I have studied many different theories in this course, but the theory that I am choosing to write about is Karen Horney’s Social Development Theory. I chose this theory because I related to it, and I surprisingly learned something about myself from it. I believe that she has a strong solid theory that a lot of people could relate to and learn from. In my research I learned a lot about why I am the way I am towards people. I also learned that her theory is regarded as one of the best in that field of research. The beginning of learning of Social Development is what I am writing about.
Karen’s theory of social development is one that I have most closely related to throughout the course of the class. When reading about her theory in our textbook, Psychology: Concepts and Applications, I realized that what she had come to believe and tell others about applied directly to me. I understood exactly when I started reading what she defined as basic anxiety. This basic anxiety is associated with being isolated and helpless in a possibly intimidating world. It is something that I felt all the time as a child. In her theory, she says that a parent-child relationship is extremely important in a child’s life and in their personal development.
Her theory shows, in my opinion, that there can be a vicious cycle if not caught and fixed. When parents are the cause of basic anxiety for their children, this can cause them to create a deep form of resentment towards their parents. This problem is called “Basic Hostility”. The result is that although children feel this hostility and resentment towards their parents, they internalize and hide it in fear of losing them. This completes the cycle as it just creates more hostility and anxiety in the child, which they try to hide.
For this paper, I am going to write about myself. I would rather write about myself for a plethora of reasons. One being I know myself better than I know anyone else, besides my child. Another is how closely I related to her theory when reading it. It was like reading about my whole childhood in a book, like someone had been there taking notes. It really explained a lot of what I felt, and still feel now in my life.
I can remember as a child, wondering why my life, my childhood, my parents weren’t like everyone else. Sure we had food, ramen is in its own food group I’m sure and the occasional I love you is very reassuring I can attest to that. To this day, I still feel a lot of resentment for my parents not trying to really provide for me or my siblings. Yet I am just as scared today to lose my parents as I was back then. I didn’t understand why, because it made no sense to me.
While it still isn’t crystal clear to me, reading about the theory of Social Development has really helped. I can understand why and try to let these feelings go. I can and will use this as a learning experience to be a better parent to my son and soon-to-be-here daughter.
References
Nevid, J. S. (2013). Psychology: Concepts and Applications, Fourth edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Langenderfer, Gretchen. (1999) http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/horney.htm
