The 5 personality types according to Erich Fromm's theory

ErichFromm he is one of the quintessential authors in philosophy and psychology. He devoted many years of his brilliant career to humanistic and social psychology, thus studying the behavior of man and seeking to solve many enigmas posed by psychology in that epoch.

After years of writing and studying, this author concludes that there are five personality types. Erich Fromm analyzed the personality in his individual sphere through the protagonist's personal and also social history from the context of contact with others. In this Psychology-Online article, we will develop one by one the 5 personality types according to Erich Fromm's theory.

Index

1. Biography of Erich Fromm and his theory
2. Perceptual personality
3. Personality of the operator
4. Merchant personality
5. Accumulator personality
6. Productive personality
7. 10 Erich Fromm Phrases That Will Inspire You

This thinker was born in Germany in 1900 into a Jewish family. In fact, Erich Fromm himself considered being a rabbi during his youth. However, he pushed that goal out of his way and decided to study law and sociology.

In 1926 he married the famous psychoanalyst Frieda ReichmannThanks to her, Erich Fromm began to take his first steps in psychology and, more specifically, in psychoanalysis. Five years later, she began practicing as a psychoanalyst in Berlin until, in the 1940s, she began to publish his most important works. It is important to note that he separated from Frieda in 1931 but maintained a good friendship at all times. After all, it was she who introduced Erich Fromm to the world of psychoanalysis.

Erich Fromm began to combine his editorial work with teaching and ended his years as a professor at the University of Michigan. He died in 1980 in retirement, in a small town in Switzerland.

Erich Fromm: theory and books

For Fromm, the human being had as its primary objective understand yourself and your circumstances. Two basic needs of the human being in the context of the author are: the need for freedom and the search for belonging. That is, the reconciliation of that individuation with social development. We highlight this message from the author: "There is almost no activity or project that starts with such high hopes and expectations, and at the same time fails so often, like love.

Fromm's most outstanding books are the following:

• The fear of freedom (1941)
• Psychoanalysis and religion (1950)
• The Art of Loving (1956)
• From having to being (1976)

Erich Fromm wrote many more books than we mention here. However, in this article we are going to focus on one of the most interesting theories of it: The 5 personality types according to Erich Fromm's theory. If you want to know more, we recommend this article about Fromm's personality theories.

Next, we are going to define each type of personality according to Erich Fromm described to us throughout his work.

It is that type of personality that tends to seeking approval of the closest beings before the perception of insecurity to make decisions alone. These types of people seek the constant support of others, however, being excessively egocentric, they do not usually show any kind of gratitude towards those who support them. They do not practice reciprocity and have very high expectations of others.

In addition to putting excessive weight on the behavior of others, they also underestimate their own potential, which greatly hinders their ability to make decisions and relate to others. They are usually considered insecure and introverted people.

This type of personality shows the behavior of that person who turns friendship into a means for his own benefit, that is, he instrumentalizes the linksaffective in an almost commercial way from that individual interest that is contrary to the selflessness of friendship. They are people who tend to bond with weak and insecure people since they are easier to manipulate.

We can come to affirm that this type of personality according to Erich fromm, is the most frequent profile in our society. Relationships out of pure interest are the order of the day and, on many occasions, we tend to seek our own benefit in social interactions.

The mercantile personality is characterized by seeking the economic benefit in his personal interactions. It is closely related to the personality of the explorer, however, its difference lies in the type of benefit that each individual seeks.

The type of interest that is present in this type of personality is the search for financially focused relationships. For example, a person with personal development in the field of business. He is a type of personality that leads to putting his own personal worth in his own status, his motivation will always be to climb positions until he reaches the top. Of the 5 personality types according to Erich Fromm's theory, this is the most criticized (despite being the most abundant in the business world).

It is the personality of that person with tendency to accumulation and to put things away. They are people with an extreme tendency towards saving since they experience spending as a possible personal danger, as a form of lack of protection against what may occur in the future. The more material goods they have, the happier they seem to be. This type of personality is typical of someone who values ​​their material goods in the extreme in the form of an insane attachment.

Possessing the personality of the accumulator can lead to quite a few difficulties to enjoy life, always they have savings and austerity in mind and they see money as a treasure, not as the tool that really it is.

In relation to this point we highlight a message from Erich Fromm: "Greed is a bottomless pit that drains the person in an eternal effort to satisfy the need without even achieving satisfaction.".

The previous types of personality that we have mentioned, are part of what Erich Fromm calls "unproductive personalities". This is because these profiles use their life energy to satisfy their own desires without taking others into account. However, there is a last type that is defined precisely by the opposite quality: productive personality.

The productive personality is typical of a person who uses her personal energy to undertake truly valuable life projects. They are people who take a positive interest in establishing solid bonds with other people based on fundamental values ​​such as love and respect. For that reason, these individuals tend to enjoy good personal relationships, both loving and friendly.

People called productive also have a good ability to overcome vital obstacles, that is, they have the resilience highly developed.

Of all the personality types described so far, the productive approach is the only really meaningful one to reconcile in the human being that balance between the love of freedom and the personal ties that are the basis of that affiliation or belonging to the group.

To get to know this thinker a little better, it never hurts to appreciate the famous phrases that he left in his legacy:

1. Only the person who has faith in himself is capable of having faith in others
2. The search for a narcissistic satisfaction derives from the need to compensate for material and cultural poverty
3. We live in a world of things and our only relationship with them is that we know how to manipulate or consume them
4. Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence
5. It is not rich who has a lot, but who gives a lot
6. The biological weakness of being is the condition of human culture
7. Life has no meaning, except the very meaning that each one gives to their own life by revealing all their powers.
8. Accept life's difficulties, setbacks, and tragedies as a challenge that, by overcoming it, makes us stronger
9. As we move up the social ladder, wickedness wears a thicker mask
10. Selfish people are incapable of loving others, and they are not capable of loving themselves either.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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