Abstract
A number of different psychological perspectives based on well established theories are used in understanding and managing individual behaviors. Knowledge of the psychological principles and relating them to psychological perspectives contribute to a well informed response to an individual’s behavior. Different people show different behavioral characteristics that depend on the environment, culture, and personal understanding of an individual. The following research analyses the psychological behavior of Darth Vader. The analysis represents three main perspectives that describe Vader’s behavior. These are cognitive perspective, behaviorist perspective, and humanistic perspective.
Introduction
Different people demonstrate different behavioral characteristics that determine analyzed using the psychological principles. A number of different psychological perspectives based on well established theories are used in understanding and managing individual behaviors. Knowledge of the psychological principles and relating them to psychological perspectives contribute to a well informed response to an individual’s behavior. The common approaches used in understanding and managing a person’s behavior are; psychodynamic, Behaviorist, humanist, ecosystemic, and cognitive (Craighead & Nemeroff, 2001). Darth Vader, whose birth name is Anakin Sywalker, is the main character in the movie Star Wars. Vader forms one of the pop culture’s universally known character whose actions in the movie portray his strength and character of a hero. The following discussion provides the psychological analysis of Darth Vader.
Analysis
The approach towards individual behavior involves two processes. A person learns behaviors from the environment or scientific methodology. The behaviors of Darth Vader could be described using three psychological perspectives. These are: cognitive; behavioral and humanistic.
Cognitive perspective
Cognitive perspective follows the psychological principle that suggests individual cognitive processes influence an individual’s behavior. Such processes include reasoning, understanding and interpretation of events. Vader showed the cognitive perspective in his actions because most of the times he responded to situations in an appropriate and rational way. His attitudes and expectations were well adapted to the prevailing conditions. On the other hand, the cognitive approach to behavior concentrates on mental functions like attention, perception and memory (Simond, 2008). From early childhood, Vader was a slave that plays a significant role in his present day behavioral characteristics. The transformation path from a child slave to Sith lord has changed the behavior and actions of Vader. He portrays an anonymous character through mask wearing that draws a line between right and wrong. Vader’s actions portrayed a restricted behavior because he always acted with a black mask (Lucas, 2005).
On the other hand, cognitive perspective refers to conscious awareness and reasoning about the prevailing situations. Vader’s character is terrifying and violent signifying that he always behaved according to the current situation. At some instances, Vader developed much anger and could even hurt his friends due to his aggressive nature. All these actions came as a result of the assaults and sufferings he underwent while a slave during childhood. The experience prepared him for his future tasks related to terrifying and inhuman acts such as warfare, torture and assassinations. In addition, the behavior of Vader made psychologists term him as mentally challenged. His physical look totally matches the menacing behavior because he covered his face with a reflective black mask that was very terrifying. The following behavior shows how Vader’s characteristics are influenced by the physical appearance and the nature of activities he performs.
In addition, Darth Vader behavior signifies a borderline personality disorder. The behavior is signified by the reaction formation that Vader exhibits in his personal life. Vader has unstable moods thus has problems controlling his anger and impulsivity. For example, Vader’s wife tried to run away, and he could not stand it. Vader made all efforts to ensure that his wife stays at home including trying evil methods. Consequently, Vader developed an unstable pattern and poor personal relationship with other people. Vader personality was developed while he was a child due to odd interests, like forming friends, which have caused him a lot of distress.
Behaviorist perspective
Behavioral perspective follows the principle of law of effect, which asserts that a strengthened behavior leads to satisfaction. The perspective claims that all behaviors are learned and there stands a chance of modifying them through a system of reward and punishment. Darth Vader expressed a certain behavior that expressed him as care free person who never minded about the welfare of others. The following behavior might be looked at a science of psychology that follows a scientific approach. Moreover, the characters of Vader in the movie Star Wars are based on scientific fiction. The actions portrayed in the movie cannot be used to generalize the individual’s behavior since the focus is not on the observable and measureable behavior (Friedman & Shustack, 2009).
Secondly, the behavioral perspective claims that person’s mind characterizes the behavior. Vader was diagnosed by a mental illness that clearly justified his evil actions. The behavioral psychology argues every individual learns a behavior through conditioning. Darth Vader behavior was conditioned by the anger filled machine and the sufferings that surrounded him during his childhood life. Vader lived in slavery during his formative years, but her mother always encouraged him by saying he would become a successful man in the future. When he was 9 years old, Vader got an opportunity to become a Jedi warrior that made him leave her mother for training. As an innocent boy, the trainers decided to give him heavy punishment in order to change his mind.
Eventually, Vader met the evil emperor who trained him on how to do evil acts and become a killer. From the period, he became a merciless and developed an uncontrollable anger. Vader’s behavior developed because in his childhood, he never differentiated between right and wrong and also, could not predict the outcomes after an action. The behavioral programs aim at changing the character of a person by presenting a different environment from the normal one. The emperors took advantage of Anakin innocence by put him in a harsh environment in order to prepare him for the future work. The training prepared him to face anything and gave provided him with a lot of courage. For example, Vader joined the dark side in order to save her lover who eventually died and Vader was severely punished by the emperors (Lucas, 2005).
Behavioral perspective also claims that the prevailing environment determines an individual’s behavior. Vader had a neuroticism that required him to discriminate between events under conditions. The frustrations experienced by Vader while operating as a slave and later the separation from his mother at a young age contributed to his present day behavior. The reinforcement and conditioning ways turned the innocent Anakin into a ruthless and evil person called Darth Vader. Moreover, Vader’s behavior is uncontrollable even when punished because he underwent a tough training that prepared him for worse experiences. In addition, the characters played by Vader in the movie contributed to his evil and immoral behavior because he does not change in the real live. The trait and skills approach have been effectively applied in his observable behavior.
Humanistic perspective
Psychology has a commonly established perception that it is a study in the science field, which explores the behavior of human beings (Simond, 2008). Being a scientific phenomenon, psychology has a definable subject matter, a construction theory, and a hypothesis that has the potential of testing. Science has elements of being objective and free from any form of bias. As such, psychology receives a myriad of definitions based on key theoretical approaches and orientations. This leads to scholars stipulating differing arguments on the psychology topic. The humanistic perspective approach is associated with Abraham and Rogers who emphasizes on the individual’s own free will control. The humanistic perspective provides an individual with personal choices on the type of behavior to emulate and that to ignore. After undergoing the massive training, Vader decided to emulate the immoral behavior. Vader learned criminal behavior from the emperors in order to fit his characteristics in the movie but eventually maintained the behavior even in his real life.
On the second thought, Vader underwent human destructiveness through many forms that prepared his character of a dark side behavior. According to Bohart (2013), an individual must undergo several counseling and rehabilitation classes in order to grow constructively from the dark side. In addition, most therapists work by developing the victim’s positive features without mentioning the dark side. Vader continued with the immoral behavior even on the outside world since there was nobody to rehabilitate and counsel him on how to live a positive crime free life. There are many instances when Vader mistreats people when they fail him or question his authority. For instance, Vader gets outraged when Leia told him she was on a peace mission. Vader was very angry and held leia’s neck chocking her to death (Lucas, 2005).
On the other hand, humanistic perspective portrays some scientific methods that end up governing a person behavior. According to Nevid (2011), humanistic perspective focuses on key self-conscious of individuals that call for a need of a scientific method to study behaviors of individuals. In reference to this perspective, Vader’s massive training made him develop courage while entering the battle field. This aspect has played a significant role in the life of Vader since he fears no one and is always ready to face anything coming on his way. The transformation from Anakin to Vader came along with a lot of changes. For example, in the ‘Revenge of the Sith’, Anakin became distressed when Obi-Wan told him to ignore the clones and leave them to die. The transformation from Anakin to Vader presented him a totally different person. Vader killed his officers and uses illegal means to select his legal teams. After the transformation, Vader behavior could be described as self-actualization owing to the fact that he acts under his no authorities.
Conclusion
Understanding an individual’s behavior is a complicated task, which requires a learning experience. Human behavior is unpredictable and complex and trying to understand it requires a high degree of accuracy. Different people have varying characteristic behavior, and psychologists have come up with different theories to explain why people behave in certain ways. Even when the psychologists put more effort in explaining these theories, people are still not enlightened on their behaviors. Although people have difficulties in distinguishing between good and evil, the judgment depends on the individual’s perception on the action. Generally, human behavior takes many forms and depending on the prevailing environment. The person’s ego determines their actions, which are affected by the environment, the childhood life, and the individual thinking capacity (Gary, 2000).
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