Personal Theory Of Human Development Essay, Research Paper

subject = Psychology

title = Personal Theory of Human Development

papers

= Personal Theory of Human Development

What makes a person what they are?

Why does a person do what they do?

Where does personality come from and

how does it grow? These are some frequently

asked questions when discussing

the topic of personality. The latter of the questions is

actually an answer

in itself. Personality does originate from a specific point, and from

then

on it continues to grow and become exponentially more complex. This core point

from

which personality begins and the growth of it will be discussed in the sections

to

follow, but first we must look at certain assumptions that are commonly

made when

developing a personality theory.

Assumptions

The first of these

assumptions concerns whether one believes that the behaviors,

any type of

action, a person exhibits are produced by conscious choices and decisions,

also

known as free will, or ?determined? by forces beyond one?s control. I believe

in the

free will explanation, but not the type of free will commonly imagined.

Humans do

ultimately have the power to choose their actions, however the

extreme influence of

other factors, such as heredity, environment, and learned

behaviors, may make it seem

like a persons actions were predetermined. For

example, if a starving people were put

into positions where they could either

eat a Subway turkey round placed in front of them

or just sit there and stare

and stare at it, common sense shows that these people would

eat. However,

it is possible that one person, like an anorexic, would just sit and stare

at

the sandwich. For that reason, it can be assumed that human beings do

have free will,

however the choices made are greatly impacted and seemingly

determined by inherited

basic needs, environment, and learned behaviors.

This

leads us into a second assumption, rationalism or irrationalism. Do human

beings

operate primarily on the basis of intellect, or on the basis of impulses and

passions?

The answer is the latter theory. Going back to the Subway example, the most

likely

decision on whether or not to eat the turkey round would be based on an irrational

impulse

in one?s subconscious. The basic physiological need of food has a profound

influence

on the given choice. But note that this is only the most likely response and

not

a definite one. There is always the chance that a person could make a

conscious, rational

decision not to eat. Because a people ultimately do have

some sort of a conscious

decision over their actions, it cannot be assumed

that behavior is solely determined by

irrational impulses.

The next assumption

to be dealt with is one of the most argued and controversial

of them all.

Is human nature basically good or inherently evil? Naturally, most optimists

would

argue that people are born with a good nature, while other people of another

persuasion

would take on the opinion of an essentially evil disposition. However, human

nature

is a term that should neither be associated with good nor evil. In contrast,

human

nature is based upon inherited basic needs, environment, and learned

behaviors, not

morality, which is itself a learned behavior. An example of

this would be murder. In

most societies today, it is considered wrong, or

evil, to commit an act of homicide if you

kill a person because, for the sake

of argument, they were walking too close to your

home. However, thousands

of years ago it may have been a part of life to kill someone

intruding near

one?s dwelling, looked upon as a display of territorial protection.

Morality,

the virtues of good and evil, are completely dependent on the social group

from

which you have adopted most of your learned behaviors. Therefore, good

and evil are

nonexistent and should be looked upon as terms of social acceptability.

The

final assumption to be examined is normally a difficult one to address if one

is

trying to make a definite choice. It is the question of environment versus

heredity.

B.F. Skinner would argue faithfully that behavior is based solely

on environmental

contingencies, while Sigmund Freud would just as strongly

maintain that the role of

heredity determines the personality of an individual.

I, on the other hand, believe that

both sides of the debate are equally valid;

personality is both the product of nature, in the

form of the gratification

of instinctual basic needs, and the product of learning and life

experiences.

For example, if a person was being attacked by something or someone, the

basic

need of safety would cause that person to seek refuge. However, where that

person

goes to find safety would likely be determined by learned behaviors

and past experiences

of the need for security. Therefore, personality is

not a question of nature versus nurture,

but is instead a combination of the

two.

The rest of this paper will deal with the origin of personality and

the way in which

it proceeds to grow. In the first part, this ?origin? will

be referred to as the core

personality and will be based upon heredity. The

second part will look at the growth of

personality as a sort of snowball effect

with environmental factors and experiences

continually adding to the core

personality, making it more complex. Some of these

factors include social

groups, geography, and learned behaviors.

The Core Personality

From the

moments of conception, your parents? genes determine what many of

your physical

traits will be. Among these are gender, height, and skin color. These sort

of

traits will have an effect on how the child perceives itself and how others

perceive the

child, consequently having an effect on the child?s personality.

For example, this person

could have some physical characteristic that is

looked down on or made fun of by various

people. This, in turn, would affect

the individual?s self esteem and overall personality.

Other characteristics

that have to do with the mental capacity of the individual are

also passed

on through the parents? genes. The justification for this assumption is that

everyone

has a different intelligence level, whether it be because of the size of the

brain

or for some other reason. I do not believe that there is anyone that

would honestly be

able to say that they think that all babies are just as

smart as each other when they are

born. The idea is ridiculous. Just as

everyone is born physically different, they are also

born mentally different.

Therefore, the only factor that could initially affect the

intelligence level

of an individual before birth is the inherited genes of that individual?s

parents.

What

is also included in this inheritance is the passing on of basic needs. These

basic

needs include physiological needs, which are all of the body?s requirements

(food,

water, etc.), safety needs, curiosity, the need for relationships,

which is first encountered

in the relationship between the mother and her

child, and the need to reproduce. These

basic needs are commonly thought

of as instincts, however, instincts are actually the

drive to gratify these

needs. The subconscious mind is created during these early stages

of life

and, because the brain has not yet developed fully and there have been no other

factors

to interfere in the decision making process, makes all the decisions for the

person

while still inside of the mother. There have been no profound experiences

or learned

behaviors at this point, so the only influence on the actions of

the fetus are its basic

needs. This means that the behavior is seemingly

determined before birth.

There are, of course, certain circumstances which

may have a later effect on

personality and its development. Any sort of trauma

to the development of the infant at

this point could have mild to drastic

effects that could cause damage to the body and/or

brain. This would include

the use of various drugs by the mother, such as alcohol,

tobacco, and crack,

or some sort of physical abuse to the mother during the pregnancy.

Each one

is capable of causing some sort of mental or physical handicap to the infant.

Common sense tells you that this would affect the learning capability or

the physical

capability of the child, thus having a definite change on the

outcome of that child?s

personality.

Physical attributes, mental attributes,

and basic needs are all passed down from

parent to child. The core personality

is therefore made up of all of these factors that are

determined by heredity.

After birth, everything that is experienced by the individual has

an effect

on that person?s personality and is added onto the core personality and makes

it

much more complex as it continues to grow and mature.

The Growth of Personality

The

core personality makes up the basis of an individual?s personality for the

rest

of that person?s life. Personality growth, therefore, takes place as

new experiences are

added to that core personality. These new experiences

come directly from a person?s

environment. The first environmental factors

that affect personality have to so with

social groups. All people have the

basic need to form relationships, so it is not surprising

that the joining

of social groups has a profound impact on learning and the development

of

the core personality. The first social group that contributes to personality

and behavior

is one?s family, if you have one. A person?s parents are the

first people that one learns

from. Learning is accomplished through reinforcement

and ideologies. To explain this

way of learning we will look at a stereotypical

family setting.

An infant learns quite a bit from his family and uses that

as the basis of most of

it?s personality growth. From the time of birth,

the individual is absorbing quite a bit of

information from its surroundings.

Parents act as examples for the infant and through

reinforcement and by watching

them the infant learns things like how to talk, how to

walk, the proper way

to eat, the proper way to go to the bathroom, and many other things

that the

person will use for the rest of his or her life. Also created through repetition

is

the individual?s sense of right and wrong, or conscience. The parents

of the child are

constantly saying ?no? when the infant does something wrong

and, usually, praising the

child for what they consider to be right. This

creates a system of ethics that the person

will use in making decisions for

the rest of his or her life. Children also look at their

parents as role

models. They adopt many behaviors of the parents and learn how to

perform

many tasks through mimicry. The financial class of the family can also play

a

major role in the development of the individual?s personality. It will

determine where

that person will live in early years and which luxuries the

person will become

accustomed to.

Other people, besides the individual?s

family, play a large role in that person?s

personality growth. These people

include friends, teachers, or anyone the person

interacts with. These people

affect what decisions that person will make and they also

provide new experiences

the individual can learn from. Interactions with these people

can affect

self esteem and also provide different opportunities to explore the person?s

identity.

Religion

also affects personality. Over the years, people who go to church have

had

the teachings of their religions reinforced over and over again, causing the

individual

to adopt the beliefs of that religion. By accepting these beliefs,

the way a person thinks

and behaves is changed and, therefore, adds to that

individual?s personality.

In short, any social group or social institution

will have a profound affect on one?s

personality due to the basic need to

form relationships with others. By joining certain

social groups and accepting

their way of thinking, a sense of belongingness is reached.

So, because of

these social groups a person joins, news experiences are encountered, new

things

are learned, and the personality grows.

Geography also plays a major role

in the development and growth of personality.

Depending on where you are

born, there are different customs and different ways of

doing things. Social

standards are different throughout the world, so depending on where

you were

born, your personality could be drastically different. For example, in one

country

it could be quite normal to show public displays of affection or some other

sort

of sexual behavior. You might be walking down the street and see a couple

making out

on a park bench. But in another country it may be against the

law to even kiss another

person in a public place. Also, if you were born

into some tribe in Africa, it could be

completely normal to see men and women

walking around nude. Certain socially

acceptable or unacceptable behaviors

would have a serious effect on how open you are

towards others. Any behavior

that is heavily reinforced will have a great chance at

becoming a learned

behavior in a person, affect that individual?s personality, and have a

substantial

influence of the future choices made by that individual.

Natural environment

itself can also play a role in one?s personality. Everything

that is taken

in by a person?s senses affects that way the person perceives new

experiences

and, therefore, adds to that individual?s personality. For example, in some

studies,

it has been shown that the color or temperature of a room can affect a person?s

emotions.

Also, if someone were placed into a dark room for a long period of time, there

is

a good possibility that he or she could become depressed, whereas, in most

cases, that

person, if put in an outdoor environment on a nice day, would

be in a better mood. In

conclusion, the physical environment one is in can

affect that way that person reacts to

new experiences, and can contribute

to the development of the individual?s personality.

Perhaps the most important

factor in personality development is the aging

process. Depending on one?s

age and maturity level, new experiences are perceived

differently, adding

in different ways to the core personality. An infant learns differently

from

a teenager, and a teenager learns differently from an adult. At an early age,

children

learn mainly through mimicry and reinforcement, primarily from social

groups, and view

the world depending on how their basic needs are met. If

the child?s basic needs are met,

that child will learn to trust the world

as a dependable provider of support, and to trust

their own urges and instincts

as reliable guides to behavior. If basic needs are not met a

sense of mistrust

is born, giving the person a tendency to withdraw socially. An example

of

this would be a child who is provided with a loving, nurturing environment,

as

opposed to one who is physically abused. For the child who is loved, basic

needs are

being met, and that child will have a tendency to be more loving

and probably more

socially outgoing. In contrast, the child who is being

abused is obviously not being

shown the love it needs and, in addition, its

basic need of safety is not being met. This

child will have a tendency to

not be very trusting of people and, therefore, be more

socially withdrawn.

The learned behavior depends on which basic needs are being met.

As the

body matures people become aware of new experiences, either because

they are

given the opportunity by society, probably because they are at the ?right age,?

or

because the body is going through certain physiological changes that cause

individuals to

become more interested in different areas. For example, once

a person goes through

puberty, the sexual drive and need to reproduce is intensified.

A young boy who before

had not been interested in having a relationship with

a member of the opposite sex now

has this urge. A physical change in that

persons body had a direct effect on his

personality.

New changes in needs

as people get older also contribute to the core personality.

When people?s

bodies become mature, certain needs are sometimes eliminated. An

example

of this is the high calorie diet of a growing person. At younger ages, the

body

burns more calories and, therefore, creates a higher level of energy

in youths when their

caloric needs are met. On the other hand, adults are

fully grown and require less calories

in their diet. That is why adults are

not as energetic, which contributes to fewer new

experiences, slowing the

growth of the core personality.

Another need that is changed, or, specifically,

intensified with age is the need to

reproduce. This usually appears in conjunction

with the need to form a lasting bond and

relationship with a member of the

opposite sex. In most of today?s societies these needs

are gratified through

some sort of marriage ceremony and the making of a family.

As people get

older, their personalities change less. The snowballing effect that

at one

time showed rapid growth in an individual?s personality, steadily slows down.

This is because most previous behaviors that have been reinforced over time

become

more and more a part of their behaviors. Most people end up in a certain

routine that is

repeated sometimes every day. New experiences are less frequently

contributors of new

learned behaviors. A fundamental example of this is the

ability to learn a second

language. As most people are aware of, it is quite

a bit easier for younger people,

especially children to learn a different

language. This is because rules of grammar have

not been reinforced as much

at an early age and because the language has not been

spoken for as long of

a period of time. Adults require a longer period to learn the new

language

because it contradicts what has been reinforced to them for years.

In old

age, new experiences have little to no effect on a person?s fully developed,

complex

core personality. There is usually a period of review of one?s overall life.

According to Erikson, it can be looked at in one of two ways, either with

integrity or with

despair. The question is asked, ?If I had another chance,

would I live my life the same

way?? If you look back and declare your life

satisfactory or better, you have achieved

integrity. If you fail to achieve

this, and cannot emotionally ?own? your life when it is

too late to change

it, you will fall into despair. With the sense of integrity comes

wisdom;

despair brings only disdain.

Summary

In review, the assumptions made in

this personal theory of human development

were that human beings do have free

will, however, the choices made are highly

influenced by inherited basic needs,

environment, and learned behaviors; irrational

impulses are the primary bases

for choices; human nature is neither good nor evil, but

instead based on basic

needs, environment, and learned behaviors, not morality; and

personality is

the product of both heredity and environment. The individual has a core

personality

that is made up of the physical attributes one inherits from his or her parents

and

inherited basic needs. These needs include physiological needs, safety needs,

the

need for relationships, and curiosity. Throughout life, different experiences

and learned

behaviors contribute to make the core personality grow and become

more complex.

These experiences come from the environment the individual

is surrounded by, including

different social groups (families, friends, financial

classes, and religions) and

geographical location (nationality, customs, and

physical environment), and from

changes in the basic needs of the individual

as a result of aging and physiological

changes in one?s body. As people get

older, the snowballing effect of the growth of

personality, which is quite

rapid in early years, slows down, resulting in less change of

one?s personality.

A final period of review of one?s life is experienced in old age by

asking

if you are satisfied with the way you have chosen to live your life. Personality

is,

therefore, an always changing entity that is unique to each person because

of that persons

unique heredity and unique life experiences.