Two men have dominated the world of computing technology, right from inception. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have had the greatest impact and influence on the development of computer technology, and evidence of their impact is plastered on every other media platform one may turn to. From print media to electronic gadgets as well as entertainment, these men have brought about unprecedented possibilities for the whole world to witness and enjoy. The death of Steve Jobs, however, brought to light the remarkable journey he had established to bring Apple products to fruition. His technological genius coupled with an unrivalled marketing ability help shape the course of not only Apple Inc. but also the world of personal computers as a whole. Millions of consumers around the world often lineup Apple Inc. stores in anticipation for the release of Apple products, a feat that can only be attributed to Steve's genius in communicating, innovating and more crucially leading his team and workforce to the extent of establishing a cult-like following among consumers.
The accomplishment of these milestones is no mean effort and such, many have questioned and delved into his life and times to establish the extraordinary factors that drove such a man, whose influence continues to be felt even among the most remote communities of this world. This essay is an attempt establishing the psychological makeup of this great leader through an in-depth analysis of his life. Environment, biology and personality all play vital roles in decision making and behaviour. As a successful leader, who managed to establish several huge corporations despite glaring failures and obstacles in his life, it would be imperative to try to analyze his life through psychological theories to gain the through processes behind his actions and decision making. The psychoanalytic, cognitive and humanistic theories will be utilized in developing a psychological profile of the Steve Jobs.
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Biography and Influence
Steve Jobs went through various phases throughout his lifecycle, including being a prankster; a family man; a cancer fighter and even a hippie. Having been born in San Francisco, California back in 1955, Jobs was adopted right from birth to Clara and Paul Jobs. His upbringing depicts a normal life, with a bit of difficulty in getting interested in learning. According to Isaacson, Jobs, his fourth-grade teacher had to entice him with candy and five dollar bills in an attempt to get him interested in learning (2011). His childhood is also synonymous with bullying with a case in point being when he was 11 years old and asked his parents to transfer him, prompting his parents to move to Los Altos to allow him a new learning environment (Isaacson, and Jobs, 2011). After high school, he went on to join Reed College was super expensive that it would cost his parents their entire life savings.
By realizing this glaring mishap on his part, he opted to drop out to try and establish what he was going to do with his life. This gave life to a whole new experience for the young Jobs. For instance, he had to sleep on the floor of his friend's rooms and walk seven miles to score a free meal at the Hare Krishna temple as well as attending Calligraphy classes. In his pastime and hobbies, Steve engaged in a multitude of activities including practising asceticism and abiding by Buddhist philosophy. In the summer of 1976, Steve and his colleague Dan Kottke presented what would be the first Apple I computer much to the dismay of the visitors who found no impression on the bearded guys. However, by 1980, Apple Inc. had managed to reinvent itself into a successful company that raked in over two hundred million by the time it went public on December 12 th of the same year (Isaacson and Jobs, 2011).
It was at this particular stage that Steve came to face to face with the new found responsibility as an American icon, thus marking the onset of his journey towards a revolutionizing the world. However, his disinterest with the company soon emerged, prompting to establish an alienated Macintosh department. The failure of the Macintosh upon its launch would be a huge blow to his leadership style and perspective. The culmination of his alienation antiques would come through his elimination from the board of managers at Apple in 1985. His exit from Apple was marked by entry into the film industry through computer animation films through the purchase of Lucas Light and Magic Inc. which he later renamed Pixar.
Having found new light, Steve Jobs embarked on a life transformation journey in 1989. It was a journey that would see him meet his biological parents and sibling Mona as well as accept his daughter that had been born out of wedlock. His marriage to Laurene Powell would later follow closely in 1991, marking a new chapter of his personal life. His career life, on the other hand, was in shambles; in 1993 NeXT had become another average software company, and Pixar running into million-dollar losses six years down the line. His turnaround would come in the form of a three-movie contract from Disney that saw Pixar share price rise from $22 to $49 upon the success of Toy Story which was one of the movies the company produced (Isaacson and Jobs, 2011). With Apple’s monopoly of the computer industry having been eliminated by the Microsoft’s release of Windows 95 in 1995, the board at Apple began negotiations that would see Jobs back at Apple.
Jobs life’s journey was roughly interrupted by the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2003, and while he initially refused surgical operations to be conducted on him, he would change his decision in 2004 realizing that he was not improving from his self-imposed diet-based treatment. Steve Jobs died aged 56, of pancreatic cancer-related complications. At the time of his death in 2010, Apple was also ranked as the most valuable in the company by Forbes, almost a befitting end to a revolutionary leader that Jobs had been.
Theoretical Perspectives
Conducting a personality analysis can be done through several personality theories, an example being the psychoanalytic approach which can be traced back to the twentieth century, where it was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, the personality and behaviour of an individual had its roots in the; conscious, subconscious motives which are often in conflict as well as the collection of experiences one has accumulated throughout their lifetime. Further on, Freud argued that the mental, psychic and emotional makeup of a person all played a role in the decision making and actions. Freud separated human personality into six distinct parts, beginning with the conscious; which entails information and content that one is aware of. The second one was the preconscious which entails the totality of data that needs to be generated through focus. Then there is the unconscious which is the totality of information and content that an individual is not even aware of. Next is the Id representing life instincts that are crucial in meeting physiological needs which are followed by superego tha,t denotes an internal moral code whose purpose is to help ascertain the differences between right and wrong. Finally, there is the ego that mediates between the Id and the Superego. Freud’s contribution to personality psychology was immense, an element that can be attributed to the fact that he introduced the concept of different stages of personality development, namely: oral, phallic, latent, anal and genital stages (Engler, 2013). More importantly, however, was the realization that childhood experiences had an impact on an individual's behaviour right up to adulthood.
The humanist approach is another psychological theory that is essential in understanding personalities. This method is primarily pegged on the fact that people have immense potential as well as free will to chart the course of their development. At the heart of this approach lies the ideas of self-actualization and self-concept which can be traced back to Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow who are the major proponents of this approach. Maslow propagated the idea that human beings could grow and develop in a way that would allow for the fulfilment of their ultimate potential. In his approach, therefore, human beings develop their personalities through the fulfilment of various needs throughout their life. Carl Rogers, on the other hand, proposed that the idea of self-concept was integral in formulating a self-concept. Self-concept entailed the totality of how an individual perceived and understood who they were (Engler, 2013). To this extent, therefore, he deemed it vital to help nurture a positive self-concept right from childhood, arguing that personality entailed a continuity of a person's perception of the self.
Another vital theory in the analysis of personality is the cognitive theory. This particular theory is based on the fact that human decisions, behaviour and action all emanate from an individual's thought processes. From this point of view, personality is thus seen as an embodiment of thought processes from moment to moment. Cognitive theorists, therefore hold that in changing thought processes an individual can alter their behaviour, decision making as well as actions, and more crucially their personality (Engler, 2013). The theoretical perspective acknowledges the fact that thought process is influenced by previous experiences of an individual, and as such while one can easily alter their thoughts, it takes a considerable amount of time before a personality overhaul can be complete.
Application of Theoretical Perspectives
Beginning with a psychoanalysis of Job’s personality it is evident that at the oral stage, Jobs was moderately indulged in childhood, and while he may not have been breastfed, his adoptive parents nevertheless ensured that he was well fed and mothered. In this case, therefore, he depicts no signs of an irregular oral stage. Jobs life tends to depict an individual with anal retentiveness as depicted by his urge to control and manipulate everything. His precision orderliness and difficulty in opening up on personal matters also highlights the traits of an anal retentive person. The fact that Steve Jobs related to his engineer father meant that he did not get to develop an Oedipus complex in the phallic stage. Steve, however, had a poor sense of self which can be traced back to the perception he developed about his adoption. The fact that he held a deep-rooted belief and concept that he was abandoned at the latent stage, Steve decided to cultivate an image of being special, which he accomplished through his innovations and business prowess. During the genital stage, Jobs fell in love and even sired a child with Christian Brennan, and while he might have initially rejected the child, he later accepted her later on in life.
From a cognitive theoretical perspective neurotic as reflected partly by his emotional instability and party due to the nature of his occupation. As an innovator and marketer, he had to stay ahead of his competitors by constantly thinking about how to improve and innovate on is ideas. While it had a positive impact, it also leads to his over-analysis of simple staff such a choosing a fruit diet of a medical surgery. With a high proficiency in both business and technology, Jobs was highly manipulative in his communication. This meant that he was the least agreeable person you would engage with. A low sense of agreeableness can be linked to trust issues, which have root in adoption and relationship issues that Jobs experienced in his lifetime. On the upside, however, Jobs was highly conscientious in both physical and spiritual life. His life was characterized by precise organization, mindfulness and goal orientation, all of which help him become the successful business and innovator that he was. While Jobs was moderately talkative, his assertiveness was most pronounced. His arguments and conversations were often considered rude and inconsiderate due to his preference for being brutally honest. This behaviour saw him kicked out of the Apple Inc. board back in 1985.
Finally, subjecting Jobs to a humanistic theoretical approach, the central area of focus is on his self-concept. For humanist theorists, a mismatch or incongruence in an individual's definition and perception often results in with mental health problems and a low self-esteem (Lahey, 2012). For Steve Jobs, his self-concept was heavily influenced by the unconditional love and positive regard that his adoptive had for him, to the extent of willing to pay for his college education using their life savings. This went a long way in helping him establish a positive personal sense of self. For instance, despite his numerous failures throughout life, he was always able to bounce back and take charge of his life, steering it towards the path he chose. Steve Jobs had a relentless desire to achieve success and realize self-actualization before his death. His constant thirst and hunger for success saw him achieve unimaginable feats throughout his lifetime. Pegged against a backdrop of immense failure such as being kicked out of his own company and facing gigantic losses with Pixar, Steve's unconditional positive sense of self was vital in ensuring that he accomplished most of the goals he set out to achieve. The culmination of Jobs journey is to be found in his sudden and radical shift perspective and view in 1989. In deciding to see his biological family, reconnect with his daughter and get married, it can be asserted that he had attained self-actualization.
Biases and Ethical Concerns
Some ethical biases can be noted in this particular write up, with the most dominant one being the fact that the author of this paper has a personal affiliation and attachment to Apple products which plays a significant role in the choice of material and data that was utilized for this particular assignment. Another form of bias emanates from the personality theories utilized in the paper (Larsen, Cervone and Butterworth, 2010). For instance, it particularly clear that humanist psychologist places a greater emphasis on human optimism and its impact on personal development in this case, therefore, by painting Steve Jobs life through the lens of self-concept and self-actualization, he would appear as a highly successful person. This, however, does limit and oversimplify factors that contribute to personality development. From Freud's psychoanalytic theory, human beings tend to be rigidly confined in regards to decision making. In other words, personality development is tied to experiences an individual accumulates various stages without any room for choice and decision making. More limiting and biased is the belief that development ends at puberty (Carpenter and Huffman, 2009).
Another significant bias that can be noted from this write up is the fact that the biography used was a secondary source, which brings about some challenges regarding the credibility of the information at hand. While the biography relied on the personal narration of life events as well as on interviews conducted on the people Steve Jobs, had interacted with, Isaac began working on the book in 2009, decades after the actual occurrence of various events. It is possible, through that a great deal of information had been left, out, misrepresented or overlooked merely due to memory loss, death or human error. More crucially it is important to note the fact that at the time of that the biography was being written, Steve Jobs was already a billionaire, public figure and a principal socio-cultural agent across the globe. In this case, therefore, distortions and manipulation of information biases are worth acknowledging. The fact that reputations worth billions of dollars directly through Apple, and indirectly through Jobs were at stake in during the writing of his biography means that a great deal of information could have been intentionally left out.
Conclusion
As a global figure who played a vital role in the development of personal computers, Steve Jobs' contribution to the world cannot be forgotten. The remarkable leadership, intellectual and business acumen that saw him take Apple from a garage-based company to the most valuable company in the world is what places him among the great men of this world. For the rest of the world, much is to be learnt from such a guru, and it is through the analysis of behaviour, action and decision making that people can gain a grasp the mettle form which such men are made. Humanistic, psychoanalytic and cognitive theories provide an elaborate framework through which Steve Jobs' personality can be analyzed, and as depicted above, his personality was vital in seeing achieve the great strides in both businesses, personal life and technology. Steve Jobs life is perhaps the greatest embodiment of the cognitive theory of personality development. Steve Jobs' cognitive capacity was vital in helping him realize change and growth throughout his lifetime. Despite the glaring biases that can be noted in materials and views used in this write-up, it is important to acknowledge the fact that personality was essential in allowing Steve to change and reinvent himself and his companies over time.
References
Carpenter, S., & Huffman, K. (2009). Visualizing psychology . John Wiley & Sons.
Engler, B. (2013). Personality theories . Nelson Education.
Isaacson, W., & Jobs, S. (2011). Simon & Schuster. New York , 344.
Lahey, B. B. (2012). Psychology: an introduction . New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Larsen, R. J., Cervone, D., & Butterworth, J. (2010). Personality psychology: domains of knowledge about human. info: New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
