PERSONALITY DYNAMICS AND VOCATION

By: Sr. Erlen Adanza, SPC

Personality – the totality of my person as I am, with all my weaknesses and strengths.

Dynamics – a continuous process characterized by physical energy bringing about changes.

Vocation – a call.

- Since the religious call is directed by God to a person, the person himself has to know
himself more deeply in order to best respond to that call.

- Psychology is at the service of vocation.

3 Things are involved in the dynamics of personality

1.) Vision 2.) Reality 3.) Integration

1. Reality – consists of the

2. Vision – concepts of dreams, actual state of
ideals – what I hope situation.
to attain; what I
want to be or ought
to be.

S.I. (Self-ideal) + I.I. (Institutional = I.S. (Ideal Self) P.B. (Present + L.S. (Latent
ideal) Behavior) Self)

VALUES (anchor) NEEDS (anchor)

Concretized or Expressed in:

1. Attitudes
2. Behavior

INTEGRATION
(when needs are consonant to values)
or
DISINTEGRATION
(when needs are dissonant to values)
 PERSONALITY DYNAMICS IN RETROSPECT

- There’s no perfect self-ideal. It is tainted by unconscious needs to start with.

- Institutional ideal doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s based on the constitution of the
congregation – the teachings of Christ through the Church.

- Christ is the ultimate measure of maturity; the heart and mind of Christ have to be my
own.

I. VISION

- Values – are priorities; treasures; essentials; part of the vision or ideal; part of belief,
. emotion, goal; personally, and socially preferred. They are used as means to the
. ideal.
– includes cognitive (belief), affective (feelings) and psychomotor
(actions, . behavior)

Values involve the:

1.) Cognitive – mind )
2.) Affective – feelings ) The Whole Person
3.) Psychomotor – behavior )

Dimensions to Values:
1.) Subjective – I value it personally and others may not value it.
2.) Objective – something is good and valuable in itself whether I accept it or not.

Ultimate norm for value: CHRIST

Values are classified according to:

1.) Function
2.) Nature of the person

Kinds of values according to function:

1.) Core or end or terminal – refers to ideal goals.
2.) Instrumental core values – refers to the means to the end values.

Terminal values of a religious:

1.) Union with God
2.) Following of Christ

Instrumental values of a religious:

1.) Practice of the vows
Kinds of values according to the nature of the person:
1.) Natural Values – they appeal to the taste of the person. They touch one aspect of the
. person

e.g. of natural values:

- friendship, career, food, work etc.

2.) Theo-centric Self transcendent values

1st dimension – God is the end-point of my life. I use natural values integrated with my .
Christian values
GOAL: Self-transcendence, not self-actualization
2nd dimension – combination of the 1st and the 3rd.
3rd dimension – my furthest goal is the natural values.

Problem:
Consciously I target Theo-centric values.
Unconsciously I end up targeting the natural values.
In a religious, the first type of values should be our goal.

Levels of self-transcendence:
1.) Ego-centric - for self
2.) Social philanthropic - for humanity
3.) Theo-centric - for God

Note:
- There’s no perfect self-ideal because it’s tainted by unconscious needs to start with.

Valuing Process:
1.) Freely chosen
2.) Free alternatives
3.) Careful deliberation considering consequences of my choice. These should be aligned
with God’s values.
4.) Prizing and being happy with my choice.
5.) Publicly affirming it.
6.) Acting on it.
7.) Repeatedly until it becomes a pattern and apart of you.

Summary:
VISION
Self-ideal (S.I.) – Institutional Ideal (I.I.) = Ideal Self

expressed Values
through
Attitudes

Behavior
Actual Self – refers to present behavior and latent self (self that I don’t see)

expressed Needs
through
Attitudes

Behavior

Needs: 1.) a lack or deficiency that wants to be filled up

2.) a potential that desires actualization

Attitudes – tendencies, inclination towards behavior

I. Kinds of Needs:
1.) Consonant – support values
2.) Dissonant – go against values

- There are needs that:

1.) are related – Aggression and Dominance
2.) Compensate – Abasement and Achievement
3.) Complement – Succorance and Nurturance

Feedbacking – is vital to know how you behave in a group.

– validates the result of Needs Test.

Needs are rooted in 3 levels of psychic life:

1.) Psycho – Physiological

( Because it produces (Biological)

feelings and desires )

2.) Psycho-Social

( relationship with others )

3.) Spiritual – Rational

( need to transcend myself )

Sources of needs:
1.) Nature – innate ( potential to be developed )
2.) Nurture – experience ( when there is deprivation )

Note:
- Needs have to be set OPTIONALLY or adequately
- Nature’s hereditary – illnesses like psychoses, schizophrenia
 - Nurture – kind of development or upbringing
- Depression – relegating hurt into the subconscious for self-protection
o This is done the child who can hardly cope with reality.
o Adults use – mind to understand
– friends to rely on
– faith

The mechanism of repression is like an iceberg.

– Conscious
Preconscious –
s
u
Unconscious – b
c
o
n
s
c
i
o
u
s

- All men use repression. All of us have a part of the iceberg.

Supression – a conscious and temporary control of one’s feelings

Repression – an unconscious control of one’s feeling temporarily or permanently depending
on . the gravity of the hurt.

How needs are created:

1.) Deprivation
2.) Over-gratification

Repression is done through DEFENSE MECHANISM like:

1.) Projection 5.) Sublimation

2.) Denial 6.) Fantasy
3.) Somatization 7.) Reaction-Formation
4.) Displacement

Suppressions

Denial is an unconscious defense against hurt.

Counter-Reaction – a conscious choosing of a better reaction
Transference – a phenomenon of unconsciously my unconscious reactions in the past to
the . present.
Sublimation – is spiritualizing difficulties and pains.

Needs ) are TRANSPERSONAL or universal

Differences )

DISSONANT NEEDS

1.) Abasement
2.) Succorance
3.) Harm Avoidance
4.) Aggression
5.) Defendence or Failure Avoidance