Chapter 12 rebellious personality

Rebellious personality is a particularly noteworthy personality type.No matter in the social and political history or in the history of philosophy, science, literature and art, rebellious personality has colorful manifestations. People with rebellious personality show rebellious spirit and rebellious behavior in all fields of social life.They always despise and challenge the orthodox social order, ideological order, science, literature, and art order, and these people are often the first to initiate destruction and revolution. There is no doubt that it has special significance for the psychological research of rebellious personality.

Let us explore the reasons for the formation of rebellious personality. Starting from the general theory of personality psychology, genetic factors come to mind first. Children born to different parents may be born with different genetic genes physiologically and psychologically.Some people may be born with impatient, sharp, and active characters, and they are obviously more prone to rebellion than those who are slow, dull, and dull.The offspring of leopards and the offspring of sheep have different natures.Although this kind of metaphor needs to be extremely cautiously limited, however, it also shows that genetics is one of the reasons for the formation of rebellious personality.

For this point, it can be discovered only by combining some actual case studies. A child raised by a couple who is kind, gentle, and soft by nature may be genetically far away from rebellious personality; while a child born to a couple with fierce and strong personality, savage and pungent, may be genetically far away from rebellious personality. The personality is closer.This cannot but be said to have a certain degree of truth. Then, there are sociocultural factors.Different societies and different eras have different influences on personality. For example, in China's stable and prosperous feudal period, the rule of orthodox forces was very powerful, permeating every corner of society and family cells, where the history of human personality development was forged, and rebellious personality was relatively rare in this period.The stable and conservative social and cultural status quo has shrouded the history of personality formation from childhood to adulthood.People casted in this social and cultural model are more obedient to orthodoxy.

In the period of social turmoil, the orthodox social and cultural rule is precarious everywhere. At this time, not only various rebellious social forces and characters are surging, but also new rebellious personalities are constantly being created. As for the end of the feudal society, the orthodox social culture was facing collapse, and the tide of rebellion was sweeping in all directions. Such an era naturally created many more rebellious personalities than before, and a large number of rebellious personalities merged into a rebellious trend. If we go a step further in the investigation of social and cultural factors, we will find that rebellious personality is not only different in different societies and times, but also in different classes and strata.Those revolutionary and rebellious classes and strata are bound to be manifested by numerous rebellious personalities; while those orthodox classes and strata are more filled with conservative personalities.

Social culture plays a major role in the formation of personality, and it will permeate every family in various specific forms, casting everyone. However, the question to be raised now is, in the same nation, at the same time and even in the same class, why do some people become conservative personalities who stick to the orthodoxy, while others become rebellious personalities who rebel against the orthodoxy?In addition to the factor of genetics, what other specific life environment factors are casting rebellious personality? This is bound to enter the childhood of everyone's growth, and enter the specific family environment analysis.

Reminiscent of the analysis of the history of personality formation that has been done in the previous chapters of this book, we straightforwardly come to the first conclusion that the rebellious personality is formed by the son in the process of "resisting his father". If the father is very kind, full of paternal love for his son, and even takes all the responsibility of raising the child because his wife abandoned him, If we take it seriously, then the relationship between father and son is mostly more harmonious, and the rebellious personality that resists the father is less likely to be formed.

If the father is very powerful and domineering, and has the right to dictate to the mother, the son under the father's rule will neither get the protection of the mother nor the protection of others like Jia Baoyu got from Jia Mu. The opposition of the son to the father, then, has no basis of power.Under his father's domineering, he may gradually form a timid and timid personality. If the parents are very kind and have the right attitude towards their son, or if the mother is loving and strong and the father is weak and obedient, this is by no means the environment in which a rebellious personality can grow.

The family environment in which rebellious personality is formed, first, the father’s attitude towards the son is relatively rough, strict, and authoritarian, and the relationship between the son and his father is relatively hostile since childhood; second, the mother is loving enough to the son and has the strength to resist The husband's domineering, give the son the shelter he deserves.A boy growing up in such a family may have to defy his father and dare to defy his father. The father represents orthodoxy, order, and power; the process of resisting the father is the process of rebellion, and a rebellious personality can be formed in the process of rebellion.

Confronting orthodoxy and having the strength to oppose orthodoxy are the two necessary conditions for the formation of a rebellious personality. In this way, we think of Mao Zedong, a great rebel who is familiar to the whole world. The rebellious personality of this revolutionary is probably undisputed in the world. Mao Zedong was born in an era of rebellious trends, and the influence of the entire social culture on the formation of his personality is beyond doubt.However, not all people in the same era and in the same region stepped onto the stage of history with a rebellious personality like him.This involves the study of his entire life environment, the most important of which is his relationship with his parents since he was a child.

Mao Zedong himself mentioned more than once that his father was rough and domineering. He often confronted his father, and sometimes the father and son confronted each other by the pond.His mother is loving and tolerant, good at protecting her son.This is quite typical of our analysis of the childhood home environment for rebellious personality. Carefully inspecting Mao Zedong's childhood family, although his father was rough and domineering, he was just an ordinary farmer.With the support of the mother, the son dares to confront the father. After reaching a certain age, the father's power disappears.To some extent, Mao Zedong entered society after he won the "struggle against his father".At that time, the father had not only lost any interference with his son, on the contrary, he would probably be proud of his son becoming a scholar.

From this point of view, a relatively domineering but not overly powerful father is a more sufficient condition for a son to form a rebellious personality. If the father is a feudal emperor, no matter how loving and powerful the mother is, as long as the father is alive, he will always be in a high position, and the formation of a son's rebellious personality will undoubtedly be much more difficult. Under the protection of a loving and powerful mother, Mao Zedong grew up through confrontation with a domineering but not overly powerful father, and then infected with the storm of revolution, he finally formed a typical rebellious personality and became a revolutionary. A rebellious personality like Mao Zedong who grew up under the protection of his mother through rational, powerful, and disciplined "struggle against his father" can often treat different people and the whole world intact. When they destroy the old order with a rebellious spirit, they are better at establishing a new order.No matter in the social and political field, or in the field of thought, science, literature, and art, their rebellious behavior always shows a higher level of organization and strategy.They are not setting fire to achieve a prank that disrupts order; they are more inclined to strive for the victory of removing the old and building the new. Another childhood family environment that forms a rebellious personality is the pampering of parents to their children. If we describe the above-mentioned rebellious personality as "anti-father type", then the following rebellious personality can be said to be "indulgent type". When both parents pamper, coddle, and indulge their sons excessively, the son will develop a rebellious personality of the "indulgent" type .He was willful since he was a child, and he did whatever he wanted, and would cry and make a fuss when things went wrong, and every time he cried and made a fuss, it ended with the adults yielding. Because the necessary norms of orthodox order have not been received in the family environment, the seeds of arbitrary arrogance are planted when they conflict with the various norms of society in childhood.If the parents continue to indulge and protect, they will become even more lawless. However, the power of parents is always limited.As he grows bigger, his actions finally exceed the radius of his parents' protection, and he will inevitably conflict with the social order and run into walls one after another. In the successive bumps against the wall, the arrogant and indulgent personality formed since childhood was put to the test. If he is relatively young, not fully formed, and unable to seek parental protection, he has to shrink.A series of powerful blows will make him helpless.Looking back, the protection of his parents is very far away, and he can't have any expectations. He can only face the reality and learn to live in society again.At this time, he may become a rather cowardly person, and this cowardice will never turn over because of repeated failures. It is also possible that he will adapt to the environment better, and at the same time, the seeds of rebellion are hidden in his heart.When the right conditions are met, it will occasionally reveal its rebellious nature. If when the lessons of society come, he is older and his arrogant personality is more established, he will stubbornly fight against the social order. Anyone in the process of confrontation naturally has to learn to adapt, but his adaptation is often manifested as using various means and strategies to temporarily survive.He may have spent his whole life in rebellion against the established order.He tries to use every ounce of power his parents have if he can.Once the parents have to stand up and teach him to conform to the social order, it may lead to confrontation with the parents and become the so-called "unfilial offspring". This kind of "arrogant" rebellious personality is generally not good at judging things rationally, and is not good at handling personnel relationships properly. His rebellious personality often shows willful and momentary destructiveness, and lacks organization and strategy. If he has become a person who generally conforms to the social trend through the tempering of life, he will often show arrogance and rebellion.No matter how obsequiously he submits to a certain power, his inner arrogance will make him often act rebelliously.Any submission and loyalty are forced and temporary, while rebellious ambitions will be exposed at every opportunity. This kind of rebellious personality often reminds us of those rebellious, rebellious and changeable people in the history of social politics and ideology and culture.Wei Yan, the general of the Shu Kingdom who finally attempted to rebel in the book, may be such a character. Analyzing the childhood family environment in which different rebellious personalities are formed, there is another kind of rebellious personality that can be called "troubleshooting".In some cases, it is also nurtured by parents' doting, pampering, and indulgence (of course there are many situations, such as neglected children who are not treated fairly by their parents among brothers and sisters may also go to 'trouble' path of). In this world, many children are praised for their obedience, and thus become people with excellent academic performance and outstanding moral character.They used "obedient" to win the attention of the world and their glory. However, we will also notice another phenomenon. In families where children are spoiled, children often attract the attention of adults in a way that is completely opposite to being obedient. Several generations of a family chatted while watching TV in the living room, while the little boy was playing alone, and no one paid attention to him.At this time, he suddenly walked over and changed the TV channel for no reason, and turned up the volume until it was deafening.At this time, the whole family will notice his existence, and they will immediately stop what they are talking about, and turn their eyes and laughter to the little boy. Someone advised the boy to turn down the volume of the TV, but he refused to obey and continued to make trouble.At this time, grandparents, fathers and mothers all stretched out their hands to pull him and hug him. After some struggles, he finally sat in the arms of the adults half-reluctantly and half-reluctantly, and the adults stroked him and comforted him. , teasing him, while continuing the conversation just now. When the adult's attention is gradually separated from the little boy again, the little boy who has been rocked and coaxed on the lap of grandma or mother for a while may struggle to climb down and run to another room to play up.The adults seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. However, after a while, there was the ear-piercing sound of a teacup breaking from the next door.The whole family may stand up anxiously and run over to look after them.The teacup was broken, and the water was spilled all over the floor. There may be one or two accusations, but they are more concerned about whether the little boy was injured.The little boy stood there silently, and the adults would take his hand and check it repeatedly under the light.Then, someone pulled the little boy away to prevent him from stepping on the shards of glass, and someone went to get a dustpan, broom and mop to clean up the scene. The whole family was so busy that they once again surrounded the troublesome little boy. This time, the adults no longer dared to ignore him like before. In order to prevent him from going somewhere to cause trouble again, they took him as the center and comforted him. Make him happy. The strategy of "making trouble" to get adults' attention is an increasingly fixed behavior pattern for some children in pampered families. Its manifestations are varied.When the family eats, he can skip meals and run away to play with toys to arouse the comfort and attention of the adults. When he finally reluctantly returns to the dinner table, the adults will take care of him to eat as the central task. The boy who grew up under the condition of repeatedly winning the world's attention in "troubleshooting" also formed this special rebellious personality of "troubleshooting type". Of course, the child will eventually grow up, and after all he will have to adjust to the world outside the home.People in society will never dote on him like grandparents, fathers and mothers. It is not that the world adapts to him, but he must adapt to the world; He may be disdainful or not good at using "obedient" to win praise.He tends to be more stimulated when many people win their respective achievements in an "obedient" way.Competing on this road, he is definitely a laggard.He doesn't have that much patience and perseverance, and he doesn't have that much ability to create and build.He looked for opportunities to "make trouble". A little boy sits at home and builds blocks quietly. No matter how well he builds, he may be ignored by the talking and laughing adults. focus on. The adult rebellious personality repeats his childhood experience, and what he is looking for is offense and destruction.Of course, how to make these destructions not a crime but an honor is something he has thought about. A considerable number of typical rebellious personalities emerged during China's "Cultural Revolution". When recruiting the so-called workers, peasants and soldiers, when all the young people who expected to go to college were trying to pass the cultural examination and answer the papers, one candidate bravely handed in the blank paper and wrote a letter against the examination system on the back of the blank paper. letter of protest.As a result, this troublesome "rebel" trampled all the submissives under their feet and became a blockbuster anti-trend hero. Whether this anti-trend hero is a "troubleshooting" personality who grew up under the pampering of childhood, we still don't know, because there are various social reasons for this anti-trend behavior; That's for sure. Of course, history is complex and diverse, and "troubleshooting" rebellious personalities do not always succeed, nor do they always fail.Just like this "blank hero", who gained great glory during the "Cultural Revolution" and was imprisoned after the "Cultural Revolution", the evaluation of history is from time to time. It is uncertain whether the behavior of the "troubleshooting" rebellious personality will be praised or demoted in history, and it is not impossible to make a "famous in history". However, one thing is certain, that is, this kind of rebellious personality has an instinctive desire to "make trouble", destroy Get the world's attention by being bad rather than by building. Among the above-mentioned rebellious personalities, the "anti-father type" is undoubtedly the main one. As a transformation form of anti-father type, it is "anti-brother type". In a family with many children, the eldest brother often occupies the position of "little father" to a certain extent. He will imitate and inherit his father's authority in front of his younger siblings, occupying the position of "little ruler", while the younger brother They are often more direct accept the rule of this "little father".When the elder brother can maintain his privilege as a minor ruler by conforming to orthodoxy, inheriting orthodoxy, and imitating the orthodoxy, the younger brother can gain the position of being more noticed and cared for by his parents only in some kind of "confrontation" with his elder brother. Here, we notice the book "Born to Rebel" (Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1998 edition) written by American Frank J. Sulloway.According to the translator, the author of the book, Frank J. Sulloway, is a Ph.D. in the history of science at Harvard University, and is now a research scholar at the Department of Human Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has specialized in this topic for twenty-five years. Over the past 20 years, he has conducted in-depth research and data collection on the history of Western science (especially dozens of breakthrough scientific innovations and revolutions including the Darwinian revolution) and the history of social change (especially the Reformation and the French Revolution), The life stories of more than 6,000 important historical figures have been collected, and the historical facts and related hypotheses have been repeatedly verified with scientific methods, with the purpose of investigating what factors determine people's attitudes towards science and social change. Contrary to the views of many scholars, Sulovey concluded that the determinants of a person's tendency to support or oppose science and social change exist within the family (that is, the environment in which an individual is raised, especially the order of birth and the resulting personality). , rather than across households (i.e. socioeconomic status). It should be said that the point of view of the book is a special discovery, just as the author himself said: "My main argument stems from a surprising discovery: siblings who grew up together are almost as different as people who were born in different families. Personality." The prominent point he put forward in the book is that the formation of a person's personality is not only related to different families, but also related to the order of birth in the same family.Whether it is the first-born or the second-born, or the last-born, this birth order has a particularly significant impact on the formation of each child's personality.As far as the formation of rebellious personality is concerned, he believes that this has the first influence. The author once pointed out: "It is natural that firstborn children are more likely to be recognized by power and authority. They appear first in the family and often maintain their special status by virtue of their height and physical strength. Compared with them, the first-born children are more assertive, they are better at dominating others, they are more ambitious, they are more afraid of losing their status, and they are better at taking a defensive posture. However, because they are at a disadvantage in the family system, the second-born children are often Questioning the status quo, sometimes developing a 'revolutionary personality'. Post-born children often challenge, in the name of revolution, what their time takes for granted. History's intrepid explorers, disruptors Traditionalists and heretics mostly come out of them." As a serious academic research, the author uses a large amount of historical statistical data to demonstrate his conclusion.For example, we are particularly interesting to see that he analyzed and counted the scientific standpoint during the Darwinian Revolution caused by Darwin's theory, and the conclusions he drew are very enlightening. Darwin's new theory was undoubtedly revolutionary and rebellious to the orthodox scientific community at that time.For this rebellious theory, relevant famous scientists have made different reactions in support or opposition.The analysis shows that among the eleven representative scientists who opposed Darwin's revolutionary and rebellious theory, only one was born later, and the remaining ten were all firstborn, that is, they were all the eldest in the family. .It can also be said that in the conservative group that opposed Darwin's revolutionary theory at that time, the first-born scientists had an absolute advantage.This is not meaningful. We then see that of the twelve representative scientists who supported Darwin's revolutionary theories, only three were firstborn, the eldest in the family, and nine were born later.In this way, we can see that among the revolutionary groups that support Darwin's theory, the younger generation has an absolute advantage. There is also a scientist with an ambivalent attitude who is still the first-born boss. Such a statistic of twenty-three representative scientists basically included all the most important representatives who had the authority to evaluate Darwin's theory at that time.This statistic undoubtedly shows that the formation of conservative personality and rebellious personality has a non-negligible correlation with a person's birth order in the family since childhood.The author of the book also used more statistics and analysis to demonstrate this point. If we start from the enlightenment of this research result and examine various vivid cases in life, we will find that birth order does affect a person's conservative or rebellious personality image. For girls, this rule also exists. The first-born girl is the "little mother" at home, she will imitate and inherit a certain authority of the mother, with a certain orthodox Power; the younger sister is likely to develop more rebellious personality in the confrontation with the older sister.Seeing these interesting phenomena in life can't help but make us smile knowingly. Everyone has a personality, and all kinds of personalities are closely related to the family environment in which they grew up.When we tend to be an orthodox conservative personality, we must never take it for granted, it is just the casting of the living environment since childhood.When we are a rebellious personality eager to rebel, don't take it for granted, it is also cast in the living environment since childhood.It's not just about our relationship with our parents, but also our relationship with our siblings.Of course, there are many other factors as well. However, without exception, all personalities have inherent formation processes and reasons.