Abstract Dozens of research studies have supported the hypothesis that personality traits change as one becomes older. However, what triggers these changes in personality traits? How do these changes take place? This paper investigates some of the answers to these complex questions. It does so by comparing six theories on personality development. All the theories are backed by evidences which will also be discussed. The paper ends by providing a conclusion on the factors that are driving personality changes and development.

Introduction

Personality traits change with time. In fact, it is well-accepted that the changes are lifelong. There is no single moment in time that personality remains the same. However, the sources of these changes are not known. Of course, there are multiple theories that try to explain this. Some theories argue that personality changes are caused by the environment, others argue that personality changes are caused by social roles (often influenced by age), while others posit that personality changes are influenced by biological ageing (Kandler, 2012). Most psychologists and other researchers study personality by first describing and measuring certain behavioral differences and then try to hypothesize how those differences occur. Most look at personality as one thing rather than a gathering of strangely related bits and pieces of behavioral tendencies. According to Xavier (1996), personality is the sum of one’s observable behavior, feelings and his or her thinking patterns.

At the core of research on personality and personality development is the understanding that individuals are systematically different from one another on a number of characteristics. These characteristics may be in the domain of observable behavior, feelings or thinking patterns. Many psychologists agree that these characteristics are often stable for a while but often change with time or with situation (Bencsik, Machova & Hevesi, 2016). This paper looks at the foundations of personality. The very first influences that shape initial personalities. It also looks at the development of personality.

Foundations of Personality

Several theories and hypotheses have been proposed to explain how personality traits initially develop. In this section of the paper, we discuss some of the most influential among them.

Nature Vs Nurture

Nature refers to nature or more correctly things which are natural/ innate. In the context of personality development it denotes natural/ genetic traits. Nurture, on the other hand, refers to changes influenced by experience/ external environment (Nature vs Nurture in Behavioral Determination, 2017). It is clear and probably undebatable that humans inherit physical characteristics from their parents. However, the inheritance of behavior is not always accounted for by genetics. Some behaviors are usually clearly different from those exhibited by the parent. Hence the conclusion that humans acquire some of their behavioral characteristics from personal experiences/ surroundings. Thus, most researchers often agree that, in general, human behavior is a product of both nature and nurture (Bryner, 2006). Geneticists and other scientists have proven severally that physical traits such as hair, skin and eye color are a direct result of genetic inheritance. They are influenced by certain genes that are known. Other researchers have also taken genetic studies a step further and conducted studies in which they concluded that even behavioral traits such as intelligence, kindness or aggression are also genetically acquired (determined by nature) (Nature vs Nurture in Behavioral Determination, 2017).

Though the evidence for nature-influenced personality traits is there, it is not as much as the evidence put forth to support nurtured personality traits. Widespread research in psychology and related subjects have proven that the environment is chiefly responsible for acquired behavioral traits. Some of the more famous researches include those by Watson and by Pavlov who made significant contributions to the development of operant conditioning and classical theories that seek to explain the formation of personality traits through environmental nurturing. However, it is also widely agreed that the environment may only be helping express genetically acquired traits that were hitherto downplayed. Thus, many psychologists have concluded that both nature and nurture play an important role in the formation of behavior. That nurture expresses itself but most of nature-influenced traits are usually expressed through exposure to certain environments. In conclusion, the most personality traits are caused by nurture (surroundings) while some are caused by nature (Nature vs Nurture in Behavioral Determination, 2017).

The Unconscious and its influence Personality

According to Freud, there are unconscious forces that influence the development of personality. He argues that for one to full comprehend personality, it important...

He goes ahead to state that the unconscious is the component of personality that one is not aware about but can play a role in determining personality. Another renowned researcher, Carl Jung, had similar thoughts to those of Freud. His personality development theory is founded on the assumption that the psyche/ mind has levels – the conscious level and the unconscious level. According to him, the unconscious level has two further levels, the collective (historical/ ancestral) unconscious and the personal (experiential) unconscious (Xavier, 1996).
The unconscious is defined as that level of the mind that brings completeness to personality. It is basically the psychic elements that are not influenced by ego. It includes both previously forgotten conscious thoughts and images and psychic processes that have never been exposed to the conscious level of the brain. Some of these psychic processes/ elements can get to the conscious level of the brain but not all. Jung used the term personal unconscious to refer to the unique individual experiences that are subliminally perceived, forgotten or repressed in the unconscious level of the brain. The experiences that form the personal unconscious are referred to as complexes when they are themes of a particular feeling, behavior or thought process. Complexes have a significant influence on personality (Xavier, 1996).

Unlike the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious is not determined by personal/ individual experiences. Rather, it is determined by the ancestral past. It is inherited from parents as a psychic potential. The collective unconscious actively influences actions, feelings and thought processes. This part of the unconscious is revealed by activity. To explain, the unconscious in an even better way, Xavier (1996) argues that humans come into the world predisposed to react or act in a certain manner when their surroundings trigger those predispositions. In this way, the collective unconscious also influences the development of personality.

View of Self and its influence on personality

Essentially, self-concept is determined by social surroundings (Gore & Cross, Susan, 2005). Some have described it as the thing that binds together our experiences making them coherent in the mind. Self-concept is thought to be rooted in cognitive structures and semantic memory. It is also thought to be made up of several hierarchically-organized dimensions stored in memory. These dimensions which include social, experiential and schematic dimensions work together to provide the singular view of self.

The self is a collection of lower order self-aspects including abilities, beliefs, surroundings, identities, social roles, relationships, traits and experiences. These lower level self-aspects can be organized into higher level self-domains e.g. relational self. Lower level self-aspects do change. They change may be caused by their influence on each other. As they change, the influence the higher order self-domain to change accordingly. This in turn changes the overall self-concept (Gore & Cross, Susan, 2005).

Additionally, changes in self-concept do not imply that the individual will experience changes in his self-structure. Self-structure is defined as the extent to which self-aspects cognitively interact or are compartmentalized from one another. Persons with well-integrated self-structures can utilize several dimensions of their self when exposed to a unique set of aspects. This is in contrast to persons with compartmentalized self-structures who can only use a single dimension of their personality when exposed to a particular set of aspects (Gore & Cross, Susan, 2005).

Self-concept works similarly to cognitive abilities. Individuals come to have their view of self in the same way they come to comprehend the definition of cats, objects or any other thing; by utilizing the cognitive schema. The self-schema is a significant. It helps with the processing of information related to social experiences. It is thought that new environmental experiences experienced a few times are less likely to be ingrained in the brain compared to those that occur frequently. The frequent occurrence makes it to become a part of the self-concept as the human brain is wired to record and memorize consistencies (Gore & Cross, Susan, 2005).

According to researchers looking into attitude, the more someone does something that activates the main components of his or her attitude, the more likely the brain is to process that trigger with more attention and resources. Strong attitudes require more conscious examination to change while weak attitude can easily change with very little stimuli. In short the stronger the self-concept, the more difficult it is to change it, while the weaker it is the easier it is to change the concept and the resulting behavior (Gore & Cross, Susan, 2005).

In general, the human brain is pays great attention…