The Formation of Personality
“Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.” Erich Fromm (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/personality.html)
Personality is “made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make a person unique.” (Cherry. K, 2013) Personality refers to the consistency of who you are as well as the special characteristics that makes us unique. There are three key concepts that explain personality: traits, types and self-concept. Personality traits are stable qualities a person shows in a situation. For example a person can be honest, patient and responsible, while another person can be helpful, humble and trusting. Personality types refer to people who have several personality traits in common. A person can either be an introvert or an extrovert. An introvert is a person whose attention is focused inward, whereas an extrovert is a person whose attention is directed out-ward. Self-concept consists of all the ideas, feelings and perceptions a person has about them. All these concepts that explain personality will also help form personality. (Coon & Mitterer, 2012) Using the behaviourist and psychodynamic perspectives in psychology and the theories of two theorists within these perspectives this essay will discuss how personality is formed using the personality of Mr X. Firstly, this essay will describe Mr X’s personality, secondly it will describe two theorists, B.F Skinner and Erik Erikson, and their relative perspectives, as well as, explain Mr X’s personality according to the theories of these theorists, lastly this essay will prove that B.F Skinner’s theory in the behaviour perspective is the theory that explains the formation of Mr X’s personality the best.
As a child Mr X was outgoing, hyperactive and talented. From an early age he started developing an interest in music and a talent for...