Environment of Childhood and its Influence on Personality
- ejorigin
- Aug 24, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 8
Written by: Ng Le Kang (23-I2)
Designed by: Sophie Ho (23-E3)
The beauty of humans lies in the ability to extend and rebirth, the people after all a consequence of the people before, the time spent with the past. The intertwining of one’s past, a creation of another’s past, we are beautiful time capsules that continue to pile up from the beginning of humanity. These forms of creation are brought forth by physical factors - the months to a year; season after seasons continually looping - as well as social factors - parenting styles…and friends.
Physical - the four seasons
The science behind the seasons influencing birth may sound like unsupported astrology and its influence on personality. However, there may lie some science behind seasons influencing our personality. The season of birth (SOB) encompasses: latitude, sunshine, nutrition, infection, and stress, among the environmental impacts. These all contribute to our growth as a foetus, growing a second life out of the first.
Spring
People who are born during the spring - March, April and May - are generally more optimistic. Those born in May are more susceptible to clinical depression but are also more likely to find hope in darkness. At the same time, novelty seeking and rewards dependent temperament is lower in males born in spring, as compared to the other seasons. At the same time, men are likely to be more self-directed, when born in spring.
Summer
People who are born during summer - June, July and August - tend to have greater mood swings but significantly lower rates of bipolar disorder, especially those born in August. People whose SOB are summer show signs of optimism, similar to those born in spring. However, it may be negated by their rapid changes in mood swings between high and low moods.
Autumn
People born during autumn - September, October and November - have the lowest rates of depression and bipolar disorder. They are usually more balanced in temperament and more easily satisfied. Women born in Autumn are also less self transcendent than the others. While men show the highest harm avoidance, they also have the lowest self directedness out of the four seasons. People born in autumn are more irritable, but this is often made up by their balance in temperament.
Winter
People born in winter - December, January and February - have the highest rates of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder and depression. Despite this, they are also the most creative, and as a result, many celebrities are born in these months. Similarly, they are great problem solvers, and beat those born in autumn by being less irritable. Men whose SOB is winter show lowest rates of cooperativeness, while women whose SOB is winter shows highest cooperativeness, and lowest self dependence.
Social - parenting styles
There are four main categories of parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved. Every style of parenting uses a unique approach to raising children. Generally, each parent will fall into one of these categories and sometimes have some characteristics from another category, as they often do not merely fall into one category or the other. Still, they greatly influence the way children grow to think and work.
Permissive Parenting
Permissive parents treat their children as their best friends, overindulging them, and barely restricting their lifestyles. This leads to children having to figure out most things for themselves, and often lead to unstructured lifestyles that may lead to more harm than good.
The lack of rules can lead to children developing unhealthy eating habits. This can result in increased risks of obesity, malnutrition due to an imbalanced diet, and other health problems which would develop further in the child’s life. As the child also has a lot of autonomy in use of time, from when to sleep to when to do work, many negative habits may develop as the parent does not provide much guidance on moderation. In summation, children of permissive parents usually have good self-esteem due to the respect given by parents, and decent social skills from many interactions with parents. However, they can be impulsive, demanding, inconsiderate, and lack self-regulation, as a result of the lack of rules.
Uninvolved Parenting
Children who have uninvolved parents have the most freedom as this type of parents are often absent from the child, and leave their children to their own devices. This may also be in the form of divorced parents, who as a result create a lack of love in their growing environment. While providing for their needs of the children, they remain unattending to their children's concern, and provide the bare minimum for subsistence. An uninvolved parent often does not take disciplining their children into their own hands, and as a result, also does not nurture their children to grow towards being successful, often even neglecting them, leaving them feeling unloved.
The children of uninvolved parents are resilient and may even be more self-sufficient and independent, as compared to other children with other types of upbringing. However, as these skills are developed out of necessity, they often suffer a lot having to cope with learning these skills. As a result of having to learn these skills themselves, they are often incomplete in development, and as a result, may lack in communication skills, academics, and have poor decision making.
Feeling unloved, they often have high romantic demands to make up for the voids in their lives, and as a result may lead to obsessive traits which lead to the development of unhealthy relationships. How one leads to another, a cycle which can never be prevented, till death. They may also be doubtful of relationships, as a result of not feeling love, and may put a lot of pressure on their partners as they feel insecure constantly, and have a hard time trusting others.
The people whom I have met, tears of joy and pain shed, the scars of time left on the body, the very nature of them, built merely on the past, the past built on the past? The infinite cycle of time, one human intertwined with another, can we ever start afresh?
I reached the authoritarian parents.
He shed his tears in front of me. The pent up troubles, expunged through the tears, trickled out through the countless cuts that once a pristine slate, now full of callous and wounds. The body whose flesh was created from parents, hence one moment too soon torn apart, the tendons, the flesh, one split to two, never did end. The life ended upon a note of brevity, as its beautiful life ceased in one leap of faith:
“Thank you my dear parents, but I shall be free from your grasps now, no longer restricted from the talons that have scratched my hands, free from the unbearable light. Take care.”
I remembered how he once talked of being micromanaged by his parents, his fears, which consumed his happiness and dulled his senses. How he longed to feel something again, trapped in the shell of a mortal, he could never understand. The punishments he often talked of, without any prior notice, as those talons struck above and below, and left multiple scars which could never heal even with time.
While always doing exceptionally well in his studies, and being celebrated as the obedient one, his wings finally grew tired of the cage, and in an attempt to break free, to fight for his right one last time, he threw his wings open. He was never once able to get out once the sun set. Beneath the starless night he broke free.
Is the creation of this a consequence brought about purely of interest to logic and reasoning, or the result of the individual experience that has shaped my consequence? The earlier walking through the dimly lit streets, the constellations above that guided the way, led me to this reflection of ponder, is who I am the result of my upbringing, the childhood I will not forget?
The final chapter - the authoritative parents
My parents. The one in many billion. The ones I have built a close, nurturing relationship with. Strict but clear with their instructions - They told me never to open the window grills when helping with house chores. It was not safe and an accidental fall would be life-threatening. I always understood them from their respectful explanations for me to understand their rationale, and build rapport and trust with them. They built a structure, a home which I could depend on, but also learn from, and I grew up healthy.
“Authoritative parenting results in children who are confident, accountable, and able to self-regulate.” The child has a better emotional support system, and as a result, grows with a healthy emotional wellbeing. This leads to him being able to cope with more stress and learn from their mistakes. Since his parents also encourage independence, his child learns that he is capable of accomplishing goals on his own. He grows with better self-esteem, and does well in school.
However, looking at the quiet city at night, how many more suffer from depression, caused by unhealthy parenting? How many still live? And who will still remember him? I was told by my parents to not sleep any later, but still I do, for this is but a small problem. Friends help us reflect, and today I reflect: how consequential are our lives, when we are but a speck, replaceable and disposable. At least his story gets told. How many still remain untold? And what will I be after this, a friend of the past?
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