1. PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
5.1

2. Personality Development
Objectives:
What are the four main factors that affect the development of personality?
How does isolation in childhood affect development?

3. Introduction Social scientists refer to:
personality: as the sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristic of an individual
Determines:
how we adjust to our environment
react in specific situations
No two individuals have the same personality
Each person:
own way of interacting with others and with their social environment
Own temperament, or emotional nature

4. Personality Development
NATURE VS NUTURE
Argument 1:
Genetics (heredity)-Nature: transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children
Argument 2:
Social environment- contact with other people- Nurture
Genetics vs. Environment
Nature vs Nurture

5. Personality Development
NATURE ARGUEMENT
Much of the nature viewpoint held through the 1800’s
states that much of human behavior is instinct
Instinct- unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern
Often applied to animal behavior
Humans are driven instinctually to:
laugh, motherhood, warfare, religion, capitalism, and even creation of society
1900’s: social scientists claimed to have found over 10,000 human instincts

6. Personality Development
NUTURE ARGUMENT
Person’s behavior and personality are the result of his or her social environment and learning
Pavlov and his dogs…..
Sociobiology: systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior
Argue that most human social life is determined by biological factors
Most social scientists assume that personality and social behavior result from a blending of hereditary and social environmental influences

7. Personality Development
Four factors that influence personality and behavior:
Heredity—physical traits, aptitudes, inherited characteristics, biological drives, limits
Aptitude- capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge
Examples: sports, music, drawing etc
Environmental factors: how parents responds to their children aptitudes; encourage or discourage or do nothing at all

8. Personality Development
Sets limits on human in individuals- not good at music probably will not become a great musician; five feet tall wont play in the NBA
Place limits on what a person can do but does not determine what a person will do

9. Personality Development
2) Birth Order—personalities are shaped by siblings and the order in which we are born
Children have different views of the world as only children
1st born: more achievement oriented and responsible; defender of status quo
Latter born: less responsible, tend to be better in social relationships and to be more affectionate and friendly; risk takers and social and intellectual rebels

10. Personality Development
3.) Parental Characteristics: influenced by parental characteristics, such as age, education, religion, and economic status
Parents who have children in their twenties relate differently to parents who have their children in their thirties

11. Personality Development
4.) Cultural Environment: determines the basic personality types found in a society
Culture gives rise to a series of personality traits:
model personalities- typical for that society
U.S. -competitiveness, assertiveness, and individualism

12. Personality Development
Boys and girls are treated differently at the time of birth
Nudged in different directions- clothing, toys, types of play, speech habits
Family traditions: Italian, Polish, Chinese etc. and American

13. Personality Development
Isolation in Childhood
Raised without the influence of cultural environment
Feral children- wild or untamed children- found living with animals
Some children isolated in their homes by parents or family members so that no one knew of their existence

14. Personality Development
Isolation in Childhood
Both had few human characteristics
No reasoning ability, no manners, and no ability to control their bodily functions
Isolation can have severe consequences such as developmental disabilities (mental, physical, social, and psychological), malnutrition, and death