Psychology Essay, Research Paper
Heredity traits that I think have shaped me into the person
I today come mostly from my maternal side. I inherited my
mothers easy-going and outgoing personalty. Both of my
parents are very level headed and very realistic. I am
inherited both of those traits also. My father always went
out of his way to make people feel comfortable, I inherited
some of that trait because I like to make people feel
comfortable in awkward or new environments.
Environmental factors that have influenced my
development as a person have shaped my outlook on life and
my beliefs. I have been brought up in neighborhoods where
strong family structure, family values, and morals are very
important. The reason I want to make sure I marry someone
who I feel will I support and want to spend the rest of my
life with is because of the way I was brought up. The
environment I was brought up in frowned on divorce.
I will use the same methods as my parents used to raise
me to an extent. I will teach and preach the same things
that my parents taught me, for example my parents always
preached the importance and the value of succeeding in
academics and in athletics. They also thought me that I must
respect myself before I can respect others, this had a huge
affect on the person I have become. The things I will change
in the way I raise my children are that I will try not to
raise my voice at my children very often and I will use as
much as positive reinforcement as possible.
Peer pressure and criticism were emotional challenges
which were the hardest for me to cope with throughout my
adolescence. Every adolescent faces peer pressure in
positive or negative ways. Unfortunately most peer pressure
is negative, for example almost every person who smokes
started smoking because of peer pressure. Peer pressure was
hard for me to cope with because I hated watching my close
friends fall victims to negative peer pressure, and it was
also hard for me to be critiqued for not giving into peer
pressure. The strong person who doesn?t fall victim to peer
pressure is the person who people like to make fun of for
being different.
Physical changes that have made the biggest impact in
my life to this date have been positive and negative. I was
always a head taller than everyone in my class when I was
younger. This was positive for me because I would excel and
have a great advantage in athletics. I loved having the
advantage and I liked everyone being scared of playing
against me. This physical change started to get negative
when I was a Sophomore. Everyone started to catch up to me
in height and size. I didn?t like it because everyone wanted
to challenge me so they could say they beat me after years
of me beating them. I didn?t like the constant competition ,
because everyone wanted to say ?Vinnie isn?t that big
anymore?. That had a depressing affect on me.
I don?t think there are any special problems
adolescents face today as opposed to our parents. I think
that adolescents toady just face them allot sooner that our
parents did. Problems having to do with sex and drugs modern
adolescents face when they are in as early as 7th or 8th
grade. Our parents didn?t face these problems until they
were most likely in college. the problems today are very
similar, they only thing that is different is how the media
displays sex and drugs to children at a very young age.
Children are aware of these issues to early. The other
differe
of drugs and alcohol, it is to easy for modern day teens to
get their hands on drugs. If their wasn?t such easy access
to these drugs children wouldn?t face as much peer pressure
or chances to experiment.
Ego-protecting behaviors which I use the most often are
Sublimation, Procrastination, and rationalization.
I use sublimation when I have allot of negative energy
and I try to find ways to use it positively. For example if
I had a horrible day at school I will go to the gym and work
off all that negative energy by lifting weights. This will
effect my me in a positive way.
I use procrastination when I have to do something and I
am either not sure how to do it or I fear doing it. For
example if I have to write a paper for class I don?t
understand the question or the material I will put off doing
the assignment.
I use rationalization when I make excuses or false
reasons for doing or not doing things so I will feel better
about it. For example if I got an answer wrong on a test I
would make excuses that The teacher never taught that
material, when if I would of studied I would of answered
correctly.
I use these defense mechanisms to make my self feel
better about certain things I go through or to protect
myself from feeling like I failed.
What Abraham Maslow meant when he said that ?The
healthiest of all personality belongs to the
self-actualizing person? he meant that these being people
lead happier and healthier lives because they are in touch
with themselves and the world around them. Self-actualizing
people except reality. They don?t make excuses.
Three characteristics of a self-actualizing person that
are important to me are ones that I most want to be an
example of. ?Find fresh enjoyment in activities that you
have experienced many times before?; this is important to me
because I don?t want to become bored with my everyday life.
I want to enjoy every aspect and every minute of life.
?Identify with humanity in a positive way?; I want to see
the good in a every person and there positive qualities,
this would give people greater respect for me and make me
happier. ?Refuse to bend to the social pressures that rule
most peoples lives?; this characteristic is one that I most
want to demonstrate but at the same time is the hardest for
me to be an example of. It is easy to get caught up in
social pressures but if I didn?t I would be more of my own
person.
Some of my fears and frustrations that occupy my life
most are the fear of not making people who care about me
proud of me and the feeling that I can?t get everything I
want to done in a day. I feel very often that there isn?t
enough time to do thing I need to do. Some of my strengths
are the ability to be who I am no matter what company I am
in. Another strength of mine is my ability to to understand
and listen to people. These behaviors I feel for the most
part are positive I think all of these behaviors keep me on
track and make me strive to be a better person. I think I
acquired these behaviors from the way I was brought up.
These behaviors most likely came to me from example of
people I idolized in my life.
I am more important to me than other people for the
most part, the exception is if it is a matter of life or
death. I put family issues and matters before my own well
being, but for the most part I do what is best for me and
hope I am making the right decision.