The Formation of Personality through Socialization
The process by which personality is formed as the result of social
influences is called socialization. Early research methods employed
case studies of individuals and of individual societies (e.g.,
primitive tribes). Later research has made statistical comparisons
of numbers of persons or of different societies; differences in
child-rearing methods from one society to another, for example, have
been shown to be related to the subsequent behaviour of the infants
when they become adults. Such statistical approaches are limited,
since they fail to discern whether both the personality of the child
and the child-rearing methods used by the parents are the result of
inherited factors or whether the parents are affected by the
behaviour of their children.
Problems in the process of socialization that have been studied by
experimental methods include the analysis of mother-child
interaction in infancy; the effects of parental patterns of
behaviour on the development of intelligence, moral behaviour,
mental health, delinquency, self-image, and other aspects of the
personality of the child; the effects of birth order (e.g., being
the first-born or second-born child) on the individual; and changes
of personality during adolescence. Investigators have also studied
the origins and functioning of achievement motivation and other
social drives (e.g., as measured with personality tests).
Several theories have stimulated research into socialization;
Freudian theory led to some of the earliest studies on such
activities as oral and anal behaviour (e.g., the effect of the
toilet training of children on obsessional and other "anal"
behaviour). Learning theory led to the study of the effects of
rewards and punishments on simple social behaviour and was extended
to more complex processes such as imitation and morality (e.g., the
analysis of conscience).
The self
Such concepts as self-esteem, self-image, and ego-involvement have
been regarded by some social psychologists as useful, while others
have regarded them as superfluous. There is a considerable amount of
research on such topics as embarrassment and behaviour in front of
audiences, in which self-image and self-esteem have been assessed by
various self-rating methods. The origin of awareness of self has ...
... middle of paper ...
...problems involved. Similarly, the causes of
delinquency and crime have been extensively studied, but it is not
feasible to manipulate the factors influencing crime, such as
genetic factors, methods of upbringing, and inequalities of
opportunity. Social psychology has made some contribution to
education; sociometry is quite widely practiced as a means of
grouping children, and evidence is growing about the optimum styles
of teacher behaviour.
(M.Ar.)
(Ed.)
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Contents of this article:
Introduction
Research methods
Social perception
Interaction processes
Small social groups
Social organizations
20th-century approaches
Personality
Socialization
The self
Attitudes and beliefs
Various specialties in social psychology
Bibliography
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The nature-nurture debate is one of the oldest arguments in psychology, dating back to Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. While Socrates and Plato believed that knowledge is innate, Aristotle thought that knowledge is not preexisting and grows with experience. Even today, people ask whether nature (genetics/inherited characteristics) or nurture (environment and experiences) has a larger effect on one’s personality and behavior. Both nature and nurture have influenced everybody’s lives, including my own. Everything from the color of someone’s eyes to their temper can be explained by nature, nurture, or a combination of both. My genetics explain many of my traits and make me similar to my parents and the environments I have grown
Families mold, intentionally or not, their children into little reflections of themselves. School, thru peer pressure, thru the various academic and social clubs, and thru the imaginary audience, serves to enhance the socialization process begun at home.
Do we ever think of past experiences or past events and wonder if they had any influence on our personalities? Whether or not that day affected the way that we are today? We are indeed most vulnerable to various impacts in our childhoods. In fact, Deborah Serani, Psychology Doctor said: “It can be argued that personality actually begins before birth, with each parent’s genetics influencing the development of temperament -- a behavioural response style. After birth, a child’s prewired temperament, personal, and social experiences will set the stage for personality development.” Until we are 7 years old, our personalities should be fairly developed. Everything that occurred throughout these years contributed to form our behaviours and reactions
One critical factor in the experience that effect human behavior is culture. The way people develop is shaped by cultural experience within the context of inherited genetic potential. Every individual is born in a family, community, social class or religion and eventually develops various connections as a result of such set up. An example is how a child learns to develop from childhood is characterized by how he or she is instructed, the rewards given to her or him. Since every culture consists of societal roles, rules and different norms, each individual is shaped to grow in this
organizing principle. It propels you on your life path. It represents the orderly arrangement of
1.) Psychology is the study of how humans think, behave and feel and how the brain receives and processes information. Five major aspects that psychology focuses on are mental activity, behavior, critical thinking, social interaction and emotional processes. Mental activity allows us to use our five senses to perceive our surroundings. Our behavior is how we react to the information we receive about our surroundings. Critical thinking that helps us evaluate information to find a sensible, well-supported conclusion. Social interaction allows us to communicate with others while emotional processes helps us understand and effectively integrate our emotions in our daily lives.
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In P.H. Mussen (Series Ed.) & E.M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development. New York: Wiley.
A layman would define personality as an individual’s characteristics in terms of how they think and behave. Many theorists, however, interprets personality differently resulting in various personality theories. Personality is determined by traits which are behaviours displayed by a person in most given situations. How a person reacts to common circumstances may also be used to foresee future behaviours. Traits are then categorized into types that allow easier comparisons to be made between each individual’s attributes. The focus of this paper would be on the biological aspects of personality whereby traits are thought to be inheritable through genetics and associated with the central nervous system. Behavioural genetics are research that makes use of results from studies done on family, twins and adoptions. The findings of how both genes and environment influences personality from the studies will be discussed. Some researchers found possible issues with the representativeness of such studies. The outline of Eysenck’s biological model of personality and arousal, Gray’s BAS/BIS theory and Cloninger’s biological model of personality will further explain the biological effect on personality.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
The first core concept suggested by the web article depicts human development forming from the interplay of an individual’s biology and experience. Early scientists in this particular field created testable hypotheses to understand the dynamic interaction between the nature-nurture phenomenon. Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov’s and North American scientist B.F. Skinner’s research in behaviorism contain principles in classical and operant conditioning which can help further explain this occurrence.
Socialization is defined as the process by which an individual internalizes the norms, values and beliefs of their social world. The socialization process occurs throughout the life course of the individual and is influenced by agents of socialization, which include a variety of social institutions and daily social interactions. Some examples of such agents are peers,family, neighborhood,sports, schools, religion, the workplace, and especially the mass media. Socialization agents in your life shapes, develops, and help highlight who you are as a person. The agents of socialization that have molded and shaped my life through high school and college are family,school,neighborhood..These agents have have helped me become who I am today and has
Socialization is a lifelong process. Everybody with whom an individual comes in contact can influence the socialization process, known as agents of socialization. Three of the major agents of socialization are family, peer group and school. One of the family conditions that lead to delinquency is a family with parental fighting and domestic violence. The observational confirmation demonstrates that, for a developing kid, the most joyful and most serene family circumstance is the intact first marriage. In any case, genuine parental clash has awful impacts, even within intact two-parent families. The popular research of Harvard educators Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck in the 1950s observed that 33% of reprobate young men in their sample originated
The concept of personality has numerous definitions (Fatahi, Moradi, & Kashani-Vahid, 2016). Schultz and Schultz (2009), define personality in its broad sense as the manner of an individual’s behaviour in different situations. This essay explores the nature of personality, with the intention of highlighting its flexibility. The results of numerous empirical research studies are examined in order to investigate if, and how personality changes over time. It will be argued that an individual’s personality has the ability to change throughout their life.
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
Evaluate your personality and identity development by incorporating three theorist’s views on personality traits whether it's for or against your identity and personality development.