Psychology of Personality - Essay Example

Draft Psychology of Personality al Affiliation I have had a number of experiences with people using the Ego’s defense mechanisms such as a friend of mine. Whenever he is annoyed, he is always pushed into unconsciousness and he normally try to forget the cause of anxiety. He does not always want to talk about the issue or even engaging in activities that may remind him of the source of anxiety. He prefers suppression during the times of challenges rather than dealing with the matter at hand. Sublimation is another defense mechanism that I have seen a boy in the neighborhood applying by acting out undesirable impulses in a socially tolerable manner. He really loves dissecting tiny living organisms such as insects and would always try to do it with a lot of care. He has now decided to become a surgeon because he feels he can carry out successful operations as he does it to the other microorganisms. I once applied denial as one of the defense mechanisms by arguing against a worry that provokes stimuli by denying its existence. I denied my mathematics results that I did not pass in the lower grades and demanded a remark of the paper. I felt that I had passed in the paper but the teacher did not mark it well. I convinced myself that seeking a second opinion would automatically raise my grade. In another instance, I used displacement as a defense mechanism by taking out impulses on a less frightening target when I failed to beat my friend in a chess competition by slamming a door behind me. I yelled at my siblings and whoever tried to talk to me because I felt disappointed. I was sure of beating him in the competition after thorough practice and promise to defeat him. He instead laughed and celebrated my defeat and that really raised my temper. A friend of mine lost his father in a car crash but he focused his attention on the car damages instead of sadness and grief that marred his family. He really loved the car and had even asked his father to buy him a similar one. He used intellectualization as a defense mechanism by neglecting undesirable emotions by concentrating on the intellectual aspects. I once used projection as a defense mechanism when I lost in an argument with a friend of mine and decided to call him a fool yet in real sense he won the argument intelligently. I wanted to prove myself better than him and this somehow succeeded. In another case, I used rationalization as a defense mechanism when I was denied a book by my friend whom I had carelessly handled his previous books. He claimed that I am not responsible enough to be given possessions but I told my other friends that he refused to give me the book because I was better than him in class. However, the truth was that I had carelessly handled his books and that he did not feel comfortable lending me another one. I was also once forced to engage in an argument where I supported homosexuality although I do not honestly support it because I would have caused anxiety. Most of the people I argued with were supporters of homosexuality and I felt that they could be offended if I argued in the opposite direction. This was a reaction formation because I took an opposite belief by embracing homosexuality. Defense mechanism can be both helpful and harmful depending on various settings. Defense mechanism may greatly help in reducing anxiety and this can be psychologically healthy. Tension reduction is significant as far as application of defense mechanism is concerned. Defense mechanisms such may also enhance problem solving capabilities and further provide a way of dealing with the super ego. When people fail in tests, they may use defense mechanism to build on their areas of weakness. Defense mechanism such as repression may prevent unpleasant ID impulses such as racism from becoming behaviors and suppress unpleasant thoughts from becoming conscious. On the other hand, defense mechanism such as classic use of displacement where individuals perhaps use aggressive impulse and scream at their spouses when they were probably hurt or annoyed somewhere else. This may eventually bring a huge conflict between spouses. On the other hand, use of regression as a defense mechanism may involve giving up of mature problem solving methods in favor of child like approaches such as making an individual with oral fixation to increase cigarette smoking habit when stressed. 2 I am an organized and self directive individual who is always committed to meeting deadlines. I give more than enough time to people I interact with. I normally concentrate on my anxiety, mood and very watchful. I maintain moderate characters and behaviors all the times. However, I normally take note of extreme behavior in me. I always take the most serious things such as loss of a friend, sickness, and exam failure as challenges and devise ways of solving them if possible. I am efficient and determined at everything I do and puts planning ahead of everything I do. I normally ensure that I do things and achieve my targets as fast as possible. I give minimal chance of making mistakes and this makes me a very rigid and strict individual when it comes to handling tasks. My friend is a very messy individual who, although sometimes feel the guilt of messiness, he thinks that the behavior is crucial in determining his daily life success. He has the ability of doing extraordinary things and believes that messiness makes life easy for him. Interestingly, he is a hardworking individual with a high level of intelligence. He argues that planning makes it difficult to deal with emergencies and that organization is risky and covers inner chaos and insecurity. He easily makes mistakes and is increasingly inefficient at times. He does not take things as serious as any other person may do. He is a lazy individual who seems ignorant or rather very forgetful. In most cases we view ourselves as more unique and superior to others. We view others as strangers who do not do things we love doing. We are always the best and would always want to view others in an opponent perspective. We always feel that we are competing and at times expect other people to behave in a particular style. However, we normally appreciate some of the positive sides of others. Viewing others involves consideration of both the negative and positive sides of the individuals we compare ourselves with as well as consideration of our strengths and weaknesses in relation to others. I am the first-born child in our family. Adler argues that birth order position may largely influence individuals’ personality and relationships by shaping them in ways they did not realize. Child’s position in the family helps in determining the view of self and largely contributes to a child’s way of living and that children born in the same do not grow in the same situation. He argues that only children are unique and they grow in an adult populated world making them to work hard in order to achieve an adult level of competence. At times, a child may find it difficult to compete with any success measure and when the child cannot be good, the only children may extremely misbehave. They always develop skills of relating with adults and are always at the centre of attraction. Oldest children are always lucky to have enjoyed being the only children for some time. After the second child, oldest children normally feel dethroned and usually try to regain position of superiority through good deeds. Second born children are always in an uncomfortable situation although being second empowers them to try harder. Second born normally adopt an opposite characteristic with the first borne. Middle children always always struggle to stay ahead and are never sure of their abilities and normally feel dissatisfied with not being given enough recognition for their achievements. On the other hand, youngest children Read More