A person’s personality is a vast and intriguing field for research. For its study, many theories have been developed throughout history, through the prism of which new sides and aspects of man are revealed. It is worth noting that a remarkable influence on the development of people’s personality is played by their backgrounds, such as childhood, upbringing, major life decisions, temperament, and social circles. The analysis of the personal characteristics of individuals contributes to the understanding of the theories that study them and the realization that they provide implicit and explicit assumptions about human nature. Moreover, researchers get the opportunity to consider this aspect from a variety of points of view, which will give a more holistic understanding.
Thus, the focus of this work becomes the study of the personality of one of the familiar people in order to gain a better understanding of how this part of the individual is formed and develops. I decided to take my sister as the basis of the analysis, with whom we are pretty close, and I know a lot about her life. This factor will allow me to conduct more effective and productive research. In addition, the examination used personality theories developed by Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, Staats, and the humanistic theory by Carl Rogers.
Carl Jung Personality Theory
The first theory that will be used to analyze the personality of my sister, her name is June, is the theory of Carl Jung. According to this approach, the human psyche is based on the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious (Carducci, 2020). The first consists of the emotions experienced, experiences, and memories of an individual and is the basis of what a person understands by identity. The unconscious, in turn, consists of the personal unconscious or forgotten memories and the collective unconscious, which includes all the knowledge of humanity. It was this aspect that aroused my most significant interest when conducting June’s examination since, according to this theory, the past experience of the ancestors has an impact on subsequent generations.
Furthermore, I believe that the knowledge and concepts about this world passed on to her by her parents and the environment played an essential role in the formation of her sister as a person. An example would be the value of family over career growth. Henceforth, June preferred to choose personal relationships instead of professional development, which forced her to make an important life decision and move far away from her loved ones and relatives for her husband. Moreover, it also affected the patterns of behavior and motivation that June adopted from her parents and close associates. The model of getting a reward for good job performance is a great way to motivate a sister.
Karen Horney’s Theory of Neurotic Needs
The following theory that seemed to be quite interesting in the field of studying personality traits was the theory of neurotic needs. The author Karen Horney formed it based on the fact that the primary motivation for people is the presence of fundamental insecurity (Vanacore, 2020). This is because individuals may experience fear of failure. Thus, they are ready to perform various kinds of actions to achieve the best results while not understanding the value of the success that they achieved earlier. This postulate makes a valuable contribution to understanding how June’s motivation, described in the previous section, works. Hence, it is possible that achieving the highest results is not an inner desire of a sister but a fear of being worse than others. This is also facilitated by the fact that she is the third child in the family and was constantly under pressure from her parents that she should be as successful as her siblings.
Moreover, the theory notes that people may experience excitement or neurosis when interacting with other members of society. This circumstance can also be seen in the behavior of the sister, who is experiencing some difficulties when meeting new people. Because of this, June is under much stress at her new place of residence, where she does not know anyone besides her husband. The reasons for this circumstance, according to Horney, may be indifference or lack of respect for the child’s individual needs and reliable warmth (Vanacore, 2020). This is also confirmed by the fact that due to upbringing in a large family, where the difference between the eldest and youngest child is five years, as a child, June could experience a lack of attention and parental care, which provoked an exciting state. Thus, it only intensified at an older age due to the lack of proper psychological assistance from specialists and due emphasis from parents.
In addition, after studying the information about the primary neurotic needs, the study concluded that June is characterized by the need that moves people towards others. Therefore, it consists of the desire to receive approval from society, which a person did not receive from his immediate environment, especially from his parents. Moreover, such people are characterized as needy or clingy, which for some may seem like negative traits.
Alfred Adler Personality Theory
The next theory that has been used to gain a better understanding of June’s personality and what factors influence this process is Alfred Adler’s personality theory or individual psychology. For this scientist, personality is built as a result of the ways in which people respond and react to the changes and life problems occurring around them (Sabates, 2020). I think this aspect applies to June perfectly because after a significant life change, moving to a completely unfamiliar place, she began to get out of her comfort zone slowly and gradually interact more with people. Also, the life problem that critically affected the sister was the loss of a close relative in adolescence. She has become more judicious, conscious, and mature. In other words, June’s attitude to life has changed, and, moreover, her relationships with relatives and family, with whom she spent much time, began to improve and improve.
In addition, according to Adler’s theory, every person experiences a sense of inferiority, thereby taking actions to achieve superiority. This echoes the previous theory of Karen Horney, who considers the formation of personal motivation as a desire to be better than others. Adler, in turn, understands this aspect as the main one in how people behave and what they think about what is happening in their lives. Thus, the feeling that June understands herself as inferior or insufficiently occupied forces her to act in order to merit the opposite status. It also affects her way of interacting with others and reacting to what is happening in her life. Inferiority complex can also develop a sense of guilt in a person, which also comes from childhood and needs to be worked out since it can slow down the correct and full-fledged development of the personality.
Contrary to Carl Jung’s theory of personality, Adler believes that people themselves are responsible for how they perceive life; that is, it is not affected by the experience of their ancestors. This is supported by the fact that individuals set goals that are the basis of motivation. This suggestion can only partially be attributed to my sister since she still inherited the life goals that her parents passed on to her. However, they help her understand how to act and what to pay attention to, and what decisions are best taken to achieve these aims.
Arthur Staats Psychological Behaviorism
The latest personality theory through which the personality of my sister June and how it affects her behavior and life decisions has been investigated is psychological behaviorism developed by Arthur Staats. Thus, the scientist determined that human psychology can be determined using observable behaviors (Guercio, 2020). The leading indicators that contribute to the interpretation of personality are emotions, personality, and learning. A valuable contribution of this approach to the study of the psychology of individuals is that the theory believes that the studied behavior forms how a person his personal characteristics. Moreover, it is believed that the motivation and behavior that a person shows are formed as a result of positive and negative reinforcements.
Hence, psychological behaviorism has become an effective tool for the deployment of June’s personality. For example, it helped to gain awareness that, after all, the upbringing method dramatically affects how a person grows up. The alienation and lack of attention that my sister experienced were reflected in her unwillingness to be alone all the time. At the same time, she experiences excitement when interacting with others because of the fear of being inferior, as she is constantly compared with her siblings. In addition, frequent negative reinforcement that she is not good enough compared to older children influenced the formation of the girl’s behavior.
Another essential part of Adler’s theory is the primary behavioral repertoire. This aspect lies in the ways individuals cope with certain situations that arise in life (). It is worth noting that the sensory-motor repertoire, which is responsible for social interactions and attention skills, was rather poorly developed in June. This is because, in the absence of correct and healthy communication models in the family, the girl is not able to integrate into new teams and make acquaintances fully. For example, June, in the first year of high school, had difficulty finding friends. When moving to a new workplace, the girl also could not immediately find a common language with her colleagues.
Humanistic Theory
In the course of the research work, in addition to the use of personality theories, humanistic psychology by Carl Rodgers was used. Its introduction to the work helped to gain even more insight into the characteristics of June. The peculiarity of this approach is that this theory adheres to the opinion that people are responsible for what their internal and external world is. Additionally, great importance was given to being in the present with all the emotions, relationships, situations, and problems that occur in it (Woodward, 2020). In the context of the humanistic psychologist Rogers, free will and human potential for goodness is of particular interest.
After analyzing the knowledge related to this theory, it was concluded that the experience experienced by a person plays a vital role in personal characteristics. Therefore, a traumatic childhood experience can cause problems with self-esteem, interaction with others, or ways to achieve goals and solve problems. As previous theories have already confirmed, the separation from the parents affected June’s clinginess and high level of affection. Moreover, due to the constant reminder of the success of the older siblings, the girl constantly feels the need to surpass others and prove that she is worthy and superior.
Interest was also aroused by the concept of dividing the personality of individuals into ideal and authentic selves. Following the names, the first is understood by whom people want to see themselves, and the second by who they really are. As a consequence, these concepts can vary greatly; however, if they coincide, then we can assume that a person has a solid and acute self-concept. This fact is reflected in the ability to make sound life decisions, effectively cope with problems and have a high level of self-awareness. Nevertheless, this concept cannot be applied to my sister June, as she is having difficulties with it. In addition, the decision-making process causes her fear, as the girl is worried about the possibility of failure, which will affect the occurrence of a negative assessment from others.
I believe my sister could have benefited from therapy. Due to injuries such as neglect and lack of attention, she had problems with personality formation. Moreover, it affects how June perceives the world around her and interacts with other members of society. In the course of research work and analyzed theories of personality, I believe that Karen Horney’s theory can help her. This choice is supported by the fact that this approach is based on the neurotic side of the personality. Henceforth, the excitement that the girl is experiencing does not allow her to function sensibly.
Recent Developments in the Field of Personality
Developments in the field of personality study and analysis constantly occur, which is reflected in the improvement of existing theories and practices. This is critically important since society does not stand still and goes through changes, which also affect people and their psychological state. Therefore, one of these developments is the formation of a general concept of personality and its main characteristics. This contributes to informing of understanding of the person and provides new insights on the topic under study.
In addition, scientists in the field of personality psychology are constantly acquiring new data and updating information known about the ways of behavior, reactions, and concepts of self-awareness of individuals. This was facilitated by the fact that more and more researchers are conducting various kinds of experiments and examinations, which give fruitful results. Additionally, psychologists have now changed their views on how people perceive their own personalities. Therefore, such individuals interact most efficiently with society, correctly assess and judge the situations that occur with them and are more focused on cooperation than on detachment. At the same time, it is worth noting that all the mentioned developments are not something entirely new but only play the role of an improving mechanism.
References
Carducci, B. J. (2020). Carl Jung. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 73-78. Web.
Guercio, J. M. (2020). The importance of a deeper knowledge of the history and theoretical foundations of behaviorism and behavior therapy: Part 2—1960–1985. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 20(3), 174. Web.
Sabates, A. M. (2020). Individual psychology of Alfred Adler. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 111-115. Web.
Vanacore, S. M. (2020). Karen Horney. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 67-71. Web.
Woodward, L. (2020). Carl Rogers. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 95-99. Web.