Children's Personality

Development

EDUP3023 CHILD DEVELOPMENT

What is Personality?
 Can you say what type of
personalities these characters
have?
 Personality - Definition
Personality is a certain consistency in a
person's behavior that remains fairly stable
under varying conditions (Dworetzky, 1997)

To a psychologist, the word personality

refers to the whole person, not just to a
part. Personality encompasses intelligence,
motivation, emotion, learning, abnormality,
cognition, and even social interactions.
 There are three types of personality:

Extrovert Introvert

Passive, shy, quite,

Active, friendly, innovative
sensitive, prefer being
and responsive towards
alone and does not like
ones environment
challenges

Combination of both
Ambivert introvert and extrovert
 Freuds
Psychoanatic
Traits Theory
Theory of
Personality

Theories of
Personality

Behaviourism
Humanistic
Theory
Theory
 Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory of
Personality
Sigmund Freud believed that human personality structured
since birth up to five years old
Personality structure can be classified into three components:-
Id Ego Superego
Biological drive which
operates according to An executive to human
the principle of personality and
pleasure and demands develops when the Operates on the
immediate satisfaction individual is one year principle of perfection.
Exists from birth and age Morale component
is the source of Satisfy id based on developed from social
motivation organized realistic standards and religious
Cannot be evaluated reasoning and logical education
and does not cater thinking accepted by
logic, values, morale the society
and ethics

Ego component sits between the needs of id and morale values

of superego and may cause uneasiness or anxiety in an individual
 Freud believed that the dynamics of the personality involved continual conflict among these elements. Freud
considered sexual behavior and aggression to be instinctive.

According to Freud, as a person develops, he or she passes through several psychosexual stages. These stages the
oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital mark important points in the development of a healthy personality.

If transition through these stages doesn't go smoothly, developmental problems arise. Fixation may occur at any
stage. For example, if a child's id doesn't receive enough satisfaction during the oral stage, that infant can become an
adult who eats excessively, drinks, chew, bites, smokes, or talks in quest of the oral satisfaction denied at him/her in
infancy. If bathroom training is premature, it will produce adults who have anal personalities. They will be either
anally retentive overemphasizing neatness, cleanliness, precision, and punctuality or they will be anally expulsive,
exhibiting messiness and disorganization in nearly all matters.
 Traits Theory
Traits are an individuals characteristics which differentiates
individuals in a fairly consistent manner. (Atkinson in Mahmood
Nazar, 2005)
a) Personality, Body form
and Behaviour William
Sheldon
b) Theory of Traits -
Gordon

c) Theory of Traits -
Raymond Catell
 a) Personalities Corresponding to
Sheldon's Body Types
Ectomorphic
Cerebrotonic:
restrained, fearful,
introversive, artistic.
Mesomorphic
Somatotonic: energetic,
assertive, courageous.
Endomorphic
Visoerotonic: relaxed,
loves to eat, sociable.
 b) Theory of Personality Gordon

Allport defines personality as a dynamic organization of an

individual who decides the ability to uniquely accommodate the
environment
recognized that some traits are more enduring and general than others
are. So, he drew distinctions among cardinal traits, central traits, and
secondary traits
 Cardinal traits: seems to influence almost every act of a person who
possess it. They are uncommon and only few people have it. Example:
Hatred for Hitler and reverence for every living thing for Schweitzer.

Central Traits: highly characteristic of a given individual and easy to

infer. E.g patience, honesty, depression and firmness.

Secondary traits: they are not as crucial as central traits for

describing personality. Secondary traits are not demonstrated often
because they are related to only a few stimuli and a few responses.
Examples: liking to watch old movies, attending football games
frequently, and putting off work until almost too late.

Allport discusses about a matured personality concept, where an individual

shows consistent, positive and stable emotion where ever they are.
 c) Raymond Catell

Catell (1950) described the human personality as a combination

of specific traits that can produce a consistent behaviour
Developed 16PT (Personality Factor) that represents
personality and named it trait response, characteristics that
cannot be clearly seen but it can be identified through question
and observation
These traits interact with each other to produce behaviours
that can be observed and known as trait response
Trait surface are characteristics that can be identified
through human behaviour.
 Humanistic Theory
The Humanistic Approach (Maslow, Rogers): The focus of all
humanistic theories of personality is the concept of self. Self
refers to the individual's personal internal experiences and
personal evaluations.

Carl Rogers has developed a humanistic self theory of

personality that focuses on the individual's self-perception and
personal view of the world.
 Behaviourism Theory
Behavioral theory
(Skinner, Bandura):
Behaviorists theorists
believe that learning and
environmental forces
impacting on the organism
shape personality.
Bandura argued that
personality is shaped not
only by environmental
influences on the person
but also by the person's
effect on the environment.
Human behavior are learned
through the process of
relationships
Also determined by their
environment
Personality is the product of
practices, rewards, punishment
and condition from culture and
society
Specialists believe that the
source of human behavior is
from the interaction of an
individual with his environment
(past and present experiences)
Skinner feels that to strengthen
a behavior, humans need positive
or negative reinforcement
Thank You!!!!!!!!