Английский язык. Горчакова Е.П - 13 стр.

                               13

     Separation of child and mother is not always harmful to
the   child’s   personality    development;   under     certain
circumstances, where the absence is relatively short, and the
substitute care is stable, separation can be beneficial for the
development of independence.

     Birth order is thought to influence personality because
the make-up of the family, which the newborn enters, is an
important part of its environment. Birth order also helps
determine the opportunities for group interaction and how the
child will be treated by his parents and others.

     [1]  From    infancy  on,   each   individual   develops
characteristic ways of behaving to protect himself from such
“psychic pain”. These pervasive and characteristic ways of
behaving are the defense mechanisms described by Freud.

     Repression may prevent a person from feeling anxious,
but it may also result in the development of a reaction
formation, in which conscious emotions or motives entirely the
opposite of the repressed ones plague and drive the individual,
colouring his personality. Rationalization helps us to accept
undesirable circumstances and to feel less quilt-ridden about
our own unworthy behaviour. Insulation enables one to
tolerate incompatible attitudes by keeping them in logic-tight
compartments. Projecting became onto others can spare us
guilt and anxiety. As each of us develops and uses these
characteristic ways of coping with anxiety, the defense
mechanisms themselves colour and shape our developing
personalities.

     Everyone is affected by the customs, attitudes and the
values of the society in which she grows up. Different social
classes within the culture are particularly important because
such classes usually vary both in values and in child-rearing
practices; these, in turn, are crucial influences in the
developing personality.

     The first personality theories were based primarily on the
study   of    maladjusted    or   disturbed   people;   modern
psychologists count on observations of normal people for
formulating their theories. [2]