Personality As A Product Of Complex Interplay Of Various Forces
Submitted by malinetshka on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Religion
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Personality As A Product Of Complex Interplay Of Various Forces
Perhaps the most important realisation that we can make in our quest for personal growth is that there is no single formula that defines the path to personal development. There are a few factors that contribute to the production of our personality, beginning with the genetic predisposition for certain types of behaviour, intimate relationships with others, the place and culture we live in and ending with so obvious as our upbringing and self-creation.
Let me begin with the earliest stage of human life. Although it may seem odd, it is scientifically proved that, from the time of birth, every individual is biologically predisposed to approach the world with his or her own personal style. Studies of infants suggest that some variability in human behaviour may result directly or indirectly from genetic differences. These might not be, of course, specific features of character, but merely dimensions of temperament, which manifest themselves over time and across different situations. They are present in infancy and continue to grow throughout childhood and adulthood.
The social environment, however, reacts to these tendencies to develop the temperaments, modifying and shaping them in different ways. Such modifications are the results of interpersonal relationships that begin to form during early life. During infancy, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, new needs and tensions arise in the individual. In attempt to seek ways of adapting to these new-found stresses, people develop different kinds of intimate relationships that ultimately form their personality. Relationships formed during each stage of life serve as a prototype for interactions in later stages. For this reason, there exists a continuum of relationships formed throughout a lifetime that shape and mould specific personality traits. Adolescents, for instance, seek to share their thoughts and feelings with those who are experiencing similar changes. Intimate interactions increase...
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