Personality Development

For this assignment I am going to discuss Freud’s perspective of personality development. Freud used psychoanalytic theories that are based around the emotional development of the personality, whereas Erikson’s psychosocial theory focuses more on the role of social factors in development. Personality development can be broken down into three strands within Freud’s theory: the personality structure, defence mechanisms and psychosexual development.

Personality can be defined as ‘ the distinctive and characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour that define an individual’s personal style, and influence his or her interactions with the environment’. (Atkinson et al, 1992)

Freud developed his theories by psychoanalysing adults, mostly middle-aged women and individuals with personality problems. He used various methods to study his patients, such as, dream analysis; which are interpretations of individual’s dreams as they are a “window on the unconscious” (Davenport, 1988), free association; where the person is given a word or a phrase and encouraged to say the first thing that enters their head and ‘slips of the tongue’; which is when a person says something in error but these can subconsciously reflect what they really mean.

Freud suggests that adult personality is derived from the interaction between the desires for pleasure and how early desires were gratified. He believed that all human behaviour is controlled by drives, which he relates to human instincts. Freud insisted that there are two forces feeding our instinctual urges with energy; the Libido and the Death Instinct; the Libido being a sexual energy and the Death Instinct being more of an aggressive energy.

According to Freud, the adult human mind is made up of three different parts and levels of awareness; the unconscious mind, which he named the ‘Id’; the preconscious mind, which he named the ‘Superego’, and the conscious mind, which he named the ‘Ego’.

The Id is at the centre of a person’s very being. It is the initial part of a human’s personality structure, which exists, right from birth and can be described as the most primitive instinct. This part of the personality craves satisfaction and pleasure; therefore it has been coined ‘the pleasure principle’.

The Ego is known as the second part of the personality structure. This is the part of our personality that keeps us in touch with reality. Its aim is to protect us and it helps us to perform tasks safely; therefore-coined ‘the reality principle’. The Ego controls both other parts of the personality, the Id and the Superego, which help keep our lives in balance.

The last part of the personality structure is the Superego. This is the part that moulds our morals and conscience. It helps prevent us from doing things, which we have learnt and know to be morally wrong; therefore this part has been coined ‘the morality principle’. The ego ideal exists as part of the superego. Rather than telling us what we should not do, the ego ideal tells us what is good and what we should do and be like. If the person has a strong superego they are more likely to have stronger morals than a person with a weak superego.

Because the Id and the Superego are always conflicting against one another, the Ego needs to have strategies to reduce anxiety. This helps push problems away and in a way pretending the problems don’t exist, a form of denial, these are known as defence mechanisms. Another defence mechanism is repression; this is where the Id’s impulses are blocked from reaching the conscious mind. There are a number of other defence mechanisms, including projection; where unacceptable desires or characteristics are projected on to someone else, and displacement; this refers to the transfer of repressed desires or impulses onto a substitute person or object. (Mike Cardwell, 2000) Freud’s contributions with his theories on defence mechanisms are still being practiced today and are experienced as valid and useful.

According to Freud we acquire our personalities in several stages, known as psychosexual development. Freud thought that different parts of our bodies become particularly sensitive as we grow through these different stages; he called these areas erogenous zones. (Davenport, 1988)

As children grow up and are experiencing the stages of psychosexual development, different parts of their bodies become more sensitive, first the mouth, then the anus, then the phallus, and finally the genitals. The libido seeks pleasure through these erogenous zones.

The five different stages of psychosexual development are labelled as:

The Oral Stage – this is the first year of a baby’s life where the baby gains pleasure from sucking and biting. The Id exists here right from birth.

The Anal Stage – this is around the age of one to about three years where the pleasure derives from retaining and expelling faeces. At this stage the Ego begins to develop.

The Phallic Stage – this is around three until six years where the sensitivity is placed around the genitals. This is the where the Oedipal Complex or the Electra Complex unfolds. It is during this stage the Superego starts to develop.

The Latency Period – this is around seven until twelve years where the body seems to have no sensitised area. A child will be more interested in interacting with other people but are not strongly attracted to others.

The Genital Stage – this is around the age of 14 to 17 years. The child becomes more aware of the opposite gender and a sexual awareness is developed.

The Oedipal Conflict that occurs in the Phallic Stage involves the child experiencing feelings of desire for the opposite-sex parent. The child experiences a fear that the same sex parent will find out and punish them for this, resulting in feelings of envy and the development of ‘castration anxiety’. Whilst all this is happening to the child subconsciously, they start to become more like the same sex parent adopting their characteristics to conquer the Oedipal Conflict, (known as the ‘Electra Complex’ in girls). This is known as ‘Identification’. His ideas on psychosexual development are known to be quite controversial, as they seem to be overly obsessed with sexuality. Freud developed the theory that sex was a major motivational force at a time of great sexual repression. This could have caused sex to be something that was repressed in many minds (Beryard & Hayes, 1994).

Freud alleges emotional disturbances that occur in adult life could be to do with poor psychosexual development. He believes that a person could be fixated at an early pleasure seeking stage of the development. This is caused if the child experiences severe problems or excessive gratification at any of the stages. The adult may display regression whereby their behaviour could become less mature and similar to behaviour displayed at the stage, which they are fixated. Freud places great importance on the roles of regression and fixation in determining personality.

Freud’s theories have not been without criticism, they have mostly been criticised for being unscientific. His research support seems to be rather weak as the case studies he carried out mainly consisted of adults, mostly middle-aged women, from the same culture, so the results may be biased. The only child Freud studied was Little Hans, a five-year-old boy, who suffered from a phobia.

Freud’s ‘evidence’ for his explanation of how children’s personalities grow does not come from experiments or any scientifically acceptable means of data collection. It doesn’t even come from observing ‘normal’ children. It comes from the dreams and spoken memory of a relatively small number of people who mostly lived in Vienna, who had some personality ‘problems’. (Davenport, 1988) Another method Freud used to analysis people was hypnosis. This was another widely criticised method, as even Freud admitted himself can be suggestive.

However, despite many criticisms Freud remains known for having the most influential impact in modern psychology, especially in the areas of abnormal behaviour and psychotherapy. Today his ideas are used in everything from childcare, education, literary criticism, and psychiatry. He founded the psychoanalytic movement, which today many Neo-Freudians still actively use, although the emphasis of it is different.

What is South Africa going to look like come 2030! One must understand that our country is not run on instant decisions and spur of the moment choices, but by planning and dedication to making the lives of South African people a much more pleasant journey. Some believe that planning and dedication do not exist in the government today one cannot justify or overrule this statement by simply watching on the surface! Good day to one and all my aim for today is to educate and inform you about the NDP (National Development Plan).

Recently meetings regarding such plans were held in Cape Town and the plans for our beloved Country from 2013 to 2030 have already been finalised. I assure you the information I share with you today is not only legit but accurate and important! The NDP is an outline of the plans the government has for our country in these plans we see the direction that our country will take, whether South Africa will see brighter or questionable future in the days ahead. The vision statement set out by our government is long and promising but as the question arises in all our minds will our government deliver on their promises and plans.

In the vision statement many issues are touched on, issues like how we arrived at our first democratic election, how far we have come from the time of that election, how communities should communicate and how the people of South Africa should hold up their flags proudly because they believe in their country! They speak about economic freedom and how we will all live better lives, lives that are enriched by the fruits of our labour and how we will benefit from our effort put into our beautiful country.

You may say our government has been promising and not delivering for a very long time but I say to you look at how far we have come at how much we have grown, if not for changes and disputes our country would not have matured we would have not had the opportunity to say as a country and a nation as a family that we have made it this far and we are going even further. “It’s our future Make it Work, South Africa belongs to its entire people. We, the people, belong to one another. We live as a rainbow. Our homes, neighbourhoods, villages, towns, and cities are safe and filled with laughter. Through our institutions, we order our lives.

The faces of our children tell of the future we have crafted” – that is the extract from the overview of the NDP. In short the government promises us a blissful life, one without interruptions and problems. The national Development Plan aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people. President Jacob Zuma appointed the National Planning Commission in May 2010 to draft a vision and NDP. The commission is an advisory body consisting of 26 people drawn largely from outside areas due to their experience in their fields.

The report from June 2011 had found major short comings and failure to implement policies as well as an absence of broad partnership as the main reasons for slow progress, and set out nine primary challenges:

1. Too few people work
2. The quality of school education for black people is poor
3. Infrastructure is poorly located, in adequate and under-maintained
4. Space divided by the difficulties experienced in infrastructure and development
5. The economy is unsustainably resource intensive
6. The public health system cannot meet demand or sustain quality
7. public services are uneven and often of poor quality
8. corruption levels are high
9. South Africa remains a divided society

Some estimated facts the government expect in future:

• Increase employment from 13 million in 2010 to 24 million in 2030.
• Raise per capita income from R50 000 in 2010 to R120 000 by 2030.
• Increase the share of national income of the bottom 40 percent from 6 percent to 10 percent.
• Establish a competitive base of infrastructure, human resources and regulatory frameworks.
• Ensure that skilled, technical, professional and managerial posts better reflect the country’s racial, gender and disability makeup. Broaden ownership of assets to historically disadvantaged groups.
• Increase the quality of education so that all children have at least two years of preschool education and all children in grade 3 can read and write.
• Provide affordable access to quality health care while promoting health and wellbeing.
• Establish effective, safe and affordable public transport.
• Produce sufficient energy to support industry at competitive prices, ensuring access for poor households, while reducing carbon emissions per unit of power by about one-third. Ensure that all South Africans have access to clean running water in their homes.
• Make high-speed broadband internet universally available at competitive prices.
• Realise a food trade surplus, with one-third produced by small-scale farmers or households.
• Ensure household food and nutrition security.
• Entrench a social security system covering all working people, with social protection for the poor and other groups in need, such as children and people with disabilities.
• Realise a developmental, capable and ethical state that treats citizens with dignity. Ensure that all people live safely, with an independent and fair criminal justice system.
• Broaden social cohesion and unity while redressing the inequities of the past.
• Play a leading role in continental development, economic integration and human rights.

As we now know, our Leaders have made promises that we can only hope and pray they keep to. Latching onto the leadership so that South Africa will become a nation without fault but a stronger unit an unbreakable family and it all starts with you!!!

TOPIC-Personality development of students Personality Development is the combination of natural talent, personal interest, current opportunity, social environment, character, motivation and how the brain processes information. Each of us has a social personality, which is different from everyone else. Jongeward and Muriel James, in their much talked about book “Born to Win,” talked about how each individual has been born to be a winner.

However, in the course of development, from infancy to adulthood, negligence towards our own potentials took a toll on our progress, and as a result, we are no longer able to use our unique traits to their fullest. Today, education plays an important role for personality development preparing students to face challenges in day to day life has become an important goal of today’s education.

It is only through a programme of personality development that one can break the shackles of traditional closed-door approach to education. Intellectual development was supposed to be the only aim of education for many years. However, the connotation of education has become much larger. Now with the advent of constructivist approach emphasis is given to all-round development of student. The formal education helps intellectuals discover and develop their natural talent.

The main objective of today’s education is development of various abilities and good character along with intellectual growth of students but somewhere this objective is not being fully achieved when the students are endowed with an opportunity to become something mainly right after the college they lose it because of lack of personality development as society does not support the dexterous personality, now a days students they never think about the future.

They are only examination oriented moreover it’s a trend that has been started by the colleges itself that student with good scores are rewarded and other with talent and potential are looked down it is the duty of colleges to groom the students in order to make them compatible with the demands of today’s world by not just making them a part of marks race but also by realizing their potential and talent. Thomas Edison’s short stay in the classroom was a disaster.

His mother pulled him out and gave him a workshop so he could develop his natural skills at his own pace, that’s the impact of education and training on the mind of a person and there are plethora of such examples. Through this research paper I will be dealing with the impact of personality development on students along with the role of colleges in acting as a catalyst for it. http://www. ncte-india. org/pub/other/kireet1/ch4. htm

A reflective essay on self, identity, personality, and factors influencing identity based on James Marcia’s theory on personality development. People come in different shapes and sizes. Some are big while others are small, some are fat and some are slim, some are short while some are tall. People have many similarities. Unless born with a physical defect we all have one head, two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, two arms with five fingers each, and two legs with five toes each. So basically we are all physically alike.

What makes us each uniquely different is our personality inside of us. A personality can be described as a person’s own distinctive character or the qualities that makes someone interesting or popular. Growing up I would wonder how one’s personality could be theorized. My quest was soon over as I learnt of the James Marcia’s theory on personality development. Based on Erik Erikson’s groundbreaking work on identity and psychosocial development in the 1960s, Canadian developmental psychologist James Marcia refined and extended Erikson’s model, primarily focusing on adolescent development.

Addressing Erikson’s notion of identity crisis, Marcia posited that the adolescent stage consists neither of identity resolution nor identity confusion, but rather the degree to which one has explored and committed to an identity in a variety of life domains from vocation, religion, relational choices, gender roles, and so on. Marcia’s theory of identity achievement argues that two distinct parts form an adolescent’s identity: crisis (i. e. a time when one’s values and choices are being reevaluated) and commitment. He defined a crisis as a time of upheaval where old values or choices are being reexamined.

The end outcome of a crisis leads to a commitment made to a certain role or value. These are not stages, but rather processes that adolescents go through. All adolescents will occupy one or more of these states, at least temporarily. But, because these are not stages, people do not progress from one step to the next in a fixed sequence, nor must everyone go through each and every state. Each state is determined by two factors: * Is the adolescent committed to an identity, and * Is the individual searching for their true identity?

These states include: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity Moratorium and identity achievement. I went to one of the best high school in the country. I did well in all subjects I did. I thought I had it all. Paid attention to no one around me, I just ignored it all. People would say someday I would fall but who would have thought they would someday be right. But who would have thought I would have ended up like this. Working on the streets with nowhere to go, nothing to eat, nothing to wear, no money, no one to turn to in my distress.

What can I do? Where can I go? I’m lost in this world like a diffused particle basking in the air. Identity diffusion this is the state of having no clear idea of one’s identity and making no attempt to find that identity. These adolescents may have struggled to find their identity, but they never resolved it, and they seem to have stopped trying. There is no commitment and no searching. Growing up I was always considered by other to be a very brilliant child and I eventually developed the feeling that I was.

My parents enrolled me in the finest school they could afford. In the sixth grade I did the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and attained a pass to attend one of the noblest institutions in the country. I had always had the dream of becoming a teacher but my parents and others thought differently. Everyone in my family were either nurses or doctors hence I felt like I had to follow in their pathway. In my family one would so to primary school then off to high school. During my first three (3) years of high school I was forced to focus on the sciences.

Then during the final two years one would have to sit all three (3) sciences in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate along with seven other subjects. I thought that if I didn’t do well I would disappoint my parents and other family members, hence I just went along fulfilling what I thought was my obligation. Identity Foreclosure this means that the adolescent blindly accepts the identity and values that were given in childhood by families and significant others. The adolescent’s identity is foreclosed until they determine for themselves their true identity.

The adolescent in this state is committed to an identity but not as a result of their own searching or crisis. I have had many friends growing up. I have had many role models. I have tried doing many sports. Only to find who I am. Where I belong in this cold world? In school I tried acquiring many skills; I did many subjects and gained them all. During my years at college I did many courses changing my major over three (3) times; only to find who I really was and what I really wanted to become. I eventually graduated with a degree in medicine.

But I still haven’t found what I was looking for. I am still searching for my purpose in this society. I am still searching for who I really am. Identity Moratorium this is the status in which the adolescent is currently in a crisis, exploring various commitments and is ready to make choices, but has not made a commitment to these choices yet. On the cool winter morning of January 21, 1995 an angel sent from God was born; Alexcia Anglin. At age two I started school, at an early age teachers soon realized I were a brilliant child.

I started Chetwood Memorial Primary school; there I developed a passion for teaching. In the sixth grade I meet the one who turned out to be my role model; Mr. G. Atkinson. Seeing his passion for teaching I then develop a greater passion for teaching and I wanted to emulate him. I then moved on the Mt. Alvernia High School where I met many other teachers who aided in my development and strengthened my desire to become a teacher. Church was also an integral part of my life.

Going to pathfinder’s club on Sunday mornings and associating myself with children regularly I soon realized I loved being around younger children and it was during that point of my life I told myself I wanted to become a primary school teacher. During my high school years I tried my ever best to do well in all the subjects I knew I would need to attain in order to become a teacher. I thought I had everything under control and I thought I was on top but for a while things went sour. I swayed a bit and it seemed as though my dream of becoming a teacher was crushed.

My grades were not at its best but a deep voice inside me kept pushing me and told me to keep holding all, life will get better soon. Soon it was time to apply for college and I sent out my application to the Sam Sharpe Teacher’s college. That was not the end I had to sit eight CSEC subjects. Waiting for my results and a letter of acceptance from the college I was a bit nervous. Every thing eventually worked out I attain all ones and twos in my subjects and I got accepted to the college. Here I am today embracing my dream of becoming a primary school teacher.

Identity Achievement this is the state of having developed well-defined personal values and self-concepts. Their identities may be expanded and further defined in adulthood, but the basics are there. They are committed to an ideology and have a strong sense of ego identity. The core idea of this theory is that one’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made regarding certain personal and social traits. A well-developed identity gives on a sense of one’s strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness.

A person with a less well-developed identity is not able to define his or her personal strengths and weaknesses, and does not have a well articulated sense of self. As teachers we need to be able to cope with the different personalities present in the classroom environment. Students come from different families, different communities and thus have different personalities and are taught different values. The onus is therefore on us as teachers to guide our students into developing socio acceptable values.

Before we can do so, we must first know who we are, know what our values are and our personality. I am Alexcia Anglin a first year student of the Sam Sharpe Teacher’s College and as a result of the knowledge I gained in the Emerging Professional course on James Marcia’s theory on personality development, I have discovered my identity status, which is “IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT” , as I am fulfilling my dreams of becoming a teacher. References * http://www. learning-theories. com/identity-status-theory-marcia. html * http://socialscientist. us/nphs/psychIB/psychpdfs/Marcia. pdf

From the modernization theory up to the present trend about sustainable development and climate change, development planning is a major issue since this dictates the direction in which development will take place. For instance, Earth summit’s Agenda 21 aims to alleviate “worsening poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being. ” The corruption or purity of development will then pave the way for the possibility of addressing severe social dilemmas. The manner by which development is directed is necessary for the rise or fall or every country.

The importance of development planning is even magnified by the Millennium Development Goals which seek to address social dilemmas that paralyzes countries, especially the third world (. In development planning, several aspects must be put into consideration. For one, the demography of a particular setting should be viewed as a profile that will tell the state of development the place has already attained. Demography includes the socio-economic profile that can tell if people satisfy their most basic needs. Women, on the other hand, are another important factor because of the historically-traced experience in repression.

Since 51% of the population is composed of women, they must be seriously put into delicate consideration. They have long experienced struggles, and the status by which they have achieved a degree of equality and freedom from repression indicates development and will then become the starting point of several other development plans. Poverty, on the other hand, is another issue. Poverty or the statuses by which people cannot satisfy their needs should be considered in development planning because only through poverty alleviation will countries attain development.

These issues are even intensified by the issue of pollution because this dilemma leads to environmental degradation. Since most third world countries are in the tropics, they depend largely on the environment. Failure to come up with plans that will conserve and preserve the environment translates to inefficiency of development plans being imposed. These issues are heightened by the current trend known as climate change. Everything now from the social sphere to the political ecology becomes a vicious cycle that has to be addressed by long-term and holistic plans to combat even the worst case scenarios.

Water purity and availability, occupational health and safety, child welfare, and public health are also important considerations that have to be solved. If one partition of the mentioned considerations is not solved, or is not prioritized, development planning has not become true to its integrity. As many tag the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), they are the growing force in the development arena since they carry on the interest of marginalized sectors in the society. The projects that have not been carried out by the government are compensated by the activities performed by the NGOs.

The language of everyday politics might suggest that they are part of the dynamism of politics; however, other sectors might label them as the heroes that save lives in the absence of the government arm that supposedly helps the impoverished. More so, the multilaterals are involved in development planning. They swathe every development subject, from granting “financial aid to technical assistance to pushing for democracy. ” The role of government and state institutions in development planning is truly essential because they are constitutionally tasked to provide the needs of the people in their respective territories.

The state, which is the primary instrument for development, should always be in the service of the citizenry. Many may question the credibility of these institutions, but their role is truly crucial in the developmental aspect. Development is then measured through the assessment if the state is able to provide the needs of the people and if the development considerations are prioritized. The question, furthermore, if the business community is a problem or a solution is subjective because it will only be decided depending on the roles they portray.

However, the present trend about Corporate Social Responsibility acts as the charitable arm of the government to reach out to the people who are not as affluent as the business sector. In Asia, CSR is really trending and even the capitalists hang on to this to escape criticism of them being over-profiteering. Development planning is not an easy task. To address this, stakeholder’s analyses are conducted. This will help in identifying sectoral needs and interests that vary within communities.

The conclusions that will be derived in the stakeholder’s analyses will be beneficial in formulating objectives for development planning. The five entry points for social impact analysis, based on the lecture at City University of Hong Kong, are as follows: Social diversity and gender, Institutions, rules and behaviour, Stakeholders, Participation, and Social risk. The mentioned entry points provide for the framework essential in development planning. The social analysis and project design plus the logframe analysis can also be used. Social analyses may be organic but it will help thoroughly in development planning.

Development planning in labor rights, democracy and national development are the future because these are the trends that have to be followed and assessed. If these were achieved, even the third world countries will have their own comparative advantages. REFERENCES Lecture notes in Development Planning and Analysis. (2010). City University of Hong Kong. Lecture notes in Social Equity Issues in Social Forestry. (2010). University of the Philippines Los Banos. Lecture notes in Reimagining Philippine Politics. (2007). University of the Philippines Los Banos.