Aspects of Personality Development, Essay Example

Abstract

The paper discusses various aspects of personality development. The relation of cognition to personality development is discussed. The paper evaluates evolutionary, genetic, and environmental explanations of aggressiveness. The various perspectives of parental influence on children are evaluated. The paper provides a brief discussion of self-efficacy and its relation to personality development.

Personality

Question # 1

Human cognition and personality development are closely related. Cognition and cognitive processes involve and comprise the basic features of a person’s mental organization. Cognition is what people think, how they process information, and how they self-regulate by adjusting behaviors and thoughts and monitoring others’ behaviors (Burger, 1993). In the process of personality development, individuals not only choose their behaviors but think about what they are doing (Engler, 2008). These thoughts produce serious influence on their behavioral choices and are, simultaneously, influenced by the environment in which they develop (Engler, 2008). Cognition predetermines the stimuli each particular individual will recognize, how he (she) will perceive them, and how he (she) will choose to act upon them (Engler, 2008). As a result, cognition is both the mirror and the driver of personality development.

That cognitive processes shape under the influence of both biological and environmental factors is difficult to deny. Individual traits and character features predetermine the stimuli these individuals will choose and the stimuli they will ignore. Meanwhile, personal experiences and the process of interacting with the environment produce a marked impact on one’s beliefs about the reality and shape expectations about the self (Engler, 2008).

Television viewing is the bright example of how cognition influences certain aspects of personality development (e.g. violence). Personality traits and related biological factors shape individual preferences in television viewing (e.g. action movies). These personality traits also predetermine the ways in which cognition will process the information gained from the movies. For example, those who can separate their routine reality from that in the movies will be less likely to grow into a violent, aggressive personality later in life.

Question # 2

The development of aggressive personality is the frequent topic of discussion in psychology. Evolutionary, genetic, and environmental theories provide different views on aggressiveness. From the evolutionary perspective, all humans are members of the larger animal kingdom, and aggression is a pre-programmed personality condition necessary that makes individuals more adaptive to the environment, in which they live (Lorenz, 1966). In the evolutionary context, aggression is a natural element of human behavior that facilitates adaptation and survival in the competitive environment (Lorenz, 1966). Aggression does not simply serve the purpose of optimal spacing in the given territory but leads to the development of the dominant structures and thus promotes natural selection of species (Burger, 1993).

Through the prism of genetics, the situation with aggression looks somewhat different. Genetics treats aggression as the product of hereditary influences and interactions. A belief persists that aggression in males could be the result of some chromosomal abnormalities (the presence of an extra Y chromosome) (Burger, 1993). Also, the process of serotonin and dopamine breakdown could be potentially responsible for aggression (Burger, 1993). Thus, aggression from the genetic perspective is a fully physiological result of personality development, which has nothing to do with the environment.

Yet, environment does play its role in the development of aggressive behavioral patterns. Environmental theories prove that the development of aggressiveness in children can be significantly influenced by the presence of certain environmental stimuli. For example, a child watching a violent movie is more likely to become aggressive compared with children, who do not watch such movies. Also, the presence and use of aggressive toys like guns and toy hammers have a potential to increase the probability of aggressive behavioral reactions in children (Burger, 1993).

Question # 3

Parental influence on a child’s development is the issue of the major professional concern. Theorists and scholars in psychology continue arguing, whether parents produce significant influence on the personality development of their children and what factors matter as children are growing and becoming mature.

When it comes to genetics, parental influence on the child’s development is limited to the transfer of genetic traits from parents to the child. These traits create broad genetic predispositions that influence the ways children respond to particular environmental influences and events. In this sense, parents cannot control what traits their children inherit; nor can they influence their children’s development (Engler, 2008). For example, parents cannot be fully confident that their children will inherit their predisposition to aggressiveness or shyness. As long as genetics is considered as the primary driver of the children’s development, parents can have little or no influence on their child’s personality.

From the evolutionary perspective, parental care is critically important for any child’s development. Human development is characterized by prolonged periods of immaturity and dependency on adults (Seidl-de-Moura, Oliva & Vieira, 2009). Humans, more than any other animals, spend their time feeding and bringing up their children, to make them better prepared to living and competing in their environment (Seidl-de-Moura, Oliva & Vieira, 2009). The more committed parents are to their child’s development, the better the results are. Responsible child rearing results in more effective learning and better child’s preparedness to operate in the complex human social community (Seidl-de-Moura, Oliva & Vieira, 2009).

Finally, behavioral theories treat parents as an essential source of influence on the child’s personality development. Behavioral theories similar to that of B.F. Skinner position parents as essential drivers of children’s behavioral motivation. Taking Skinner’s behavioral theory as an example, parents may choose to reinforce the desired behaviors in children by using positive (encouragement) or negative (punishment) stimuli. In this way, they will reduce the scope of undesired behaviors and lead the development of the child’s personality in the desired direction (Engler, 2008).

Question # 4

Self-efficacy can be defined as the complex of any person’s beliefs and perceptions about his (her) capabilities and performance (Schwarzer, 1992). In other words, self-efficacy is the way people perceive themselves capable of producing the desired performance outcomes. These beliefs strongly affect individual lives and predetermine how people think, motivate themselves, and react to environmental changes and events (Schwarzer,1992).

Self-efficacy is directly related to personality: the ways individuals interpret their successes and failures change the direction of their personality development. For example, easy successes lead individuals to believe in quick results, and the first failure can easily discourage them (Schwarzer, 1992). Perceived capability to overcome difficulties and barriers can serve an effective motivator and move individuals toward the desired goal.

Whether nature or nurture (or both) is responsible for the development of self-efficacy used to be a matter of a hot debate. Today, however, professionals in psychology recognize self-efficacy as the product of environmental influences. In distinction from the personality features that are inherited or partially inherited, self-efficacy is a set of beliefs which are learned during the lifespan (Schwarzer, 1992). Certainly, one should not disregard the role of natural (inherited) features: at times, these inherited traits of personality will serve the basic prism of analyzing experiences, successes, and failures. Nevertheless, self-efficacy continues to be a product of environmental influences and external experiences, which individuals face and from which they learn.

References

Burger, J.M. (1993). Personality, 3^rd edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

Engler, B. (2008). Personality theories. Cengage Learning.

Schwarzer, R. (1992). Self-efficacy: Thought control of action. Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere.

Seidl-de-Moura, M.L., Oliva, A.D. & Vieira, M.L. (2009). Human development in an evolutionary perspective. Avances en Psicologia Latinoamericana, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 252-262.