Life Span Development and Personality - Assignment Example

Life Span Development and Personality Insert Insert Due Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that is concerned with how human beings change over the course of their lives. This change touches on the cognitive skills, motor skills, personality, social change amongst others. This article focuses on the life of Malcolm X in relation to this study. Malcolm was a widely known human rights activist and a recogonized member of the Nation of Islam. He went through a rough childhood after the death of his father, and his mother having been put away in a mental institution(X & Haley, 1992). The changes that took place in his life right from adulthood can be explained using developmental psychology. With regards to nurture, social constuctivism is one of the theories that can be used to explain the change that occurred in Malcolm X’ s life regarding religion. His father was a staunch Baptist minister, but Malcolm chose the Islam way of life after having interactions with Muslims during his time in prison. His social development with regards to religion thus started off after he converted to Islam, and became a very prominent person in the Nation of Islam. The external environment that Malcolm X was exposed to greatly influenced the choices that he made with regards to the way he handled his emotions. Malcolm’s father was killed when he was still very young. He blamed his death on the Black Legion movement which was a political movement united against black people. This experience haunted Malcolm as a child, and he grew up with a negative attitude towards white people. This was further fuelled by his teacher discouraging him from pursuing law because it was not a profession for black people. Malcolm was arrested and taken to prison after he had stolen from rich white people. This was fuelled by his bitterness towards people of the white race because he blamed them for the misfortunes of his family(X & Haley, 1992). The environment can also be credited for Malcolm’s moral development. After he becomes a Muslim, Malcolm chose to observe the Islam laws to the latter, even the one on maintaining celibacy till marriage. However, prior to this conversion, Malcolm had lived a rough lie that had been characterized with thugery and sexual relations with other men for money. Could be he was looking for his identity as a young man growing up in a rough racial world. It can also be related to the sudden disruption of his family life after his father was murdered and he together with his siblings were put up in foster homes where the care they were given was not as comparable to what they had at home. His inappropriate morals as a young man were basically based upon his early life experiences, and were only later changed with his new religious way of life. Heredity on the other hand also made a significant impact in Malcolm’s psychological development. This is based on the fact that he was of a black descent right from birth. At this time there were severe cases of injustices against people of the black skin color. It therefore descended upon Malcolm to lead his fellow black people into liberation through the Nation of Islam which was composed of black people. This further impacted on his social development because he interacted only with black people until later when he went to Mecca and came back saying that for the first time in his life he had witnessed black and white people treating each other as brothers. Malcolm was a bright student at school, and was eloquent in his speech. It is this eloquence which made him be selected as one of the active members of the Nation of Islam organization. His cognitive development can be related to with regards to this, since it is responsible for mental growth, and language acquisition as well. This mental sharpness can be related to his genes, hence his parents can be credited for his mental capabilities. Malcolm’s family issues impacted negatively to his developmental growth in that he was deprived of the love and attention that he needed as a young boy from his parents, right after his father’s death (Håkansson, 2010). He grew up away from his family members and this could have been the reason why he indulged in burglary to get this attention that he was not given as a child. On the other hand, the social support systems such as the Nation of Islam organization which advocated for the rights of the black people played an important role in, Malcolm’s social development, since it is through this platform that he began advocating for the rights of the black people. Two personality theories can be used to further explain Malcolm’s psychological development. With regard to behaviorists theory, which explains personality based on external effects of stimuli on behavior, Malcolm was arrested after he had been involved in a robbery. He was jailed but was paroled after 7 years (Hurlock, 1968). We do not hear of another case of him stealing again. This could be based on his new found religion, or the fact that he knew that stealing could possibly land him in jail another time. It is also his time in prison that he changed to become a relatively good person after adopting a new religion. On the other hand social cognitive theory can also be used to explain Malcolm’s behaviors, especially in his later stages of life. Social cognitive theory explains personality with regards to cognitive judgments especially with regards to other people(Håkansson, 2010). Malcolm was born into a world where black liberation movements were being formed to fight for the rights of the black people. He judged racism as being bad and this judgment made him to start fighting for what he believed in his mind, and based also on what people like his father believed were right. Malcolm X’s personality traits are best explained through the social cognitive theory. This is because Malcolm grew up with a father who was a civil rights activist and an ardent supporter of Marcus Garvey, the leader of the Black nationalist movement. He could have drawn his ideas based on his fathers judgements. He later met Elijah Muhammed the Nation of Islam leader who he viewed as a role model. Muhammed was also vocal in his fight for black liberation. Malcolm therefore drew his judgements of what to fight for and against based on what his role models believed and supported(Hurlock, 1968). Bibliography Hurlock, E. (1968). Developmental psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. Håkansson, J. (2010). Developmental psychology. New York: Nova Science Publishers. X, M., & Haley, A. (1992). The autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books. Read More