Question

Theorist __________ believed that external forces exert a strong impact on personality development, and his/her model of working with children is often regarded as a precursor to family therapy models.

Answer 1

Erik Erikson is the theorist who believed external forces strongly impact personality development, and his psychosocial theory is a precursor to family therapy models.

Step-by-step explanation:

The theorist who believed that external forces have a strong impact on personality development is Erik Erikson. His model, known as psychosocial theory, is often regarded as a precursor to family therapy models. Unlike Sigmund Freud, who highlighted sexual and aggressive drives, Erikson emphasized the social nature of our development and proposed that personality is influenced throughout a person's lifespan by their interactions with others. This theory acknowledges the impact of the social environment and culture on personality development, shifting the focus from purely intrapsychic dynamics to a more interactional and developmental framework. Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development highlight the challenges and tasks that an individual faces at different points in life, which shape their growth and personality.

Among the neo-Freudians, Erikson's ideas stand out because they expanded the theory of personality to cover the entire lifespan, not just early childhood, and brought a more nuanced understanding of individual and social forces affecting formation of the ego identity.

Answer 2

Theorist on Psychosocial indeed believed that external forces exert a strong impact on personality development. It means that when a human being is continually exposed to the environment, it will act according to 'nurture' wherein it will accumulate and learn vicariously to input it on its personality.