Success in the Conceptual Age - Assignment Example

Success in the Conceptual Age The Paper: By looking into the theories of personality and human development, it becomes crystal clear that socialization process certainly leaves its indelible impact on the thinking and growth of the individuals. It is therefore the theorists declare socialization very important one for the cognitive and emotional development of the people (Akers, 2004). Somehow, the theorists supporting Nature-theory view innate characteristics and personality traits as vital in construction of a personality (Fleming, 2000). The same could be witnessed by making an in-depth analysis of the personality under-examination. I have selected a retired librarian for conducting his interview in order to identify his social and psychological developments since his childhood. The respondent was in my acquaintance during my educational years, when I was student of psychology, while he was rendering his services at senior librarian in Sociology Department of the university. I had met him only twice in order to request for books on social psychology to study them for my examinations. Hence, he was not a close associate of me. However, his obliging and kind behavior impressed me to a great extent. The respondent will be addressed as Matthew here for research purpose, which is not his real name, actually. Matthew, 62 years old, had got retired from his job two years back, and was spending most of his time in meditation and prayers, or in attending his family members. He also visited his friends, ex-colleagues and relatives as well, which reflected his congenial and friendly nature, and proved him as sociable individual. While discussing his childhood, he declared him as the member of lower middle stratum of society, where he brought up under the supervision of his conservative but loving and caring parents. His parents were extremely disciplined, mannered and committed to their jobs, and taught him the lessons of honesty, integrity and fair play. Contrary to his elder brother Ronald, who was two years senior to him, Matthew by nature, was an obedient and intelligent boy, who not only complied with the commands of his elders, but also paid due heed to his studies. He, after completing his homework, used to visit the playground, and spent nearly 1 hour daily at there. Being a keen observer, he found most of his peers involved into cheating and deceiving the play-mates in order to win the game, and his brother was also among the cheaters. Although he learnt at there that some level of dishonesty is necessary for winning the matches, yet he also found that cheaters lose their respect in the eyes of others. Thus, he did not learn bad habits from his brother, even both consumed many hours under the same environment at home and school. Here appears biological-psychological theory by renowned Swiss theorist Lombroso, who submits to state that the criminals and offenders have similar facial and physical features, which are quite different to the non-offenders and normal people (Fleming, 2000). Matthew informed me that he was a regular church attendant since childhood, and visited there with his parents on every Sunday. He was intelligent and hardworking student at school, and used to obtain good grades in studies. Somehow, being somewhat shy by nature, he could not earn prominent place in the classroom. It was actually his shyness that did not let him mix up with the members of opposite gender, and he always felt it to hard to participate in extra-curricular activities like debates, discussions and speech contests. However, he was good in sports and games, and felt comfortable while communicating with male classmates and playmates. He, in his later years, concluded that confident and sharp individuals make sure headway towards prominence and position in society, while the simple and extra-gentlemen look far behind from them in the race of educational and professional growth. The respondent passed his graduation from a well-reputed college with specialization in library science, sociology and professional ethics. He had to make hard struggle for employment, and subsequently was appointed as assistant librarian, and reached at the position of chief librarian because of his hard work, integrity and professionalism he displayed throughout his career. He was considered to be reliable and tolerant person towards the co-workers and university students, though some of them regarded him as mere a laggard and foolish man, who had no concern with fast climbing the career ladder at a state of perfect competition all around. Being a member of religious culture and conservative background, the respondent abstained from drugs and alcohol throughout his life. Somehow, he was a social smoker in his youth, though he gave up smoking for good in his early 40s after the birth of his only daughter. Hence, he remained far away from drugs and chemicals, and psychological disliked addiction from the core of his heart. On my question about his romantic life, the respondent hesitantly described his two love affairs in school and at the beginning of his career life; however, since Matthew was brought up in a sophisticated and law-abiding culture, he did not get involved into any extra-marital sexual relationships, and his romances remained confined to dining out, dancing and fun-making only with the girls of his choice. The respondent informed me that he could not marry the girl of his choice, as she got involved in some other person only few months after the beginning of their love affair. I also detected some latent homosexual elements in his personality, because of his lack of confidence in mixing with the girls. He found some attractiveness in feminine-looking boys at school and professional life. He also declared same-sex tendencies as the outcome of his intimacy at school with one of his male teachers, who was not only a bisexual, but also urged the students to be open about the sexual orientation. Nevertheless, the respondent denied any practical same-sex experiences throughout his life span because of strict restriction for the same manifestly stated in the Scripture. Here appears Learning Theory of Psychology, which argues that man enters this world with the mind as clean slate; it is society that corrupts him by teaching and transferring evil to him (Grusec, 1992). Bandura is of the opinion that learning process starts from home, which is actually the very first institution of learning for a child. Since man is not familiar with any perversion or deviant behavior, it is other members of society, through whom he learns crimes and delinquent behavior. During the interview, Matthew vehemently condemned corruption, favoritism and irregularities prevailing all around him throughout his career; it is therefore, he was regarded as one of the most dedicated and honest employees of the university, where he worked as librarian. He admitted the very reality that foul play had its role in the progress of the individuals, though abstinence from the same kept human contented and satisfied for the future years to come. Thus, he did not learn anything adverse from his colleagues in later years of his life due to the very fact that he had already experienced socialization process from the positive thinking and mannerism of his parents. After conducting the interview, I arrayed the findings, and examined the same in the light of psychological theories in order to assess the personality in different angles. He was not only intelligent and hardworking person, but also possessed some negative qualities. I found him a coward and having lack of courage and determination essential for leading a happy and more successful life. Being a sluggish and down-to-earth type of personality, he did not switch from one organization to the other, and remained stuck to one famous Public Sector University only, because of the perils and fears of becoming the prey to unemployment. Thus, he preferred certain and secure job to better employment perspectives due to lack of courage and adoptability in his personality. To conclude, both nature and nurture play their role in the brought up and socialization process of the individuals, though the former appears to be more effective, dominant and long lasting one in comparison with the latter. Since positive and negative personality traits of the parents are transferred to their next generation, children by nature have the qualities of the parents; somehow, sometimes positive and constructive characteristics appear in some children, while some children get negative and destructive traits while entering the world. The same can also be found by examining the data found in the personality of the interviewee of this research study. References Fleming, Rebecca B. (2001) Scanty Goatees and Palmar Tattoos: Cesare Lombroso’s Influence on Science and Popular Option Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize The Concord Review Inc. Retrieved on October 11, 2012 http://www.tcr.org/tcr/essays/EPrize_Lombroso.pdf Grusec, Joan E. (1992) Social Learning Theory and Developmental Psychology: the Legacies of Robert Sears and Albert Bandura American Psychological Association Volume 28 No. 5 776-786 Huitt, W. (2007) Success in the Conceptual Age: Another paradigm shift. 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