DIPLOMA – PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT NOTES

·        The study of personality development helps individuals to understand themselves and others for better interaction and harmonious living

·        The unit examines the unity of personality temperament and factors influencing personality development

·        It also discusses life skills  for psychosocial competence and living values that help on individual to lead a healthy well adjusted and productive life

·        Self awareness and attractive communication skills are also discussed in an attempt to help learners develop better interactions within the family and the community.

2)      Analyze  theories of personality development and relate them to real life situations

3)      Explain personality types and temperaments

4)      Discuss factors that influence personality development

5)      Analyze various defence mechanism, causes and effects

6)      Discuss life skills for psychosocial competence and their importance in human development and adjustment

7)      Evaluate important values and methods of imparting them in children

·        Humanistic theory (Maslow and Rodgers)

·        Psychoanalytic theory (Fraud)

·        Trait theory (Egseric&Sheldom

·        Social cognitive theory (Bandura)

2)      Type B personality

3)      Introverts & extroverts

·        Personality traits (Neurotism, Extroversion, openness to experience ignobleness, conscientiousness

·        Environmental factors

·        Individual characteristics

·        An individual characteristics pattern of thought emotions and behavior together with the psychological mechanisms behind those patterns

·        In summary personality can be defined as the sum total of behavior and mental characteristics that makes one an individual.

·        It includes a persons typical moods and emotions and these are assured to be related to the psychological functioning of glands and nervous system

b)      To understand others and be able to predict their behaviours, this helps to know to approach and interact with people

c)      To be able to influence  peoples behavior and learning i.e. selection of activities to enhance learning and performance of people of different personalities

d)      So as to be able to improve communication and interactions one can interact well with people when he/she understands the way they think, their attitudes, feelings  and moods

e)      To be able to assign duties and responsibilities appropriately according to children’s respective temperaments and personalities.

·        These theories and their proponents are;

a)      Psychoanalytic theory (Erick Erickson)

b)      Humanistic theory (Maslow & Rodgers)

c)      Trait theory (Eysenak& Rodgers)

d)      Social cognitive theory (Albert Bandura)

·        Most of other personality theories evolved from it following a dissatisfaction from other theories

·        Freud believed that human beings are guided by 2 instincts i.e. life of sexual instincts and death or aggressive instincts

·        Life instincts are positive or constructive aspects of human behavior

·        The energy responsible for life instincts is called ‘libido’.  According to Freud death instincts explain the dark or negative and destructive side of behavior such as stealing, killing or anything that is cruel

·        This instincts are a natural feature in human beings

·        Freud argued that;

Ø  People cannot generally satisfy their sexual aggressive and other bodily desires whenever they wish.  This usually conflicts with what the society expects

·        People are sometimes not aware of these desires because they are not in their continuous awareness. They are therefore unaware  of the drives that cause their emotions and behavior because they are not continuous.

·        It is difficult according to separate them when examining how they influence human behaviour

·        It is also called the primitive mind

·        It stores the psychic energy of libido and provides all the energy to operate the ego and super ego when the tension level or an individual is raised

·        The Id release this tension immediately and returns to a comfortable low energy level

·        The principal of tension reduction by which the  Id operate is called ‘the pressure principle’ which is only interested in what it will reduce pain or pressure.

·        The Id does not care about the consequences but when it wants something it must have it immediately  e.g. A man who is ruled by his Id will rape a young woman because he wants sex there and then.  A thief will break into a house because he wants a TV there and then.

·        It obeys  the reality principle and is viewed as the rational part of the mind

·        It finds the middle ground between the competing demands of the Id and the super ego e.g. The Id may want a packet of crisps but the super ego thinks it is not deserved because you have been very lazy the whole week

·        The Ego therefore makes a compromise and decides that you can get the packet after you have cleaned the house

·        It is the moral part of the mind as conscious is located there

·        It represents the ideal rather than the real and it tries to get perfection rather than pressure

·        It tries to decide whether something is right or wrong so that it can do what is expected by the society

To inspire for perfection

(2)    Anal stage (2 – 3 yrs)

(3)    The phallic stage (4 – 5 yrs)

(4)    Latency stage (6 – 11 yrs)

(5)    Genital stage (adolescence)

·        The child gets pressure from biting, sucking and chewing

·        The child derives pressure from stimulating the mouth region and the pressure determines the personality features that will develop at this stage

·        Freud says that 2 types of oral characters develop

2.      Those whose needs were fulfilled when they were babies may always wait for the others to do things for them when they become adults

·        During this stage the child undergoes toilet training

·        Begins to have ability to control urges such as to defalcate

·        Parents should not have too much control over the child since it can develop psychological trauma e.g. prohibiting the child from crying or to hold his/her bowel longer than he is capable

·        Girls realize that boys have a penis and they do not

·        Boys wonders what happened to the girls and if they loose their penis like them (i.e. castration anxiety )

·        These are sexual feelings for the parents of opposite sex who is seen as a competitor

·        This is known as ‘oedipus complex for boys’ and ‘electra complex for the girls’

·        The boys fear they might loose their penis i.e. be castrated by their fathers as they fight them for their mothers love

·        In  order to end this boys identify with their fathers and adopt many with their values

·        Girls on the other hand mourn believing they have been castrated, they fear that their mothers will find out about the love with their fathers

·        They therefore slat with their mothers and accept with their value.

·        It acts as a break which allows children to learn most of the things they will need in adult life

·        This includes learning to read, do calculations and other topics taught in school and at home

·        This is emphasized on heterosexual i.e. boys show interest  in girls and vice versa

·        Characteristics such as sexual attractions, vocational planning preparation for Marriage and family begins to manifest themselves

·        Erickson argued that what happened at one stage would influence the following stage e.g. being able to resolve conflicts in one stage  would probably lead to success in the following stage.

·        A child will develop positive attitude towards life and develop confidence when the basic needs are met.  The opposite of this will lead to development of mistrust and pessimism

·        A child who develops basic trust is likely to develop autonomy while one who develops mistrust develops shame and doubt during the second stage

·        They also learn what is expected of them, responsibilities and rights, what they can or cannot be allowed to do

·        There are two demands placed on the child

Ø  Demand for self control

Ø  Demand for the acceptance of control from others

·        A demand for acceptance of control from others means the child has to obey other people e.g. parents/guardians

·        Adults use the concept or shame to control the child e.g. telling the child ‘shame on you’ when the child does something wrong

·        At the same time they encourage the child to be independent or autonomous

·        Adults should avoid making the child feel excessively ashamed during this stage e.g. avoid humiliating a child if he  or she accidentally urinates on themselves

·        A child sense of self control they develop sense of lasting feeling of pride, if they looseself control they feel shame and doubt

·        During this stage the child develops knowledge of right or wrong, preparing him in the next stage of initiative versus guilt

·        Initiative combines with autonomy to give the child strength in pursuing, planning and achieving goals

·        The child’s major activity at this stage is playing the child learns the purpose of which things are done, the child engages in lots of printed play like wearing costumes and imitating adults

·        If children develop shame and doubt in second stage they develop a feeling of guilt about things they try to do

·        When a child has developed an initiative he/she is likely to be industrious in the next stage while a child who develop guilt ,may develop a sense of inferiority in the next stage

Ø  Begins to develop skills and attitudes needed to succeed in the world of work and in the society, the child must settle down to formal education

Ø  The child is ready to learn about the use of tools and other task needed to prepare adult life this induct chores at home, attending school, learning manual skills and participating in games.

Ø  Uses intelligence and excessive energy doing something useful

Ø  Develop a sense of industry and rams to preserve and work hard

Ø  Achieve a feeling of competence when they complete task and hence avoid a feeling of inferiority

Ø  They develop a feeling of inferiority in made to feel that they can not master the tasks given by parents

Ø  Try to find out who they are and what is or is not important

Ø  They choose values and goals that are consistent and useful

Ø  They have to make vocational choice and plans

Ø  Will undergo role confusion i.e. experiencing feeling of isolation, anxiety, emptiness and indecisiveness

Ø  It is therefore important for adolescence to develop a sense of identity to avoid feeling empty and worried

·        This means establishing a meaningful relationship and marrying

·        The danger of intimacy stage is isolation which is the avoidance relationship because one is unwilling to commit oneself to intimacy.

·        The urge to care at the stage is expressed by;

Ø  Concern for others e.g. helping the needy

Ø  Sharing one knowledge  and experience e.g. in bringing up children, teaching, demonstrating and supervising

·        At this stage people can continue working

·        Couples can achieve greater marital happiness, personal accomplishment and growth can continue even in old age.

·        Death of a spouse is one of the greatest psychosocial challenges resulting to depression, illness or death because of loss of emotional and physical support

·        The opposite of integrity is despair where an individual feels he has failed, becomes bitter about life and views it as meaningless, the end is near and they may even wish to die since it is too late to change anything  .

·        People who never contributed to society on reaching this age regret the way they lived

·        When such infants grow up they are able to trust  others and make friends easily

·        Encourage them to think independently and to take responsibility of consequences of their actions.

·        Parents and guardians should avoid embarrassing children and humiliating (especially in the autonomy vs. shame.  This may make them feel ashamed and doubt their own capabilities

·        If the needs are not satisfied they will control the individuals personality

·        Basic needs must be fulfilled before higher needs since they are stronger

·        He believed that a person does not feel a second need before the first need is satisfied

·        These needs are;

(2)    Safety needs – (protection, love, affection, stability)

(3)    Belongingness and love – (family, affection & relationship)

(4)    Self esteem and cognitive needs – (knowledge, self awareness)

(5)    Self actualization – (self fulfillment)

·        Have good teacher-pupil relationship.  This ensures safety needs of the child are met

·        Ensure there is security at home and school

·        Eliminate burying of children and other forms of abuse directed to them

·        Parents, teachers and guardians should love all children equally and avoid treating some Badly

·        Encourage group work so that children can interact with one another and feel as part of the group that is working together

·        Parents, teachers and guardians should recognize and praise children who do well by giving  presents. This promotes self esteem in children.

·        Encourage children to self actuaries  by tellingthem about people who haveself actualized, tell them that they can be the best in anything they do by being inspired by given hope and encouragement

·        Experience is everything that goes on inside a person of which he/she could become continuous.  This included;

(b)    Everything that is in the focus of attention or awareness

(c)    Everything that is on the edge of awareness e.g. at the back of one’s mind

·        Rodgers believed that most people have difficulty accepting their own true innate positive feelings because of the way they are conditioned by negative feedback discouraged or by being expected to behave in a certain way.

·        We are used to conditioned regard whereby love and praise often are not given unless on individual conforms to parental or social standards, this gives rise to lowered self-esteem.

·        Rodgers views the self as a whole consisting of totally of oneself perception and the values we attach to this perceptions

·        This means accepting the person and not his good or bad behavior

·        It helps elevate the self worth and the self esteem of both people

·        Being emphatic being a sensitive listener and understanding another’s true feelings while being genuining  means being open and dropping our pretenses and masks

·        Unconditional positive regard empathy and genuineness are the three key ingredients of good human relations

·        We can use them to help other people feel better about themselves and to help ourselves relate better with others

·        A fully functioning person is someone who is open to experience, is not defensive, is aware of and sensitive to self and external world and has fairly harmonious relationships

·        People who are resilient to negative feedback are capable of becoming fully functioning persons

·        Resilience – this is the ability to survive or cope in a hostile environment, adapt to it develop and become oneself despite the difficulties one faces in the environment

·        Since individuals including children will do things so that people could like and accept them, parents and guardians should teach children socially, acceptable and expected behavior this will help

·        Children develop good personal qualities and make it easier for them to fit into society

·        We should not place too many demands on children by telling them that we will only love them if they do certain things rather we should guide children on what is right and appropriate and praise them when they display good behavior

·        Always communicate to the children that we have unconditional positive regards on them.

·        Which is sometimes called the emotional stability vs. neurotism dimension

·        Eysenck said that people who can withstand emotional stress and are able to control emotions fall under emotional stability and are emotionally stable

·        On the other hand those who breakdown when they are faced with stress fall under neurotism and are called neurotic

·        Esynck system relate to an old description of individual differences given by two Greek physicians/doctors i.e. Hipp-Ocrates (400 BC) and Galen (200 AD)

·        Hippocrates and Galen had said that there are four basic personality types;

Ø  Melancholics

Ø  Phiegmatics

Ø  Cholerias

Ø  Sanguines

·        Not social

·        Keep to themselves

·        Are pessimistic

·        Rigid (don’t change)

·        Anxious

·        Moody

·        They are also gifted perfectionists, high IQ, analytical, disciplined, industrious, sensitive and self sacrificing

·        Thoughtful

·        Passive

·        Peaceful

·        Controlled

·        Reliable

·        Even tempered

·        Calm

·        They are also cool, slow, easy going, well balanced temperament, pleasant, life experiences, introverts, good natured, cheerful, kind hearted and peace loving

·        They  lack confidence

·        Are pessimistic

·        Fearful worries

·        Compromising

·        Self righteous

·        Active

·        Practical

·        Strong willed

·        Self sufficient

·        Independent

·        Bossy

·        Quick to anger

·        Sensitive to need of others

·        Little appreciation of aesthetics

·        Domineering

·        Not sympathetic

·        Confident

·        Natural leaders

·        Optimistic

·        Fearless and bold

·        Self disciplined

·        Cold

·        Happy

·        Fun loving

·        Have many friends

·        Story tellers

·        Talkative

·        Emotional

·        Emotionally unpredictable

·        Restless

·        Show outbursts of anger

·        Exaggerate the truth

·        Lack self control

·        Make emotional decisions

·        Phlegmatics are introverted and emotionally stable

·        Cholerics are both extroverted and emotionally unstable

·        Sangrines are both extroverted and emotionally stable

·        Later Eysencks added a 3^rd dimension of personality which he called ‘psychotism’.  These people are;

Ø  Aggressive

Ø  Cold

Ø  Egocentric

Ø  Creative

Ø  Impersonal

Ø  Impulsive

Ø  Anti-social

(b)    Parents, teachers and guardians should encourage positive aspects of personality and try to stop or reduce the negative characteristics

(c)    Introverted children should be introduced to social activities.  Too many social activities at once will make them more introverted

(d)    Introverted children should be praised when they engage in social activities, this will make them eager to engage in more social activities

(e)    Extroverted children be given many tasks so that they can  use up all extra energy they have

(f)     Extroverts who are usually outgoing should be provided with various opportunities to enable them interact with other children

(g)    Since extroverts are talkative teachers should not let them dominate all class activities such as group work or class participation

(h)    Extroverted children should be made to understand that there are times for everything i.e. time for quiet activities e.g. reading for exams

(i)      Parents, teachers and guardians should not expose children to too much stress (neurotism) dimension and also discourage other children from harassing or stressing one another

(j)      Neurotic children should be guided on how they can control their  emotions and handle various stressful situations to avoid breaking down

(k)    Children with psychotism dimension should be encouraged to be social interested in other people and to reduce the aggressiveness that they display

(l)      Provide opportunities for children to display their creative activities especially psychotism  dimension.

(b)    Thinking develops in a social context i.e. people get opinions about themselves and the word by social interactions

(c)    The theory says that human behavior is the result of the interaction between a person and the environment people are seen as capable of directing their own lives and learning complex patterns even when there are no reward

ü  In brief the theory argues that although outside forces can influence human beings, have the cognitive capacity to overcome this forces

ü  This is called reciprocal deterorinism model

ü  A human being is therefore;

Is active

A problem solver

Able to benefit from experiences and his cognitive capacities

Have a potential for good or bad

Ø  These structures are;

(a)    Competences and skills

(b)    Expectances and beliefs

(c)    Behavioral standards

(d)    Personal goals

·        Others may have skills for one situation but lack in another

·        Bandura said that competences and skills can be obtained  by social interactions and observations

·        What we expect in future is going to influence the way we behave i.e. people behave in terms of the expectations e.g. a child expecting to be rewarded will study very hard

·        If a child anticipates punishment after stealing mangoes he will not steal the mango

·        Bandura says that people tend to evaluate or judge themselves

·        When people are satisfied with their performance they are happy

·        This personal standard are influenced by other people e.g. we set standards after observing the performance of other people.

·        The goals we have will influence the way we behave e.g. a child whose  goal is to become a pilot may spend a lot of time studying to pass exams

(a)    Observational learning/modelling

(b)    Motivation

·        The person being observed is called a model and this observational learning process is called modelling e.g. a child can learn a language through observing his  parents and other people around him speak.

·        Children carry out selective modelling i.e.  they model behaviours that are rewarding

·        Bandura adds that observation of consequences by a model affects learning

·        To model one needs to attend to the model’s behavior, some behavior in memory then revive the behavior when need be.

·        Children should be taught that they have the ability to overcome outside forces e.g. bad peer influence

·        Teach children that they have the ability to avoid certain situations and suitable for them and choose good or better options

·        Parents, teachers and guardians should help children develop skills and competences that are useful to them

·        Praise children for the skills they possess and encourage them acquire other skills

·        Teach children to interact not only with one another but also with adults who display useful skills and competences

·        Teachers, parents and guardians should be good role models that children can observe and emulate in addition to this teachers can invite good role models to schools to talk to children

·        Make children aware of what to expect for displaying certain behavior i.e. either positive or negative

·        Help children to set useful personal goals and encourage them to pursue the goals

·        Encourage parents, children  to watch educative programs

·        Encourage children to Have friends with positive behavior

·        Easily irritated

·        Always in a rush

·        Hate to waste time

·        Time continuous

·        Very competitive

·        Workaholics and cant relax

·        The following descriptions characterized them;

(a)    Time urgency and impatient – they get frustrated when waiting in a queue.  Walk or talk very first and keep checking the time

(b)    Free floating hostility or aggressive which appears as rudeness, impatient or being easily irritated or annoyed

(c)    Competitiveness

(d)    Strong urge for success

(e)    Hypertension, high blood pressure is common among type A personality

(f)     Heart diseases must suffer from heart attacks or diseases from their own age

(g)    Jog stress, they are stressed at work or find the job unpleasant and are never happy with their jobs

(h)    Social isolation – they alienate others spend too much time working and focus too little on relationships ending up socially isolated and stressed

·        Patient

·        Relaxed

·        Easy going

·        Not easily irritated

·        Don’t get over-stressed

·        Productive even when stressed

·        Not easily annoyed by long queues

·        Not in a hurry to do things

(b)    Type A personality may be inherited and hence one should show more understanding and tolerance towards children displaying this personality

(c)    Parents, guardians and teachers should therefore avoid putting too much stress on young children

(d)    Children should be guided and counselled on how to deal with their stress or anger

(e)    Parents should be a good role model.

(2)    Conscientiousness (C)

(3)    Agreeableness (A)

(4)    Extroversion (E)

(5)    Neurotism/emotional stability (N)

·        The five traits are sometimes called the big five.  The initials from the acronym ocean

·        It include of experience

·        Openness differentiate creative , imaginativepeople from common people because open people are intellectually curious, sensitive to beauty and they appreciate art, they are also more aware of their feelings and therefore they have unusual and unique ideas

·        On the other hand people who are not open have narrow ordinary interest and they like playing obvious and straightforward things

·        They do not value art, prepare familiar things rather than new ones like old fashioned things and do not like to see changes occurring

·        Conscientiousness is basically the way people control, regularly and direct their urges

·        Conscientiousness individual avoid trouble and becomes successful because they plan and are persistent

·        These people can be workaholics and want everything to be perfect

·        Unconscientious people are unreliable and unambitious

·        They are never boring and they sometimes have a lot of fun

·        Extroverts like talking especially in a group and ascertain themselves

·        Introverts on the other hand are not active

Ø  Are quiet

Ø  Passive

Ø  Antisocial

·        Introverts sing to get exhausted when they engage in social activities

·        Agreeable people are not suspicious, not hostile, optimistic, friendly, helpful, generous, considerate and meet other people’s interest

·        Disagreeable people are more interested in achieving  own interest, are suspicious and uncooperative and unfriendly.

·        Neurotic people respond emotionally to events and their mode of reacting is stronger and their  reactions last long

·        They are therefore usually in a bad mood

·        The opposite of neurotism is emotional stability

(b)    Guidance and counseling especially to neurotic

(c)    Encourage children to be conscientious and be praised for displaying conscientiousness

(d)    Encourage children to develop trait of agreeable people and the importance of being helpful, friendly and considerate

(e)    Inform children that some situations calls for disagreeableness like being a boss and  one has to ensure that the juniors do their work

(f)     Children who show openness should be given opportunities to be creative, be provided with many learning materials to help them come with new inventions

(g)    Children who are not open should not be forced to open too many new ideas to others

·        Teachers and parents should know the main factors influencing personality development and explain how one can promote healthy personality development

(b)    Environment

(c)    Individual difficulties

·        Temperament are inherited through genes/some hereditary factors that influence personality development include

Ø  Physical appearance

Ø  Mental capabilities

Ø  Health

Ø  This can affect how others judge a person as well as how a person behaves e.g. one can inherit a beautiful face and another will inherit unattractive one making the two behave differently

Ø  Such as learning disability or high level of intelligence could hinder or enhance activities requiring mental skills

Ø  People with high level of intelligence may have a higher self concept of themselves than those with learning disabilities

Ø  Being weak, strong, normal/abnormal leads to thinking or acting in socially, acceptable or different ways which also influences personality e.g. a child with a heart defect will participate in some activities and not others.

·        This environmental factors include cultural background, social class, peers and family

·        Culture influences personality development in many ways e.g. African society, relatives are expected to help their kins while it is not the case in European countries hence  an African is considered generous while the Europeans is mean.

·        With this notion people view them differently according to how they respond to various situations

·        The way it communicate through guidance and counseling to their children then modeling behavior which is imitated by their children

·        Rewarding/punishing for certain behavior

(b)    Authoritarian

(c)    Permissive

(2)    Use reasons other than force

(3)    They do their best to make their children feel accepted and loved

(4)    They are consistent when administering punishment

(5)    They encourage their children to take responsibility and make own decisions

·        They are not warm and supportive

·        They are “do as l say not as l do”

·        Children raised by these parents are inclined to be aggressive, withdrawn, poor performers in school

·        They are inconsistence i.e. their children never understand them e.g. punishment, hugs

·        Children raised here are socially and emotionally mature, impulsive and moody

·        Heredity/environment alone cannot influence personality

·        The environment & heredity interact in several ways such as;

Ø  A very short girl due to her genes may be laughed at by others and this affects her personality

Ø  A boy may inherit a very strong athletic body but he get involved in an accident

·        In case of an accident brain damage occurs and personality and behavior change

·        Men and women usually have different tasks undergoing different problems and experiences.  This therefore influences their personality development

(b)    Children should be taught to accept their body types and be made to feel that they are important human beings

(c)    Children should be taught not to laugh at and mock others because of certain physical appearance of body type

(d)    Children mental capacities, influence personality development and hence the less intelligence children should not be ridiculed or humiliated

(e)    Children with learning disabilities should be helped to excel in the areas they are good at such as art, music and drum

(f)     Children with certain medical conditions shouldn’t  be engaged in strenuous activities

(g)    Children should be understood to have come from various cultural background and cultural practices influence personality development

(h)    Children should be treated equally regardless of their social class

(i)      Family should display appropriate behavior in order to be good role model

(j)      Parents, teachers and guardians should encourage children to choose and interact with peers who has a positive influence

·        Defence mechanism become irritably important in human development

·        Defence mechanisms – are ways used to keep worries within are a reasonable level, this mechanisms are not used consciously.  They are brought by the uncontinuous part of the eagle when there is anxiety, they are mechanisms of the eagle that saves to protect an individual from experiencing anxiety produced by conflict between Id ego or super ego

2.      They alter change or face reality

·        Freud argued that most people try to reduce the tension they feel.  This tension is caused by anxiety and there are three types of anxieties

2.      Neurotic anxiety – it comes from uncontinuous fear that the Id will take control thus leading to punishment

3.      Moral anxiety – this comes from a fear of disobeying values and moral codes

Ø  It appears as a feeling of shame or guilt

Ø  Freud says that when anxiety occurs the mind tries to solve the problem by increasing its problem solving ability.  If this is not successful then the defence mechanisms appear

Ø  Defence mechanisms are ways in which the ego tries to deal with Id and super ego

Ø  Apart from anxiety other sources include

1.      Traumatizing experiences – an experience which is unbearable or likely to cause defence mechanism e.g. loss of a love one

2.      Inability to achieve a set objective causes disappointment and at times shame.  A defence mechanism distorts reality e.g. failed an exam because my teachers were harsh to me

3.      Home grown factors – hatred and rejection may cause defence mechanism e.g. a child born in a family where parents were unloving and uncaring derives  defence mechanism like reaction formation

4.      Daily challenging situations which cause stress, this challenging situations are there in work places, schools and so on.

5.      Frustrations – a feeling of being annoyed, or impatient after situations e.g. after failing an exam, divorce, separation one may apply a defence mechanism e.g. rationalization.

(b)    Repression

(c)    Reaction formation

(d)    Projection

(e)    Rationalists

(f)     Intellectualization

(g)    Displacement

(h)    Submission

(i)      Compensation

(j)      Regression

·        A person may refuse to admit that a friend/relative has died in a road accident

·        When the negative thought filling of memory is successfully kept in the unconscious then the person is protected from the anxiety that this negative thoughts would cost.  E.g. a man who is insulted daily by his wife may burry all his insults in his unconscious but one day he may not be able to keep them and all the insults may resurface in his conscious and he could commit a serious actions, like becoming physically abusive or commit suicide.

·        A child may hate his new born brother/sister and without showing the dislike he might always hug and hold the baby

·        It is done by apparently coming with a logical argument of why it was something hard to doe.g.a person  will tell a lie and then claim it was necessary to tell a lie, deep inside the person is ashamed but rationalization protect him from an easiness he fears.

·        If the doctor thought too much about the life of the patient he might not be able to perform the operation successfully

·        It reacts an impulse from  a dangerous target to a safe one e.g. a child might be angry with her mother but since she can not hate her she instead hates as dog

·        A company manager who cannot suck his thumb in a meeting sucks his pen

·        It turns dangerous or anxiety producing desires useful e.g. an angry person goes to do manual work or play a game which reduces tension caused by the anger.

·        A person who likes seeing naked people might decide to become a doctor

·        Defence mechanism performs the following

Ø  Helps human beings reduce tension and anxiety

Ø  Helps one get relief from intolerable confusion

Ø  Gives one time to solve a problem

Ø  Help one to cope with unbearable situations

Ø  They should also be able to explain the importance and development of various life skills

·        Life skills involve developing inner capacities and practical skills needed to make the most out of life.

·        Help children achieve their best in life ad life skills promote self responsibility

·        Promotes social skills i.e. help children on how to get along with peers deal with supervisors etc.

·        Help children develop positive attitude towards themselves and others

·        Help children to critically evaluate their environment and their culture in order to identify ways of promoting healthy development

·        Provide knowledge that helps children protect themselves from many threats such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse etc

·        Help children explore alternatives, way advantages & disadvantages and make sensible decisions in solving each problem or issue as it arises

2.      Skills for knowing and living with others

3.      Skills for effective decision making

4.      Skills for learning to do

·        It is therefore important to know how reaction occurs at each particular age from birth to adolescence

·        If their mother is feeling bereaved they might miss out on the extra nurturing which they need to receive from her

·        However, they will become more and more confused as they come to realize that death is permanent

·        Teachers, parents and guardians need to explain the children that the person or pet whom he/she loved is gone forever.

·        Adults should hence allow children to express this feelings

·        Children are also eager to know when the dead person goes the parents are better placed to answer such questions preferably before or after a loss

·        Young children however will not achieve this during their early childhood years but they can make a start

·        A child needs to know that;

Ø  His parents have left each other but not left him/her

Ø  Parents separate because they have stopped being friends

Ø  It is not the child’s fault that the parents have separated

Ø  Bothe his/her parents still love him/her even though they do not love each other enough to stay together.

·        Skills for knowing and living with others are sometimes referred to as skills for learning to live together

·        Children require these skills so that they can be acceptable in a society

·        It is the ability to express ones feelings without hurting or threatening others

·        Creative thinking

·        Problem solving

·        Decision making

·        Understanding consequences

Ø  How to wash clothes

Ø  How to make a table

Ø  How to prepare simple dishes

·        Life skills are both concrete and obstruct

·        Life skills are the ones that can be taught practically e.g.  how to make furniture

·        Abstract skills are things that cannot be taught directly e.g. self confidence

Ø  Children should be helped to make the right choices, recognize the wrong choices and set realistic goals for themselves

·        The meaning, importance and development of values should be learnt

Ø  They make society live in order

Ø  When people conform to expected norms becomes easy to others to live and work with them

1.      Honesty/integrity, truthful, genuine/being sincere

2.      Patient – being tolerant and enduring

3.      Hard work/industriousness – being productive and active

4.      Punctuality – being conscious and observing time

5.      Diligence/carefulness – being conscious in one’s duties or putting persistence, effort in ones work

6.      Consciousness – displaying good manners being polite

(a)    Drama/role playing

(b)    Teaching/telling children

(c)    Role modelling

(d)    Stories, poems, proverbs and songs

(e)    Mass media e.g. video clips, demonstrating important values/newspapers e.g. with people being arrested by police for dishonesty/stealing