The Decisions of an Artist. Whitney Houston - Research Paper Example

?The Decisions of an Artist Introduction Thinking about what one had become since the day he/she was born is something everyone can do during any decision-making experience, where one decides and reflects to come up with a decision, that could change his/her life. However, it is odd not to think that what one had been through is already that change. To “understand” this change and its process is one of the concerns of psychology, the study of human behavior (Reber, 1995, as cited in Henriques, 2004, p. 1208). Accordingly, this paper will go over the life of a very famous music artist that had once captured the hearts of many through her songs, and will discern the changes that had happened in her life. Forces Impacting Her Life A decision is often made due to some known and unknown forces. In psychology, the known forces constitute the conscious state of mind, while the unknown are the ones that fill the “unconsciousness” (Leahy, 1992, as cited in Henriques, 2004, p. 1208). In the life of Whitney Houston, the first-ever female artist who had sold more than a million copies during the first week of her second album’s release (Samuels, 2012, p. 8), several of these forces have brought out the good and the bad side of her. Forces to include the people around her, the kind of life she had chosen to live, and the way she had managed to stand after what has been her greatest fall, as well as her God-given talent, dreams, determination, confidence, and passion in the music industry have all made an impact that changed her life. When she had decided to become a music artist, then got addicted to drugs, and finally went back to being a child of God (Browne, Doyle, Herrera, Hyman, & Vozick-Levinson, 2012, p. 30), her entire decisions were all because of such forces. Her Life’s Major Influences There are two major forces that had influenced Whitney Houston’s life. First is the chemical composition, known as “genes,” found in all human beings. They are the hereditary influences that can mostly be traced in the family; the significant capabilities of parents or relatives inherited by a person from birth (Henriques, 2004, p. 1209). Consequently, Whitney Houston came from a family of singers. Her mother was a “soprano” artist used to sing classic songs. Whitney’s grandmother, Darlene Love, was also a singer. Dionne Warwick, an American singer and actress, was Whitney’s first-degree cousin (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30). Aside from inheriting such captivating voice from her mother, Whitney was also naturally beautiful, with a face even Denzel Washington, her co-star in one of her movies The Preacher’s Wife, had admired (Samuels, 2012, p. 8). She had inherited such beauty from her father (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30). Second is the influence from environment. With Whitney being exposed to a church life at a young age (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30) is the primary reason her songs had soothed her listeners. Both forces are related to the emotional area of psychological development. Her Life’s Influential People As Whitney began her singing career during the early 1980s, there were people who had motivated her to grab the opportunity of a wonderful career at the beginning. Sadly, people had managed to influence her to take drugs during the peak of her career, yet there were still people who had encouraged her to stop, for her to continue the life she had once started and move on despite criticisms. At the start, her family had expected her to finish schooling before taking steps to a desired singing career. In spite being “deferred” by her mother at first, it was still her family who persuaded her to become a singer. With her first attempts singing alongside her mother and being a “backup singer” of various artists at that time, Whitney landed herself a contract in a company label headed by Clive Davis, her mentor. Certainly, there had been people who influenced her decision in taking drugs, but her family, as well as her friends in the industry, had been encouraging her then to start a new life after her failed marriage with Bobby Brown, where most of her family issues begun (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30; Samuels, 2012, p. 8). Theories Explaining Her Personality People had loved Whitney because of her voice (Samuels, 2012, p. 8), thanks to the DNAs she had primarily inherited from her parents (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30). Knowing that Whitney came from a bloodline of singers explains why she had the capability to sing soulful songs and reach extremely incredible, high notes. With this, Hans Eysenck could possibly have Whitney as his example, to affirm his ideas on personality trait theory. A well-known British psychologist, he believed that personality is due to genetics. Whitney’s ability to sing, preferably one of her good personalities, comes from the idea that she had relatives who also have the same ability. However, the theory of behaviorism rejects such idea. For behaviorist, the personality of Whitney, having such an ability to sing beautifully, depends on how her behavior was affected by the environment she was mostly exposed. She had been joining to church choirs when she was young (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30)--a more accepted reason for behaviorist in order to explain such personality of Whitney Houston. The Best Explaining Approach When Whitney had achieved various awards for being such a talented music artist (Samuels, 2012, p. 8), it may be due to the talent she had inherited from her family. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it was the environment that had influenced Whitney more in deciding the life she had when she was still alive. The theoretical approach that can best explain Whitney’s behaviors and achievements, for me, is the behavioral approach. She had been into taking drugs, an interview of Whitney with Diane Sawyer can prove that (Browne et al., 2012, p. 30); however, this action and decision of Whitney, certainly, was not being influenced by any of her family members but the environment and the lifestyle she had when she became famous. References Browne, D., Doyle, P., Herrera, M., Hyman, D., & Vozick-Levinson, S. (2012, March 15). Whitney Houston: The diva and her dark side. Rolling Stone, p. 30. Henriques, G. R. (2004). Psychology defined. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(12), 1207-1221. Samuels, A. (2012, March 5). A hard climb for the girl next door. Newsweek, 159(10), 8. Read More