Individual Personality - Essay Example

How Far can it be argued that a person's personality is determined at birth Introduction In this essay I will argue that despite the advancement in psychology, it is not possible to predetermine an individual personality at birth. The below discussion will do critical analysis of the theories of personality with reference to Freud, Erickson and Skinner making arguments against the mentioned theories. Personality psychology deals with the studies of personality and individual differences, which makes all human beings a different person. Even though we consider ourselves individuals, but the personality theorist are not interested just in similarities and dissimilarities. They are more concerned about the psychological structure of the individuals and how they act and react in different situations. Theories of personality offers an attempt to understanding that how a person is similar or different to others and what are similarities and dissimilarities between one person and one person.. Discussion Freud psychoanalysis theories define human behaviour in three distinctive terms. He divides human personality into three main parts; the ego, superego, and id1. He believes that personality is shaped by the interactions of these three components. Even though Freud emphasized more on libido (sex), but he was the first psychologist to mention that human being are not as rational as they were considered during his time. He clarified that behind reason and rationality, human beings are dependent on family and instincts that determine an individual personality. For example a child whose childhood has been full of abuse and tragedies normally ends up in unhappy adult life. Even though modern therapies can help in such conation, however it has been well known that childhood brought up has a very powerful effect on an individual throughout his life. Even though Freud have extended the notion of sexuality, but his arguments are not universal nor does they truly pre-determine future of a person. Freud also over emphasized the role of sexuality and repression of sex drive. The truth is that there are many more things, which makes an individual identity. There are many factors that shape the life of an adult, such as forces of the social dynamics and interaction among individuals or events in the life of individuals that moulds an individual's personality. Erickson is a Freudian ego-psychologist. He accepts Freud ideas about ego and Oedipal complex2 but he pushed instincts and unconscious out of the personality picture. For him life is composed of eight stages, which are basically different phases of an adult's life, starting from dependence, schooling, work and ending in retirement. All of these are interrelated and it is natural for human being to think of it collectively, otherwise it will not make any sense. The stages or phases differ from country to country and culture to culture. In some culture children continue breast-feeding till later years, while in other they are weaned off at an early stage. Similarly in Western culture independence comes early. In the East normally children are closer to parents, there is rarely independence as long as parents are alive. In modern life, some people retire at an early and live long after retirement for decades, which is far from waiting for death but rather enjoying life. The problem is dividing human life that is composed of childhood; adulthood and old age into eight stages is making it quite confusing. It is rather not suitable to do these petty divisions and sub-divisions, while they are only phases. Erickson theory does provide a framework of life across cultures, however it cannot be applied as universal standard to applied on personality. Skinner's system of behavior modification is based on behaviour modification as he mentions "the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.3" The core idea is reinforcement and punishment. In simple words it is either adding a stimulus to the organism environment or removing it, which is named as operant conditioning. The idea is that behavior can be changed overtime by consistent reinforcement. Even though it differs from Pavlovian conditioning, which deals with involuntary behaviour; operant conditioning is explained by consequences. Skinner ideas are successful in training animals, human beings are quite complex and it would not feasible to bring up a child and change his /her behaviour completely through reward and punishment method. A child's brought is shaped by many things during his life time, such as environment at home, in school, outside world, his friends and classmates, all of these have different impression on a child's life. Above all training a bird and dog can be completed in few weeks and maximum a few months, but bringing up a child is years of hardwork, it is not humanly possible to raise a child in strict robot like manner, where every thing is calculated and then applied to change a child behaviour. Conclusion There is no doubt Freud psychoanalytic concepts have profound influence on personality theories in the 20th century. His psychoanalysis believes that biological and psychological forces within the family affect an individual personality. He emphasis sexual instincts than the social forces are vital elements of a person's brought up. For Freud it was biology or the biological instincts of life and aggression, which shapes an individual personality. Erickson was not biologist like Freud; his view of human behaviour and its development of personality was based on social interaction but based on eight essential stages. His view was that social environment and biological maturation provided each individual a set of crisies that needs to be resolved. Skinner's behaviour modification is based on action and consequences, too simplistic which may work in simple tasks, but over all human personality is too complex to be consistently modified through reward and punishment. The modern theory of personality suggests that personality is shaped by external influences, such as family members and social and cultural environment at large. However the modern knowledge also suggest that genetic factors also play an important role in development of an individual personality. From the above discussion it is clear that the mentioned theories can give a generic idea of personality, but it is not possible to determine an individual personality at birth. Source Lykes, B. (1985). Gender and personality. : Duke University Press. Sigmund freud. (2006). Retrieved Apr. 08, 2006, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud. Boeree , G. (n.d.). Personality theories. Retrieved Apr. 08, 2006, from http://www.ship.edu/cgboeree/perscontents.html. Read More