I.Introduction Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Personality is characterized by many dimensions of a person’s overall being. The belief that personality stems from one origin is small minded and on many levels, unsupported. If the scope of personality is expanded, it suggests that there is not a single explanation determining a person’s personality and how it is formed. Personality Theories have been generated for centuries by individuals who desire to identify what distinguishes a person’s personality and how it affects their behaviors. What is it that comprises all the unique characteristics about a person? My view of personality is primarily originated …show more content…
A common dispute that has left people speechless for years is the debate between nature and nurture. Are humans influenced by their environments or their genetic make-up? This theory has not gone unnoticed while many theorists attempt to sway the opinions of their audience. Nature is comprised of our genetic and biological components that make us who we are while nurture is founded on the principle that humans are influenced by experience. I believe nature and nurture fall on a spectrum. Within the spectrum environmental, cultural, and genetic influences comprise a person’s unique …show more content…
In Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, individuals can obtain unhealthy personalities as a result of how they were treated during each stage of their development. These stages are not in chronological order, but essential to development. I agree with Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development because it outlines specific stages everyone goes through in life and attaches a virtue. The theory is specific but not so definite that it cannot appeal to everyone’s personality development in some way. (Engler, 2014). Unlike Freud's stages of psychosexual development, Erikson does not limit these stages to a specific year of life, rather he uses stages such as infancy and
Have you ever thought about whether the way you are is based on your genetic makeup? Do you believe our environment shapes us into who we are, instead? In the psychology debate of nature versus nurture, I believe that nurture plays a big role in who
The nature vs. nurture controversy has been one of the oldest and most incessant debates throughout history. The disputation of this debate has generated numerous hypotheses, and explorations by various researchers, however, it has not been clearly determined as to whether a person is biologically determined or whether they are shaped by the environment. Nature’s theory holds that a person’s mental ability is sustained by what he or she is born with genetically. Conversely, the argument that a person’s environment plays a large role in his or her mental aptitude is nurture. Despite the numerous and overwhelming experiments that have been fulfilled by theorists who support the nature theory, I strongly believe that the environment around a person, on the other hand, is ever-changing and offers more opportunities for growth and variation.
We then move onto the next stage bringing along the knowledge of the stage before and influencing the way that we carry ourselves. Erikson’s stages of personality development are different than Freud’s because one is social and the other is sexual. Erikson believed that the stages were connected to socialization and to move on from one stage to the next you had to pass the last stage. In Freud’s work he believed it had to do with sexualization and each stage had something to do with a sexual feeling. Both Erikson and Freud believed in the imperatives of the unconscious mind as part of the development (Education Portal,2014). I can identify more with Erikson’s stages for my life and can apply it to the lives of my children better than that of Freud’s. We thrive best on routine and that affects the outcome for each stage. We have not gotten stuck in any one stage and have continued to develop along the timeline set forth by Erikson. We all get along with others and have easy going attitudes and none of us feel that we are better than anyone else. We are all
grew up in Europe and spent his young adult life under the direction of Freud. In 1933
Personality is an outward extension of a person's innermost thoughts. This book is stationed around the personality, and what makes a specific person so unique. It explores many different approaches established by major influential psychologists in the past. The explanations of personality can be explained many ways, but it's mostly thought of from cognitive ways. The way one thinks is a direct reflection of the thoughts one possesses. Therefore, personality is an incredibly cognitive process, and genuine to each individual.
Erik Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory of development is made up of eight stages that span the lifetime. The stages correspond to a specific age and provide a blueprint for what to expect universally from someone in that stage in terms of social development. Erikson believed
As individuals we all have something within us that sets us apart, and makes us unique, our personality. Maybe you’ve come across someone who isn’t the easiest to get along with, and someone utters, “Don’t take it personally; they were born with a bad personality.” While some believe personality is entirely dependent upon your parents, your friends, and merely the way you were born, people neglect the science behind the traits of personality. Personality is defined as an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is through personality that we are able to explore our innermost being and determine why we act and react to things the way we do, and what makes us make the decisions we choose.
When the word “personality” comes to mind, numerous factors that influence person characteristics accompany it. Personality is defined as being the uniqueness of an individual accompanied by an adopted idiographic view. (Theories of Personality, 2014) Over the years, scientists and psychologists have tried to figure out the link between genetics, environmental factors, and cultural influences with the way an individual’s personality is strengthened. Have you ever wondered if your personality is a result of the nature or nurture theory? Is it genetics related or environmentally driven? An extremely important question that must be included during the study of personality deals with the extent of which nature or nurture is involved in shaping
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
Cardinal traits are the traits that most powerfully influence an individual. They may define someone both internally and externally, meaning that people surrounding the individual may associate a person by this trait but not always. To have an incredibly overwhelming cardinal trait driving an individual is somewhat rare but an example may be someone who is known and defined by their innate friendliness towards others. Central traits on the other hand are smaller, more building block-like units of an individual’s personality. These traits are typically descriptive of someone’s behaviors like if they are nice, intelligent, or rude. Secondary traits are the weakest and least impressionable of all the traits. They’re typically brought on by situations like if an individual won’t make eye contact with someone they’ve just met or if they play with their hands while they’re nervous.
Personality is a person's characteristic pattern of behaving, thinking, and feeling. The development of reliable and valid measures of personality has been a boon to psychologists' attempts to define and explain individual differences in this important domain. Comprehensive theories of personality have been useful to these attempts as well. Psychoanalytic theories emphasizes unconscious forces, while humanistic approaches focus on individuals' attempts to better themselves and find acceptance. Each of these perspectives has been used to explain how and why variations in mental health develop.
I chose Erik Erikson's Personality Theory of Life-Span Identity and Identity Crises to explain my personality development because I believe that a person never stops changing in all aspects, until death, and according to Erikson, it takes a life-span to develop an identity as well as personality. People pass eight stages during the course of their lives, in which segments or certain aspects of one's personality are formed, revised or discarded.
A personality is unique to each person, and has developed because of various elements in that person’s life. Theorists have studied personalities and their formation for hundreds of years now, and each theorist has their own view on how a personality is formed, and what affects the growth of that personality.
In the Psychology community, there are numerous explanations and theories as to how one 's personality is developed. Erik Erikson 's Post-Freudian Theory is the theory in which my personality development relates to the most. This is due to his theory stating that personality develops over a life cycle rather than exclusively during infancy (Feist, Feist, Roberts 218). This theory is relatively simple compared to other personality theories. My personality has developed over time as a result of genetics and psychosocial struggle during each of the eight stages in the Post-Freudian Theory.
Personality Psychology is defined as “The scientific study of psychological forces that make people uniquely themselves”. (Friedman&schustack, 1999) Personality is a pattern of ones cognitions, emotions and behaviors. Among many other patterns, personality is relatively composed of attitudes, motivations, relationships, beliefs, and defenses. Every individual has a human body, mind, thoughts and feelings. In some manner individuals are all s...