«The identity is not given once and for all, it is built and transformed throughout the life.»
Amin Maalouf
The human identity can be analysed from different angles: biological, psychological, family, ethnic, cultural.
The personality development is a multifactorial process and must be approached in a plural way.
The distinction between universality and the uniqueness of being impels us to better understand our specificities.
Our personality presents different facets, which can sometimes lead to dissociative disorders of identity.
6.1 Nature
The personality of an individual can be defined by the set of behaviours he adopts in various situations.
Genetic
We look like our parents and yet while sharing certain traits with them we are unique.
We now know that our uniqueness is due in large part, but not only, to our genetic heritage.
In humans, the proportion of DNA coding is estimated to be only 2% of the total genetic material.
The characteristics of the modern man result from the
evolution of his ancestors and of the other species with which he shares 25% of his genes.
For example, 35% of our genes are common to daffodils and 99.4% to chimpanzees.
The environment and the way of life also influence our
personality in fine modulating the expression of our genes.
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Each brain is unique and corresponds to its own identity.
Anatomical
The main anatomical variations in the brain are in volume, however:
- Brain size is not correlated to IQ.
Jonathan Swift’s brain weighed 2 kg, Ivan Pavlov’s 1,5.
- Female and male brains are slightly different.
In women, the corpus callosum and the anterior
commissure, connecting the two cerebral hemispheres,
are more developed.
- For 30% of left-handed people, the two cerebral
hemispheres are involved in language management,
with only the left one in right-handed one.
- Einstein’s brain was wider than average and part of the Sylvius furrow was missing in the reasoning area.
Some personality traits may be related to specific brain areas:
- The aggressiveness mates with a reduced activity of
the cingulate cortex controlling the behaviour.
- The optimism reflects high insula activity*, a region
of the cortex that regulates the emotions and empathy.
- The extroverts need a high level of social activity.
- The curious have a better connection between the
hippocampus and the striatum* recording pleasure.
Twins
The foetal position changes the twins' access to their mother’s hormones, influencing their future personality.
An embryo can reduce his brother’s access to testosterone, on the contrary, in false twins, the female gets more thanks to him.
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Our reactions to stress depend in part on our experience, a tense family environment increases the baby’s sensitivity to stress, making him choleric.
Cultural
American culture places a greater emphasis on the individual and Asian on family and community.
Americans' brains are more responsive to changing contexts, with Asians less likely to rate themselves.
Summary
The personality is defined by the set of reactions of an individual to circumstances.
The environment and the way of life also influence our
personality in fine modulating the expression of our genes.
Each brain is unique, with anatomical and operational
variations observed between men and women, right and left or Western and Eastern.
The IQ is independent of the size of the brain.
The genetic baggage, the environment, including the embryo's one and the culture are crucial in the identity construction.
6.2 Development
The personality development is a complex dynamic process with multiple and intricate dimensions.
Stages of development
The personality development is divided into 5 stages.
Oral stage
Up to a year and a half the mouth is the main source of
pleasure for the child, during this period he develops his confidence or his mistrust of the world.
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If his needs are frequently met, the baby’s confidence is strengthened. On the contrary, an unhappy childhood will lead to addictive, abusive and angry behaviour.
Anal stage
A child able to walk, talk, eat alone takes pleasure from the functioning of his intestines and bladder, the control of these organs developing his autonomy in general.
From 3 years, if the child has a certain independence, he will be more confident and autonomous. In contrast, an over-controlled child will feel more doubt or shame .
Genital stage
From 3 to 6 years, the child is able to initiate an activity both intellectual and motor. The initiative spirit increases with the extent of its autonomy and the resulting satisfaction.
During this period, the child learns to share the affection of his parents and to distinguish what he wants from what he is asked to do.
Latency stage
During primary school, the child learns to think rationally and to use the adult tools.
Encouraged, he will become aware of his abilities, failing to do so, he will experience feelings of inferiority.
Adolescence stage
In this transition period, between the ages of 12 and 19 years, the young person behaves sometimes as an adult and others as a child, with parents having difficulty identifying this aspiring adult.
This translates into the adoption of a new set of roles, the adolescent developing his identity: choice of models,
adherence to ideologies, sexual preferences.
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The notion of identity is understood as a set of data, conscious or not, allowing any one to grow up, while differentiating from the others.
The personal identity has an objective meaning: the individual is unique and a subjective: a sense of singularity and continuity over time.
This objective identity must be the object of a subjective appropriation, it develops during adolescence through the elaboration of the identitery feeling.
Identitery status
The development psychologist J.Marcia proposes 4 identitery statuses to describe a person’s state of identity:
- Diffuse identitery (neither commitment, nor crisis): no review of existing possibilities, nor commitment.
- Identitery under moratorium (crisis without
commitment): possibilities analysis, not followed by
commitment.
- Identitery in implementation (crisis and commitment):
option analysis is followed by commitment.
- Overdetermined identitery (engagement without
crisis): engagement based on advice from others.
It is a continuous and evolutionary process, an individual can have different statuses depending on the different aspects of his personality.
The social dimension of identity translates into a sense of belonging to different groups to different degrees.
Summary
The development of the personality is divided into 5 stages, through the discovery of his body, his own abilities and finally 53
of the others and the roles they fulfill.
It accelerates during adolescence through the appropriation of the identitery sense, resulting from a possibilities review and followed by well-considered or overdetermined commitments.
It is a plural process dependent on the family and social environment and leading to a complex personality.
The identity social dimension translates into a belonging feeling to different groups at different degrees.
6.3 Universality - Unicity
The interdependence study of the universality and unicity of being is more a philosophical debate than a scientific one.
Aristotle introduced the individuation principle, emphasizing the immutable, universal dimension of man, his sameness*.
Thomas Aquinas underlines the roles played by the matter, space and time.
Dun Scot speaks rather of ipseity* that is, the unicity of being.
N.T. Tran defining it as the junction point of the individuation principle and the identity one.
Individuation principle
The individuation principle is the advent of self to oneself, leading to the development and formation of the body.
This would be a passive process limited to the physical body.
Identity principle
The identity principle corresponds to the development,
formation and awakening of the mind.
It would be an active process leading to a unique person, rich in emotions, desires and thoughts.
Ipseity
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The ipseity results from the interdependent principles of individuation and identity, leading to self-awareness.
The human being being the combination of a body and a spirit.
Summary
The principle of individuation refers to the universal dimension of the body and that of identity to the uniqueness of the spirit.
The ipseity is the result of these two interdependent
phenomena, complementing each other and leading to the
uniqueness of the individual.
6.4 Multiple personality
The dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the alternating in the same individual of distinct personalities, in turn controlling his behaviour.
In a given state, the patient does not remember the facts and gestures of the other identity, manifesting one after the other.
This disorder occurs in people who have experienced child stress or intense trauma and would affect 1 to 2% of the population.
Over time, abused children detach themselves from their
surroundings and become entrenched in their thoughts, each traumatic episode can lead to a different identity.
The symptom of depersonalization: sensation of being out of one’s body and the symptom of derealization: the world seems unreal, are close to dissociative identity disorders.
Summary
Some individuals suffer from dissociative identity disorders displaying several personalities, taking turns.
6.5 Conclusion
The environment and the way of life influence the personality in fine modulating the gene expression.
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Each brain is unique, with variations between men and women, right and left or Western and Eastern.
The development of the personality accelerates during
adolescence by the appropriation of the sense of identity.
It is a plural process dependent on the inheritance and the environment, leading to a complex personality.
The social dimension of identity translates into a sense of belonging to different groups at different degrees.
The principle of individuation refers to the universal dimension of the body and that of identity to the uniqueness of the spirit, leading to a single individual, composed of a body and a spirit.
Some individuals suffer from dissociative identity disorders displaying several personalities, taking turns.
The symptom of depersonalization and of derealization are close to dissociative identity disorders.
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