Friday, October 21, 2016

Learning The Guides That Lead To Knowledge Of A Person


            Knowledge as to how something occurred is to gain insight as to the why and this is extremely true when it comes to humans. To know totally the reasons why a person acts, believes or anything about him/her is not possible, but we do have guides to aid us in our search for the reasons leading us to a more complete understanding. Therefore we must learn some of those guides and then apply them to our subject.     
According to the dictionary (Webster’s College Dictionary: 1997; p.219-220); Character is the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person or thing: the characteristic of a person. Heredity is an important factor in the development of a person’ characteristic that determines their personality. This factor leads us toward certain attributes: i.e., moral, ethics, and spiritual beliefs and we come to see ourselves through those prisms. Culture plays a very important role on the development of a person’ character and gives definition to a person. Environmental factors are such that we cannot escape those forces that give enhancement. Character and personality is largely established by the time a person reaches the age of seven. It is those traits that are enhanced and developed over time that will define an individual throughout a lifetime can be seen to be exhibited, those lifelong traits of a person’s character and personality. This was clearly established in a new paper, written by experts at the University of California in Riverside (UCR), LiveScience reports. Read more: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Our-Personality-Is-Fully-Developed-By-the-Age-of-7-151093.shtml#ixzz4NfIKML4D
             Individuals display character and can be seen worldwide and can describe their behavior and behavior denotes a person’ personality. Personality can be defined as the sum total of individual traits by which a person expresses himself/herself differently. Personality traits can be affected by the way others view a person and this leads to how we would like to be viewed or defined. All the various factors are defining character and personality relative to a person’s motivational disposition and those dispositions may be various affections a person motivational disposition differently. http://www.academia.edu/14511432/Factors_affecting_Personality_Development
            People that are not subject to a mental disorder, not all changes in personality and behavior are due to mental disorders, differ significantly in the development and overall personality, mood, and behavior. It is also to be noted that each person exercise of their character or personality varies from day to day depending on the circumstances. However, when a sudden change occurs both in a person’s personality or character, a major change, not of a mental disorder event, but and event could cause a change more often than not indicates a problem. Any change in character or personality can be categorized as: 1. Confusion, or delirium: 2. Delusion: 3. Disorganized speech or behavior: 4. Hallucinations: 5: Mood extremes. Theses are not disorders, rather categories to differentiate between abnormal thought, speech, and behavior. http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/overview-of-mental-health-care/personality-and-behavior-changes.
            Character and personality traits do not have to remain as developed from infancy as they can change over time due to external changes: i.e., change in a job or income, or marriage, or divorce. How a person, feels about themselves can also be due to changes in personality, not just through external changes. Researchers have developed a five-factor model of personality as a comprehensive model of personality.[1] This model identifies five broad traits underlying other traits to describe personality. The identified traits are: 1) extraversion, the quantity and intensity of one's interpersonal interactions 2) neuroticism, the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and hostility 3) conscientiousness, the persistence, organization, and motivation exhibited in goal-directed behaviors 4) agreeableness, the quality of one's interpersonal interactions along a continuum from compassion to antagonism 5) openness, the proactive seeking and appreciation of new experiences. A person with an open, mature religiosity and spirituality were associated with a high openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and with a low neuroticism. Open must be defined as it means more than just speaking of something literally closed. Openness means to have less obstruction, to be without restrictions, not engaged or committed to something, undecided or unguarded, to become receptive to new knowledge or to have new sympathy. Openminded is to have or show a mind that is receptive to new ideas or arguments, or even to be unprejudiced. That which, needed to be known, is what led to this openness or a mature religiosity that is to be affected to excessive devotion to a religion, or religious ideas. Religious fundamentalism was associated with higher agreeableness, and lower neuroticism and lower openness to experience. Extrinsic religiosity was associated with higher neuroticism but unrelated to the other personality factors.
            The Attachment Theory is a personality indicator to aid in understanding religiosity and spirituality. In other words: the premise is that infants form relationships with their caregiver, mother or father, or another, depending on the type of attachment, personality and future relationships will be influenced accordingly.[2] What is found is that this type of relationship can be with a particular god, or higher power. The research showed that there is a compensatory effect, or the need of people to make up for something that is lacking, for instance a person with a insecure attachment style with their parents may then have a very secure, and confident relationship with God.[3]
            Another theory, the Object relation theory is that a person may manifest one thing with one person and another with another person and the emotions to objects are based on how they currently view the world around them.[4] This theory hypothesizes that a person will create an idea of God according to what then individual needs, and how they perceive the world. [5]
            The above information will aid us in our investigation of Joseph Smith Jr. and his claims and how the Mormon religion was formed from it founder and its foundation.


[1] Digman, J.M. (1990). "Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model". Annual Review of Psychology. 41: 417–440. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.002221.
[2] Bowlby, J (1973). Attachment and loss: Separation, anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.
[3] Park, edited by Raymond F. Paloutzian, Crystal L. (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: Guilford Press. pp. 256–257. ISBN 1572309229.
[4] Kernberg, O. "Structural derivatives of object relationships". International Journal of Psycho-Analysis: 236–253.
[5] Rizzuto, A (1979). The birth of the living god. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

No comments: