MENTAL HEALTH: Recognizing the Healthy Personality

Ms. Mai

Lawndale High School

What is Mental Health?

Mental health – a state of well-being of the mind (good self-esteem)

Having good self-esteem means liking yourself and being able to stand up for what you believe is right

The Mentally Healthy Person

Your PERSONALITY is the mix of how you feel, think, and behave that makes you different from everyone else

Personalities can be healthy (those who accept themselves) or unhealthy (those who do not accept themselves)

Different Approaches

Psychologists are people who study human behavior and personalities

Psychologists have developed four different theories about how the personality is developed

1. Psychoanalytic Approach

2. Trait

3. Social-Learning Approach

4. Humanistic Approach

1. Psychoanalytic Approach

Developed by Sigmund Freud

Focuses on the development of the child and subconscious motivation (part of the brain that is not accessible to thought)

Every action, emotion, and thought is the result of the subconscious wish or fear

Freud’s Theory and Human Instinct Freud believed that humans are born with

basic instincts of aggression that must be controlled in order to maintain a safe and civilized society

He divided the personality into three main systems

Id – instinctive behaviors of fun and pleasure (want to do)

Ego – represents reality and boundaries (provides balance between the id and the superego)

Superego – person’s conscience of values (should do)

2. Trait

Personality is dependent upon specific traits

Traits are personal qualities that are characteristic of a behavior to the individual

3. Social-Learning Approach

Personality is dependent upon reinforcement

Actions that lead to rewards are likely to be repeated, and actions that are punished are less likely to be repeated

4. Humanistic Approach

Every person is born good and has the potential to develop into a good person

Personality Development

Psychologists have divided all personality development into two major groups: hereditary and environmental

Heredity and Personality

Heredity includes height, color of eyes and hair, shyness, ability to adapt, mood, activity level

Heredity factors include characteristics that were passed down from your parents

Children often have levels of intelligence that are similar to those of their parents

Heredity and Personality

In order to determine the role of heredity in intelligence, scientists study identical twins because they have the exact same genetic make up. Result shave shown that identical twins tend to have very similar levels of intelligence, even if they grow up in different surrounding. Scientists conclude that heredity plays a very strong role in determining intelligence

Heredity and Personality

Certain types of behavior are inherited by all people and do not need to be learned (instinct)

For example, all babies are born knowing how to nurse

Heredity and Personality

Scientists believe that people are born with certain characteristics that describe their personalities

Extroverts – people who are outgoing

Introverts – people who prefer to be alone rather than in a crowd

Extrovert versus IntrovertCalm and Secure Worrying and

Vulnerable

Quite and Retiring Sociable and Outgoing

Conservative and Unadventuresome

Liberal and Daring

Selfish and Irritable Selfless and Good-Natured

Careless and Undependable

Careful and Reliable

Environment and Personality

Even though you were born with many traits that influence your personality, you develop other characteristics because of the particular environment

Your family, your school, and your community can all affect your personality development

Environmental factors include your physical and social surroundings, and your life experiences

Environment and Personality

Socialization is the process of teaching behavior based on the beliefs and habits of your family or community

This can include religion, traditions, dress, and ways of behaving towards other people

Socialization is taught through conditioning, modeling, and expanding a child’s horizons

Environment and Personality

Conditioning is changing behavior through rewards and punishments

Modeling is changing behavior by watching and imitating another person

Expanding horizons is allowing a person to gain exposure to people and places outside of their home in order to experience new activities (intelligence)

Environment and Personality

Your gender also plays an important role in personality development

The effect of gender on personality is largely due to the expectations of society about how males and females should behave

Due to these expectations, certain behaviors are often more accepted by one gender than another

Environment and Personality

Stereotyping is thinking that all members of a large group all share the same characteristics

Expectations for certain ethnic or gender groups are the largely based on stereotypes

When you stereotype someone, you fail to recognize the person’s uniqueness

In Conclusion…

Scientists agree that personality development is the result of a combination of heredity AND environmental influences

In Your Wellness Journal…

HEREDITY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT

What do you think affects someone’s personality development more, heredity or their environment?

Explain your reasoning.