PLANNING PERSONAL FINANCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

PLANNING PERSONAL FINANCE - Essay Example In case of dividend if the income is received or accumulated it is given a credit @ 10%. For example, if an investor gets a dividend of 90p then total dividend would be counted as 100p as 10% credit built in it. Tax payers who fall in starting rate and basic rates and non tax payers does not have to do any other things in this regard. No refund will be accommodated by HMRC (Her Majestys Revenue and Customs) on this claim by non tax payers. It should be noted that the losses made on disposals can be adjusted with profits made during the year and then the tax would be calculated. Further the losses accumulated can be carried forward for indefinite period. Term life assurance is a policy which gives coverage at a fixed payment rate for decided period of time which is normally limited in nature. After the period has lapsed coverage automatically expires and the rates and premiums also get changed. It is on the client either to leave the coverage or obtain more coverage by making different payment on different terms and conditions. In case of death of insured during the term, the benefits of insured will be paid to the beneficiaries. An individual can also make contributions on his own by making an arrangement with an insurance company or some other provider. These schemes will also enjoy similar tax advantages as that of occupational schemes. Normally individuals invest during their employment life and then enjoy the pension in their post retirement life. There are various advantages attached with an scheme in respect of tax which got itself registered. Some of the advantages are assets grow free from income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax, employees are allowed to contribute out of their untaxed income and employer contributions are allowed in tax as deductible expenses. Only funded schemes are allowed to get registered. It is not necessary that the shares are available on par

Scholarly Writing Essay Example for Free

Scholarly Writing Essay With reference to the given text, the author insists that over the years of modern technology, computers are now impacting peoples’ lives tremendously. Computers are used for businesses and education purposes and there is no longer a question about whether it is affordable or not. A first point of analysis demonstrates that the author lacks display of scholarly writing. The written paragraph does not display thorough research and he does not use supporting evidence within his text. After reading the paragraph, I am unclear as to whether the author is giving his opinions or if he has findings within a research. The authors opinions also seem to be biased which is not an element of scholarly writing. As discussed in the HUMN 8000 course study notes, (Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Purpose, Audience, and Evidence), the key tasks as a scholarly writer is to show that what you have written is true and that you know what you’re talking about. He has provided the audience with personal views and judgment as speaks about poor people. He also uses the slang term â€Å"plugged in† and within scholarly writing, you must use proper choice of words which he did not. The author also lacks presenting this information in a clear and concise way, where it is straightforward for the audience to follow and understand. The author’s only strength in terms of scholarly writing is displayed as he discusses the importance of computers and how it is conducted in our everyday lives. The author makes reference to a source that he researched, Business Week, 2001. This article lacks quality of evidence for the mere fact that it is not up to date. Some comparison could have been made to modern technologies related to computers, for instance laptops or other devices. Lastly, the information presented that more than 80% of all high school students were â€Å"plugged in†, does not give a concise representation of the remainder population. The author speaks of many people not being able to afford a computer and also generally references poor people. As a reader, I am unsure of what the remainder population represents. References Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Purpose, Audience, and Evidence. (2012). Laureate education, Inc. {Study Notes} Retrieved from https://class. waldenu. edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201410_17/MS_HUMN/HUMN_8000/artifacts/Week_2_Citing_a_Discussion_Posting_and_Course_Study_Notes. pdf Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Tips for effective online composition and communication [Video]. Baltimore, MD: Author

Looking At The Personality Theory

Looking At The Personality Theory A person is a flow of powerful subjective life, conscious and unconscious; a whispering gallery in which voices echo from the distant past; a gulf stream of fantasies with floating memories of past events, currents of contending complexes, plots and counterplots, hopeful intimations and idealsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦A personality is a full Congress of orators and pressure groups, of children, demagogues, communists, isolationists, war-mongers, mugwumps, grafters, log rollers, lobbyists, Caesars and Christs, Machiavellis and Judases, Tories and Promethean revolutionists. (Murray, What Should Psychologists 160-61) The term personality is used by psychologists to denote a consistent pattern of responses to the world that the environment imposes upon the individual internally and externally (Kassarjian and Robertson 194). All the physical, mental and emotional characteristics of an individual as an integrated whole, especially as they are presented to others, form what we commonly term as personality. According to Robert B. Ewen, personality refers to important and relatively stable aspects of behaviour.(4) During the past one hundred years extensive research has been done by the various psychologists in this field. This research has given birth to what we now call Personality psychology. Personality psychology is a branch of psychology which studies human personality deeply using psychological theories. The scientific study of personality can be traced back to the year 1937, when Gordon Allport published his book Personality: A Psychological Interpretation. Personality analysis, like art, is subjective in nature. There is no single best recognised definition or theory of personality yet and different psychologists have different definitions and theories regarding personality. Psychologists themselves cannot arrive at a unifying definition of personality, due in part to its subjective nature. (Schultz 2) According to Sam Smiley, It is the form, or overall unity, of an individuals traits. It includes the complex of characteristics that distinguish one person from all others, and it admits the behavioural potentials of the individual which transcend all his attitudes and actions. . . . Personality is the totality of a human beings physiological and psychological traits, and therefore it is the epitome of whatever differentiates one human from every other human. (82-83) Robert B. Ewen gives one of the most comprehensive definitions of personality. He says, Personality deals with a wide range of human behaviour. To most theorists, personality includes virtually everything about a person-mental, emotional, social, and physical. Some aspects of personality are unobservable, such as thoughts, memories, and dreams, whereas others are observable, such as overt actions. Personality also includes aspects that are concealed from yourself, or unconscious, as well as those that are conscious and well within your awareness. (4) Some other significant definitions by noted psychologists are: Cattell offers the opinion that, Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation. . . . Personality is . . . concerned with all the behaviour of the individual, both overt and under the skin. (Liebert and Spiegler 3-4) Personality refers to the collection of attitudes and knowledge that a person possesses, that is, mainly those personal items that direct behaviour. In this context, personality is synonymous with mind. (McNeal 52) While defining personality it is only appropriate to remember that the word personality is derived from the Latin word persona which means a mask. One very important observation that has been made in this regard is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in early Latin, persona means a mask dramatis personae are the masks which actors wear in a play, that is, the characters that are represented. Etymologically and historically, then, the personality is the character that is manifested in public. In modern psychology and sociology this corresponds rather closely to the role behaviour of a differentiated person. From one point of view, this constitutes a disguise. Just as the outer body shields the viscera from view, and clothing the genitals, so the public personality shields the private personality from the curious and censorious world. It also operates to conceal underlying motivations from the individuals own consciousness. (Murray and Kluckhohn 40) The study of personality is a broad area and includes various theoretical constructs, conceptual approaches and research methodologies. The major theories include psychodynamic perspective, humanistic perspective, trait perspective, behaviourist perspective and cognitive perspective. The major personality theorists include Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Harry Stack Sullivan, Erik Erikson, Carl R. Rogers, Abraham H. Maslow, Rollo May, Gordon W. Allport, Raymond B. Cattell, Henry A. Murray, B. F. Skinner, George A. Kelly and Albert Bandura. The present study deals with Gordon W. Allports and Henry A. Murrays theories of personality. The main aim is to study and analyse Michael Jacksons personality with the application of Allports and Murrays personality theories. The thesis focuses on Michael Jackson as an individual and how his character and personality are similar in several aspects to the character and personality of the picaro the antihero of picaresque novels. It is essential to study in detail the theories of both the psychologists in order to successfully use them as a tool to analyse the personalities of Michael Jackson and the picaro. Gordon Willard Allport (1897 1967) was a premier American psychologist who is often called the father of Personality theory. He is considered to be the founder of personality psychology as he was one of the first psychologists to have focused extensively on the study of personality. He was the first psychologist who gave thorough thought to the concept of traits in a person. He developed a theory called the trait theory and opined that the trait was the most appropriate way of describing and studying personality. Allport approached psychology and the issue of personality in a unique way. Allport revolutionized the world of psychology by moving the study of the personality into the mainstream of psychology. His theories are still debated, and he is considered one of the most controversial psychologists of our time. (Hall and Lindzey 260) Allports opinions differed from other psychologists. He believed in studying healthy and mature individuals. He felt the study of animals and neurotic people could not lead to conclusions pertinent to normally functioning adults. (Becoming 18) Secondly, Allport viewed every human being as unique. Therefore, he believed in studying an individual personality as opposed to studying people in common. He criticized scientists for their avoidance of the individual and their prevalent theory that individuality can only be studied by history, art or biography and not by science. He believed that nomothetic methods (general and universal) should be discouraged and idiographic methods (individual) must be encouraged. If we accept this dogma concerning the scope and limitations of science we shall have to abandon the person as a person. But we are not yet discouraged. That the individual is a system of patterned uniqueness is a fact. That science likes universals and not particulars is also a fact. Yet personality itself is a universal phenomenon though it is found only in individual forms. Since it is a universal phenomenon science must study it; but it cannot study it correctly unless it looks into the individuality of patterning! Such is the dilemma. (Pattern and Growth 9) Allport stated that there is no correct or incorrect definition of personality, rather all definitions are full of pitfalls. (Pattern and Growth 28) He defined personality as a dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment.(Personality 48) Because this definition reflects some unique phrasing and word choices, Allports own explanations of terminology and phrasing are presented. Dynamic Organization The personality is constantly changing, and any definition of personality must acknowledge this change. However, this change does not occur in the normal adult in a haphazard fashion; rather, it occurs within the boundaries of an organization. (Allport, Personality 48) This change occurs in a self -regulating and motivating fashion. This definition of organized change implies the existence of a reciprocal process of disorganization, especially in those personalities marked by progressive disintegration. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 28) Psychophysical This term serves as a reminder that personality is neither exclusively physical nor mental. Instead, the organization of the personality fuses the physical and mental in some inextricable unity. (Allport, Personality 48) Systems A system is a complex of elements in mutual interaction. The personality is composed of many systems. A habit, sentiment, trait, concept, or style of behaving are all systems and are latent in the personality even when they are not active. Systems are our potential for activity. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 28-29) Determine Personality is something, and it does something. Personality is active. Allport contended that the latent psychophysical systems, when called into action, either motivate or direct a specific activity or thought. (Pattern and Growth 29) Personality is not synonymous with behaviour or activity; personality is merely the impression that this activity makes on others. It is what lies behind specific acts and within the individual. (Allport, Personality 48) All systems that comprise a single personality are the determining tendencies. They exert a direct influence on the adjusting and expressive acts which make up the personality. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 29) Characteristic All behaviour and thought are characteristic of the person and are unique to that person. Allport acknowledged the use of this term, and the need to define it, appeared redundant in a definition whose very meaning stressed individuality and uniqueness. He used it, though, to drive the point home. (Pattern and Growth 29) Behaviour and Thought Allport used these two terms to cover anything whatsoever an individual might do. A persons main activity, according to Allport, is to adjust to the environment, but he felt it unwise to define personality only in terms of adjustment. He acknowledged the individual also reflects on the environment, strives to master it, and sometimes succeeds in this mastery of the environment. Thought as well as behaviour, then, make for both survival and growth. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 29) The following diagram depicts a comprehensive view of personality. Allport summarized his own definition of personality: My own definition of personality is essentialist. Personality is what a person really is, regardless of the way other people perceive his qualities or the methods by which we study them. Our perceptions and our methods may be in error, just as an astronomer may fall short in studying the constitution of a star. But the star is still there, a challenging object for study. My definition does not, of course, deny that a person is variable over time or that his behaviour may change from situation to situation. It says simply that the person has an internal structure and range of characteristics (variable, to be sure, but ascertainable), and it is this structure that we hope to study. (Pattern and Growth 35) The discussion in detail of Allports definition of personality and his approach towards both, personality and psychology, leads us to his theory of traits. According to Allport a trait is: a generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behaviour. (Personality 295) He believed that a trait exists within a person and is there even when a person is alone and away from the observation of others. Secondly, he believed that traits define behaviour and make it consistent. Traits, we must note from the outset, are not per se observables. Nor are they real entities. You will never be able to place them under a microscope. They are descriptive schemas that are the product of human reason and imagination. They serve a heuristic purpose, as do all other constructs about the world in which we live: namely, they give a conceptual order to our world and make it more comprehensible than it would be without them. That Allport ([1937] 1961), for example, stipulates that traits or personality for that matter have neuropsychic referents does not turn them into things (reify them so to speak). (Dumont 149) Allport clearly distinguished traits form types. Unlike traits types always have a biosocial reference. A man can be said to have a trait; but he cannot be said to have a type. Rather he fits a type.types exist not in people or in nature, but rather in the eye of the observer. Type includes more than is in the individual. Traits, on the contrary, are considered wholly within the compass of the individual. The crux of the distinction is that in a type the reference point is always some attribute, or cluster of corresponding attributes abstracted from various personalities. (Personality 295-296) Yet Allport was aware of the limitations involved in the study of traits: generalities of names; variability of emotions; the ability to observe only the act, which is the result of the trait rather than the trait itself. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 333-334) Even with the limitations involved in trait research, Allport believed them to be one of the strongest means for personality study. He did not blindly study personality traits, but tried to take into account all of the variables, for example: No trait theory can be sound unless it allows for, and accounts for, the variability of a persons conduct. Pressures from the surrounding environment, the companions he is with, and the counter current in the person himself may delay, augment, distort, or inhibit completely the conduct that we would normally expect to issue from a persons traits. . . . All this is true; yet in a persons stream of activity there is, besides a variable portion, likewise a constant portion; and it is this constant portion we seek to designate with the concept of trait. (Pattern and Growth 333) Allport draws a distinction between common traits and individual traits. A common trait identifies a trait which to some extent is reflected in many personalities. An individual trait, however, or personal disposition (as Allport came to call them), is peculiar to the individual. He points out that all traits are unique and no one trait can be found in more than one person. But at the same time for the science of personality and psychology to function properly it is important to compare individuals. Allport states that for all their ultimate differences, normal persons within a given culture-area tend to develop a limited number of roughly comparable modes of adjustment. The original endowment of most human beings, their stages of growth, and the demands of their particular society, are sufficiently standard and comparable to lead to some basic modes of adjustment that from individual to individual are approximately the same.(Pattern and Growth 298) Common traits are developed, according to Allport, because the human nature develops similar modes of adjusting to a similar environment, though varying degrees of individualism still exist (Pattern and Growth 349). Allport felt common traits were less important to the individual personality because they actually reflect the social mores developed through socialization, rather than personal choices. Therefore, common traits are constantly changing according to the growth, development, and fads of a particular society. Allport felt the very nature of the common trait made it less influential to the individual. Individual traits, on the other hand, have the capacity to initiate and guide consistent forms of adaptive and stylistic behaviour. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 373). However, Allport felt that for a complete and thorough study of personality both common and individual traits are essential: individual and common trait [concepts] are complementary in the study of personality. What is unique and what is universal both need to be explored. (Personality 299) Allport described traits by names. He identified approximately eighteen thousand words in the English language which named distinctive forms of personal behaviour. Though incomplete, Allport believed that, this list of words had an infinite scope. Allport categorized the 18,000 trait names: 30% have an evaluative flavour; 25% are comparative; 25% refer to temporary states of mind, mood, emotion, or activity, and 25% are metaphorical (Pattern and Growth 354-355). Allport was dissatisfied with the limitations of verbal tags. He recognized the weaknesses found in the subjective and limited nature of labelling: A trait of personality may or may not coincide with some well-defined, conventional social concept. . . It would be ideal if we could . . . find our traits first and then name them. But honesty, loyalty, neatness and tact, though encrusted with social significance, may likewise represent true traits of personality. The danger is that, in devising scales for their measurement, we may be bound by the conventional meanings and thus be led away from the precise integration as it exists in a given individual. Where possible, it would be well for us to find our traits first and then seek devaluated terms with which to characterize our discoveries. (Becoming 135) Allport understood that no single act is the product of only one trait, and a trait is only one factor in determining an act. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 334 and 360) This recognition of the complexity of the human nature led Allport to the conclusion that it is ridiculous to try to reduce human nature to a single element simply for the sake of explanation: We view personality in the only way it can be intelligibly viewedas a network of organization, composed of systems within systems, some systems of small magnitude and somewhat peripheral to the central or propriate structure, other systems of wider scope at the core of the total edifice; some easy to set into action, others more dormant; some so culturally conforming that they can readily be viewed as common; others definitely idiosyncratic. But in the last analysis this network-complying billions and billions of nerve cells, fashioned by a one-time heredity and by environmental experiences never duplicated-is ultimately unique. (Pattern and Growth 360) Although there is a certain degree of consistency found within the personality, the personality is not completely predictable. The inconsistency of dispositions could be due to a specific situation, or to the actual existence of opposite dispositions within an individual (Allport, Becoming 135). Allport felt that contradictory behaviour is often not contradictory at all, but a contrasting stylistic demonstration of the same personal disposition. What must be identified is the deepest disposition that is operating within an individual: Take the case of Dr. D., always neat about his person and desk, punctilious about lecture notes, outlines, and files; his personal possessions are not only in order but carefully kept under lock and key. Dr. D is also in charge of the departmental library. In this duty he is careless; he leaves the library door unlocked, and books are lost; it does not bother him that dust accumulates. Does this contradiction in behaviour mean that D lacks personal dispositions? Not at all. He has two opposed stylistic dispositions, one of orderliness and one of disorderliness. Different situations arouse different dispositions. Pursuing the case further, the duality is at least partly explained by the fact that D has one cardinal (motivational) disposition from which these contrasting styles proceed. The outstanding fact about his personality is that he is a self -centred egotist who never acts for other peoples interests, but always for his own. This cardinal self -centeredness (for which there is abundant evidence) demands orderliness for himself, but not for others. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 363) A particular trait can be identified and determined in a particular person only if the behaviour it characterises occurs repeatedly in by and large similar situations. According to Allport: A specific act is always the product of many determinants, not only of lasting sets, but of momentary pressures in the person and in the situation. It is only the repeated occurrence of acts having the same significance (equivalence of response) following upon a definable range of stimuli having the same personal significance (equivalence of stimuli) that makes necessary the inference of traits and personal dispositions. (Pattern and Growth 374) Allport put forward his classic doctrine of traits: A trait has more than nominal existence. A trait is more than a generalized habit. A trait is dynamic, or at least determinative. The existence of a trait may be established empirically or at least statistically. Traits are only relatively independent of each other. A trait of personality, psychologically considered, is not the same as a moral quality. Acts, and even habits, that are inconsistent with a trait are not proof of the nonexistence of the trait. A trait may be viewed either in the light of the personality which contains it, or in the light of its distribution in the population at large. (What is a Trait 368) Allport reasoned that some traits have more influence on an individual than other traits. He categorized these traits into three levels: Cardinal traits, Central traits and Secondary traits. Cardinal Traits A cardinal trait is so pervasive and outstanding in any given individual that almost every act can be traced to its influence and almost every aspect of a persons life is touched by it. A person is so dominated by the cardinal trait that it can rarely be hidden from others. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 365) Such a trait is so dominant in a person that the person comes to be known for that trait. It becomes almost synonymous to his personality. Examples of cardinal traits can be: narcissist and Casanova. A cardinal trait is considered to be rare and tends to develop in an individual at a later stage in his life. A person does not necessarily have only one cardinal trait, and this trait may change as a person matures and changes. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 365) Central Traits A central trait is less dominant as compared to a cardinal trait. Central traits form the foundation of an individuals personality. Central traits are easily detected characteristics within a person, traits that all people have a certain number of, five to ten on an average according to Allport. (Schultz 201) Secondary Traits On a less conspicuous level of influence are secondary dispositions. These traits are less generalized and less consistent than central dispositions. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 365) They might reflect something only a best friend would know. (Schultz 201). Allport did not set down any particular number of dispositions an individual might possess. How many dispositions has a person is a most audacious question, and can be answered in only a preliminary and speculative way. For many reasons the question is audacious: Behaviour is in continuous flow; dispositions never express themselves singly; people manifest contradictory dispositions in contradictory situations; furthermore, diagnostic methods are too ill developed to enable us to discover the answer. (Pattern and Growth 366) Allports trait theory can be summed up through the following diagram. Habits and attitudes are often confused with traits because of their similarities. Allport clearly defined habits and attitudes to avoid all confusion. According to Allport, a habit can function as a trait, but a trait is not always a habit. Habits are inflexible and specific in response to specific stimuli; traits are more generalized and variable in expression. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 346) A number of habits may be blended together to develop a trait; however, habits do not integrate automatically into traits. They do so when the person has some general concept or self image which leads to the fusion of the habit into a trait. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 346) Allport cites the example of a child brushing his teeth. A young child may be regarded as forming a specific habit when he learns (with difficulty) to brush his teeth night and morning. For some years this habit may stand alone, aroused only by appropriate commands or by the appropriate environmental situation. With the passing of years, however, brushing teeth becomes not only automatic (as is the way of habits) but likewise firmly woven into a much wider system of habits, viz., a trait of personal cleanliness. . . . The adult is uncomfortable if he omits brushing the teeth from his daily schedule, not only because a single habit is frustrated, but because the omission violates a general demand for cleanliness. (Allport, Personality 292) Allport explained that a trait is a fusion of habit and endowment rather than a colligation or chain of habits alone. (Personality 293) The transformation of habit to trait is simply when the motivation shifts from simple conditioned responses to a sheer liking of the activity as motivation. Then trait has become autonomous. (Allport, Personality 293) Allport distinguishes between a trait and an attitude in two ways. First, an attitude always has an object of reference; whereas, a trait does not direct itself specifically toward something. Second, an attitude is usually favourable or unfavourable, for or against. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 347) It involves a judgement or evaluation (pro or con), which a trait does not. (Schultz 200) Motivation According to Allport, the pivot of the theory of personality is the analysis of the nature of motivation. He defined motivation as any internal condition in a person that induces action or thought. (Pattern and Growth 196) Allport also believed a theory of motivation should meet four requirements: contemporaneity, pluralistic, cognitive process, and concrete uniqueness. (Schultz 201) Contemporaneity A theory of motivation must acknowledge the contemporaneity of motives. (Pattern and Growth 220) In other words, the importance of the present should be stressed: Motives leading to activity, it may be argued, are always operative at the time the activity takes place. Allport added, That which drives, drives now. (The Use of Personal 80) Allport was aware, however, that in complex adult motives the past is, to some degree, alive in the present. He considered it, however, the task of the psychologist to discover how much of the past is fire and how much of it is ashes. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 219) To think that the motives of mankind are essentially unchanged from birth until death seemed to Allport inadequate at best. (Pattern and Growth 203) That which once motivated, does not necessarily motivate always. It is important to realize the past is only important if it exists as a present or current motivating force, or is dynamically active in the present. (Allport, Pattern and Gro wth 220) More precisely stated, it is the unfinished structure that has this dynamic power. A finished structure is static; but a growing structure, tending toward a given direction of closure, has the capacity to subsidiate the guide conduct in conformity with its movement. (Allport, Becoming 91) Pluralistic Allport believed that a theory of motivation must have room for multiple motives. Motivation cannot be reduced to one general phase or drive. Some motives are transient, some recurring; some are momentary, others persistent; some unconscious, others conscious; some opportunistic, others propriate; some tension-reducing, others tension-maintaining. Motives are so diverse in type that we find it difficult to discover the common denominator. About all we can say is that a persons motives include all that he is trying (consciously or unconsciously, reflexly or deliberately) to do. (Pattern and Growth 221) Simplification does not explain motivation. Neither does reducing its strands to the simplified model of the machine, the animal, the child, or the pathological. (Pattern and Growth 222) A theory of motivation should allow that there may be some truth in each theory. (Pattern and Growth 221) Cognitive Process A theory of motivation must acknowledge the importance of the cognitive processes e.g. planning and intention. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 222) Allports requirement of cognitive process gives emphasis to the individuals conscious plans and intentions. These conscious intentions represent, above all else, the individuals primary mode of addressing the future. (Becoming 89) Thus, cognitive process stresses the importance of the future in the motivating process of the personality. Alport believed that all individuals possess the power of thought and it is this thought process which leads them to form decisions. Hence, an individuals intent should be central to understanding his personality. Allport defined intention as what an individual is trying to do, and he included several features of motivation derived from the concept of intention: The cognitive and emotive processes in personality become fused into an integral urge. The intention, like all motivation, exists in the present, but has strong future orientation. Use of the concept helps us to trace the course of motivation as lives are actually livedinto the future and not, as most theories do, backward into the past. It tells us what sort of future a person is trying to bring about and this is the most important question we can ask about any mortal. The term has a flavour of tension maintained and thus reflects the true condition of all long range motives. When we identify major intentions in a life we have a device for holding subsidiary trends in perspective. (Pattern and Growth 223). Allport believed the present should be explained more in terms of the future, not the past. It is more important to identify what a person intends to do and how they are presently acting out this intention, than to look toward the past of an individuals childhood or development. Unfortunately the concept of intention is not prominent in current psychology. The reason is that it connotes purpose, the efficacy of conscious planning, and a pull that mans image of the future exerts on his present conduct. . . . the more favoured physicalistic conception would say that he is pushed by his motives (not pulled by his intentions). Many psychologists would say that drives take entire care of what we here call intention. Yet drives as such are blind. They do not allow for organization and direction by cognitive attitudes, by foresight, by cortical control. (Allport, Pattern and Growth 224)

Blake Coleridge Swift :: essays papers

The Symbolism of Christ William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Jonathan Swift were very different writes but are bound by basic Christian beliefs. In their writings there are strong references to Christ and symbolic images of Him. Blake writes "The Lamb" as a symbolic representative of Christ. Coleridge uses many form of religious symbolism in his poem "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner", but the thing that stands out the most is how the albatross represents Christ. Swift writes in "Gulliver's Travels", of a man named Pedro de Mendez who is a savior to Gulliver. These three authors show us how Christian views and Jesus are a part of life not just in the Bible but also in current society. Blake uses our questions about faith to emphasize the importance of Christ in our lives. Blake emphasizes the connection of which the child is naturally aware, when he writes, "I, a child, and thou a lamb, We are called by his name"(p.1289). The tone, however, is the genuine simplicity of a child's speech. The first verse is a series of questions addressed to the lamb, which represents Jesus. The second stanza begins with the child being able to answer those questions. Blake writes, "Little Lamb, I'll tell thee"(p.1289). Meaning that the child understands Christ being the savior. These questions are asked purely for the satisfaction that it gives the child in answering and to show the child's understanding of God. Blake shows Christ in a way that is innocent like the child. Blake writes this poem using the example of the lamb found in nature to represent Christ and uses the child to represent man trying to understand God. Blake uses the lamb to represent Christ in nature in the same way that Coleridge uses the albatross to represent Christ in nature. Coleridge uses religious and natural symbolism, which correspond with one another and play the most important roles in this poem. Although there are many different interpretations of this poem, one idea that has remained common throughout the poem is that of the religious symbolism present. Especially that of Christ and his ability to save, which was present throughout this poem. The symbolism is that of the albatross. The albatross saves the Mariner for bad weather and keeps the sailors in

Personal Leadership Development Plan (PLDP) Essay

The Personal Leadership Development Plan is a resource tool to be used by associates of the PFR/ATTC Network Advanced Leadership Institute to organize and articulate their goals for what they want to learn and develop as a part of the institute experience. Similar to the Individual Leadership Development Plan that was completed as part of the basic PFR/ATTC Network Leadership Institute, this planning process is designed to help each associate personalize and focus their participation in the program. Each associate will use it to identify, plan, articulate, and document their development as they progress through the experience of the Institute. This plan should be developed, implemented, and revised by the associate, working in consultation with their supervisor, their coach, and the ALI program facilitators. The initial plan document is to be completed and submitted to the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership within 30 days following the Immersion Week experience. Instructions for Completion: Please complete all of the sections of the plan form. Use the insights and perspectives that you have gained through the assessments, activities, and reflections of the Immersion Week to inform your choice of goals and strategies that you will seek to develop through the Advanced Leadership Institute. It is especially useful to have the help and support of your supervisor, so the Plan is to be developed in consultation with them and you are asked to secure your supervisor’s signature. This is a way to gain their commitment and support for your plans. The specific elements of the plan and the contents of each are as follows. Career Aspirations and Goals Leadership development goals and plans are useful and relevant when they are grounded in the leader’s aspirations for their career. Thus we ask you to explain your career direction, aspirations, and goals. For what purpose will you continue to build your leadership capacity? What aspirations for impact do you have, whether in your organization or in the larger field? Competencies to Develop Drawing on the insights you gain from the various elements of the ALI, especially the 360-degree feedback and the various elements of the Immersion Week assessments and discussions, please identify the key competencies (or sets of competencies) that you wish to develop to enhance your leadership capacity. These then will become the basis for your development goals and strategies. Long-Term Leadership Development Goals What specific goals will you work to accomplish, during the coming three to four years, to build your leadership capacity and enhance the potential for achieving your career goals? Be specific in stating three to five goals and indicate the competencies that will be developed through their accomplishment. ALI Developmental Activities (with Target Dates) After you have identified the competencies and long-term goals, then it is important to identify the activities that you will engage in during the coming year to begin to accomplish these goals. What specific activities will you implement, during the ALI events, the intersession period, and during the rest of the year, to continue to build your leadership capacity? In particular, please consider how you could leverage assignments at work and follow up on the ALI experiences and assessments (including organizing your work in the ALI team project) to gain maximal experience and benefit from each element as you continue to develop your leadership capacity.

How successful is concealment in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Essay

â€Å"†¦the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.† How successful is concealment in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Jekyll and Hyde is a novel which addresses the drug usage that went on behind closed doors in 1890’s Britain. Also much of the book id based on some of Stevenson’s own experience’s of drug use because from very early childhood Stevenson was on a strict regime of drugs to deal with various aliments. Throughout the novel concealment is used to keep the reader interested in the novel, both physical and metaphorical concealment is used. For example at the very start of the test Jekyll’s will is concealed from us so we are not exactly sure what the issues with Edward Hyde are. This keeps the interested and encourages them to read on to learn more of the texts sudden interest with Edward Hyde. Another example of physical concealment is Dr Lanyon’s letter to Mr Utterson the lawyer when Uttterson receives the letter the audience, for a moment are lead to believe that this is the end and they will finally find out what is going on. Then the first envelope is open an again no joy but the audience continue to read on with the fresh hope that soon this envelope will be opened & all will be revealed. Examples of metaphorical concealment would be when Utterson urges Jekyll to come clean and explain why Hyde is in his will but he refuses to give an explanation there fore refusing the audience explanation of why he is so fond of Hyde. Also throughout the text Steven son conceals things from the reader by telling things from a different points of view, nothing is ever explained in one go from one perspective. This creates ambiguity as the things that Stevenson does reveal could mean many different things. This causes suspense in the readers. There are many different reasons for things to be concealed in the text by both Stevenson and the characters; the characters conceal things from themselves and each other because they are scared of what would happen if they didn’t. In the 1890’s people were extremely God fearing people and anything scientific could be considered evil as this would be meddling with Gods work and not only would Jekyll and other characters be ashamed of themselves for having anything to do with and would not want others to find out they had any connections to this. Also there everyday lives were very routine based, so why disrupt this comfy, cosy routine when they could just cover it up? Why cause all this trouble over something they could just cover look and ignore. Stevenson chooses to conceal things from the reader to help the reader relate to the character and understand just how in the dark they really were about what was going on at the time. Also it helps create tension, ambiguity and suspense in the text. With in the novel Stevenson conceals hidden themes showing what was happening at the time in Victorian Britain; such as the outrage towards Darwin’s theory of evolution, at the time people strongly believed in God and was against science. Darwin was purposing that we all came from animals; these ideas had major repercussions as it went against everything the church had worked so hard to preach. Stevenson put these things in to get a reaction as he knew in a strongly religious Victorian Britain the fact that Hyde shows some animal like instincts and cannot control this would not go down to well. Another concealed theme would be degeneration, as at that time society were concerned that human nature was becoming worse and evil was becoming more dominant in peoples characteristics, Stevenson uses this when he shows how Hyde is slowly but surely becoming Jekyll’s stronger persona. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein share some of the same themes such as concealment, as when the Doctor creates his monster and rejects him , he becomes very secluded and ill as does DR Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde. Also the books contain similar use of weather and animal imagery. This may be because they come from the same area. Stevenson shows great decadence in this novel as at the time Victorians were strongly opposing science and all of it attributes, Stevenson seemed to be trying to throw off the restraints of society at the time by referring to Hyde’s animal like ways well he was trampling the girl, thus high lighting Darwin’s theory that was frowned upon at the time. Also reflected in Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde was the fin-de-siecle, this is because the level of evil becomes slowly greater towards the end of the book until finally everything came to an end this connotes the concerns that everything was slowly getting worse as time went on. In the next things are concealed from the reader by Stevenson, concealed from the characters by other characters by other characters and also characters will conceal things from themselves to make themselves feel better. The effect of the reader not knowing what is going on is that they constantly feel the need to keep reading to gain more knowledge about the illusive Mr Hyde. The effect of the reader finding out things at the same time as the characters helps the reader emphasize with the characters so they can see things more easily from there point of view so this helps the reader understand more clearly what is going on in the book. The consequences of concealment are different for different characters. Utterson was protected from Hyde purely because of his lack of knowledge about him and how he is created. Lanyon, however is killed when all is revealed to him so perhaps it would have been far safer for certain characters to have things concealed from them rather than not. Concealment is what overall resulted in the death of Henry Jekyll, as he thought firstly that he could conceal his evil mannerisms in Edward Hyde and go about his evil under the name of Edward Jekyll but he fails and in the end (all though the other characters do not get to learn this we do) we see that all Hyde is to Jekyll is a disguise, not in fact an evil alter ego, but his own evil way encased in a different person. Things begin to slowly be revealed through the novel, as documents are opened and characters crack under pressure and share there secrets with someone else. Some things remain concealed almost until the very end such as Jekyll & Hyde being one person. Jekyll was forced to reveal his drug use to unsuspecting Lanyon when he turned into Hyde in the night and could not reach his cabinet to get the drugs out. This was disastrous as the shock of seeing all this evil killed him in the end. At this point it was already too late to help save Jekyll from his ever looming fate. This was successful in the terms of engaging the reader with the story as it leaves you wondering who Jekyll might reveal his deep dark secret to next. People were also made to understand how small & desperate the drug addict can feel sometime, but Lanyon’s shock and unwillingness to help once he new the situation connotes how people would turn a drug user away today because they fear for there own safety; because of all this I believe Stevenson was very successful in highlighting these issues. At the end of the novel the exact true circumstances of Jekyll’s death are concealed. This leaves the reader to draw there own conclusions from the information they are given by Stevenson. This helps add mystery to the plot and readers can draw there own conclusion, and think up an ending most fitting for them. The modern reader can relate to the text in so many ways, such as the pressure and longing to be bad, teens can relate this to there everyday life because they fell they need to miss behave to gain the respect of there friends. In the league of extraordinary gentlemen men the fact that Hyde is much larger than Jekyll helps show that evil has a bigger presence, and the pull of evil is much more appealing in today’s society. Also some teens can relate to the drug usage in the book as when Jekyll becomes Hyde he does everything he would love to as Jekyll, he can truly be himself. Teens can identify with this because they take drugs to relax, to have fun; some feel they can only do this with drugs in there system. In society today concealment still plays a very big part, parents conceal evil such as drugs, drinking etc from there children by trying to keep them away from this. But instead children will adapt a Jekyll and Hyde like persona’s one for there parents were the none of these bad things exist and one for there friends were they can be as bad as they like with no repercussions. Stevenson was successful in bringing these issues to light as he helped highlight just how much of the true human nature is repressed and hidden away.