Theories of Personality - Research Paper Example

 Theories of Personality Many theorists have proposed different theories of personality in explaining individual’s personality and their behavior. Generally, personality theories are manifestations of cultural background, individual experiences and their personalities (Feist, Gregory and Roberts, 2013). Erick Erikson's theory of psychosocial development theory refers to the development of individual’s personality as well as acquisition of social values and skills right from childhood through maturity. This paper provides a thoughtful discussion of personality theories particularly Erick Erikson’s psychosocial development theory denoting reasons why it is the best and most accurate personality theory. Furthermore, the second part of this paper will explain how this theory applies to my future professional interests, that is, behavior therapists particularly dealing with children diagnosed with autism. Similar to other theorists, Erikson believed that individual’s personality develops in a predetermined order and builds up upon the previous stage. He presents a systematic stepwise strategy noting particular activities to be completed at every stage (Townsend, 2012). Moreover, Erikson explains the effect of social experience across people’s lifespan and according to him; individual social experiences in each stage serve as a turning point in their development. Erikson focuses on the development of ego identity, which refers to the conscious sense of self that is established through social interaction, and he argues that people’s ego identity changes constantly as they are exposed to new experiences and information resulting from our daily interactions. Firstly, Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is very important in understand individual’s development right from childhood throughout their life. He provides a very detailed explanation how one develops their personality using the eight stages of development. Erikson’s theory involves socio-cultural aspects in determining individuals’ personality development (Townsend, 2012). In addition, believes that a person’s childhood is very crucial in personality development. This theory claims that successful completion of each stage leads to a healthy personality as well as acquisition of valuable social values and he believes that the way people resolve these stages depends on culture. However, if any stage is not completed successfully, there will be minimized chances to complete further stages hence unhealthy personality. Moreover, Erikson considers social experience and other aspects in explaining personality development unlike Sigmund Freud who only focuses on sexual factors. Unlike other theorists, Erikson’s theory of personality development covers the whole lifespan including adulthood, for instance, Erikson does not agree that sexuality can be used to explain people’s personality in seclusion because consideration of other issues like social experiences is very necessary in order to provide an effective analysis of personality. Furthermore, Erikson’s theory provides enough information in understanding how to deal with individuals, most importantly, the children. According to Erikson, children learn to develop trust especially when their guardians show then care and affection. More so, when they reach a particular age and personality stage, they develop a sense of control in that they learn how to manage certain activities and try to be independent as much as possible. In addition, this theory argues that with time, children learn to cope up with certain conditions and happenings around them especially when they develop the sense of trust. Developing trust during the early stages of development enables individuals to have the feeling of securing and personal wellbeing later on (Schultz and Schultz, 2005). Individuals are also capable or developing and maintaining mutual relationships between them. Moreover, Erikson introduced the term crisis to refer to internal conflicts associated with the developmental stages. Overall, Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development has contributed significantly especially in understanding personality development throughout individuals lives. Erikson clarifies all these issues in his theory of personality and provides a convincing explanation of how individuals’ personality develops at each stage and this makes it to be the most appropriate personality theory that interests many psychologists as well as other scholars. This theory is compatible with my future profession since my dream career goal is to become a behavior therapist dealing with children with autism. Currently, I am a special education teacher particularly teaching preschoolers aged 3 to 5 diagnosed with autism. Autism is a developmental disorder that interferes with the development of a person’s brain of social and communication skills and it is usually diagnosed in early childhood. Normally, children who have been diagnosed with this disorder have communication problems, show repetitive behaviors and fear to interact freely with others. They usually have problem talking with others facing them directly and they tend to say the same word repetitively as a way of calming themselves down. Autism remains part of an individual’s life throughout because there is no cure to treat or eradicate it. However, there are certain treatments like behavior and communication therapies to suppress some of the symptoms. Autism creates many changes especially to the families whose children have this condition because autistic children have poor understanding of the parents and people around them and the environment as a whole. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory is very relevant and can be applied when dealing with children diagnosed with autism since it focuses on individuals’ physical, mental as well as psychological development. Moreover, his stages of personality development from childhood and the tasks to be completed at each stage can be applied when working with children with autism. Children diagnosed by autism need to be shown care love and enough support in order to motivate them. Accordingly, these children have to develop a sense of trust so as to promote their social interactions and encourage interacting with others not to shun away from relationships. Furthermore, children with a well-developed sense of trust are likely to become sociable (Schultz and Schultz, 2005). They also need to be encouraged and taught on how to be independent and believe in themselves and all these can be achieved when Erikson’s theory of personality development is understood and analyzed effectively. Concisely, Erikson’s psychosocial development theory is one of the best personality theories in psychology and incorporates the socio-cultural aspects in explaining individual’s personality. According to Erikson, there is a predetermined order in personality development and provides eight stages of personality development with an outline of tasks to be completed at each stage. Additionally, he claims that all the tasks in each stage should be completed successfully in order to develop a healthy personality but failure to complete these tasks leads to ineffective personality development. Erikson’s theory is very significant in explaining personality development since it covers the entire lifespan, from childhood to adulthood. Additionally, psychosocial development theory of personality provides very detailed information on how to handle individuals at different life stages to ensure that their personality develops as required to fit in the society. Moreover, this theory can relevantly be applied when dealing with children diagnosed with autism. This is so because one way to treat autism symptoms includes behavior therapy and this can be effectively done with the help of Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development. Proper behavior therapy can help children diagnosed with autism to effectively cope up with their parents, other people as well as their surroundings. References Feist, J., Feist, G., & Roberts, T. (2013). Theories of Personality. (8ed., p.19). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2005). Theories of Personality. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth. Townsend, M. C. (2012). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Concepts of Care in Evidence-Based Practice. Philadelphia: F.A. 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