Question

In the U.S., a psychologist cannot deny that different cultures (including ethnicity, age, gender, religion, and sexual affiliation) play a role in personality development.

Research the effects that cultures can play on personality development. Answer the following questions:

What aspects of your cultural upbringing have affected your own personality development?

Think about a friend who grew up in a different culture—how did their cultural upbringing and traditions affect their personality development in a way that differed from your upbringing?

How would you analyze your own personality? Relate this to the theories of personality development that apply in your case. How will you use these new competencies in your work and personal life?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. Also, I have not listed my personal experiences and personality analysis as the teacher has asked you for your own experience. You may analyse your personality based on the five-factor model I have mentioned at the end of the response.

(Answer) A psychologist is required to be accepting of the individuality of their patient. They must first attempt to be sensitive, yet accepting towards individuals of any and all types of differences. These cultural differences play a major role in the dynamics of the patient’s family set up, home life, personal experiences and even professional life. Therefore, it is essentially something that has a major psychological impact as it is a big part of their thinking, experiences and upbringing.

In the field of anthropology, human groups are studied meticulously and extensively. In order to make sure that researchers get a glimpse of the group’s everyday life, it is essential to fit into their normal circumstances and everyday lives. Anthropology involves the life of the researcher becoming one with the lives of the members of the subject group. The same goes for the field of psychology.

This simply means that in order to understand each other, it is necessary to be open to observing and learning about different cultures. In other words, it is necessary for an individual to get to know different tangents of the world with an open mind as opposed to recklessly thwarting anything that is different from their own beliefs.

Let us assume that there is a Chinese student and an American student whose parents want her to be a doctor. Here, we can assume that the cultural background of the subjects is able to influence their identity. The parents of both these students would prefer their child to neurotic and careful about details, schedules and perhaps even take their career a little seriously.

On the other hand, it would be preferable for a normal individual to be less anxious, calm, secure and satisfied with the way life is. This is why; the findings may be different across situations that might affect a person’s personal identity.

Even though there might be differences in diagnosis based on the ethnic background of the subject, there are still certain universal ethics that must influence personality traits. For instance, it is beneficial for an individual of any ethnic background to not have anxiety issues. Since this might lead to problems with blood pressure, stress and other problems. In such cases, it would be essential to consider universal ethics that apply to all cultures.

One might analyse their own personality based on the basic five-factor model of personality development.

The Five Factor Model aims to evaluate an individual’s personality based on the extrapolation of data from five basic markers. These markers are:

Extraversion: Enjoys spending time with other people.

Agreeableness: Cooperative, trustworthy and good-natured

Conscientiousness: Goal-driven, thoughtful and diligent.

Neuroticism: Prone to unstable or negative emotions like anxiety.

Openness to Experience: Easily adaptable to changes in their surroundings.

The opposites on these markers are:

Carelessness: Impulsive, disorganised and reckless.

non-cooperation: Critical, non-cooperative and suspicious.

self-satisfaction: Calm, even-tempered and secure.

Closeness: A person with a mind that is generally closed to new ideas or situations.

Introversion: Prefers solitude.