Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Long term Effects on Personality

               While it was formerly believed that deprivation of love during the early, formative years would lay the basis for adult personality disorders, it is now questioned whether this is necessarily true. Permanent psychological damage may be obviated by favorable conditions either before the deprivation occurred or before the damage becomes too severe. As the assumptions that children who" experience institutionalization and similar forms of severe privation and deprivation in early life commonly develop psychopathic or affection less characters are incorrect".

                On the other hand, while a satisfying babyhood will not necessarily compensate for economic privation or other unfavorable conditions in the person's later life, it does provide a tentative an probably. persisting character structure.

                  One of the most common long-term effects of deprivation of affection on personality is emotional insecurity a feeling of not belonging and of being unable to count on the affection of significant people. When babies sense a lack of consistency in the love relationship with their mothers, they cry excessively  and show other symptoms of nervousness. When children recognize an inconsistency in their parents' child-training methods, with swings from punitiveness to  permissiveness, they are unsure of the parent's affection, Their heightened emotionality is expressed in temper tantrums, irritability, nervous mannerisms, such as nail bitiing, thumb-sucking and speech defects.


                       Much of the adolescent rebellion against authority stems from emotional insecurity which had its origin in an unstable affection relationship with parents during the childhood years. The person who never felt emotionally secure tends to be anxious and rebellious. He feels threatened, and this puts him on the defensive whenever there is any indication that his rights might be taken away from him. This defensive attitude may lead to a generalized rebellion against authority during the adolescent years.


                       Emotional insecurity in adolescence  show itself in a craving for the acceptance and affection of peers of both sexes. The adolescent tries to win this security by conforming as closely as possible to the standards of the peer group. One of the reasons for going steady and marrying early is that the adolescent is trying to compensate for unstable emotional relationships experienced at home.







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