Some determinants of Children's personality

-Babu Ram Banjade
There are many personality determinants. However, some of these have greater effect on the core of personality pattern. No determinant affects only one part of the personality pattern but the core of the total personality. How much influence each of the factors has on their personality depends on children's ability to understand the significance of the factors in relation to themselves. Following are some important determinants of personality of the children.

1.Early experiences
Psychologist Sigmund Freud first stressed the importance of early experiences to personality when he had found many of his patients had had unhappy childhood. Early experiences refer to the psychological shock or birth trauma. This is the psychological shock that results when the infant is separated from the mother. They leave an impression throughout the life.
2.Cultural influences
A child's personality is influenced by the culture he/she is brought up in. He is subjected to pressure to develop a personality pattern as per his culture. Children can be taken away from their culture but the culture cannot be taken away from the children. They are given training to follow the norms of their culture in the home and in the school. So, the way they are brought up determines their personality pattern. They are pressurized to behave in a way that is socially approved in their culture. In many countries for example, children are trained to be family oriented. As a result, they develop personality patterns characterized by loyalty, cooperation, sacrifice and often-unrealistic concepts of themselves and their roles in life.

3.Physique
Physique or body build affects personality pattern directly or indirectly. Directly, it determines what children can and cannot do. Indirectly, it determines how children feel about their bodies. Every cultural group has its own standards of what is right or appropriate for boys and girls. Extremes are regarded as wrong. Being more different from their peers affects the children's personality. Because of their unfavourable body structure they develop the compensatory behaviours such as clowning and showing off which gradually leads to unfavorable social reactions to their physiques.

4.Physical condition
Healthy children not only live the healthy life but also become the favourites of the people. Their family and the social group also have favourable attitude towards them which influences the children's self-concept. If they have any physical defect, they are naturally deprived of being involved in the activities that normal children are involved in. Then the defected children have a kind of inferiority complex, which affects their overall personality.

5.Attractiveness
This is also very important aspect of the children. Attractive people usually get more favour than the unattractive ones. The judgement of attractiveness is based on physical features, body build, clothing that is stylish, the hairstyle etc. In the home, in school or in the society. People want to interact more with the attractive children; they spend more time with the attractive children, which encourages the children and they become more popular. They become self confident, more relaxed and more friendly. This is not always true that more attractive children have better personality. They may sometimes be the targets of envy and jealousy among their peers.

6.Intelligence
Young children before they are admitted in school are not aware of their intelligence. They start measuring it when they adjust to the schoolwork. Intelligent children are expected to do more by their parents and teachers. They always have a kind of risk that if they do not maintain their standard or raise themselves above the norms, they may lose popularity among their friends. They sometimes become 'odd' in the group. Those having less intelligence definitely feel themselves outsiders in their group. So, intelligence also influences personality.

7.Emotions
Suppression of emotional expressions sometimes results in moodiness. People show their favour to those children who keep their emotions under control. Some emotions have to be suppressed and some others expressed. Whether emotions affect personality or not depends on how they affect other people's judgements about the children.

8.Names
Names also have little effect on the self-concept. As the children grow younger, they become more conscious about their names. When they play with their friends, they realize how important their names are. If someone's name has pleasant association in the mind of others, it has a favourable effect on his / her self-concept. Nicknames have greater effect on a person's personality as they are sometimes taken as the form of ridicule.

9.Success and failure
These are also great determinants of personality and the self-concept. Sometimes, children who are 'successes' in the eyes of others may be 'failures' in their own eyes. Therefore, success and failure are the subjective and objective concepts. Success encourages a child, whereas, failure discourages them. Success makes children happy and satisfied whereas, failure makes them disappointed and dissatisfied. Failure can be a source of frustration and a means of getting favour of others. Failure, on the other hand, also encourages children to be cautious about future and encourages them to seek advice and help. It also encourages them to rationalize the cause of their failure. When children get frequent failures, they also need to be treated psychologically for making them feel that they can get success in the future.

10.Social acceptance
Children try to have the approval of their parents at home and that of their peers at school. While in school, they think their peers ' approval or acceptance more important than that of their parents. They develop personality traits, which their peers admire, even though their parents may not admire them. Children who are accepted in the social group develop self-confidence and poise. They win the hearts of others. Therefore, they need social acceptance for the good personality.

11.Status symbol
Although there are many status symbols, clothes have been found to have more profound effect on children's personality. The socio-economic status of their family also has effect on it. If the children are provided with good clothes and material possessions by their parents, they develop better self-concept. If they don't gain social acceptance because of their family status, they blame their parents for their future. They take themselves as unlucky person, which affects their social adjustment. In this way, they may damage their personality.

12. School influences
School should have a healthy emotional climate. Teachers' attitude towards the students' academic work and behaviour influences the children's personality directly or inditrectly. Authoritarian discipline also makes the children tense, resentful and antagonistic. Teachers' favourite becomes conceited, arrogant and self centered while the unfavourite develops negative attitude towards the whole school. Promotion and detention are ego inflating and ego deflating respectively. The leadership role that the children are given also encourages them and develops good attitude in them.

13.Family influences.
Family is the most important personality determinant .The role of the family in determining a child's personality is clarified from the following statements.

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn
If he lives with hostility, he learns to fight
If he lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive.
If he lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself
If he lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient
If he lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilty
If he lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy
if he lives with shame, he learns to be ashamed of himself
If he lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident.
If he lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative.
If he lives with acceptance, he learns to love
If he lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If he lives with recognition, he learns to have a goal
. If he lives with fairness, he learns to value justice.
If he lives with security, he learns to value truth.
If he lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and others.

Reference
Child Development,Elizabeth B.Hurlock
TATA McGRAW-HILL EDITION 1997