Factors that Affect an Individual's Personality Development
Wk 1 DQs
DQ 1
What factors affect an individual’s personality development? Which factor has the biggest effect? Why?
Personality is an expression of an individual’s temperament, emotional state, values or beliefs, and goals or expectations. The specific answer to the question of what influences personality development depends on what theory of psychology a person believes is the most correct. How one would describe the process of personality development depends greatly on the framework a person chooses to view personality by itself (Feist & Feist, 2009).
But, the general answer can be summarized with two factors: a person’s predisposed nature and environment affect lifespan personality development. The simple truth is there is no way to separate which is more influential, nature or nurture, because the two are inseparably intertwined with one another. They share a symbiotic relationship, of sorts, where one cannot exist without the other. Basically, the things that happen in the environment will directly affect someone’s personality. But, on the same hand, people help shape the environment and their personalities will change it accordingly (Feist & Feist, 2009).
A good example of this paradoxical fact of life can be found in genetics. Hereditary mental and physical elements can affect how a person is treated by others, which can alter how a person feels about him or herself. To the point, if a man is born short statured, it is possible he may be treated in such a way to promote his development of a Napoleon complex (O 'Neil, 2006).
References
Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
O 'Neil, D. (2006, July 4). Personality Development. Retrieved February 20, 2013, from anthro.palomar.edu: http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_3.htm
DQ 2
Is there a such thing as human nature? If so, what is it? If not, why?
Existimantes simius…the thinking ape shares many natural instincts with
DQ 1
What factors affect an individual’s personality development? Which factor has the biggest effect? Why?
Personality is an expression of an individual’s temperament, emotional state, values or beliefs, and goals or expectations. The specific answer to the question of what influences personality development depends on what theory of psychology a person believes is the most correct. How one would describe the process of personality development depends greatly on the framework a person chooses to view personality by itself (Feist & Feist, 2009).
But, the general answer can be summarized with two factors: a person’s predisposed nature and environment affect lifespan personality development. The simple truth is there is no way to separate which is more influential, nature or nurture, because the two are inseparably intertwined with one another. They share a symbiotic relationship, of sorts, where one cannot exist without the other. Basically, the things that happen in the environment will directly affect someone’s personality. But, on the same hand, people help shape the environment and their personalities will change it accordingly (Feist & Feist, 2009).
A good example of this paradoxical fact of life can be found in genetics. Hereditary mental and physical elements can affect how a person is treated by others, which can alter how a person feels about him or herself. To the point, if a man is born short statured, it is possible he may be treated in such a way to promote his development of a Napoleon complex (O 'Neil, 2006).
References
Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
O 'Neil, D. (2006, July 4). Personality Development. Retrieved February 20, 2013, from anthro.palomar.edu: http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_3.htm
DQ 2
Is there a such thing as human nature? If so, what is it? If not, why?
Existimantes simius…the thinking ape shares many natural instincts with
References: Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. O 'Neil, D. (2006, July 4). Personality Development. Retrieved February 20, 2013, from anthro.palomar.edu: http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_3.htm DQ 2 Is there a such thing as human nature? If so, what is it? If not, why? Existimantes simius…the thinking ape shares many natural instincts with its many mammalian counterparts on this Earth. These define the nature of all mammals, in fact, and are summarized nicely by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Survival tendencies and the need to reproduce predominantly comprise this list and are fairly uniform throughout the animal kingdom. The desire to belong within a pack or group could also be attributed to a biological draw that helps promote survival or species prosperity, improve hygiene, and provide comfort. But, these are all characteristics of the nature of a beast, so to speak (Myers, 2007). Within the Latin label, itself, lies the more complex, underlying truth: what makes humans unique is the fairly standard sense of a metaphysical realm beyond that which is seen by the eyes. This inherent view is shared by nearly every person on this planet. The questions of philosophy are uniquely human and an integral part of what could be called “human nature”. Cats may be curious; but humans are adaptive creatures capable of developing exhaustive methods to sate curiosities with truths (Myers, 2007). The question of human nature is intrinsically tied with the human ability of speech and language. Researchers can know, without a doubt, humans were questioning the existence of Greater Beings for millennia simply because this level of inquiry was documented with written language. From this natural instinct of mankind, humans were able to accumulate an ever-growing, vast wealth of knowledge and expertise. It presented a perfect avenue for the procurement and evolution of deeper, existential thought. From this tendency was born the natural inclination to pass down ideologies and religions. It eventually gave rise to science, as well (Myers, 2007). Reference Myers, D. (2007). Psychology, Eighth Edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.