THE 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The psychological theories attempt to explain human behavior suggesting different causes, patterns and explanations. There are general theories that explain the behavior or general life of the human being, and specific theories that explain specific areas such as love, social relationships, learning, personality, success, among others.

Psychology is one of the most recent emerging sciences. The first serious studies of human behavior and experience were carried out just over a century ago. Due to this, nowadays there is still no unified theory that is capable of explaining all the phenomena related to the human being.

On the contrary, in the field of psychology a multitude of theories coexist, each with a greater or lesser amount of scientific evidence that supports them. Many of them are still valid today and have practical applications. For example, within the field of therapy, it is common to use techniques drawn from several different streams depending on the problem to be treated.

Although there are many different psychological theories, in this article we will look at just some of the most important, both historically and today.

General psychological theories

Psychology of the faculties

This theory was defended by San Agustín, Reid and Juan Calvin. He held that thanks to the activity of certain powers of the thinking substance, mental phenomena were produced.

In his theory, Saint Augustine affirms that the human soul is immortal and spiritual, that it is not found in a specific part of the body and that it joins the body in an accidental way or as a form of punishment.

He also explained that people have two ways of obtaining knowledge; through the senses, which allow us to know the sensible world, and through reason, which allows us to reach truth and wisdom.

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Source: Max Halberstadt

Psychoanalysis was one of the first formal attempts to explain all phenomena related to the human mind in a unified way. It was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese therapist who tried to discover a cure for the most common mental disorders of his day.

Psychoanalysis is based on the idea that in our mind there are three elements that interact with each other, creating all kinds of conflicts and problems in doing so: the id, the ego and the superego. Each of these structures takes care of an aspect of our life. While the self is our conscious part, the id takes care of our instincts, and the superego of our morals.

Furthermore, in psychoanalysis it is considered that most of our problems are caused by the relationship we have with our parents during childhood. Thus, this theory defends that the disorders suffered by adults have to do with issues that occurred during the first years of life and have not yet been resolved.

Behaviorism

John B. Watson, founder of behaviorism. Source: Prakruthi Prasad

One of the first psychological theories to use scientific research to reach their conclusions was behaviorism. This way of understanding the human being defends that everything we do is determined by our experiences. According to behaviorists, when we come into the world, our minds are completely blank - what is known as the "clean slate" idea.

For those who defend this psychological theory, over the years we develop our personality, tastes and ways of acting through a learning process. This occurs through basic mechanisms, such as classical and operant conditioning, habituation and sensitization.

On the other hand, behavioral psychologists believe that the only thing that can really be studied is human behavior, that which is directly observable. For this reason, those who defend this vision of the human being avoid investigating phenomena such as feelings, happiness or beliefs.

Connectionism

Edward Thorndike. By: Popular Science Monthly Volume 80

Thorndike, with this theory, defines learning as the result of the association between stimuli and responses. He also states that the most characteristic form of association is that obtained through trial and error.

His main contribution was the formulation of the law of effect. This dictates that if a certain response given by the subject is followed by reinforcing consequences, these responses will have a greater probability of future occurrence when the same stimulus reappears.

Another of the laws that he established was the law of exercise or repetition. With it, she affirms that the more times a response is given in the presence of a stimulus, the longer the retention time will be.

Gestalt Psychology

Fritz Perls, founder of the Gestlat

Gestalt psychology was a current developed in Germany in the first decades of the 20th century. It was one of the first who decided to study purely mental phenomena from a scientific, replicable and rigorous point of view.

The main idea of ​​this current is that our brain actively constructs our reality, instead of simply being a passive receiver of information.

Gestalt psychology focused especially on phenomena such as perception and memory, which until then had not been really rigorously investigated. Its defenders discovered several principles that affect our way of understanding reality, and that are produced in an immutable way in all people.

Cognitive psychology

One of the most important psychological theories in the entire history of this discipline is cognitive. It appeared in the second half of the 20th century, and at the time it was a revolution for the study of human behavior. It is based on the idea that the phenomena that occur in our mind are decisive for our way of acting, our ideas and feelings, and our experience.

Cognitive psychology seeks to understand the mental processes that determine who we are. Thus, after many years of mastery of behaviorism, researchers began to apply the scientific method to phenomena such as love, happiness, feelings, and beliefs.

For the defenders of this theory, our experience in the world has to do with our way of thinking. Therefore, to really understand how we function, it is necessary to first study what goes on inside our brains. From this approach, it is considered that each person constructs their reality actively, filtering what happens to them through their preconceptions.

Social psychology

Social psychology is a branch of this science whose main objective is to understand how the rest of the people around us affect us. From this current, each individual is not seen as an isolated element, but as part of a group, a society and a specific environment.

Social psychology is one of the broadest branches within this science, and is in charge of studying phenomena as disparate as love, persuasion, violence, altruism, friendship and motivation. However, all their research has something in common: they focus on the influence that other people have on all these phenomena.

For example, in studies on aggression, social psychology tries to understand the best way to avoid the appearance of violence, using elements such as peer pressure or social values.

Humanistic psychology

Carl Rogers, founder of humanistic psychology

Humanistic psychology was a branch that had great importance in the 50s and 60s of the last century. At first it arose as an attempt to reconcile two of the most important positions of that time, behaviorism and psychoanalysis, which were apparently opposed in almost every way.

Humanistic psychology, instead of seeking general explanations for all phenomena, tries to understand the personal experience of each individual. At the same time, she considers that there are some phenomena that are universal, such as love, joy, positive and negative emotions, motivation and desire.

From humanistic psychology, it is about reconciling, for example, the mind and the body. In addition, for the first time within Western psychology, the "ego" is mentioned in the sense that it is given in Eastern philosophy, and it is about looking for a way to go beyond it.

Some of the most important humanistic psychologists were Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. The latter developed the theory of the pyramid of needs, which has transcended this trend and is used today in many different areas.

Cognitive-behavioral psychology

As we have already seen, cognitive psychology initially emerged as an attempt to reject behaviorism, which was the mainstream in the first half of the 20th century. Thus, while cognitivism defended the supreme importance of the mind and inner experience, behaviorism focused solely on behavior.

However, over time the researchers realized that the two positions could well be complementary. Thus, to understand the human experience it is necessary not only to focus on behavior or on the mind separately, but to integrate both. Thus emerged cognitive-behavioral psychology, the most important current in the world today.

Within cognitive-behavioral psychology, it is understood that the human being is made up of both the mind and the body, and that both elements interact and feed into each other. In this way, tools from both streams are used to achieve more complex objectives.

It should be noted that cognitive-behavioral therapy, based on this trend, is the one that has shown the highest rates of effectiveness when treating most of the mental disorders that exist.

Psychosocial theory

Erik erikson

This theory was developed by Erikson, a psychoanalyst who has marked the foundation of evolutionary psychology. This psychologist has tried to explain how the person matures in all aspects of her life.

There are eight stages in which the psychosocial development of the person is divided and as it is overcome, it would go on to the next. But if this does not happen, the person will have a conflict at that stage that will lead to difficulties.

1. Stage of trust versus mistrust from birth to one year.
2. Stage of autonomy versus shame and doubt from 1 to 3 years.
3. Initiative versus guilt stage from 3 to 6 years.
4. Stage of industriousness versus inferiority from 7 to 12 years.
5. Stage of identity versus role confusion from 12 to 20 years.
6. Stage of intimacy versus isolation from 21 to 40 years.
7. Stage of productivity versus stagnation from 40 to 70 years.
8. Stage of integrity of self versus despair of 60 years to death.

ACT

As we have just seen, within all the psychological theories that exist, the cognitive-behavioral current is the most used and the one with the greatest amount of scientific evidence today. However, in recent years another theory is gaining strength that promises to become its main competitor in a very short time: acceptance and commitment therapy or ACT.

Acceptance and commitment therapy is based on the idea that the human mind is divided into two totally different parts. One of them, the "thinking mind," would be in charge of constantly transmitting messages to us, what we know as thoughts. Due to their nature, most of them would be negative.

On the other hand, we would also have the "observing mind", which the ACT psychologists identify with our true self. According to this theory, most mental problems arise when we identify excessively with our thinking mind and its negative messages, and do not realize that we are really an external observer to them.

ACT-based interventions are primarily focused on teaching patients not to identify with their thoughts. At the same time, they help them to discover what is really important to them (their values), and to take action even though their mental state is not the most appropriate.

Despite the fact that ACT is a trend that has emerged only a few years ago, the accumulated scientific evidence in its favor is already extensive; and its effectiveness in treating many mental disorders has been found to be even greater than that of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Developmental psychology

Jean Piaget, one of the pioneers of developmental psychology. Source: Unidentified (Ensian published by University of Michigan)

Within the study of the human being, there are some psychological theories that are transversal and whose findings can be used to explain many other areas. One of these currents is developmental psychology, which is responsible for investigating the process by which our minds and capacities change throughout life.

Developmental psychology encompasses many independent theories, each with different points of view and focusing on different domains. Thus, for example, one of its most important authors is Jean Piaget, who studied the different stages through which the mind of a child passes until its arrival in adolescence; but their findings are questioned by other authors who have carried out their own studies.

Developmental psychology is one of the currents most used today, especially in areas such as education or caring for the elderly.

Evolutionary psychology

One of the greatest revolutions in the field of science was the arrival of the theory of evolution, first proposed by the British Charles Darwin. According to this, current species have reached their present form through a process that has lasted billions of years, during which traits beneficial for survival have been maintained over time through natural and sexual selection.

Although the theory of evolution was applied in principle only to the field of biology, it was soon discovered that this selection of beneficial traits also operated at the mental level. Thus was born the field of evolutionary psychology, one of the most multidisciplinary branches and the one that has the most importance today.

According to evolutionary psychology, our instincts, emotions, mental processes, and other similar functions developed hundreds of thousands of years ago, when humans first emerged as a species. Since then, our basic mental processes have changed practically nothing, while our environment has.

This makes many of our emotional and psychological reactions "out of date." For example, we continue to be attracted to food high in fat and sugar because in the environment in which we evolved as a species this was key to survival. However, this genetic addiction today leads us to develop problems such as overweight and obesity.

The most important postulate of evolutionary psychology is the idea that our genes create the basis from which we will interpret our experiences and learnings. Thus, mental phenomena have to be understood through the lens of our evolution as a species.

Positive psychology

Positive psychology is a branch that emerged in the second half of the 20th century to try to end the trend that existed in this discipline to focus on pathologies and mental disorders. Its promoters wanted to help their patients not only not to be unwell, but to create the happiest life possible.

To do this, positive psychology focuses on aspects such as beliefs, skills and values ​​of each one, in an attempt to maximize all aspects of an individual's day-to-day life so that their well-being increases little by little. Also study what are the necessary elements to have a happy life.

The leading advocate for positive psychology, Martin Seligman, highlighted five factors that are especially important in achieving psychological well-being: staying optimistic, developing positive relationships, engaging in challenging activities, creating meaning in your life, and having goals that can be achieved.

Environmental psychology

Environmental psychology first emerged as a branch of social psychology, but later became independent of this discipline and began to build itself as an independent theory in its own right. Its main objective is to study how the physical environment influences people's lives, their psychological states and their actions and thoughts.

Some of the discoveries made from environmental psychology are truly amazing. For example, today we know that in hottest places, violence tends to escalate uncontrollably. Something similar occurs with other purely physical factors, such as population density or the lack of green areas.

Environmental psychology is also in charge of studying how to improve people's daily lives. For example, this discipline investigates what is the best possible design for an office building, in such a way that the employees of a company are not only more productive, but also have higher levels of well-being.

Biopsychology

Biopsychology is one of the most purely scientific branches within the study of human behavior. It is based on the idea that all our traits, ideas, ways of acting and feelings can be understood by studying the brain, since this organ would store all the relevant information about them.

Biopsychology is based on neuroscience, which is the discipline that is responsible for observing human brain structures and tries to discover what function each one of them fulfills. Although this discipline arose for quite some time, much more research still needs to be done before a complete and functional model can be developed.

However, even though today we still do not fully understand how our brain works, biopsychology has developed very effective interventions to treat all kinds of problems. Thus, for example, the discovery of neurotransmitters has made it possible to create drugs that greatly alleviate disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Today, with the emergence of modern neuroimaging techniques and the functional study of the brain, research in biopsychology is increasingly advanced. It is hoped that in the coming decades this approach will become one of the most important within this discipline.

Biopsychosocial model

The last of the psychological theories that we are going to see tries to integrate the discoveries of many of the other branches and thus create a model that is capable of explaining practically all the phenomena of human experience. This is the biopsychosocial model, so called because it includes research from biopsychology, social, and cognitive and behavioral approaches.

According to the biopsychosocial model, for example, no mental disorder has a single cause. On the contrary, when someone develops depression, it is necessary to investigate their genetic predisposition to have this disease, their lifestyle habits, their beliefs and thoughts, their behaviors, and their environment.

In this way, the biopsychosocial model seeks to generate multidisciplinary interventions, and train therapists who have a large number of different tools with which they can act effectively against the appearance of problems of all kinds.

Naturalism

This current affirms that the laws of nature are those that determine the development of man and society. It takes into account both the influence of the biological and individual characteristics of each one, as well as the environment in which the person is.

Structuralism

It was defended by Wundt and Titchener, who are based on physical laws and use introspection as a method to study mental processes.

This theory focuses on the person himself carrying out an observation of himself, his state of mind and his mental state, for further reflection, analysis and interpretation.

Specific psychological theories

Psychology of individual differences

One of the most important psychological theories throughout the 20th century was that of individual differences. This was based on the idea that all people are born with innate abilities and characteristics, which make their experiences, abilities, tastes and goals different.

The psychology of individual differences initially focused on studying intelligence, which was seen as the most important ability when it comes to understanding people and the one that most alienates some individuals from others.

According to the defenders of this theory, 90% of the variations in intelligence have to do with genetic factors, so this trait is determined from birth.

Later, the psychology of individual differences began to study other equally important phenomena, among which personality stood out. Thus, in the first decades of the 20th century, several models were created that tried to find the fundamental traits that distinguish our way of being from that of other individuals.

One of the most famous models developed from this perspective include the "Big Five", which speaks of five traits that make up the personality: introversion / extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, cordiality and responsibility. According to research, these traits are 50% determined by genetics, so experience can modify them to some extent.

Bandura Social Learning

Bandura

This theory arises from the work carried out by Bandura, who sought to change the traditional orientation of existing theories about learning. The alternative he proposed was observational or modeling learning theory.

Observational learning occurs when the learner retains in his memory the images and verbal codes obtained through the behavior of the observed model.

The initial behavior is reproduced, accompanied by the composition that is made with the images and codes retained in memory and some environmental clues.

Significant learning

This theory was designed by Ausubel. For him, the structure of knowledge has a great influence on new knowledge and experiences.

Learning is meaningful occurs when new information is connected to a relevant concept already existing in the cognitive structure. Thus, this new information can be learned to the extent that other information, such as ideas, concepts or propositions, are clear and are already in the cognitive structure of the individual.

Learning by discovery

Jerome bruner

This theory was developed by Bruner and with it exposes the active role of the learner in the learning process. It encourages the person to acquire knowledge by himself, so that the final content that is reached is not exposed from the beginning, but is discovered by the person as he progresses.

With this type of learning, it aims to overcome the limitations of mechanistic learning, promote stimulation and motivation in students, as well as enhance metacognitive strategies and learn to learn.

Dialectical-genetic psychology

The most influential author within this trend is Vygotsky, who considers learning as one of the main development mechanisms, giving great importance to the context in which it occurs.

For dialectical genetic psychology, good teaching is one in which learning is promoted within a social environment. Social interaction is key in the development of people, becoming its main engine.

The theory of information processing

The model that Atkinson and Shiffrin established is a theory that explains human memory, dividing it into three different types: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

His theory explains from a structural point of view that information is acquired in different phases. In addition, it establishes an analogy between memory and the computer, considering that both processors operate on information, that they store it and retrieve it when needed.

It is also worth mentioning the executive control system or metacognitive skills. These have their origin in development and their function is to guide the information throughout its corresponding processing.

References

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