I am an openminded and conscious person. I have passed as a super agreeable person with moments of extroversion and introversion. A fair example of my introspection is I prefer keeping criticizing ideas to myself and enjoy a lovely game of Sudoku as my friends watch. They more often than not consider this habit to be weird, but that’s just me; it is who I am. However, at times I find myself craving for some excitement and end up talking to people and hang out with my pals just for fun. I consider myself balanced between being an extrovert and an introvert. I guess the two reside harmoniously tucked in my core, more like the yin and yang Chinese philosophy. To some extent, I also feel obliged to help others, even if it meant some minor inconveniences on my side. In this article, I am going to describe the development of my personality based on a few theories and the Christian perspective.
In Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality, he tries to get a clear understanding as to why Sigmund believed that psychological development ended by the age of five. Erikson believed that the rest of the processes that occur while we age and how we react to the various crisis in life, play a significant part in an individual’s psychosocial development (Rambles, 2017). He divides the psychological development into multiple stages. The first stage is the trust and mistrust. This is Erikson’s first stage of development. He uses an infant as an example. When hungry, the infant will learn from the first few experiences of whether they are given what they need. If fed, trust is formed, and if not fed, a sense of mistrust prevails with the infant perceiving the person as dishonest.
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In his next step, Erikson’s discussion focusses on an individual at the age of two to three years. This stage is defined by autonomy and shame & doubt. He describes that if the toddler’s parents positively influence the learning structure of the toddler, then the toddler will develop an automated response that will confidently lead to self-governance. However, parents who exert excessive negative perceptions to the toddler, an emotional sense of shame and doubt will be nurtured. These perceptions fill the toddler with the feeling that discouragements and dependence are necessary to proceed through life. Erikson’s theory tries to capture the circumstances we are faced with at each stage of our lives and how for each choice we make, influences our overall personality.
In his last stage, Erikson describes the choice between integrity and despair to an old individual. Memories of the individual, whether good or bad, dictate how the individual feels about the life he/ she has lived. Memories of accomplishment foster a sense of satisfaction, while those of failure result to cold feelings and a general sense of bitterness. Based on Erikson’s theory, I would say the choices I have made so far in my life attribute to who I am now. The sense of positivity I have is based on the decisions I made when I was faced with situations in my early years. Positive choices lead to positive outcomes. I plan always to stay positive to develop my strengths as described by Erikson.
According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, he argues that human behavior is the result of interactions in the mind between the id, ego, and superego (Erdelyi, 1985). He describes the id as the most primitive of the three, and it is concerned with the instant gratification of urges and physical needs. The superego is concerned with social rules and morals, and it develops when children learn what their culture terms as right and wrong. The ego is the rational part. Freud considers the ego as the “self” with the task of balancing the demands of the id and superego.
Freud argues that personality develops during childhood and is shaped by a series of five psychosexual stages. During each phase, a child is presented with a conflict between biological drives and social expectations. Successful navigation of these internal conflicts leads to mastery of each stage hence a fully mature personality. This, therefore, means that my character can be as a result of my culture. The cultural morals that form the superego play a significant part in the development of personality. A comprehensive understanding of my culture will strengthen my character as stated and argued by Freud in his psychoanalytic theory of nature.
The trait perspective theory also describes my personality. It was based on the works of three theorists: Gordon Allport, Raymond Cattell, and Hans Eysenck, who argue that traits determine the reactions of individuals in response to various contexts. Allport organized habits into a hierarchy of three levels: cardinal, central and secondary characteristics (Allport, 1961). Cattell (1943) used statistical processes to generate 16 dimensions of personality while Eysenck bases his theory on three aspects: introversion vs. extroversion, neuroticism vs. stability and psychoticism vs. socialization (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1987).
Eysenck’s theory best describes my personality. He argued that extroversion was caused by variability in the cortical arousal; introverts have a higher level of activity in this area when compared to the extroverts. My ability to balance the two gives me the split between the two characteristics; extroversion and introversion. A better understanding of how the cortical arousal works will help me develop my personality as portrayed by Eysenck.
On a spiritual perspective, I feel as if my personality revolves around the ten commandments. The commandments summarize my way of life and significantly impact some of the moral decisions I make. The commandments were the first rules given to man by God (Exodus 20: 1-17, King James Version), and I strive to always conform to them. They are easy to understand and practice as they use no jargons or long phrases; they are precise. The issue of personality cannot be well explained because many aspects of life usually influence human behavior.
References
Allport, G. W. (1961). Pattern and growth in personality .
Cattell, R. B. (1943). The description of personality: Basic traits resolved into clusters. The journal of abnormal and social psychology , 38 (4), 476.
Erdelyi, M. H. (1985). Psychoanalysis: Freud's cognitive psychology . WH Freeman/Times Books/Henry Holt & Co.
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Growth and crises of the" healthy personality."
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, M. W. (1987). Personality and individual differences . New York, NY: Plenum.
Rambles, B. (2017, February 13). The psychosocial theories of Erik Erikson: A basic understanding. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/The-Psychosocial- Theories-of-Erik-Erikson-A-Basic-Understanding
