Chapter 13*

I think that there are many different influences to my personality. One would have to be my family. Over the years I've obviously been around them a lot and have picked up on the things they do (both good and bad). This happens at a young age, when everything you see becomes just about everything you do. It's almost like looking in a mirror, except instead of seeing yourself, you see your family. This continues until you are old enough to interpret things your own way and decide what your values are and the kind of person that you want to be.
Another influence on my personality is God or religion. This is a huge influence because it teaches morals, and can help you find answers when there's no one else that can help you. Although religion is a controversial issue, for me it is a basic guideline to how a person should act. I don't think that you have to follow the bible to an exact T, but it helps you get an idea of the right way to go in life.
Friends and experiences also helped to shape my personality. My friends have helped me experience different things, which have taught me some valuable lessons along the way. Because of these experiences I have started to follow a certain way of living, which in turns makes a person and their (personality).

I think the personality theories that make the most sense are Maslow's and Rogers. Maslow's says that if our physiological needs are met, we become concerned with personal safety; if we achieve a sense of security, we then seek to love, to be loved, and to love ourselves; with our love needs satisfied, we seek self-esteem. Having achieved self-esteem, we ultimately seek self-actualization or the process of fulfilling our potential. This makes a lot of sense to me because this describes people basically in a nut shell. Once you conquer one stage of life (finding love) you then move on to another. It's almost as if we are never just satisfied with what we have, because we always want more.
Rogers theory states that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies. Unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth, each of us is like an acorn, primed for growth and fulfillment. Growth promoting climate requires three conditions: genuineness, acceptance, and empathy. I agree with this because when you are born, you are basically a pure soul. Until you are thrown out into the "real world" you think that things are good and you're happy with your life. But once you come to reality, you see things as they actually are, which then changes your perspectives, and turns you into the person you decide to become.

I think my defense mechanisms are mostly rationalization and projection. I think that I rationalize a lot, just to make sense of things, and to try to explain why they are happening. I know that I have also used projection as a defense mechanism because there have been times when I thought someone didn't like me, and it turned out that I just didn't like something about them.

The video I found the most helpful was the Moral Psychology: Trait Perspective video. I thought this was helpful because it talked a lot about how different people view events and actions/ objects differently. This is interesting, mostly because I never realized that it's actually TRUE. It's weird to think that by seeing how you react to something can tell whether you are a Republican or Democrat, I didn't know that your reactions reflected your political views!