Life Span Development and Personality



Life Span Development and Personality

Introduction

Oprah Winfrey, an American was born in 1954 in a rural part of Mississippi. She is a media owner, a talk show host of a self titled, multi award winning show that has been running from 1986 to 2012, is a producer, actress and an inspiring philanthropist. Though she was raised in a poor household, her success has led her to being ranked as 20th century's richest African American and is the world's only African American billionaire. Some even assess her to the most influential woman of the world. Several incidents and forces have made her who she is today and developed her into the kind of human being she is.

Family Issues or Social Support Systems That Influenced Oprah's Developmental Growth and Adjustment

Oprah Winfrey has had a single mother who gave birth to her in poverty. She was later raised by her, who was never a positive role model in her life. They lived in the inner area of the neighborhood of Milwaukee. Winfrey had a hard childhood as she claims to have been raped when she was nine and became pregnant at the age of 14. She had her baby who died as an infant. She was sent away to live with a barber in Tennessee whom she calls her father. Her first job was as an anchor at a radio station while she was in high school. By the age of 19, she was co-anchoring the news. The way of delivering got her attention and she was moved to a daytime show, and after helping move up the rankings of a Chicago show to the top, she eventually launched her own production company.

The question is what influenced her psychological development, whether it was hereditary or the impact of her environment. The nature versus nurture debate claims that there are our moral, emotional, physical development is influenced. Nature is the genetic code of an individual and the traits determined by the genes regardless of where the individual was raised and nurture refers to the experiences on has as a child and young adult that influences the personality. Some traits we would like to adapt and have and others that are harmful we would like to ignore such as being a psychopath or inheriting a disease. If Oprah today is a generous contributor, is this trait genetic or due to the environment she was brought up in. Is it because she was personally exposed to poverty or because she was not given much as a child, the question is what influenced the trait. This is difficult to resolve, as this trait could be associated to her genes or be due to the circumstances around her (Meaney, 2004).

For years now, researchers and psychologists have attempted to figure out which factor plays a major role in the individual's development. It is now assumed that they may even be linked as a person whose gene would link him to grow tall ...