Social Environment Weight on Personality Development

Subject: Psychology
Pages: 4
Words: 909
Reading time:
4 min
Study level: PhD

Proposed Research Paper

This paper seeks to address the importance of the social environment on the development of an individual’s personality. Every person has distinct hereditary or environmentally gained traits. This paper will address some factors that make these variations. The answer to this issue can be tracked from environmental and biological aspects. The genetic composition is the actual determinant of hereditary traits. In most cases, physical traits such as complexion, height, and weight are dictated by heredity factors. On the other hand, the social environment plays a prominent role in dictating the personality development of a person. Social environment determinants include interactions with family, peers, and teachers among other individuals (Blazevic, 2016). However, there is a persisting controversy about the significance of environment and heredity in the development of personality. For instance, social environmentalists claim that seed alone cannot lead to the development of a plant, and thus, other factors like warmth, air, and water need to be present. On the other hand, the heredity proponents claim that the environment cannot change an animal to a human.

Need for the Study

Based on the current trends in personality development, this paper will show that both hereditary and social factors are essential, but the latter is more vital since it shapes personality traits achieved via heredity. Sun (2009) examines the formation of attitude in human development based on the situation and particular learning contexts. This study hypothesizes that a learner’s personality characteristics may be influenced by varying relationships in the learning environment. Based on an empirical study by Specht et al. (2014), it suffices to conclude that personality traits are subject to the general environment. Specht et al. (2014) show that personality traits keep on changing based on social environment factors during the entire lifespan of an individual. These scholars claim that social environment factors represent both long-term and short-term effects that may have dynamic or persisting effects on personality traits. Shmurygina, Bazhenova, Bazhenov, and Nikolaeva (2015) claim that the learners’ personality development is based on beliefs and behaviors that the social environment imparts on them. A positive learning environment helps children develop an appreciation for learning that might strengthen one’s personality development in his or her entire life. Rita and Martin-Dunlop (2011) stress that a positive educational environment offers knowledge and problem-solving techniques, which are essential in defining the students’ personalities. Hoffman (2016) suggests that cultural practices and values define an individual’s immediate environment and the dynamics of such setting shape an individual’s personality.

Advancing Scientific Knowledge

Following the increasing interest in the debate about the significance of social environment on personality development and the mounting effort to show how and why personality develops, the current topic will help to unearth various breakthroughs about this debate. Research works on the insightful categorization of social aspects and basic life events that offer knowledge to determine how circumstances influence personality will be evaluated.

Theoretical Foundations

The humanistic school of thought manifests critical connection to the research topic in various ways. First, the humanistic perspective encourages individuals to ensure that they attain self-actualization because it shapes a positive personality. Second, this theory encourages family therapy as a way of building desirable personality, particularly when one is undergoing hard times. Humanism, as a school of thought, is advanced by scholars such as Maslow and Rodgers. This school of thought examines the potential of an individual to develop coupled with showing how external factors influence the development process (Hoffman, 2016). This theory looks at how an individual’s personality changes in response to social interactions and emotions.

Application of the Belmont Principles

This paper employs the Belmont principles in exploring the significance of the social environment on personality development. The main concepts under study include the environmental aspects that influence personality development. Besides, a comparison will be made between social environment and hereditary factors to determine the factors that are more vital within the contemporary setting. However, despite these comparisons, this paper does not intend to underscore the relevance of hereditary factors; on the contrary, it shows that the environment shapes these factors. An individual’s personality is amplified by the social environment factors. This study will be qualitative, and it uses young children as the target population. This choice is influenced by the view that personality development occurs mostly during early stages of human growth.

During the study, respect for persons will be highly prioritized. Human subjects should be treated as independent, and those with compromised autonomy should be issued with special protection measures. The selection of participants will be based on informed consent provided by the caregivers or the parents when dealing with children who are not in a position to make independent decisions. Participation will be done on a voluntary basis, and those who might intend to drop during the study will be allowed to do so. Privacy of subjects will be guaranteed throughout the period of the study. Justice during enrollment to participate in the study will be observed. Participants will be recruited on an equal basis to avoid a biased study. During data collection across the young populations, parents will be involved for facilitative purposes to evade exploitation of these delicate participants. Beneficence should entail considering the interests of the participants. This study aims to limit risks to participants, and it optimizes the possible benefits to participants. For instance, when determining the study design, this research seeks to adopt methods that maximize knowledge acquisition with fewer risks to the participants.

References

Blazevic, I. (2016). Family, Peer and School Influence on Children’s Social Development. World Journal of Education, 6(2), 4-11.

Hoffman, L. (2016). Multiculturalism and humanistic psychology: From neglect to epistemological and ontological diversity. The Humanistic Psychologist, 44(1), 56-71.

Rita, R., & Martin-Dunlop, C. (2011). Perceptions of the learning environment and associations with cognitive achievement among gifted biology students. Learning Environ Res, 14(1), 25-38.

Shmurygina, N., Bazhenova, N., Bazhenov, R., & Nikolaeva, N. (2015). Self-organization of Students: Realities and Development Prospects. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 214(2), 95-102.

Specht, J., Bleidorn, W., Denissen, J., Hennecke, M., Hutteman, R., Kandler, C.,…Zimmerman, J. (2014). What drives adult personality development? A comparison of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence. European Journal of Personality, 28(3), 216-230.

Sun, J. (2009). How object, situation, and personality shape human attitude in learning: An activity perspective and a multilevel modeling approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(2), 314-319.