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Life Span Development and Personality of Michael Jackson

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Life Span Development and Personality of Michael Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Psy/304
February 4, 2001
Dr. Marcy Satan

Life Span Development and Personality of Michael Jackson

Introduction
Michael Jackson was born August 29, 1958. Born the eighth of 10 children, Michael grew up in a working class family in a small three bedroom home in Gary, Indiana. As a child, Michael struggled with his fame. He never lived a normal childhood and throughout his adulthood he tried to recapture his lost youth. Although labeled as an outstanding entertainer and humanitarian in the world, Michael became dependent on pain medications. Scandals of child molestation and Michael’s obsession with his appearance further fueled his addiction. Overdosing …show more content…

His voice deepened and he struggled with acne. He became obsessed with his appearance and through the years changed his appearance through plastic surgeries. Michael ultimately throughout his life was going through an identity crisis. “In Erik Erikson 's stages of psychosocial development, the emergence of an identity crisis occurs during the teenage years in which people struggle between feelings of identity versus role confusion” (Cherry, 2009). Michael struggled to make a commitment to his identity. His identity status could best described as moratorium, “the status of a person who is actively involved in exploring different identities, but has not made a commitment”
(Cherry, 2009).
Theoretical Approach Michael Jackson behavior and achievements is best described by the humanistic theory of personality, Rogers’s Person-Centered Approach. Kowalski & Weston (2009),

described Carl Rogers’s theory of personality, which focuses on understanding

the individual’s phenomenal world. “Rogers similarly believed that human beings are

basically good but that their personalities become distorted by interpersonal

experiences, especially in childhood”

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