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By:
The Rev. James B. Sellee, Rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Camp Johnson Road, Monrovia
The goal of this article of the series on the beatitudes and the necessity of character formation is
to make a strong case for using the beatitudes of Matthew 5 as tools for the formation and
maintenance of good character. Character, in the sense of the inner part of a person that is
responsible for the person's attitudes and actions, deserves serious attention. But before delving
into the beatitudes and character development, let us summarize what was discussed in the
introductory article of this series. The following observations were made:
A good character (what the Bible calls a good name) is better than silver and gold, position,
power, and fame. But what is character? Why is it essential for the development and destiny of
every human being? What is needed to produce and promote good character? Character is what
makes a person who he/she is. It is the inner part of a person that makes him/her good or bad.
The character of a person determines his/her actions, decisions, attitudes, priorities and general
direction in life. It is the dominant feature of a person's life. The total mental and moral qualities
that make up a person's worldview and attitude are what constitute his/her character. In essence
character is an attribute, a person's reputation for good or ill; the strength of a person's nature.
Thus a person can have a good character or a bad character.
Many a nation has suffered the cancerous disease of corruption, mismanagement and political
conflicts not because of the lack of knowledge, experience and resources; rather because of the
lack of good character in its leaders and the people they try to lead. Many individuals, too, have
had a promising start in life: great abilities, good education and career development, and with
fabulous opportunities but end badly because of they lack a good character. People can have a
fine education, training, abundant resources, experience, and technology and yet still be nothing
but a curse and a source of conflict in society if they lack good character.
Every human being is born with the potential to be good or bad, depending on what influences or
influenced that person's early life. This means that a good character can be learnt and passed
on.
Most societies rightly put a lot of emphasis on career development, academic learning, economy,
health and a good political system but unfortunately have no programs for character
development. People just assume that character will be formed automatically as children grow
up. This is only partially true. This series is aimed at encouraging everyone to recognize the need
to form or reform his/her character and influence others do so.
The beatitudes Jesus proclaims in Matthew 5 are meant to help in this regard. The eight sayings
of Jesus with each beginning with the word Blessed are commonly known as the beatitudes and
introduce the sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. These three chapters of
Matthew form some of the core teachings of Jesus and may be seen as a manifestation of Jesus,
showing what His followers should be like and should do. They challenge our views on important
matters of laws and traditions, anger and revenge, sexual purity and immorality, prayer and
fasting, attitude to possessions and love of God, and self-examination and judging others. Our
particular interest for the series is in the eight beatitudes covered in Matthew 5:3-12. How do the
beatitudes help us pay keen attention to our character?
The word beatitude simply means a state of being satisfied, happy or fulfilled because one is
favored by God for doing what he requires of him or her. The eight beatitudes aim at the human
heart and seek to reform it from within. They teach us that true happiness or joy does not
depend on how many riches one has or one's position in life but on having the right relationship
with God and consequently the right attitude to all of life. The beatitudes help us to go beyond
our actions to our motives and what makes us do what we do, think and say what we think and
say. They put forth eight principles and qualities that ensure good character and conduct. In
other words they aim at building the right character. The next article will suggest how.
0Copyright Liberian Observer - All Rights Reserved. This article cannot be re-published without
the express written consent of the Liberian Observer. Please contact us for more information or
to request publishing permission
http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/484/Personality.html
client centered therapy client-centered therapy cognitive therapy techniques approach social self theories
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The unique pattern of psychological and behavioral characteristics by which each person can
be distinguished from other people.
throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods. Abundant references to the four
humors can be found in the plays of Shakespeare, and the terms with which Hippocrates
labeled the four personality types are still in common use today. The theory of
temperaments is among a variety of systems that deal with human personality by
dividing it into types. A widely popularized (but scientifically dubious) modern typology
of personality was developed in the 1940s by William Sheldon, an American
psychologist. Sheldon classified personality into three categories based on body types:
the endomorph (heavy and easy-going), mesomorph (muscular and aggressive), and
ectomorph (thin and intellectual or artistic).
structure consisting of the id (concerned with the gratification of basic instincts), the
ego (which mediates between the demands of the id and the constraints of society), and
the superego (through which parental and social values are internalized). In contrast
to type or trait theories of personality, the dynamic model proposed by Freud involved
an ongoing element of conflict, and it was these conflicts that Freud saw as the primary
determinant of personality. His psychoanalytic method was designed to help patients
resolve their conflicts by exploring unconscious thoughts, motivations, and conflicts
through the use of free association and other techniques. Another distinctive feature
of Freudian psychoanalysis is its emphasis on the importance of childhood
experiences in personality formation. Other psychodynamic models were later
developed by colleagues and followers of Freud, including Carl Jung, Alfred Adler,
and Otto Rank (1884-1939), as well as other neo-Freudians such as Erich Fromm,
Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949), and Erik Erikson.
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holds that people are innately inclined toward goodness, love, and creativity and that
the primary natural motivation is the drive to fulfill one's potential. Carl Rogers, the
figure whose name is most closely associated with phenomenological theories of
personality, viewed authentic experience of one's self as the basic component of growth
and wellbeing. This experience together with one's self-concept can become distorted
when other people make the positive regard we need dependent on conditions that
require the suppression of our true feelings. The client-centered therapy developed
by Rogers relies on the therapist's continuous demonstration of empathy and
unconditional positive regard to give clients the self-confidence to express and act on
their true feelings and beliefs. Another prominent exponent of the phenomenological
approach was Abraham Maslow, who placed self-actualization at the top of his
hierarchy of human needs. Maslow focused on the need to replace a deficiency
orientation, which consists of focusing on what one does not have, with a growth
orientation based on satisfaction with one's identity and capabilities.
Aside from theories about personality structure and dynamics, a major area of
investigation in the study of personality is how it develops in the course of a person's
lifetime. The Freudian approach includes an extensive description of psychosexual
development from birth up to adulthood. Erik Erikson outlined eight stages of
development spanning the entire human lifetime, from birth to death. In contrast,
various other approaches, such as those of Jung, Adler, and Rogers, have rejected the
notion of separate developmental stages.
An area of increasing interest is the study of how personality varies across cultures. In
order to know whether observations about personality structure and formation reflect
universal truths or merely cultural influences, it is necessary to study and compare
personality characteristics in different societies. For example, significant differences
have been found between personality development in the individualistic cultures of the
West and in collectivist societies such as Japan, where children are taught from a young
age that fitting in with the group takes precedence over the recognition of individual
achievement. Cross-cultural differences may also be observed within a given society by
studying the contrasts between its dominant culture and its subcultures (usually ethnic,
racial, or religious groups).
Further Reading
Allport, Gordon W. Personality and Social Encounter: Selected Essays. Boston: Beacon
Press, 1960.
Eysenck, Hans. The Structure of Human Personality. London Methuen, 1970.
Mischel, Walter. Introduction to Personality. 4th ed. New York Holt, Rinehart, and
Winston, 1986.
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For instance, psychopaths are people whose attitudes are composed of low morality. However,
this does not mean that they always commit immoral acts. Psychopaths are usually intelligent, so
they know that even though there will be no moral consequences for them, there will still be
legal consequences to deal with. This knowledge, in addition to their attitude, governs their
behavior.
When a person's attitude and behavior differ, dissonance will likely result, and a change in
attitude or behavior will be the probable outcome.
How attitude and behavior affect each other
Like the development of attitude and behavior, the change in these characteristics is also highly
influenced by society. The basic rule governing attitude change is the Principal of Consistency.
People expect all things in their mind to agree with each other. They expect that all good things
A state of dissonance
should assemble together against all the bad things, which should also assemble together
(Brown, 551). When two items in your mind disagree, dissonance occurs. The mind does not
want to be in a state of dissonance, so something must happen to resolve this.
An example of a state of dissonance is when a friend dislikes a movie that you like. Since the
friend is a good thing in your mind, and so is the movie, but the two good things are not
associated because your friend does not like the movie, your mind is in a state of dissonance.
[an error occurred A simple resolution is a change in opinion or behavior toward one of
while processing this the items, or for the bond between them to change to a positive one.
This means that if you change your opinion of your friend, or you
directive]
change your mind about the movie and no longer like it, the
dissonance will have been resolved. It will also be resolved if your friend changes his or her
opinion of the movie.
Tell about the times your opinions changed because of a disagreement
Other resolutions can occur if you figure out an explanation of why your opinions differ. For
example, you may decide that you friend was not in a good mood when he or she watched the
movie, and did not enjoy it as much as he or she could have. Another reason might be that if he
or she watched it in a theater, the seating may have been poor. These reasons differentiate
between the two situations, and the two viewings of the movie are no longer the same item, so
the dissonance is resolved. This can also happen with a live performance if you and your friend
saw two different showings, and the acting and other factors in one were better than the other.
The dissonance will only be resolved if you truly believe in these reasons.
Since attitude and behavior are not the same thing, a person may offer a reason even if he or she
does not believe it. This might be done so others will think that all is well and he or she would
not have to show the dissonance in their outer behavior. However, the dissonance is still present
and his or her attitude must change in a different way in order to remove this dissonance. This
may take the form of a simple resolution, and the person's opinion of the other person may
change, even though he or she does not show it in their behavior.
These are simplistic examples. In actual fact, attitudes and opinions do not change as easily as
this, and change in different magnitudes, depending on the strength of the bonds between items.
For example, if you and your friend had known each other for a long time, chances are that there
is a very strong positive bond between you, and it would not change as much as the bond
between you and the movie. Or perhaps the bond between you and your friend would change in a
different way. Then you would still like your friend, but your perception of him or her may
change. You can read a document on cognitive consistency to learn more, or for a more detailed
explanation of the three major consistency theories, read Cognitive Consistency Models.
Dissonance can also occur between a person's attitude and behavior. If a person acts in a way that
does not agree with his or her attitude, then an attempt will be made to regain balance. This
means that he or she will either correct the behavior and try to make amends, or change his or her
attitude and come to accept that type of behavior. He or she may also attempt to excuse their
behavior and blame it on a temporary lapse brought about by a situation that required him or her
to act out in such a way for a greater good or lesser evil.
How roleplaying affects behavior
The dissonance between attitude and behavior also explains why a person
that continues to behave against his or her morals will find that the morals
become weaker because his or her attitude toward that behavior is no longer
strongly opposed to it.
How moral strength changes due to behavior
psychological means are needed to induce the proper morals in a child. When a child sees a
parent become sorrowful as a result of the child's behavior, it seems to have the desired
moralizing effect. The child then believes that the parent loves him or her less, and will try to
behave in an appropriate manner to get back on the parent's good side. Isolating the child in his
or her room also has a similar effect. If the parents are not very involved with the child's life,
then it is likely that other social sources, such as the people he or she keeps company with, will
have a large influence on him or her.
What are your views on morality?
The strengthening of morals occurs with resistance to temptations. The stronger a person's
refusal to carry out an action, the stronger his or her conscience becomes. Now if the person
were to go against his or her morals, he or she would feel very bad because his or her conscience
would be very punishing. This causes people with strong morals to turn themselves in and admit
to their actions. On the other hand, if a person does something that he or she knows is wrong, his
or her conscience becomes weaker, and it will be easier for him or her to repeat the action.
Have you ever noticed your morality change?
Therefore, people who behave according to their morals will have strong
consciences and will feel bad even if their transgression is a minor one, while
people with low morality can easily commit an atrocity and not feel bad. The
reason for this strengthening or weakening is the dissonance that occurs
between attitude and behavior.
There are situations in which a person may deliberately attempt to change someone's attitude
with communications. Such situations include an election where candidates are trying to win
votes, and also television commercials, which try to persuade people to buy a product or service.
There are several factors affecting whether or not these communications are successful.
The intelligence of the person may affect how he or she will respond to communications, but it
usually is not a major factor. If the communication uses facts and logical reasoning to prove its
point, the person will be more willing to accept it and be persuaded than if it has no factual base
and the statements are illogical. However, most television commercials and other
communications do not appeal to a person's logic, but rather to other motivations.
The credibility of the speaker is also a variable in determining the effect of a communication.
The higher the credibility, the greater the impact. However, even if the speaker has low
credibility, over time, the ideas separate themselves from the speaker in the mind of the person
that witnessed the communication. Therefore, the ideas may have more of an affect than it would
seem at first.
If a communication is dissonant with a person's attitude, he or she may try to avoid situations in
which exposure to that communication may occur. However, if the person does end up being
exposed to a strong communication, then chances are it will persuade him or her more easily
than if an immunity had been built up by being exposed to weaker arguments before this
exposure (Secord and Backman, 194).
Perhaps most important is how strongly a person believes in his or her own ideas. If a person
does not have a strong attitude toward something, it is likely that it will be quite easy to change
his or her opinion. However, if a person already has strong convictions, a communication that
tries to change his or her mind will have little effect. Debates between two ideas only seem to
strengthen a person's current beliefs.