PERSONALITY TRAIT

Personality Trait

Personality Trait

Personality Theory

Many Psychologists have presented various theories on Personality Traits. Erik Erikson's theory of personality trait is one of the most popular one. Erik Erikson was one of the first theorists who believe that development continues throughout life. He created a theory of development, according to which a person experiences eight stages of development throughout the life. At each stage, there is a specific conflict, which should allow the individual to develop. Every conflict can be resolved by appropriate means, motivating the development of, or inadequate ways, making the transition to the next stage of development.

In his theory of psychosocial stages of personality development, Erikson considered the integration of the personality as the ultimate stage of development. He conceived the process of forming a personal identity as an intermediate stage of adolescence, and a pathway for achieving it. For him, the personality of the individual is born of the relationship between personal expectations and limitations of the cultural environment. For Erikson, life revolves around the person and the environment. Thus, each step is a step forward, stagnation or retrogression compared with the other stages (Grusec, 1992). Erikson identified eight stages of the psychosocial development of a person which are:

1.Basic trust vs. Mistrust

2.Autonomy vs. Shame and Dou

3.Initiative vs. Guilt

4.Diligence vs. Inferiority

5.Search for Identity vs. Identity Diffusion

6.Intimacy vs. Isolation

7.Generativity vs. Stagnation

8.Integrity vs. Despair

Age bracket

Ego development outcome

Basic strengths

Birth to 18 months

Mistrust v/s Trust

Hope and Drive to Explore

18 months to 3 years

Shame v/s Autonomy

Self-control, Courage and Will

3 to 5 years

Guilt v/s Initiative

Purpose of Existence

6 to 12 years

Inferiority v/s Industry

Competence and Methods to succeed

12 to 18 years

Role Confusion v/s Identify

Devotion and Fidelity

18 to 35 years

Intimacy and Solidarity v/s Isolation

Love and Affiliation

35-55 or 65 years

Self-Absorption or Stagnation v/s Generativity

Care and Production

55 or 65 till death

Despair v/s Integrity

Wisdom

Character's Behavior

In this section, we will compare Oprah Gail Winfrey and will analyze her personality traits. The objective is to compare her personality trait with the theory presented by Erik Erikson.

Oprah Gail Winfrey is a television presenter, actress, entrepreneur and a producer. She has won the Emmy Award several times for her show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, which is the most watched television talk show. According to the Forbes magazine, she is the richest twentieth century African American women.

Oprah was born in city of Kisciusko in Mississippi on 29th January 1954. Her grandmother took care of her for the first six years of her life. ...