Personality development

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An individuals personality is an aggregate conglomeration of decisions we've made throughout our lives (Bradshaw). There are inherent natural, genetic, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of our personality; however, in the pursuit of a more defined persona, many individuals enroll in courses offered in colleges to further or enhance the image they intend to project to others. These classes assist in identifying your conscious traits and contrasting them with what you intend to exhibit. According to process of socialization, "personality also colors our values, beliefs, and expectations...Hereditary factors that contribute to personality development do so as a result of interactions with the particular social environment in which people live." There are several personality types as Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers illustrated in several personalities typology tests. These tests only provide enlightenment based on the preliminary insight scored according to the answers judged by the parameters of the test. Other theories on personality development are Jean Piaget stages of development, and personality development in Sigmund Freud 's theory being formed through the interaction of id, ego and superego.

1 Personal development
2 Freud's Psychoanalytic theory
3 Stages
4 Sources

[edit] Personal development

Personality is the sum total of what a person is- behaviours, thoughts and feelings- that endures throughout life.

Although some psychologists frown on the premise, a commonly used explanation for personality development is the psychodynamic approach. The term psychodynamic describes any theory that emphasizes the constant change and development of the individual. Perhaps the best known of the psychodynamic theories is Freudian psychoanalysis.

[edit] Freud's Psychoanalytic theory

Drives Freud believed that two basic drives- sex and aggression- motivate all our thoughts and behaviours. He referred to these as eros (love) and thanatos. Eros represents the life instinct, sex being the major driving force. Thanatos represents the death instinct (characterised by aggression), which, according to Freud, allowed the human race to both procreate and eliminate its enemies.

The structure of personality Freud conceived the mind as only having a fixed amount of psychic energy (libido). The outcome of the dynamic interaction between the id, ego and the superego (each contending for as much libidinal energy as possible) determines our adult personality.

The tripartite personality Freud believed that personality had three parts- the id, ego, and superego- referring to this as the tripartite personality. The id allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on the pleasure principle i.e. it wants immediate satisfaction, with no consideration for the reality of the situation.

As a child interacts more with the world, the ego begins to develop. The ego's job is to meet the needs of the id, whilst taking into account the constraints of reality. The ego ackowledges that being impulsive or selfish can sometimes hurt us, so the id must be constrained. The superego develops during the phallic stage as a result of the moral constraints placed on us by our parents. It is generally believed that a strong superego serves to inhibits the biological instincts of the id (resulting in a high level of guilt), whereas a weak superego allows the id more expression (resulting in a low level of guilt).

Defense Mechanisms The ego has a difficult time trying to satisfy both the needs of the id and the superego, so, it employs defense mechanisms. Repression is perhaps the most powerful of these. Repression is the act by which unacceptable id impulses (most of which are sexually related) are "pushed" out of awareness and into the unconscious mind. Another example of a defense mechanism is projection. This is the mechanism that Freud used to explain Little Hans' complex. Little Hans is said to have projected his fear for his father onto horses, which is why he was afraid of horses.

Psychosexual Stages Freud believed that at particular points in the childs development, a single part of the body is particularly sensitive to sexual stimulation. These eurogenous zones are the mouth, anus and the genital region. At any given time, the child's libido is focused on the primary eurogenous zone for that age. As a result the child has certain needs and demands that are related to the eurogenous zones for that stage. Frustration occurs if these needs are not met, but , a child may also become overindulged, and so may be reluctant to progress beyond the stage. Both frustration and overindulgence may lead to fixation- some of the childs libido remains locked into that stage. If a child is fixated at a particular stage, the method of obtaining satisfaction that characterised that stage will dominate their adult personality.

[edit] Stages

Oral stage (0-18months) This stage begins at birth, when the mouth is the primary source of libidinal energy. A child who is frustrated at this stage may develop an adult personality that is characterised by pessimism, envy and suspicion. The overindulged child may develop to be optimistic, gullible, and full of admiration for others.

Anal stage (18months-3 yrs) The child's focus on pleasure on this stage is on eliminating and retaining faeces. This represents the conflict between the id, which derives pleasure from the expulsion of bodily wastes, and the ego which represents external pressure to control bodily functions. If the parents are too lenient in this conflict, it will result in the formation of an anal expulsive character who is disorganised, reckless and defiant. Conversely a child may opt to retain faeces, thereby spiting his parents, and may develop into an anal retentive character who is neat, stingy and obstinate.

Phallic stage (3-6yrs) During this stage, boys develop unconscious desires for their mother and become rivals with their father for her affection. This is reminiscent with Little Hans' case study. So the boys develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings (castration anxiety) so decide to identify with him rather than fight him. As a result, the boy develops masculine characteristics and represses his sexual feelings towards his mother. This is known as the Oedipus complex. During recent years, it is now believed that girls go through a similar process. This is called the electra complex. Freud believed that the resolution of this female conflict comes much later and is never truly complete.

Latent (6yrs-puberty) The latency period is not a psychosexual development as such, but a stage when sexual drives lie dormant. Freud saw latency as a period of unparalleled repression of sexual desires and eurogenous impulses.

Genital stage (puberty onwards) This stage begins at puberty, when sexual urges are once again awakened. Interest now turns to heterosexual relationships. The less fixation the child has in earlier stages, the more chance they have of developing a "normal" personality, and thus develop healthy meaningful relationships with those of the opposite sex.

Although many people view Freuds descriptions of personality development as pure fantasy, his ideas have endured and have had far reaching influences both in and outside psychology. Freud has changed the way we think about the importance of childhood, and also made us aware of the unconscious elements of our psyche that are essential for development.