PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
5.1
Personality Development
Objectives:
1) What are the four main factors that affect the
development of personality?
2) How does isolation in childhood affect
development?
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
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 peopleNurture
 Genetics vs. Environment
Nature vs Nurture
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
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
Personality Development
Four factors that influence personality and
behavior:
1) 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
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
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
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
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
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
Personality Development
Isolation in Childhood
Raised without the influence of cultural
environment
Feral children- wild or untamed childrenfound living with animals
Some children isolated in their homes by
parents or family members so that no one
knew of their existence
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