Prof. Dr. İbrahim Şenay, a faculty member of the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Department of English Psychology, gave a presentation titled “Culture and Adult Personality Development” as part of the Department of English Psychology seminars.
What is the relationship between personality and environment?
Prof. Dr. İbrahim Şenay pointed out the role of culture and environmental factors in the development of human personality; “The personality development and change of individuals in a culture continues under the influence of the culture they live in throughout their lives and may be closely related to how their cultures may change in the future. For example, personality changes differently throughout life in different countries. These differences in personality development and change across countries can provide clues in predicting how cultures in those countries may change in the future. When personality changes occurring in adult ages in Turkish culture are examined alongside those in other countries, three possible simulation scenarios can be considered.
In the first scenario, human personality and environmental factors such as climate, geography, economy, health, culture, and security may maintain their balanced state. As a result, the fundamental collectivistic, future-anxious, and both harsh and compassionate country culture of present-day Turkey may continue to characterize the personality development of individuals in Turkey when compared to other countries.
In the other two scenarios, either environmental factors may change personality, or personality may change environmental factors. In these two situations, Turkey, undergoing a change on a cultural dimension it currently represents the exact middle of, may move towards becoming a culture that makes either long-term, future-oriented plans or shorter-term plans that continue the past. In both of these latter scenarios, the personality development and change occurring in adult ages in Turkey are likely to take place in a less collectivistic, less power-relationship-based, and less future-anxious culture.”