Personality Essay, Research Paper

Each individual s personality differs from one another. A person s personality is what defines who they are. Many criticisms and especially judgements are made pertaining individuals who behave in certain manners. Developmental theorists, such as Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Abraham Maslow have developed different theories motivating our personalities.

Freud s theory of personality is called the psychoanalytic theory. Freud understood the mind as constantly in conflict with itself, and understood this conflict as the primary cause of human anxiety and unhappiness. His classic example is the patient Anna O, who displayed a rash of psychological and physiological symptoms. Freud’s investigations into internal conflicts led him to a division of the mind into three parts or three conflicting internal tendencies: the id, ego, and super-ego. The id, the ego and the superego function in different levels of consciousness. Freud’s theory of the mind hinges upon the ability of impulses or memories to float from one level to another. The interaction between the three functions of the mind represents a constant movement of items from one level to another.

As the baby emerges from the womb into the reality of life, it wants only to eat, drink, urinate, be warm, and gain sexual pleasure. These urges are the demands of the id, the most primitive motivational force. In pursuit of these ends, the id demands immediate gratification. It is ruled by the pleasure principle, demanding satisfaction now, regardless of circumstances and possible undesirable effects. If a young child was ruled entirely by his id, he would steal and eat a piece of chocolate from a store regardless of the menacing owner watching above him or even his parents scolding beside him.

The id will not stand for a delay in gratification. For some urges, such as urination, this is easily satisfied. However, if the urge is not immediately discharged, the id will form a memory of the end of the motivation: the thirsty infant will form an image of the mother’s breast. This act of wish-fulfillment satisfies the id’s desire for the moment, though obviously it does not reduce the tension of the unfulfilled urge.

The eventual understanding that immediate gratification is usually impossible comes with the formation of the ego, which is ruled by the reality principle. The ego acts as a go-between in the id’s relations with reality, often suppressing the id’s urges until an appropriate situation arises. This repression of inappropriate desires and urges represents the greatest strain on the mind. The ego often utilizes defense mechanisms to achieve and aid this repression. Where the id may have an urge and form a picture, which satisfies this urge, the ego engages in a strategy to actually fulfill the urge. The thirsty five-year-old now not only identifies water as the satisfaction of his urge, but also forms a plan to obtain water, perhaps by finding a drinking fountain. While the ego is still in the service of the id, it borrows some of its psychic energy in an effort to control the urge until it is satisfied. The ego’s efforts at pragmatic satisfaction of urges eventually builds a great number of skills and memories and becomes aware of itself as an entity.

While the ego may temporarily repress certain urges of the id in fear of punishment, eventually these external sources of punishment are internalized, and the child will not steal the chocolate, even unwatched, because he has taken punishment, right, and wrong into himself. The superego uses guilt and self-reproach as its primary means of enforcement for these rules. But if a person does something, which is acceptable to the superego, he experiences pride and self-satisfaction.

The superego is sub-dividable into two parts: conscience and ego ideal. Conscience tells what is right and wrong, and forces the ego to inhibit the id in pursuit of morally acceptable, not pleasurable or even realistic, goals. The ego ideal aims the individual’s path of life toward the ideal, perfect goals instilled by society. In the pursuit, the mind attempts to make up for the loss of the perfect life experienced as a baby.

Freud initially attempted to subdivide the mind purely in terms of different levels of consciousness, emphasizing the unconscious. Though he abandoned that theory in favor of his tripartite division of the id, ego, and superego, he held that the different functions of the mind operated at different levels. This was an important and forward-looking innovation in the scientific study of the mind, an innovation that Freud deduced from his studies in hypnosis. If the hypnotist could insert something into the subject’s mind, he reasoned, which the subject was not conscious of, but which would still affect the subject’s behavior, then it was not a great leap of faith to look for other unconscious motivations which the individual would not be aware of but which would affect his behavior nonetheless. Though few psychologists today will agree completely to Freud’s theories on the mind and on the psychosexual stages of development, nearly all now acknowledge that human consciousness is affected by underlying motivations or thoughts, the realm of the unconscious.

The conscious level is the level on which all of our thought processes operate. Anything that is thought, perceived or understood resides in this conscious level. Below this level, so to speak, is that of the pre-conscious. Here reside memories and thoughts, which may threaten at any moment to break into the conscious level, which are easily recalled, and which may strongly influence conscious processes. Below both of these levels, in the realm of the unconscious, lie the wishes, urges, memories and thoughts, which represent the bulk of the individual’s past experience. Here lie the impulses and memories which threaten to destabilize the individual’s mind if they break into unconsciousness; by means of repression the mind maintains its tenuous balance. The ego banishes the urges of the id to this level, where they cannot cause mental anguish but are still perfectly capable of causing great anxiety.

According to Freud, what we do and why we do it, who we are and how we became this way are all related to our sexual drive. Differences in personalities originate in differences in childhood sexual experiences. In the Freudian psychoanalytical model, child personality development is discussed in terms of “psychosexual stages”. Freud outlined five stages of manifestations of the sexual drive: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital. At each stage, different areas of the child’s body become the focus of his pleasure and the dominant source of sexual arousal. Differences in satisfying the sexual urges at each stage will inevitably lead to differences in adult personalities. Conflicts between the sex drive and rules of society are present at every stage. A proper resolution of the conflicts will lead the child to progress past one stage and move on to the next. Failure to achieve a proper resolution, however, will make the child fixated in the present stage.

In the oral stage, the erogenous zone in focus is the mouth. The oral stage is the first eighteen months of life. It is characterized by gratifying activities, such as nursing, eating, sucking, gumming, biting and swallowing. To the infant, the mother’s breast not only is the source of food and drink, but also represents her love. Because the child’s personality is controlled by the id and therefore demands immediate gratification, responsive nurturing is key. Both insufficient and forceful feeding can result in fixation in this stage. In the anal stage, the erogenous zone in focus is the anus. This stage lasts until the child is three years of age. The anal area becomes a source of gratification in bowel movement and the withholding of such movement. The major event at this stage is toilet training, a process through which children are taught when, where, and how excretion is deemed appropriate by society. Children at this stage start to notice the pleasure and displeasure associated with bowel movements. Through toilet training, they also discover their own ability to control such movements. Along with it comes the realization that this ability gives them power over their parents. That is, by exercising control over the retention and expulsion of feces, a child can choose to either grand or resist parents’ wishes. Sometimes people become anal fixated and may have an anal expulsive personality or an anal retentive personality. Those with anal expulsive personalities might have had parents that were too lenient and failed to instill the society’s rules about bowel movement control. This child will derive pleasure and success from the expulsion. Individuals with a fixation on this mode of gratification are excessively sloppy, disorganized, reckless, careless, and defiant. Those with anal-retentive personalities might have received excessive pressure and punishment from parents during toilet training, and thus experience anxiety over bowl movements and takes pleasure in being able to withhold such functions. Individuals who fail to progress pass this stage are obsessively clean and orderly, and intolerant of those who aren’t. They may also be very careful, stingy, withholding, obstinate, meticulous, conforming and passive-aggressive. In the phallic stage the erogenous zone in focus is the genital. This stage is from ages four to five. This stage is characterized by gratifying activities such as masturbation and genital fondling. This is probably the most challenging stage in a person’s psychosexual development. The key event at this stage, according to Freud, is the child’s feeling of attraction toward the parent of the opposite sex, together with envy and fear of the same-sex parent. In boys, this situation is called the Oedipus Complex, named after the young man in a Greek myth who killed his father and married his mother, unaware of their true identities. In girls, it is called the Electra Complex. Boys, in the midst of their Oedipus Complex, often experience intense castration anxiety, which comes from the fear of punishment from the fathers for their desire for the mothers. Girls’ Electra Complex involves “penis envy”. That is, according to Freud, the girl believes that she once had a penis but that it was removed. In order to compensate for its loss, the girl wants to have a child by her father. Success or failure in the Oedipus conflict is at the core of either normal psychological development or psychological disorder. If a child is able to successfully resolve the conflict, he or she will have learnt to control their envy and hostility and begin to identify with and model after the parent of their own sex, and are ready to move on to the next developmental stage. Some men and women become phallic fixated. Men may have anxiety and guilty feelings about sex, fear of castration, and a narcissistic personality. For women, it is implied that they never progress past this stage fully and will always maintain a sense of envy and inferiority, although Freud asserted no certainty regarding women’s possible fixations resulting from this stage. Similarly, Freud admitted uncertainty on the females’ situation when he constructed the “penis envy” theory in the first place. In the latency stage, lasting from ages five to puberty, there is no erogenous zone in focus. This is a period during which sexual feelings are suppressed to allow children to focus their energy on other aspects of life. This is a time of learning, adjusting to the social environment outside of home, absorbing the culture, forming beliefs and values, developing same-sex friendships, engaging in sports, etc. This period of sexual latency lasts five to six years, until puberty, upon which children become capable of reproduction, and their sexuality is re-awakened. In the genital stage, from puberty on, the erogenous zone is focus is the genital. Gratifying activities include masturbation and heterosexual relationships. This stage is marked by a renewed sexual interest and desire, and the pursuit of relationships. This stage does not cause any fixation. According to Freud, if people experience difficulties at this stage, and many people do, the damage was done in earlier oral, anal, and phallic stages. These people come into this last stage of development with fixations from earlier stages. For example, attractions to the opposite sex can be a source of anxiety at this stage if the person has not successfully resolved the Oedipal or Electra.

Alfred Adler studied personality around the time of Sigmund Freud but developed very different ideas. Although he changed his theory many times during his lifetime, he always believed people had control over their lives and made choices concerning themselves. He named his theory Individual Psychology because he felt each person was unique and no previous theory applied to all people. Adler s theory is comprised primarily of four aspects: striving towards superiority, the unity of personality, the development of personality, and psychological health, which includes intervention.

Adler believed the main goal of all people is to move to a better way of life. He first used the term inferiority complex as being overcome by feelings of lack of worth. In other words, the person is not achieving their goal to moving positively in life. People wish to move from feelings of inferiority to superiority. Superior and superiority, in his usage, has a slightly different meaning than what is commonly thought. It is not necessarily feelings of superiority over others but more along the lines of self-improvement, such as striving for one s personal best. He eventually switched from superiority striving to simply perfection striving. This was the final stage in the development of his theory. Alder also used the word superiority complex. This complex occurred when a person tried to overcome their inferiority complex by repressing their actual feelings. They are usually very arrogant and tend to exaggerate their achievements. Along with the idea of trying to overcome inferiority, Adler claimed that every person had an idea about what their perfect self would be like. He called this imagined goal the fictional finalism. Fictional finalism gives clearer direction as to what decisions to make concerning oneself. Although people may have some idea about their goal, they rarely fully comprehend it. Also, throughout one s lifetime the goal may be altered. The general direction, however, usually remains the same. Adler believed that it was impossible to understand a person without understanding that person s fictional finalism.

The second aspect of Adler s theory was the unity of personality. Psychologists before him, including Freud, discussed how different parts of a person s personality are at war with each other. Adler believed the conscious and unconscious worked in union with one another towards the fictional finalism. Both had the same goal. Adler claimed that each person has a unique style of life, which not only includes the common goal but also how the goal is going to be achieved and the person s concept of one s self and the world. Styles of life can be either positive or negative. Adler hated lumping large groups of people into broad categories but felt that describing basic lifestyles would make the concept easier to understand. His types are only intended to be rough estimates of the infinitely large number of personalities. Three of the four groups are negative styles of life. These mistaken styles include the ruling types, the getting types and the avoiding types. The ruling types seek to control others. They are not all-terrible people; because high competitiveness goes along with control, many are high achievers. They will, however, let others know of their accomplishments and tend to do so in a belittling manner. Adler called this inclination the deprecation complex. The second type is the getting type. These people are very dependent on others and take on a passive attitude towards life. Adler wrote that parents who pamper their children encourage this lifestyle. The third type is the avoiding type. They try to avoid all of life s problems to avoid defeat. They are seen as cold and usually prefer to be isolated. This appearance however, usually masked a superiority belief, albeit a fragile one. The final type is the only healthy lifestyle. It is the socially useful type. These people believe in doing good for the sake of society. They also believe they have control over their lives. Adler wrote, social interest must be trained, and it can be trained only if one grows up in relation to others and feels a part of the whole. One must sense that not only the comforts of life belong to one, but also the discomforts. One must feel at home on this earth with all its advantages and disadvantages.

Adler did believe in free will, but he acknowledged that it could be shaped by outside influences, such as parental behavior and birth order. Parental behavior could take on two negative extremes: pampering and neglecting. The first leads to a very spoiled child who experiences lack of love in the less indulgent real world. The second leads to people who feel incapable of completing tasks. The consequence of both extremes is, however, the same: adults whose fictional goal is to be indulged and pampered. Birth order is also a factor that contributes to personality. Adler went into great detail about the advantages and disadvantages of firstborn, middle, youngest, and only children. Essentially, the firstborn child overvalues authority and has very conservative values. Adler claims that most problem children are firstborn. Second-born children are the most well adapted of all positions. They act as the peacemakers. It is interesting to note Adler was a middle child. Youngest children are often too pampered, also leading to problem behavior. They fail to develop independence because it is not necessary. Only children experience so much pampering they experience an unrealistic sense of self worth. Adler wrote, The only child wants to be the center of attention all the time. He really feels that it is a right of his, and if his position is challenged, he thinks it a great injustice. In later life, when he is no longer the center of attention, he has many difficulties. Adler did acknowledge that while actual birth order was usually a good prediction of behavior, psychological birth order also played a role. In some situations, children psychologically take on a different order than that which actually occurs.

A healthy person has strong social interest. A good word to describe social interest is empathy. Living in a society requires a general concern for that society. Social interest, and consequently mental health, can only be attained with success in the three basic tasks of life: work, love, and social interaction. Adler wrote, For a long time now I have been convinced that all the questions of life can be subordinated to the three major problems the problems of communal life, of work and of love. These three arise from the inseparable bond that of necessity links men together for association, for the provision of livelihood, and for the care of offspring. Work is simply what it sounds like it would be: having an occupation, doing some socially useful job to earn a living. Love, according to Adler, is between a man and woman and involves decisions to have children. Failing in the area of love includes not wanting to have children, homosexuality, and even falling in love with two people at once. Social interaction is non-sexual relationships, including friendship. Healthy adults attain all three tasks while healthy children see them as possible to attain.

Abraham Maslow is known for establishing the theory of a hierarchy of needs, writing that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. Maslow studied exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglas rather than mentally ill or neurotic people. This was a radical departure from one of the chief schools of psychology of his day: Freud. Freud saw little difference between the motivations of humans and animals. We are supposedly rational beings; however, we do not act that way. Such pessimism, Maslow believed, was the result of Freud’s study of mentally ill people. The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy . Maslow thought that psychologists should study the playfulness, affection, etc., of animals. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was an alternative to the depressing determinism of Freud. He felt that people are basically trustworthy, self-protecting, and self-governing. Humans tend toward growth and love. Although there is a continuous cycle of human wars, murder, deceit, etc., he believed that violence is not what human nature is meant to be like. Violence and other evils occur when human needs are thwarted. In other words, people who are deprived of lower needs, such as safety, may defend themselves by violent means. He did not believe that humans are violent because they enjoy violence. Or that they lie, cheat, and steal because they enjoy doing it.

According to Maslow, there are general types of needs: physiological, safety, love, and esteem. These needs must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He called these needs “deficiency needs.” As long as we are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are moving towards growth, toward self-actualization. Satisfying needs is healthy; locking gratification makes us sick or evil. In other words, we are all “needs junkies” with cravings that must be satisfied and should be satisfied. Needs are proponent. A proponent need is one that has the greatest influence over our actions. Everyone has a proponent need, but that need will vary among individuals. A teenager may have a need to feel that a group accepts him. A heroin addict will need to satisfy his/her cravings for heroin to function normally in society, and will not worry about acceptance by other people. According to Maslow, when the deficiency needs are met, other and higher needs emerge, and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. When these in turn are satisfied, new and still higher needs emerge, and so on. As one desire is satisfied, another pops up to take its place.

Physiological needs are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When these are not satisfied we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis. Once they are alleviated, we may think about other things.

Safety needs have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and family. However, if a family is dysfunction, for example, an abusive husband, the wife cannot move to the next level because she is constantly concerned for her safety. Love and belongingness have to wait until she is no longer cringing in fear. Many in our society cry out for law and order because they do not feel safe enough to go for a walk in their neighborhood. Many people, particularly those in the inner cities, unfortunately, are stuck at this level. In addition, safety needs sometimes motivate people to be religious. Religions comfort us with the promise of a safe secure place after we die and leave the insecurity of this world.

Love and belongingness needs will emerge after both the physiological and the safety needs are well gratified. Humans have a desire to belong to groups: clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved by others, to be accepted by others. We need to feel and be needed.

There are two types of esteem needs. First is self-esteem, which results from competence or mastery of a task. Second, there’s the attention and recognition that comes from others. This is similar to the belongingness level; however, wanting admiration has to do with the need for power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied, often drive very expensive cars because doing so raises their level of esteem.

The highest level is the need for self-actualization, which is the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. Maslow was extremely interested in this level of self-actualization. Different things, such as, inner growth, development of their potentials, and their personal goals in life motivate self-actualizing people. People who have everything can maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, and oneness with God, etc.

Each of these three theorists, Freud, Adler, and Maslow had a different approach to the development of personality. Freud from a psychoanalytic perspective, Adler from a social psychological view, and Maslow from a humanistic perspective. Freud s psychoanalytic theory spawned a theory of personality. Although he overemphasized on sexuality, he was the first to recognize sexuality s constant influence throughout the life span. Freud s characterization of the unconscious mind has influenced Adler and Maslow in developing their theories. Adler developed individual psychology and based his theory on the belief that individuals exist within a social context. The source of maladjusted personality, according to Adler, is improper development of this social interest, not improper psychosexual development. Adler saw society as the source for every individual s journey to assess and then compensate for their inferiority. Maslow studied exceptional students and psychologists because he, unlike Freud, believed that the study of healthy, motivated individuals produced valuable information about the progression of personality. His theory is what I find to be most credible because of his concept that hierarchy needs is what motivates personality. Maslow sees all these needs as essentially survival needs. Even love and esteem are needed for the maintenance of health. I agree with Maslow when he says that we all have these needs built in to us genetically, like instincts.