Theoretical analysis and application project using a film and the 5 theoretical components of personalty

Jenny : A Character Analysis

Your Name

Date

University

HS814 - Theories of Personality

Name of Instructor

INTRODUCTION

This is a two-part personality analysis of Jenny 's character in the movie Forrest Gump . Jenny is the lead character 's childhood friend who , as a child , is sexually and physically abused by her own father and , as a young adult , gets into drug addiction and attempts suicide and eventually succumbs to an early death , leaving behind Forrest and their only son

Section I looks at Jenny from the points of

view of Social Cognitive and Psychodynamic theories . Section II is an in-depth analysis of Jenny 's personality using Social Cognitive Theory

Section I : Character Personality Matrix

Theory Major Components

Structure Process Growth and Development Psychopathology Change Social Cognitive Theory

Jenny has a talent in singing but has poor self-perception , low self-efficacy and does not have goals

Jenny lacks self-regulation Jenny has a mal-adaptive personality which is a result of her low self-efficacy . She could have learned her anti-social or maladaptive behavior (drug use , being associated with anti-social peers , and suicidal tendencies , among others ) through observation from models as well as through direct experience . She was brought up by an abusive father , she has witnessed aggression (she was present when Forrest was bullied by the kids at school ) and , as a grown-up , been a direct recipient of an aggressive behavior (she was hit in the face by her boyfriend in the Blank Panther party Jenny 's maladaptive behavior is a result of dysfunctional learning - she has observed and directly experienced inadequate or sick models (his father and his peers ) - and maintained this kind of learning through reinforcement . She seems to have a phobia in relationship , that 's why she keeps running from Forrest who loves her and whom she professes to love

Jenny shows a remarkably altered behavior toward the end of the movie - the result of her acquiring new thought patterns and behavior , and improved self-efficacy

Psychodynamic Theory Jenny has a weakened ego caused by an internal conflict . Jenny is suffering from anxiety caused by earlier trauma (her traumatic experience with her father , and even her experience of witnessing traumatic events happen to Forrest . Jenny is living in a distorted reality . She has learned to repress her emotions . She may also be living in denial of her traumatic past . Jenny 's maladaptive behavior from young adulthood and into adulthood are mainly caused by her traumatic experiences when she was a young girl (that is , the physical and sexual abuse she received from her father . Jenny exhibits a conflict of wishes and fears . She has carried over into adulthood her childhood wishes and dreams . Jenny 's altered behavior toward the end of the movie may be the result of undergoing cathartic hypnosis or free-association method Section II : Application of Personality Theory

Theory and Rationale

Social cognitive theory is a personality theory proposed by Albert Bandura and Richard Walters in 1963 . Taking its roots from the social learning theory proposed by Neal...