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Biological influence on personality
Biological influence on personality
Effect of heredity on personality development
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On the outside Demi Lovato was every young girl’s idol in the late 2000’s. Lovato had her own successful television show, Sonny With a Chance on Disney Channel and starred in the Camp Rock movie series with the Jonas Brothers. However, on the inside she was suffering from multiple mental illnesses. She has suffered from bulimia, self-harm, anorexia, and depression. In 2011, she was officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Since hitting rock bottom in 2010 she is slowly recovering from her mental illnesses. Bipolar disorder is described as unusual shifts in mood, activity levels, and energy (Bipolar Disorder). Specifically, Lovato suffered from bipolar depression (Be Vocal). Recently, she partnered with five mental health companies to promote …show more content…
The evolutionary perspective focuses on how evolution has shaped the human mind and behavior. It reinforces how over time humans adapt to their environment and how adaptive traits are passed on to future generations. The beneficial adaptations are gained through natural selection or survival of the fittest. When applied to Demi Lovato’s case, her illness is explained by the human need to fit in with the majority. When she was 8 she began eating compulsively to deal with her emotions (Fox News). Lovato’s explains her compulsive behavior by saying, “I would bake cookies and then eat the whole pan” (Toomey). In her early childhood she was bullied for her weight gain by the compulsive eating. Lovato then felt the need to be skinny and fit in with society’s strict standards of weight (Toomey). She felt pressure to conform to societal standards. Psychologists would point to the bullying as the need to conform. Lovato sensed that she needed to lose weight to gain the acceptance of others. She needed protection to shield her from the harsh bullies. Since the beginning of time humans have felt the demand to fit in with the crowd. People have always been afraid of being in the minority and sticking out. The desire to fit in has been passed on from previous human generations. Conformity was adaptive because when people form a group there is an increased chance of survival (Hagen). An early …show more content…
The behavioral perspective focuses on how prior experiences impact later experiences. As mentioned before Lovato’s unhealthy eating habits caused her weight gain which caused the bullying at the young age of 8 (Fox News). The prior experience of bullying led her to find new ways to lose weight. This caused her to become bulimic and anorexic. Lovato quickly became depressed. By age 11 she began self-harm by cutting her wrists. Lovato’s father was an alcoholic. In a 2015 interview with People Magazine Lovato shares, "My father had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well, and I watched him live a very unfortunate life because of the lack of access to treatment” (Weisensee). His alcoholism led to the decline of being a positive role model for his daughter. Behaviorism points to no role model in her childhood as another prior experience that may have led to her illness. Lovato modeled her own sporadic behavior after her father. She had no one to look up to in her family therefore no one was there to catch her before she spiraled out of control. Some psychologists would argue Lovato learned the behavior of her father and his bipolar disorder and then tried to mimic the behavior. The learned behavior would be explained by the concept of observational learning. For example, Lovato observed her dad drink a beer after a stressful day so when she experienced tough days she turned to
Personality Disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that disrupt social life or work and may distress the affected individual. Psychological Disorders is an illness that an individual experience as episodes, and clearly distinguished from personality. While we aren’t trained psychologists, everyone can learn how to learn these disorders and identify them in movies and TV, or even real life! A movie that can help you learn how to identify and have a better understanding of these disorders is “Mommie Dearest”. This movie is based off a book about a famous actress Joan Crawford who had multiple disorders. The disorders Joan Crawford possessed was Bipolar, Narcissistic, Obsessive Compulsive Personality
She acquired borderline personality disorder because her husband, Tommy passed away. In the DSM-5, borderline personality is described as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five of the following” (Butcher, Hooley, & Minek, 2014, 342). Tiffany showed at least five symptoms of borderline personality
Conformity means a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. As a teenager, the pressure to conform to the societal “norm” plays a major role in shaping one’s character. Whether this means doing what social groups want or expect you to do or changing who you are to fit in. During class, we watched films such as Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club which demonstrate how the pressure to conform into society can change who you are. In the movies we have seen, conformity was most common during high school.
Like most humans, we all want to be accepted by society. The way we look, dress, or even how intellectual we are, we are judged by these factors. We either become one of the following things and have “meaning” to this world, but if we are not, then we then succumb to our depravity. “Unable to endure
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981. She is an American actress and singer. Britney was born in McComb, Mississippi and shortly after moved to Kentwood Louisiana and was raised there. Britney started in the entertainment business at a young age by having acting roles in children's television shows such as The New Mickey Mouse Club.
Throughout her life, Demi Lovato has fought with many disorders including bulimia nervosa and bipolar disorder. In 2011, she voluntarily checked into a rehab facility to receive treatment for bulimia nervosa; however, the facility’s doctors soon diagnosed her with bipolar disorder, most likely bipolar II disorder. After receiving this diagnosis, Lovato’s struggles in her past made much more sense. As a child, she was frequently bullied, and it was at this point in her life when the depression
Joan Crawford, was one of the most popular and well known actresses in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Although her life was more extraordinary than mundane, she suffered from multiple personality disorders, as do many Americans. Personality disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that disrupt social life or work and may distress the affected individual (Rathus, 2016). The movie Mommie Dearest, captures moments in Crawford’s life that show her struggles with her personality disorders. Throughout the movie, you watch her personalities become more prominent and abusive. Her main disorders include borderline and paranoid personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as histrionic and narcissistic personality disorder.
Melinda Sordino was just a young teenage girl trying to have some fun. Now, she is loathed by afar for something nobody understands. During a summer party, Melinda drunkenly fumbled for the phone and dialed the cops. As she enters her freshman year of high school, her friends refuse to talk to her, and she escapes into the dark forests of her mind. “I am Outcast” (Anderson 4). But something about that party was not right. Something she tried not to relive but to forget. “I have worked so hard to forget every second of that stupid party, and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can’t tell them what really happened. I can’t even look at that part of myself” (Anderson 28). Depression is a serious mental disorder. The duration and symptoms vary from person to person, and some even have a genetic inclination to develop this illness (Bruce). Depression is not simply a chemical imbalance but a disease caused by several factors.
It is evident that Lisa is subjected to medication and hospitalization for her treatment. However, this method of treatment was not effective for her, because despite her being hospitalized for the last eight years; she still does not take her medicine. Since for those eight years no significant changes have been made following her diagnosis, another mode of treatment would be advisable. I would recommend the self-help strategies. Although many healthcare providers overlook this treatment method, it seems to be very
Now if you add the celebrity status to the equation and include the millions of people who follow and watch everything they do, you get Demi Lovato. Demi Lovato was born in 1992, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She started out as a child actor on Barney & friends. Which is believed to be the when her weight became a problem for her. At the age of eight years old Lovato began to be bullied by the other children around her, for her weight. They called her fat, over weight and told her she didn’t deserve to be there. It wasn’t until the age of eleven that Lovato had lost the battle for control and developed an eating problem. Her mother and her grandmother had both struggled with bulimia. Lovato’s mother used to be a Dallas cowboy cheerleader and a country singer who started to battle bulimia when her and Lovato’s father separated. She was introduced to bulimia around the age 2 or 3 which is around the time she began to notice her 80-pound mother had a problem. It was in her environment and her heritage so it was only a matter of time before bulimia found its way into her life. At the age of 12 demi Lovato completed in child beauty pageants. She states that this is what attributed to her in securities. She started to eat all the time to mask her feelings of being bulled buy other kids and her new fame that was starting to take off. She was cast in camp rock as the lead in a teen Disney movie. This is where she met the
vs. nurture. I will also try to present the third, new-emerging approach meant to. solve the mystery of, “What is it that makes us who we are?” “Our genes make us. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines.”
Evolutionary theory is developed from Darwin’s argument that “suggests that a process of natural selection leads to the survival of the fittest and the development of traits that enable a species to adept to its environment. “ Many have taken this a step further by saying that our genetic inheritance determines not only our physical traits but also certain personality traits and social behaviors. There is such a controversy over significant behaviors that unfold because many believe that we are already pre-programmed human species. It has also been argued that evolution is reflected in functioning and structure of the nervous system and that is has evolutionary factors that have a significant influence on everyday behavior. With what is being said means that if we follow the evolutionary theory, then it would be said that we are already pre-programmed from before birth to follow certain protocols in life. Whether it is from finding a mate or by getting a job. It also believed that this theory gives use cues from our own system to follow, providing us with certain aspects of life from our ancestors. By believing in this theory we can determine that the importance of heredity when influencing human behavior. Behavioral geneticists and evolutionary psychologists have both agreed that not only do genetic factors provide specific behaviors or traits but it also shows the limitations on the emergence of such traits or behaviors. What this means is that our genetics will determine how tall we will be to how ...
If there is one individual in the celebrity world that is known for his or her troubled thoughts or misbehavior, there isn’t anyone better to recognize other than Lindsay Lohan. An American star, model, and singer, Lohan was recognized in all different aspects of Hollywood because of her talents as a young actress. However, as her stardom continued to progress, so did the instability in her mental health. The mass media and people alike had an influence on Lohan’s behavior by distorting how she was portrayed on and off the screen. Lohan’s family life also had a huge impact on her turnout because she was constantly around the instability of her family members, thus affecting her mental
Self-destructive behaviors are also very common in individuals with Borderline personality disorder. Susanna validates this trait by her lack of motivation, conversations about suicide, and her suicide For example; Lisa, the diagnosed sociopath, displays very little empathy for those around her. This is made clear when she sees Daisy’s post suicide body and is not saddened whatsoever. Another accurate portrayal is the patient with anorexia nervosa Janet. Janet refuses to eat, is in denial about her condition, is emotionally labile, and is always exercising.
Susan Bordo states in her article “Never Just Pictures”, that children grow up knowing that they can never be thin enough. They are thought that being fat is the worst thing ever. The ones responsible for this are the media, celebrities, models, and fashion designers. All of these factors play a big role on the development of the standard and how people view themselves. Everyone at one dreams about being the best they can in any aspect. But to achieve that most believe that one of the big factors is outer beauty. So people look at celebrities and fashion designers, and believe that to be accepted they have to look like them. That’s when they take drastic measures to change their appearance because they’ve been influenced by the Medias idea of “beautiful.” This feeling mostly happens in women but in recent years the gender gap has become smaller. Now men also feel the need to look good because of the media. On the TV, instead of having infomercials ...