Development Of Personality Essays Example

Abstract

In a human lifespan, there is a notable development of behavioral aspects and personality. Characterization of a person refers to how they react and interact with the environment. There are psychological stages of personality development and the main question is what influences this development. This paper argues that the society plays the largest part in influencing a human personality. It draws context from other scholars and outlines them in support of social influence surpasses parenting and individual decision.
Each human being is characterized with a distinct behavioral aspect which keeps on developing in the entire lifespan. There are number of factors that are attributed or that determine individual’s motivation and behavior. Several researches have been conducted to outline the factors that influence individual’s behavior. In light of this, a person can be influenced by the primary caretakers; that is, parents or guardians, individual biology, or the society. It is quite evident that the three factors matter and play a role in development of an individual personality (Rothbart, 2007). However, this paper provides an argument that the society is more profound in influencing personality throughout a person’s lifespan. Primary caretakers and individual biology are vital in development of personality, but the society plays a major role in a person’s behavior in his or her life span. Therefore, this paper provides insightful issues in support of this argument drawing examples from other scholar’s literal works and their findings.
According to Rothbart (2007), babies are not born with empty brains but they encrypted with some cognitive skills that are naturalistic. They are born with some intelligent that they do not learn from any person; for instance, they know how to suckle. However, their behavior keeps on developing as they grow old. This is attributed to the interaction they make with the environment where they learn language and other basic things. The innate language development is associated with the words that a mother repeats to the infant until it starts memorizing. This continues as the child grows and learns most of the things from the cultural setting they are. It is quite true parenting plays a major role in modifying human behavior, but it has some limitations. When a child reaches teenage years, they tend to cope with the society more than the guardians. This is where the issue of conformity arises which is defined as the act of coordinating attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to a specified norms. The norms are simply the social beliefs and regulations shared by a group of individuals that guide how they interact with each other. These rules are neither written nor are they said to people but they occur naturally.
At this point, a teenager starts appreciating the rule of conformity and abides by the societal rules. These rules vary from one culture to another, although they have similarities across board. The society largely influences or dictates an individual personality as compared to other factors. Culture expectations; that are what is described as positive or negative influence how an individual behave. When an individual understand what the society expects from him or her, then he has the freedom and opportunity of reacting to the expectations. This is where the society or the environment plays a major role in influencing personality. It is very hard for an individual to react to the cultural expectations contrary to the peers surrounding him or her. In fact, technology development hastens the influence creating by the environment. In most cases, the person conforms to how the society behaves; for example, a lady from the Middle East will dress according to the environment surrounding her even if the parents are to the contrary opinion. The identity versus role confusion theory applies during the transition of childhood to adulthood. This is where children begin becoming independent and they start worrying of what the future holds for them in terms of career, relationships, and families among others. It helps them examine themselves whether they fit in the society or not. It is a point of development where they need to know who they really are. They get into intimate relationships and they start choosing their career path. Adolescents feel uncomfortable with their body changes but when they mingle with others they feel confident and they later embrace these changes. There is eventually an integrated sense of self-actualization due to their integration.
Another good example of how the society plays a role in developing personality is the issue of anti-social behavior. Parents mostly raise their children in accordance to the social moral aspects. Issues such as violence, drugs, and other anti-social behaviors are largely discouraged by most of the parents. However, these behaviors creep into the children despite the guidance from their parents. Blatt (2008) asserts that such behaviors are attributed to the people that the kids associate with. Their peers drag them in to such behaviors whereas TV programs are accused of promoting aggressiveness and violence among children. This means that they are altering people’s behavior and perceptions. Media does not only influence children but also the older generation. There are various publications such as magazines and tabloids that people keep on reading. The publications discuss about healthy behavior, social integration, responsibilities and they influence people’s behavior. Many people are relying on these publications to shape their day-day to behaviors and lifestyle. The blogs and tabloid magazines carry a lot of information that people depend on to make their own decisions in life. This implies that they are not making independent decisions, but following what the society thinks. Similarly, the issue of fashion and dressing codes depends on how others wear or consider fashionable. There are a clique of people who are regarded as fashion setters such as celebrities and athletes.
The society largely impacts on human behavior than parents and individual decisions based on various aspects such as the notion of competence versus inferiority. Children feel industrious and competence when they notice that they are achieving their goals. On the contrary, they feel inferior if they fail to undertake activities which the peers are engaging into. They may be encouraged by the teacher, parents or even other children for them to regain their confidence. The society has a structured system that influences the personality of an individual as they grow. There is a legitimate authority that they have to abide to as they grow; hence, it impacts them with their behaviors. For example, they have to attend school, there are set rules and regulations that guide each person. These institutions take up most of a person’s time and they engage with a lot of people at these stages; they develop mutual behaviors that are commonly shared. Development of personality is influenced by parenting, but for a specific time (Blatt, 2008). There is a common argument that the nature of infant’s relationship with their caretakers shapes how they grow. This affection may last indefinitely making the two parties behaviors identical. Individual concepts and perspective also play a great role in personality development. There are various decisions that an individual does not require aping or seeking advice from others. However, the society plays the greatest role in personality development as the person interacts most with the others copying them.

References

Blatt, S. J. (2008). Polarities of experience: Relatedness and self-definition in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process. American Psychological Association.
Rothbart, M. K. (2007). Temperament, development, and personality. Current directions in psychological science, 16(4), 207-212.