When psychologists discuss the term personality, they are describing the aspects of a person that are lasting, continuous, and stable. If one is violent now, the probability is high he or she will be violent in future. Therefore, the personality discussions are focussed on constant traits (DiCaprio, 1983). In addition, personality can be described as that trait that transpires in a broad diversity of situations (DiCaprio, 1983). A violent individual will be inclined to be so in many diverse conditions. Ryckman defines Personality “as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations” (2008).
Many people employ the word personality to recognize the most noticeable trait of a person or to categorize that person's according to his or her social abilities. Psychologists are principally concerned with Personality in a bid to elucidate why individuals with analogous genetics, experience, and inspiration might respond in a different way in the matching circumstances; and to explicate why individuals with dissimilar genetics, past occurrences, and/or inspiration might nonetheless react correspondingly in the similar circumstance. The study of personality engages numerous features of human conduct. The theories of personality categorize what people do recognize, motivate new studies, and officially identify an analysis of personality. Four groupings of such theories have been identified; they include psychoanalytic, behavioural, social learning, trait, and humanistic analyses (DiCaprio, 1983).Three categories of trait theories that have been identified include typology, phrenology and the factor theory (DiCaprio, 1983). Psychoanalysis is the first contemporary theory of personality that is founded on the supposition that there are two fundamental constituents on which personality is founded: unconscious and psychic energy. Opening merely with the id, one forms an ego and a superego as the configuration of his or her personality (DiCaprio, 1983). Life and death intuitions demonstrate equilibrium amid violence and a pursuit of gratification.
As seen, psychologists have developed the discipline of personality development. They have presented various theories of development of a personality. According to Berglund, the term personality is the result of cultured conduct. This signifies that numerous traits are innate and several others are cultured. Some characteristics are owned via interaction of personalities within the society. An extremely significant factor in determining personality of a person is social interaction. In summary, significant theories of personality are Allport’s trait theory, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, Maslow’s humanistic theory and Bandura’s social learning theory.
Every individual experiences development of different features of personality through different periods. Actually, the everyday good and dreadful occurrences form the personality of a person. From the above introduction, there are several theories of development of personality of a person. In this paper, I will adopt the case of renowned figure. Founded on the diverse theories of personality, I will investigate the aspects that added to the development of personality of the person.
Here is a brief introduction of the individual. The name has been kept anonymous. This particular individual grew from a distressed childhood and paucity to develop into the most prominent and influential female in the mass media industry. Even the renowned Forbes Magazine has quoted her as the world’s most extremely remunerated TV entertainer. She is not merely documented as a show hostess, but as a producer and actress in movies and films as well. Her show is one of the most revolutionary since she is not usually frightened to expose her own experiences and thoughts. Her experiences have aided her create her private and professional life. The decisions she has made in her lifetime have manipulated by her surroundings and emotional childhood. She was born in Mississippi on January 29, 1954, out of wedlock.
Because of this, her grandmother raised her for her mother could not cope with single parenthood. Her grandmother read to her and educated her on how to identify letters and sounds, of which she was able to read by the age of three.
This person’s growth as a person has an extremely distinctive and appealing viewpoint in view of Psychological growth. She is a creation of an unintentional conception by her parents. Her mother was a housemaid while the father was a coil miner. In addition to this, her uncle and cousin sexually assaulted her at the age of six and fourteen respectively. Her mother was frequently not available to neither assist her nor direct her. However, ironically, albeit she had difficult times at home, she still managed to shine in school and eventually won a scholarship to sustain her schooling. As a budding youngster, she was accustomed to poverty and destitutions. Subsequent to the occurrence of the sexual episodes, she was obliged to reside with her father. Later on, she then won the Miss Black Tennessee Beauty pageant and awarded a job at a local radio station. Her disclosure to media later developed as she became a well-known figure in American Television.
In view of personality, the broad, exclusive input of psychoanalytic theory is the proposition that a great deal of the account for human conduct, which is frequently peculiar and apparently conflicting, lies principally concealed in the unconscious, in addition to is the consequence of how an individual negotiates contradictory, entrenched needs and intuitions. Psychoanalytic theory perceives the early days of growth as formulating a significant input to the adult mind, depending on how assorted psychosexual phases are determined (Hall, 1978).
This case study of this individual is an example. The combination of her bad memories and her thriving life can be described on how she handled the anxiety and predicaments of which she met in her development as an individual. Sigmund Freud portrayed numerous constituents that have been very powerful in comprehending personality. Freud acknowledged three diverse fractions of the psyche, rooted in stages of awareness; the conscious mind, the preconscious, and the subconscious level. According to Freud, behaviour is compelled straight from the latter. In addition, a person’s behaviours are the consequence of the id, the ego, and the superego and interactions. This generates variance, which produces apprehension, which directs to Defence Mechanisms. The Id holds the primal drives and functions consistent with the pleasure principle.1This poses no genuine discernment of realism and seeks out to gratify its requirements via the primary processes (Hall, 1978)2. Different from the Id, the Ego is conscious of realism and therefore functions through the reality principle3. This embraces the consequences of societal regulations that are essential to live and mingle with other people. On the other hand, The Super ego includes the principles and societal ethics, which frequently originate from the laws of right and wrong.4
At the hub of Freud's psychosomatic configuration is the oppression of displeased instinctual requirements. An unconscious progression, repression is achieved via a sequence of defence machineries. Of interest, are the mechanisms of displacement5, and projection.6 Since Life is hard; numerous pains, disenchantments, and unfeasible undertakings, to tolerate it, one cannot bestow with analgesic gauges. From the case study, the individual endured most of her childhood life to become what she is. It is safe to conclude that by repressing her experiences created some of her defence mechanisms that brought her to where she is. Through displacement mechanism, she was able to direct her feelings towards her career and education. In addition, by projection, she was able to attribute her personal experiences to helping others with similar pasts.
Marlow’s Humanistic claims that one's personality is founded in any case partly, by the decisions one makes. It scrutinizes each person as exclusive and sighting the world from diverse viewpoints. It centers on how peripheral stimulus influences one's conduct, with diminutive or no attentiveness on one's character traits or the inspirations influencing one's conduct (Mischel, 1981). Humanistic theory authorizes that others who put stipulations on one’s significance can influence an individual’s personality, unconstructively changing one's character esteem (Nevid & Rathus, 2005). Psychologists consider that human nature comprises an innate force to personal development that a person has the liberty to decide on what they do in spite of of ecological issues. In addition, humans are typically conscious beings and are not restricted by unconscious wants and disagreements. The individual personality development can be attributed to this perspective. Psychologically, she may have preferred to be demoralized and livid at life. Actually, she illustrated signs of upheaval at some point by getting pregnant. However, she is recognized to be the ethical type of individual. She is a humanitarian and aids the deprived people all over the globe.
The societal relations have ascertained precision to constructive virtues of the individual. The Humanistic theory provides significance to healthy notion of identity in a personality. Although she was still in college, she stated profession at the age of 19. Therefore, unquestionably, I can articulate that Bandura’s societal learning theory fits the best for her. As seen from her brief background, she is a successful. These virtues logically encourage many people who have met with her. She instituted groundwork to help the destitute, needy, and oppressed and minorities including women in the United States and all over the world. Providentially, she could relate with other characters in society.
References
DiCaprio, N. S. (1983). Personality Theories: A Guide to Human Nature, 2nd ed. Holt, Rinehart, Winston. Provides expanded coverage of each of the theorists discussed in this chapter, and discusses a number of related theorists. Well illustrated; written in an engaging, educational style.
Hall, C. S. (1978}. A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New American Library. A good review of Freud's work, analyzing the impact of psychoanalysis on more modern theories of personality.
Mischel, W. (1981). Introduction to Personality, 3rd ed. Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Examines trait, psychodynamic, behavioural, and self-growth (humanistic) theories and how these theories are applied in psychotherapy. Covers effects of televised aggression and sex bias on personality.
Nevid, J. S., & Rathus, S. A. (2005). Psychology and the challenges of life: Adjustment in the new millennium (9th Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
R.M. Ryckman (2008) Theories of Personality, 9th ed. Belmont, CA; Thomas Higher
Education.
