What are the Biological Factor of Personality Development?
List of Biological factor of personality development:
These are the physical determinants based on physique and body functioning that shape personality. Some of these factors have been discussed below:
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[/wpsm_inline_list]Body build.
Body build determines a person’s capacity to do something and how he would react to people who have inferior or superior body structure. We can identify a body build as:
- Ectomorph
- Endomorph, and
- Mesomorph.
Ectomorphs are people who are tall and lean and are considered superior to bulky, shaft people because they are more agile and have greater toleration levels. Mesomorphs are considered superior to both ectomorphs and endomorphs in speed and tolerance because of their strong and muscular build.
If the body build of a person enables him to carry out certain tasks which are socially appreciable and impresses other people, it lifts a person’s self-esteem. The person develops a positive favorable self-concept if he can do social tasks better than others, and an unfavorable negative self concept if he cannot. Thus, if the physical structure of a person is such that he can perform socially desirable functions and get social acceptance, it goes a long way in influencing his own image of himself.
Physical attractiveness.
A physically attractive person of any age is more appealing than an ugly person. According to Brislin and Lewis, being with attractive people is very rewarding. An attractive person generally does not have to face intolerance in people’s attitudes and people do not. judge them harshly. This is why troublesome pretty children are still not criticized but similar behavior in less attractive children may be criticized. More attractive people leave a better impression and may get-promotions sooner even if they are less hardworking than unattractive people.
Homeostasis.
It is important to maintain stability in the body in terms of normal body temperature, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, water balance, etc. Instability in any of these parameters brings about disequilibrium and homeostasis disturbance takes place.
If a person’s physical parameters mentioned above are in balance, we find the person to be relaxed and psychologically stable. He remains in a good, cheerful mood, and behaves in a pleasant, socially agreeable manner. Disturbed levels of homeostasis results in irritability, indigestion, sleeplessness and other disturbed behavior patterns.
Disturbances in homeostasis.
It has an indirect impact on the behaviour of the person. Each person is affected by the attitude and beliefs of certain people who hold importance in his life. The behavior of the person depends on how he reacts to them. Suppose, a person is very tall for his age group because of excessive hormones in his body, and this factor is considered by others to be a very positive thing, his reaction will also be positive and his homeostasis will be considered as a positive thing.
This disturbance will affect his personality favorably. On the other hand, if his height is considered a negative thing by other people which makes him a social outcast, the person will react negatively and the homeostasis disturbance will be an unfavorable one.
Physical defects.
Alfred Adler’s theory of organ inferiority was the first research to indicate the effect physical defects have on personality, after which several studies have been conducted. A common physical defect is obesity. A very fat person has poor relationships as he becomes slow and cannot keep pace with other people. The person feels inferior and socially outcast because other people tend to make fun of very fat, obese persons.
This is a major reason why obese people become more disturbed emotionally, because of other people’s criticism and negative comments, apart from lacking the feeling of self-satisfaction of being able to perform various tasks effectively.
Health Conditions.
A good or a poor health is an important determinant of personality development. There is sufficient proof of the fact that good health is an asset when it comes to personality of all people, male or female, young or old. After an illness or poor health conditions, people still tend to feel changes in personality even after they have been cured. In the developing years of a person, if he is affected by some severe illness or disease, the after effects on personality are visible till much later in life. Many personality changes in individuals have their source in such childhood illnesses.
