Life Span Development and Personality Paper
Life Span Development and Personality Paper
Sara Jagoda
PSY/300
January 10, 2010
Ron Goodnight
Life Span Development and Personality Paper Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in a poverty stricken rural area of Mississippi to a single teenage mother. Oprah was moved from Mississippi shortly after she was born and was raised in an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee. She experienced severe hardship while she was growing up. Oprah was raped at the age of nine, she became pregnant when she was 14, and her child died while he was an infant. After her son died, Oprah was sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee. While living in Tennessee, Oprah landed her first job in radio and began co-anchoring the local news. From there, she made her way to who she is now. Oprah has made herself the greatest philanthropist in American history and is considered the most influential woman in the world.
Psychological Developments Oprah’s psychological development was definitely influenced more by her environment than by her heredity. As a child, she had it rough. Oprah decided at a young age that she would not live the way her mother had. She worked hard to make a name for herself because of her childhood. Oprah’s environment influenced her psychological development by pushing her to have the drive and ambitions to make a difference in the world. Oprah used the area of moral psychological development to achieve her goals. She used the theory of prosocial behavior to make an impact on other people’s lives.
Issues and Social Support System Oprah faced many family issues as a child that influenced her developmental growth and adjustment. The first issues that influenced her to want to make a difference in people’s lives was being born to a poverty stricken teenage mother. Oprah was conceived due to a single encounter between two teenagers. Once she was born, Oprah’s mother moved her to live in poverty with her
Sara Jagoda
PSY/300
January 10, 2010
Ron Goodnight
Life Span Development and Personality Paper Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in a poverty stricken rural area of Mississippi to a single teenage mother. Oprah was moved from Mississippi shortly after she was born and was raised in an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee. She experienced severe hardship while she was growing up. Oprah was raped at the age of nine, she became pregnant when she was 14, and her child died while he was an infant. After her son died, Oprah was sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee. While living in Tennessee, Oprah landed her first job in radio and began co-anchoring the local news. From there, she made her way to who she is now. Oprah has made herself the greatest philanthropist in American history and is considered the most influential woman in the world.
Psychological Developments Oprah’s psychological development was definitely influenced more by her environment than by her heredity. As a child, she had it rough. Oprah decided at a young age that she would not live the way her mother had. She worked hard to make a name for herself because of her childhood. Oprah’s environment influenced her psychological development by pushing her to have the drive and ambitions to make a difference in the world. Oprah used the area of moral psychological development to achieve her goals. She used the theory of prosocial behavior to make an impact on other people’s lives.
Issues and Social Support System Oprah faced many family issues as a child that influenced her developmental growth and adjustment. The first issues that influenced her to want to make a difference in people’s lives was being born to a poverty stricken teenage mother. Oprah was conceived due to a single encounter between two teenagers. Once she was born, Oprah’s mother moved her to live in poverty with her
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