The environment is described as the totality of surrounding conditions and circumstances that can affect growth or development of a person or the community. It’s an existing surrounding that changes the well-being of a person if the person stays in it for a long period of time. The environment of an individual is the culture that he or she was educated and lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts. It also helps the person concerned to create a feeling of solidarity among its members, who are more likely to keep together, trust and help one another. Members of the same environment will often think in similar styles and patterns even when their conclusions differ. Sharing your environment to other people will eventually affect both behaviors of the persons involved. That will result for the person to change his personality and for the other person to maintain his personality. The environment affects a person’s belief toward a certain thing or person.
A child’s physical, intellectual, social, and emotional characteristics will develop and change from birth to adolescence. In our childhood days, the dramatic stage is the developmental changes although people change throughout their lives. Many skills and personalities that are developed in childhood last a lifetime. Whether a child becomes sociable and responsive to others or shy, intelligent or average, or energetic or quit depends on the unique influences brought about by the family members, peer groups or friends, the school environment, and the community. These people in the society influence how children think, adapt to the needs of society, and become self-aware. Nutrition, medical care, and environmental hazards in the air and water are the biological factors that affect the growth of the body and mind of a person. The political and economic institutions, the media, and cultural values all guide how children live their lives. Critical life events and life’s turning point events, such as a family crisis can change the growth of the personality and identity. The most important thing of all is that children contribute significantly to their own development. This occurs as they try their hard to understand their experiences, react in individual ways to the people around them, and choose activities, friends, and interests. The two factors that will eventually guide the development arise from both outside and within the person’s self.
Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field focused on the interaction between humans and their surroundings. This is like a person-environment studies that involves the person and the people or environment that surrounds that person. The person will interact with the said environment by first interpreting the said data, evaluating, and responding to the said data by means of our actions. Our stimuli can really affect our behaviors toward other individuals.
“Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” this phrase only applies to a person who is very committed to his friends and prioritizes them as much as the other people he knows. The “friends” in the phrase is used as the environment for it is the surrounding of the person concerned. So, there will be a great possibility that the friends will influence or affect the person’s personality and behavior for it is the environment that he actually goes with. As time goes by and the person continues to go with the environment, there will be a tendency that the person will also contain some of the personality and behavior that the group members have. It is clear that the person would not be in that group or in that kind of environment if he did not want to and have the willingness to be like his friends. It will also be hard for the person to be with the environment if he will act as if he really belongs to the environment even if he really does not have the capability to be with them or let us just say that the person will have the possibility to act like “plastic” or dishonest to the other people. If for example, you came from a “barkada” where all of them are “kikay”, eventually you will be a “kikay” because of the influence they brought to you. Another example is that you have a circle of friends who always drink and smoke, that friend of yours can be a bad influence to your life, particularly to your studies.
Environment can affect us. Every situation in our surroundings can really affect us, like being with friends with vices. It has the possibility that we will tend to try what they are doing like drinking or smoking. The person will become curious of what they are doing and eventually he or she tries to explore those things. Those things we call temptation will happen because it is like we are trying to fit in a group so we do what they are doing which is wrong. The teenager will feel the pressure of being in his or her peers. Cigarettes and alcohol are more likely to be the first areas that some of the teenagers experience peer pressure. You do not want to be rejected or to be discriminated from your peers. It will all start when a teenager will reach the secondary level of school, the high school. In this level, a person’s peers are very important. To be considered as a loser or loner is a big no to a teenager during this stage.
Environment can also change our selves. It only depends on the people, the thing, or the place that we are in and the people that we are with. For example, you are in a bar with music that would really blow your hairs away and make you wish the music would not stop. The people are having a really hard party, the tendency would be, you will really also enjoy the party. If you are used to going to big parties with dancing and singing, you will have a hard time staying in a place where there is no noise surrounding you like the library. If you are in a place where you find it really boring, it has the tendency to make you sleepy or dizzy. Your environment can also test what kind of a person you are or what personality you have. It really depends on the situation that you will encounter. Emotions and feelings can also be shown. Our environment can also affect us because we are born to socialize to other people. We need to adapt the things that will fit our environment. Our choice, our commitment, our destiny, all of these depends on the environment we will choose. Our environment can also change us to develop our human hood and personhood.
According to Florence Nightingale, nursing "is an act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery" (Nightingale 1860/1969). The environment of the patient will affect the recovery of the patient’s health. Pure or fresh air, pure water, sufficient food supplies, efficient drainage, cleanliness and light are some of the factors that will make the patient recover faster. That is why nurses are trained to practice the proper way of approaching the patients. Nurses must know how to wash their own hands properly and they must always have a good hygiene. This theory of Florence Nightingale can also be compared with a child’s environment. Normally, a child who grew up in a decent family will have decent characteristics and personality. The parents teach the child the proper etiquette and good manners. Parents who always fight can be a trauma to the child which will lead to making the child a bully or the one who is being bullied. If you came from a family with a very conservative type of living, after giving the child a freedom when she turns eighteen, there is a possibility that the girl will get pregnant because she will be curious and act like she is free to do whatever she wants to do. That is why most of the teenagers now a day get pregnant at a really young age. Another reason why teenagers get pregnant because of the lack of accurate knowledge about sexuality. Sexual activity has increased among teenagers. Despite their involvement in sexual activity, some are not interested in, or knowledgeable about birth-control or symptoms of sexually transmitted disease. The rate of illegitimate births and incidence of sexually transmitted disease increases.
We all know that the environment is one of the factors that will affect the personal attitude, characteristics, health, perspective and mood of a person. It is mainly because people live with the environment itself and depends on it naturally. The environment and the person itself are directly proportional. There are many ways in which the environment can affect a person. Based on our observations, when the environment, specifically the weather, is not good, the personal attitude of a person is affected and it changes and depends on the given situation. For example, farmers always wish and pray for the skies to pour out some rain to their plantation so that their plants will survive. If it rains the farmers will be happy because he or she will be having a good harvest in the future. In that statement, it is well demonstrated that the farmers’ attitude was affected because of what happened. On the other hand, if there will be no rain at all or there will be El Niño, the farmers’ attitude will also be affected and mainly, the farmers’ mood will not be in a good type because his plans were ruined. By that many people will be affected and will be suffering on what happened. A little change in the environment can make a big difference on the attitude or mood of a person. The environment is synonymous to society. If a person grew up in a society wherein many crimes, harassments, vices and bad people are situated, he or she will be affected, and later on will be having those kinds of things. As what we have learned in school as a nursing student, the environments plays a big role towards a persons health and personal hygiene. If a person lives in a polluted area, for example, air polluted and water polluted areas, his health and personal hygiene will be affected because he will be having difficulties on recovering. He will also be suffering many illnesses and sickness onwards. People living near factories, in the cities and near hospitals are one of the examples of this. The environment can also affect the perspective of a person. If the place wherein a person is living is a place where many calamities are happening, like earthquakes and storms, there will be a possibility that he will leave the place and search for other locations wherein he can live peacefully and safely. Most especially, if human beings live in a clean and green environment, their attitude, characteristics, health and personal hygiene will be more likely in a good side and their will be no danger towards their health because they live in a community that is clean and safe. By this we can build a good and safer community and society. It will also promote peace and harmony towards the people. In barrios, most people believe in entities and other spiritual beliefs because of the culture they lived in. They believe in supernatural things.
People continue to develop their personality and characteristics through adolescence and also throughout adulthood. As people get older, they may still continue to be influenced by their childhood experiences may it be a positive or negative one. The reason why efforts to improve the lives of children are so important in the lasting influence of childhood on a person’s relationships, self-esteem, and well-being. Scientists believe that a person’s manner and traits as an adult are impossible to avoid or prevent that are determined by earlier influences. Childhood stage sets the stage, but a person’s traits may be changed by later events and experiences of the person.
Ma. Genille S. Sabal
John launois Z. Tamayo
Karyl Kionisala
Kyle Valdehueza
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