Personality development

The personality of a mature individual, with its structure and complex functionality, is the result of a long developing process that starts from early childhood. The man is not born with a personality; this is formed gradually, going through several stages and reaches different levels of structure and organizing. This process is determined and conditioned by a variety of elements that intervene and interact differently. Three of these elements are considered fundamental: heredity, environment and education. Heredity is the first fundamental factor of personality development and the first to manifest. Several research studies (especially the ones conducted on twins) have shown that heredity is a mandatory factor in personality development. It is the starting point for the psychic and personality. The environment is the second most important fundamental factor of personality development. It represents the sum of natural and social, physical and spiritual, direct and indirect, spontaneous and organized influences that constitute the surroundings where the man is born, lives and develops. The natural environment is very important for the humankind but the biggest influences over the individuals personality are the socio-cultural components. An incentive environment that executes its influences from early time can ensure a very good development as long as there are normal hereditary premises. The proper age for this process is considered to be somewhere between the age of 2 and 8 because of the development of the nervous system. Family represents a strong factor in a childs character development. The parents behavior patterns, their requests and demands, their lifestyle and the socio-affective climate constitute decisive influences into the child s personality. The impact of the domestic environment is balanced by the school system that also has a very powerful influence over a childs personality. Together they help develop the motivational system, their ambitions and life ideals. Education is the third fundamental factor of personality development. Many authors think that the education provided is the decisive factor in personality development. In fact, each fundamental factor has a certain role: heredity is the premise of psychic development, the environment represents a source and a condition for this, while the education is the decisive factor, it is the element that sets in motion the entire process of development.

Sigmund Freud tried to explain in the theory of personality the processes involved in expressing and modeling the self. He split the personality into three distinct parts: id, ego and superego. Id is a structure of our personality that could be described as primitive, childish, selfish and pleasure-oriented, one that cannot delay its instant gratification. Superego represents our personal way of coping with social standards: good bad, right wrong (regarding our behavior). The superego is formed as we grow -up while learning the social standards of the environment surrounding us. Ego is the intermediary between Id and Superego. Is the one that keeps the balance by using certain compromises. Ego development processes are emerged during early adolescence. The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions1. The reality principle that operates the ego is a regulating mechanism that enables the individual to delay gratifying immediate needs and function effectively in the real world. An example would be to resist the urge to grab other people's belongings and buy them instead.2

1 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego#cite_ref-Snowden_1-0 idem

Bibliography

1. Creu,Tinca, Mitrofan, Nicolae and Aniei, Mihai. Psihologie Manual pentru clasa a X a. Bucureti, Editura Aramis, 2005. 2. http://www.la-psiholog.ro/info/personalitate-freud 3. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:C4lWPJH8EBcJ:xa.yimg.com/kq/g
roups/23506141/1982932238/name/Structura+&cd=1&hl=ro&ct=clnk&gl=ro 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego#cite_ref-Snowden_1-0