, explaining, and predicting how people think and act.
There are five major types of psychological theories: behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and biological. Let’s take a closer look at each of these psychological theories and how they work.
Behavioral Theories
Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. This approach doesn’t consider internal mental processes at all. Instead, it focuses on how interactions with the environment, including associations, rewards, and punishments, can be used to teach and shape behavior.
Advocated by famous psychologists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, behavioral theories dominated psychology during the early half of the twentieth century.2
Today, behavioral techniques are still widely used by therapists to help clients learn new skills and behaviors.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive theories of psychology are focused on internal states, such as motivation, problem-solving, decision-making, thinking, and attention. Such theories strive to explain different mental processes, including how the mind processes information and how our thoughts lead to certain emotions and behaviors.3
According to cognitive psychological theories, our thoughts are important in perceiving and responding to the world around us. Some theories take an information processing approach, suggesting that the human mind works like a computer in terms of how information is processed, stored, retrieved, and used.
Other theories suggest that people form mental frameworks, or schemas, to help organize and interpret information. How we interpret new information is then influenced by our existing schemas.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an important type of therapy that is rooted in these cognitive psychological theories. CBT focuses on helping people change their thoughts, which can help alleviate behavioral and emotional problems.
Humanistic Theories
Humanistic psychology theories began to grow in popularity during the 1950s.4 Some of the major humanist theorists included Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
While earlier theories often focused on abnormal behavior and psychological problems, humanist theories about behavior instead emphasized the basic goodness of human beings. These theories emphasize free will and the inherent drive that all people have to grow and reach their full potential.
These psychological theories tend to take a more holistic approach, seeing individuals as more than the sum of their parts.
Key humanistic theories include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Roger’s concept of unconditional positive regard, and the importance of self-actualization.
Psychodynamic Theories
Psychodynamic theories examine the unconscious concepts that shape our emotions, attitudes, and personalities. Psychodynamic approaches seek to understand the root causes of unconscious behavior.5
The unconscious represents all of the thoughts, urgest, emotions, and memories that lie outside of our conscious awareness. According to psychodynamic theorists, the unconscious continues to affect behavior even though we are unaware of it.
These theories are strongly linked with Sigmund Freud and his followers. The psychodynamic approach is seen in many Freudian concepts—for instance, that our adult behaviors have their roots in our childhood experiences and that the personality is made up of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego.6
Biological Theories
Biological theories in psychology attribute human emotion and behavior to biological causes. For instance, in the nature versus nurture debate on human behavior, the biological perspective would side with nature.
Biological theories are rooted in the ideas of Charles Darwin, who is famous for theorizing about the roles that evolution and genetics play in psychology.
Someone examining a psychological issue from a biological lens might investigate whether there are bodily injuries causing a specific type of behavior or whether the behavior was inherited.7
Different Types of Psychological Theories
There are many psychology theories, but most can be categorized as one of four key types.
Developmental Theories
Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. If you have ever wondered about what motivates human thought and behavior, understanding these theories can provide useful insight into individuals and society.
Developmental theories provide a set of guiding principles and concepts that describe and explain human development. Some developmental theories focus on the formation of a particular quality, such as Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.8 Other developmental theories focus on growth that happens throughout the lifespan, such as Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.
Grand Theories
Grand theories are those comprehensive ideas often proposed by major thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson,9 and Jean Piaget. Grand theories of development include psychoanalytic theory, learning theory, and cognitive theory.
These theories seek to explain much of human behavior, but are often considered outdated and incomplete in the face of modern research. Psychologists and researchers often use grand theories as a basis for exploration, but consider smaller theories and recent research as well.
Mini-Theories
Mini-theories describe a small, very particular aspect of development. A mini-theory might explain relatively narrow behaviors, such as how self-esteem is formed10 or early childhood socialization. These theories are often rooted in the ideas established by grand theories, but they do not seek to describe and explain the whole of human behavior and growth.
Emergent Theories
Emergent theories are those that have been created relatively recently. They are often formed by systematically combining various mini-theories. These theories draw on research and ideas from different disciplines but are not yet as broad or far-reaching as grand theories. The sociocultural theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky is a good example of an emergent theory of development.11
Benson J, Haith M, eds. Social and Emotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood. Elsevier.
The Purpose of Psychological Theories
You may find yourself questioning how necessary it is to learn about different psychology theories, especially those that are considered inaccurate or outdated.
However, theories provide valuable information about the history of psychology and the progression of thought on a particular topic. They also allow a deeper understanding of current theories. Each one helps contribute to our knowledge of the human mind and behavior.
By understanding how thinking has progressed, you can get a better idea not only of where psychology has been, but where it might be going in the future.
Studying scientific theories can improve your understanding of how scientific explanations for behavior and other phenomena in the natural world are formed, investigated, and accepted by the scientific community.
While debates continues to rage over hot topics, it is worthwhile to study science and the psychological theories that have emerged from such research, even when what is often revealed might come as a harsh or inconvenient truth.
As Carl Sagan once wrote, “It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”12
3 Examples of Psychological Theories
These are a few examples of psychological theories that have maintained relevance, even today.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is commonly represented by a pyramid, with five different types of human needs listed. From bottom to top, these needs are:
- Physiological: Food, water, shelter
- Safety needs: Security, resources
- Belongingness and love: Intimate relationships
- Esteem needs: Feeling accomplished
- Self-actualization: Living your full potential creatively and spiritually
According to Maslow, these needs represent what humans require to feel fulfilled and lead productive lives. However, one must satisfy these needs from the bottom up, according to Maslow.
For instance, the most basic and most immediate needs are physiological. Once those are met, you can focus on subsequent needs like relationships and self-esteem.13
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development focuses on how children learn and evolve in their understanding of the world around them. According to his theory, there are four stages children go through during cognitive development:
- Sensorimotor stage: This stage lasts from birth to age two. Infants and toddlers learn about the world around them through reflexes, their five senses, and motor responses.
- Preoperational stage: This stage occurs from two to seven years old. Kids start to learn how to think symbolically, but they struggle to understand the perspectives of others.
- Concrete operational stage: This stage lasts from seven to 11 years old. Kids begin to think logically and are capable of reasoning from specific information to form a general principle.
- Formal operational stage: This stage starts at age 12 and continues from there. This is when we begin to think in abstract terms, such as contemplating moral, philosophical, and political issues.14
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Still widely discussed today is Freud’s famous psychoanalytic theory. In his theory, Freud proposed that a human personality is made up of the id, the ego, and the superego.15
The id, according to Freud, is a primal component of personality. It is unconscious and desires pleasure and immediate gratification. For instance, an infant crying because they’re hungry is an example of the id at work. In order to get their needs met, they respond to hunger by crying.
The ego is responsible for managing the impulses of the id, so they conform to the norms of the outside world. As you age, your ego develops.
For instance, as an adult, you know that crying doesn’t get you the same type of attention and care that it did as an infant. So the ego manages the id’s primal impulses while making sure your responses are appropriate for the time and place.
The superego is made up of what we internalize to be right and wrong based on what we’ve been taught (our conscience is part of the superego). The superego works to make our behavior acceptable and it urges the ego to make decisions based on what’s idealistic (not realistic).15
Takeaways
Much of what we know about human thought and behavior has emerged thanks to various psychology theories. For example, behavioral theories demonstrated how conditioning can be used to promote learning. By learning more about these theories, you can gain a deeper and richer understanding of psychology’s past, present, and future.
