Introduction
Personality refers to the distinctive character of individually formed by a combination of qualities and characteristics. Personality is an individual’s distinct patterns of behaviour, character, thoughts and emotions (Bergner, 2020). It is what differentiates one individual from others. It is essential to understand whether personality remains constant over time or keeps on changing as one matures. Does it mean a shy child is destined to become a shy adult in future? Does it mean a teenager who cannot control her emotions will remain unable to control her feelings in the entire life? It is essential to understand what factors lead to the change of individual personality as individual passes through different stages of development.
Personality development
Individuals continue to change their personality in their entire lifespan from birth to death. As the individual grows, personality keeps on changing. Personality develops in stages. Oral stage is the first stage which begins when the infant is born until the infant turns one and a half years old. During this stage, the mouth is the most sensitive part of the body and a source of joy to the infant. In this stage, the infants trust and mistrust to the world depends on the way the care giver is handling him. Infants who got enough and consistent care from their givers develop a sense of lover to people in their later life (Cherry,2019) If the infant is always satisfied, then he develops trust to the world and gains confidence that the world will be kind to him. The child develops a positive personality of love and kindness. If the infant is dissatisfied by the way he is being handled by the care giver, then he develops a mistrust to the world and believes that people around him cannot take good care of him. This child may become unhappy, abusive or inactive in life. A child who develops such negative personality in this early stage in life need to be handled with care in the subsequent development stages since he can change such personality for personality is not permanent.
The next stage of infant development is the anal stage. It is the stage where the child can now feed on his own, walk and talk. In this stage, the child can retain or release some of the personalities learned in the oral stage. Here, if the parents are overprotective to the child, then the child becomes shy. If the parents are un protective to the child and gives him permission to play freely, then the child gains confidence. In this stage child can prefer love over hatred which he had acquired in the oral stage if the parents are un protective. Giving child autonomy in this stage enables the child to change negative personality to positive.
The next stage child moves in the genital stage. This is the stage when the child is between the age of 3 and 6 years. In this stage, if the child is not strengthened then he develops a very strong guilty feeling. The satisfaction of the child in this stage depends on how his curiosity is satisfied. For example, a child might be having interest in mechanics and if the child is discouraged from his interests, then the child will feel guilty for his interests and this may affect his personality even if he was joyful child in the anal and oral stage. Such child can get a spirit of fear when initiating projects. If the child is supported by their parents in this stage, then the child will be joyful and active. The child can thus change the personality he had acquired in either anal oral stage in the genital stage. The most important thing in this stage is for the care giver not over regulating child and letting the child play freely.
The fourth stage is the latency stage when the child is between 6 to 11 years. In this stage, the child is mature has curiosity of discovering everything. If the child is supported, then he gains confidence. If in this stage child is not supported, then he will lose confidence. Such child may have problem when interacting with peers. This is the stage where teachers play a very big role in molding the child’s personality.
The next stage is the adolescence stage where individual behaves partially as adult and partially as adult. In this stage, individual can change personality since it is the stage of discovery. In this stage, Indecision and confusion is common and thus individual can be easily changed by peers. In the stage, new personality can be easily adopted and for that parents need to monitor the actions of their children.
The final stage of personality development occurs when the individual gets 18years old. This is a stage where individuals start getting into love relationship that requires commitments. To get into these love relationships, individuals need to have confidence to convince partners to get into relationship. If the individual gets into a relationship with a caring and loving partner, then he can get to learn the important of loving and acquires such personality. The kind of the person the individual gets into relationship with matters on how the personality of individual will be.
It is evident that the personality of individual changes with time and do not remain constant over time. Personality changes depending on the upbringing of the individual, culture the individual is raised in and the environment of birth. cultural differences affect personality development and assessment (Weiner and Greene,2019). It is important to raise a child in the right environment in order for the child to have good personality.
Hierarchy of Needs
Need refers to something required for someone to survive. The word need can mean readiness to respond in a particular way in a given situation for example, a person who aims at getting into a political seat has a need of influencing voters. Need compels person to behave in a certain way for example an individual who has a need of achieving in a business sector will have to sacrifice his time and work hard.
Maslow suggested that people have five needs to fulfil which are fulfilled in hierarchical manner. Maslow meant that the lower need has to fulfilled before the next order need is fulfilled. Maslow said that a need cannot be fully fulfilled but can be almost met. Individuals have to identify other individuals position in the hierarchical pyramid in order to motivate them on the need they have to satisfy. Maslow divided human needs into deficiency needs and growth needs. Safety needs are psychological, safety and social needs while growth needs are self-esteem and self-actualization needs.
Self-actualization
Self-actualization occupies the top position in the Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs. Self-actualization is achieved after fulfilling all the other needs. It refers to the need to become all what the individual is capable of being. It refers to a need of developing personal full potential. Self-actualization can be only met if other motivational matters are fully met. Self-actualization involves the need to being creative, and trying to achieve all desires. In self-actualization, a footballer is free to become the best footballer, a parent is free to become the best parent and a business man is free to build his business empire. The believe is that self-actualized individuals are important assets in the human resources sector.
It is difficult for individuals to fully follow the Maslow hierarchy of needs. In first world countries where psychological, safety, social and esteem needs are met, Individuals still do not self-actualize to became best parents. In USA for example, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce (Gunnarsson and Svensson,2016). This should not be the case because such individuals as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs should have stable families. All individuals in first world countries where all the other needs are provided should deliver their best in whatever they do since they all in their full potential capacity.
Secondly, as per Maslow’s needs, rich individuals should be creative in devising ways of making more money since they are in their full potential. This financially stable people should be serving those who are struggling to fulfil their lower class needs like physiological needs, safety needs and social needs. Unfortunately, first world countries continue to lead in the number of people committing suicides instead of the them trying to perform to their full potential despite the fact that all the deficiency needs have been met by the individuals.
Again, Maslow proposed that if people lack any of the deficiency needs they are unable to deliver in the workplace to their level best. This is not true because in most of the organizations, only top managers are able to meet both deficiency and growth needs. Lower managers are only able to fulfil deficiency needs but they are the driving force for the growth of the organization. Most of employees in the lower rank are able to fulfil only physiological needs. These employees still remain to be most productive labor force in the organization despite the fact that they are not yet in the self-actualization stage.
Additionally, it is difficult to measure self-actualization. Maslow suggested that Self-actualization is achieved by first fulfilling deficiency needs and esteem needs. It becomes difficult for one to measure empirically when he attains the actualization stage. This is because individual who is motivated by self-actualization needs cannot forget to satisfy basic need like food. Some people also are motivated by self-actualization needs even without esteem needs.
Finally, some people reach self-actualization without following all the Maslow hierarchy of needs sequence. People without esteem and safety needs have been able to get to the self-actualization level. The level of satisfaction may be permanently lower for some individuals(Compton,2018). People suffering from unemployment may remain in their entire life satisfied if they are only provided with food. Such individual will never desire to self-actualize.
Conclusion.
Individuals do not have to satisfy their needs as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs requirements. They can satisfy their social needs before safety and self-actualization need before esteem need. People who have fulfilled physiological, safety, social and esteem do not automatically develop to their full potential and become what they were meant to became. Some individual fulfil all the other needs but they cannot self-actualize.
References.
Bergner, R.M, (2020). What is personality? Two myths and a definition. New ideas in psychology,57,100759
Cherry, Kendra (2019). Eric Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740
Compton, W. C. (2018). Self-actualization myths: what did Maslow really say? Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 0022167818761929.
Gunnarsson, Å., & Svensson, E. M. (2016). Challenging one Fundamental Norm in Labour Law–The Exception of the Employer’s Family and Home. In Exploiting the Limits of Law (pp. 165-182). Routledge.
Weiner, I. B., & Greene, R. L. (2017). Handbook of personality assessment. John Wiley & Sons.