A psychology teacher asks her class to judge the following claims made about psychodynamic theories of personality:
(A) Much of the theory rests on case studies, so it lacks a rigorous scientific basis.
(B) The theories use large and typical samples of people for advancing generalisations.
(C) The concepts are not properly defined, so it is difficult to submit them to scientific testing.
How many of the above are valid criticisms of these theories?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Only two
(A) Much of the theory rests on case studies, so it lacks a rigorous scientific basis. — Correct. These theories are largely based on case studies, so they lack a rigorous scientific basis.
(B) The theories use large and typical samples of people for advancing generalisations. — Incorrect. The samples are small and atypical. Generalising from a few unusual cases is the weakness.
(C) The concepts are not properly defined, so it is difficult to submit them to scientific testing. — Correct. The concepts are not properly defined, so they are hard to submit to scientific testing.
NCERT (2026-27): “Erik Erikson : Search for Identity … “(1) The theories are largely based on case studies; they lack a rigorous scientific basis.” “(2) They use small and atypical individuals as samples for advancing generalisations.” “(3) The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to submit them to scientific testing.” |