The approach of Freud, and the psychodynamic school that has grown from his pioneering work, focuses mainly on the ‘unseen’ aspects of personality. In contrast to this, behaviorists focus on ‘what is seen’. They view personality as being a collection of learned behaviors which change throughout life according to whether the behaviors are, or are not, reinforced.

If a particular behavior is rewarded, we will continue to use it; if it is not rewarded, it will gradually die out. In this sense, the behaviorists’ views are concerned with the working of the outside world, whereas the psychodynamic view is concerned with the inner world, or psyche.