Introduction
It can be argued that life experiences affect the social, cognitive, and psychological development of individuals. There are various ways the three aspects can be linked. First, people react to events differently due to their personal biases. These discriminations can be attributed to culture, socialization, and even personal preferences. It is this factor that also encourages people to react differently despite being exposed to the same stimulus. The essay will look into how four different life experiences affected my social, cognitive, and psychological development. It is prudent to note that the personal experiences will be used as a form of case study to understand the topic selected. The essay will prove that an individual can react differently, either positively or negatively, to a stimulus, but it is the culminated experiences that shape the identity development of the same individual.
Starting School (Childhood Event)
This event is age-graded, as it happened when I was six years old. The issue of starting school was significant for me and my family in various ways. First, due to the trauma that my parents perceived I had gone through in the first few weeks, I was transferred to a different school. Again, I had to be transferred as they continued to believe that the experience was traumatizing. This led to the eventual decision to be home-schooled.
The selected event is crucial in the discussion of my development. First, the situation affected me cognitively as the constant change of school encouraged a change in the environment. Slater and Bremner (2017) argue that changes in a child’s environment can lead to cognitive problems later on in life. This aspect is supported by Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. The theory suggests that there are four stages of cognitive development. The second phase, the preoperational stage, is more relevant to this discussion as it occurs when a child is between the ages of two and seven (Crain, 2015). Crain (2015) explains that without proper guidance, and constant environmental changes, the child will continue to grow thinking everything is about them. Thereby, a significant characteristic of this stage is that a child is egocentric, which ideally means self-centered.
Arguably, the event also affected me psychologically and socially. The latter is due to the fact that I could not interact well with other children and teachers. The action that was taken (changing schools and eventually homeschooling) did not help resolve the issues I had that made socializing with others difficult. I can comfortably argue that because of this, I still find it challenging to interact with other people.
On the other hand, psychologically, I believed for a significant number of years that I had to manipulate people in order to get what I wanted. Bandura’s social learning theory can be used to explain this premise further (Edinyang, 2016). Since I had learned from an early age that throwing tantrums would lead to pity and having my way, I believed that this was the only way I could advance in life. I had learned through observation how my behavior affected others and used this to get ahead. Taking all this into account, one can argue that this event affected my identity development in various ways. Importantly, my identity was mired by self-importance as I had already learned how to be egoistic. In turn, this affected the quality of my relationships later on in life.
Joining the Swimming Team (Childhood)
The second event that has shaped my personality happened when I was 10 years old. This was the first time I had to interact with other students as I wanted to join the swimming team of a nearby school. Although there were no tantrums at this stage of my life, the transition was difficult. One thing I looked forward to was joining the swimming team as I believed I was talented in the sport. Whereas the administration encouraged the “minority” groups to join all types of sports, the school population was not welcoming primarily due to the fact that sports had racial profiling. For example, since basketball was mainly a reserve for African Americans, swimming was for Caucasians.
The selected event is history-graded as it involves racism and cultural expectations. One can argue that the idea that swimming was mainly for Caucasians affected my development in three ways. Psychologically, the notion that my skin color was used as a basis to determine my life choices was torturous. Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development can be used to analyze the situation. In particular, the concept of industry vs. inferiority highlights the fact that at the event made an impact on my life. The issue of industry v. inferiority relates to an individual’s perception of self after they compare themselves with others (Slater & Bremner, 2017). It is critical to reiterate that up to this point, I had been homeschooled and also had an egoistic nature.
Secondly, I was affected socially due to the fact that, as stated previously, I had not interacted with other students or teachers before. The transition was uncomfortable as I had to train with a partner and a coach. The partner was purely for purposes of competition but the fact that someone else would often be better than me was unsettling. Interestingly, this feeling can still be tied to the industry vs. inferiority stage of Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development. In turn, my cognitive abilities were also affected. This can be attributed to the fact that I was confused about the entire situation.
Overall, the event contributed significantly to my identity development as I began to see how others perceived me. They did not just view me as a person but also as the culture and race I represented through the color of my skin. The realization was different from what I had learned up to that point in life. This is due to the fact that I had been the center of my parent’s and siblings’ lives all through my childhood.
Workplace Discrimination (Adulthood)
Although the event was experienced in adulthood, the incident is non-normative. It happened in my first workstation, where a majority of the staff were Caucasians. Although the Human Resource Manual had several guidelines on what a staff member should do when discriminated against (any cause), the Black American employees did not report any harassment. This was not due to the fact that the work environment was inclusive but rather because of the fear of what will happen when an accusation is made. Interestingly, the company was not keen on finding solutions to make the Black American community within the work environment feel safe and appreciated.
It can be argued that the event affected me socially as not only did I begin to see the world and various races differently, but I also began to see myself (and my race) differently. Initially, I blamed the Black Americans in the office for not speaking out when the policy would support their complaints. However, as I continued to interact with people of different cultures, I understood how complicated the issue of racial discrimination in America is. The concept of intimacy vs. isolation as defined in Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development can be used to expound on the stated concept. At the stated age, I was looking into creating meaningful relationships at work. However, the changes that I experienced would have ideally led to isolation as opposed to intimacy (Knight, 2017). This is due to the mentioned complexities of racial discrimination in the US.
Additionally, this can be tied to my psychological development as my view of the world and the environment around me expanded. I became psychologically distressed due to the confusion that arose from the event. I could not reconcile the fact that whereas the company had policies that protected all staff against discrimination (including racial bias), the employees were still not comfortable using the same policies to their advantage. This disconnect led to mild depression. Further, the situation affected my cognitive development due to race-related stress. I had to see myself as the weak and unwanted race and compare that to the strong and desired white-colored individuals in the office. It is this stress and confusion that eventually led to my resigning from that specific role and organization.
The perceptions I developed due to the stated event affected by identity. Even though I had already experienced some form of racism by that time, I had not appreciated the complexities of the same. It was at this point in life that I realized that racial issues were not just about how other people looked at you but also about your own powers (or lack thereof) to fight for justice.
Sexual Orientation and Tolerance (Adolescent)
The last selected event is age-graded and it happened when I was a teenager. Due to the fact that I had been homeschooled, my parents were not keen on teaching me about different sexual orientations. I was often surprised to see different orientations on television. Since my parents were conservative, such matters were not discussed in the house. Therefore, to some extent, I was insensitive to people with different sexual orientations. I met a transgender at a nearby store and my reaction to her was not ideal. It is important to note that I was 16 years at the time, thus, still developing socially, psychologically and cognitively.
The selected event affected my cognitive development as until that time, I had not interacted with any of the transgender people. Indeed, I had seen them on television and on the Internet but had not met one until that point. Using Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual theory, one can argue that the cognitive confusion was due to the fact that I was also trying to figure out my own sexual orientation. Freud argues that there are various sexual stages each individual goes through as they develop (Shute & Slee, 2015). The stages are: oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital (Morss, 2020). Going by age, I was at the phallic stage when the event occurred. Morss (2020) explains that the phase includes significant self-pleasure (masturbation) and understanding sexual organs. In trying to understand my body and sexual pleasures, coupled with little information on sexual orientation, I could not understand why someone would become transgender.
Further, my psychological development was affected as I became curious about the same topic. I started reading extensively on why some people are different from others in regards to their sexual preferences. It was during this research that I got to understand why some people also feel the need to change gender. On the other hand, socially, I became more open-minded in regards to the type of friends I wanted in my life. I expected friends to have different preferences from me and this made the socialization process easier. Generally, the event, like the others that have been discussed, helped shape my identity. My personality has been influenced by these and other events that affected my cognitive, social, and psychological development. Whereas some experiences can be perceived to be negative, and others positive, the culmination of the events made me the person I am today.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the thesis has been proven to be true through the analysis of select life events. Some of the selected experiences had a negative reaction while some had a positive one. Despite this main difference, my personality and identity were shaped by the collective overview of the different events. For example, whereas I reacted negatively to the first transgender I ever saw, the experience led to extensive research on the same. In turn, whereas I was ignorant before, I learned more and became open-minded on the topic. Indeed, a person cannot be judged on one experience as each small event adds up to create personality and identity.
References
Crain, W. (2015). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. Psychology Press
Edinyang, S. D. (2016). The significance of social learning theories in the teaching of social studies education. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Research, 2(1), 40-45.
Knight, G. Z. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy is linked to Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Wiley
Morss, J. (2020). The concept of developmental stage: Hall, Freud, and Piaget. Oxford University Press.
Shute, H. R., & Slee, T. P. (2015). Child development: Theories and critical perspectives. Routledge.
Slater, J. A., & Bremner, G. (Eds). (2017). An introduction to developmental psychology. Wiley