Mental health articles

Influences on personality development
As we have seen in earlier chapters, most theories agree that psychological and
social experiences in infancy and early childhood are foundational. These
experiences, particularly the quality of emotional care an infant receives and
infant biological predisposition, are the basis for the individual’s mode of
psychological functioning. Infancy is seen as a critical development period
during which the basis of personality functioning is established. The infant
period is one where models of relationships and the self develop in the context
of the caregiving relationship. Infancy is also a period where the ability to
regulate emotions and impulses and to tolerate stress is formed. These functions
set the foundations for emotional and psychological health.
Biological, psychological and social factors all interact to influence
personality development. In addition to genetic predisposition and biological
make-up, social experiences themselves influence biological and neurological development. For example, the developing brain is affected by the type and
intensity of stimulation and input it receives and is shaped by the quality of care
and interaction the infant experiences.
Biological and genetic influences
Biological or innate predisposition can influence personality and includes
individual differences in temperament, neurophysiological reactivity and selfregulation.
There is likely to be a genetic contribution to some personality traits.
This is unlikely to be a single gene inheritance, but rather a genetic influence on
the biochemical substrate of traits such as impulsivity and reactivity.
TEMPERAMENT
Temperament refers to individual differences in neurophysiological reactivity
and adaptation. Differences in temperament may account for the variation seen
in newborns in patterns of environmental adaptation and may affect parents’
perceptions of an infant’s character. While temperament is not equivalent to
personality, innate factors may contribute to the emerging personality style.
NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTIONING
Individual differences in neurological functioning may contribute to personality
development. For example, there are variations in the speed of information
processing, reaction times and attention span that are evident from birth. Most
parents adapt to the characteristics of their particular infant and moderate the
overall amount of stimulation and input the infant receives.
Experience and stimulation shape the infant’s developing brain and set up
patterns of self-regulation and functioning. An infant in a well-structured family
environment—that is, an environment that provides love and reasonably
consistent caregiving routines—is likely to develop appropriate capacities for
focused attention and concentration. Infants responded to in a sensitive and
emotionally attuned way will develop the capacity to regulate their own
emotional states.
Key neurological pathways involved in the control of emotional states are
found in the limbic system. The limbic system is a group of brain structures that
forms a network vital to the control and expression of emotional states. It
includes the amygdala, the hippocampus, the hypothalamus and the cingulate
cortex. The limbic structures have important connections to the frontal cortex
and the systems operate to regulate emotional states and emotional interactions.
These complex structures and pathways develop during infancy and their
development is dependent on the caregiver’s interaction with the infant. The
brain requires the appropriate input during critical periods of development if these networks are to develop optimally. An infant who is neglected or cared for
in a traumatising way may have impaired brain development and/or
neurological pathways that do not function optimally.
As we have seen in previous chapters, the infant–parent relationship is
important for the development of many functions and abilities, but perhaps the
development of brain pathways is the most important basis of all. Unseen by
parents, their daily caregiving interactions are helping to shape and mould those
parts of the brain that respond to experiences after birth. Early brain
development lays the important foundations and is shaped by ongoing
experience. The fact that the cortical area of the brain develops after birth means
that this part of the brain develops in relationship to the primary caregiver.
There is a risk, as with all developments in understanding about infants, that
this fact will lead to increased pressure on carers, particularly women, to be
perfect parents. In ‘good enough’ infant–parent relationships, where infant needs
are generally responded to sensitively and with the infant’s needs in mind, then
brain development occurs naturally and without the requirement of any added
stimulation.
Psychological influences
The psychological domains of personality include the individual’s model or
representation of herself, her understanding of relationships and ways of
managing emotions and stress. The infant comes to develop a model of the self
and others as a direct result of her interactions with her primary caregiver.
Infants are initially dependent on the carer to act as a buffer, or regulator, of
intense feeling states and then gradually they develop their own abilities to
tolerate emotional states. The infant experiences the carer as available and
responsive and, as Winnicott (1960) describes, she needs to feel ‘omnipotent’ or
that the world is at her command. This feeling of omnipotence is gradually given
up, as the infant becomes able to tolerate increasing delay and frustration. The
infant who experiences the social world as supportive and responsive develops a
core sense of the world as predictable and safe and of herself as good and worthy
of love. The infant in a secure attachment relationship experiences the primary
carer as sensitive and responsive, and can rely on her for feelings of safety and
comfort, that is, she is experienced as a ‘secure base’ (Bowlby, 1988). This
provides a basic sense of security and the core of self-esteem.
MODEL OF THE SELF
During infancy a key developmental task is the development of a sense of self
and internal models of representation of self and others. Bowlby (1988)
describes these as ‘inner representational models’ and they emerge from the
patterns of interaction with the primary carer—usually the mother. Infants with
organised patterns of attachment develop strategies for managing the availability of the carer and positive ways of dealing with emotions. They
develop a model of relationships that is functional and supports social
interaction. Organised infants can use the attachment figure for support and
even if insecure can manage their anxiety about the caregiver’s availability.
Disorganised infants are those with confusing, unpredictable and sometimes
frightening carers who fail to develop an internal experience of their parent as
a ‘secure base’. They remain anxious and may have a poor understanding of the
self and social relationships.

UNDERSTANDING OF RELATIONSHIPS
All relationships are based on the development of emotional understanding.
Emotional capacity is the ability to understand emotional communication,
regulate or control emotional states and to share emotional interaction with
others. This is the basis for empathy and the development of trusting reciprocal
relationships.
Infancy is a crucial period for the development of emotional capacity. The
infant cannot tolerate strong feeling states and is dependent on the primary
carer for control of emotions. The parent, right from birth, helps the infant
tolerate anxiety and strong feelings and begins the process of providing an
emotional vocabulary or words that describe feeling states. The infant in a wellattached
relationship experiences fluctuations of emotional intensity in a
contained and safe way and the parent maintains the infant within an optimal
range of arousal. The infant gradually comes to develop her own capacities to
tolerate feelings and regulate emotional states, representing a move from
external regulation by the parent to internal self-regulation from the infant.
This is dependent on the development of brain circuitry in the limbic system and
orbito-frontal cortex.

Social influences
Family environment and patterns of relationship, as well as social and
community functioning, affect personality development. Factors such as family
cohesion, conflict and the quality of sibling relationships can act as protective or
risk factors to healthy development. Infants raised in chaotic, unstructured and
disadvantaged families are more likely to experience neglect and insensitive care.
In these circumstances, the development of optimal self-regulation is at risk.

Tags: personality