Trading Places, a 1983 film written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod is a virtual petri dish of psychological exploration. In fact to analyze more than a fraction of its meaning within the parameters of a classical essay would do the work an injustice. For the purposes of this assignment we will merely examine the backbone of the plot. The storyline is focused on two main characters: Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III played by Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd respectively. These two are introduced as having lived polar opposite lives. Louis has been born into prosperity and grown into a Harvard educated, upper-class citizen. Billy on the other hand could be found on the streets begging for money, posing as an injured Vietnam vet.
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We will define the situation intuitively, as the restrains on a person’s action at a given point in time. In these terms it is best to understand personality, as a collage of reactions overtime starting at a point entirely dictated by the situation. We can refer to this as an origin point. This perspective of what dictates a person’s action is comparable to skydiving. Assuming everyone’s gear is the same we all start the experience or life with few differences. This point in the jump is represented by infancy, where reactions are almost universal between individuals. Our weights and body shape represent brain chemistry whereas the location of the plane represents the situation we are born into. As we first jump (origin point) we tend to stay close with others who jumped from similar locations. This represents early childhood, as children naturally act similarly to those placed in comparable situations. There are two factors that influence our movement away from those whom we start our journey with. The first is wind patterns, or the different situations that life throws at us. The other is our body shape and positioning, or our natural brain chemistry combined with the ability to learn from past situations. This combination represents personality. Whether we are able to successfully control our movement in a particular point is determined by the strength of the wind and our mastery of positioning (interactionism). This model shows how personality is a process of evolution mainly dictated by a series of situations, meaning that actions are determined by a combination of both factors, rendering the personality vs. situation debate
We will define the situation intuitively, as the restrains on a person’s action at a given point in time. In these terms it is best to understand personality, as a collage of reactions overtime starting at a point entirely dictated by the situation. We can refer to this as an origin point. This perspective of what dictates a person’s action is comparable to skydiving. Assuming everyone’s gear is the same we all start the experience or life with few differences. This point in the jump is represented by infancy, where reactions are almost universal between individuals. Our weights and body shape represent brain chemistry whereas the location of the plane represents the situation we are born into. As we first jump (origin point) we tend to stay close with others who jumped from similar locations. This represents early childhood, as children naturally act similarly to those placed in comparable situations. There are two factors that influence our movement away from those whom we start our journey with. The first is wind patterns, or the different situations that life throws at us. The other is our body shape and positioning, or our natural brain chemistry combined with the ability to learn from past situations. This combination represents personality. Whether we are able to successfully control our movement in a particular point is determined by the strength of the wind and our mastery of positioning (interactionism). This model shows how personality is a process of evolution mainly dictated by a series of situations, meaning that actions are determined by a combination of both factors, rendering the personality vs. situation debate