Michael+Jordan

Michael Jordan By: Khairul Nual



=**Biography**=

Michael Jeffery Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. His mother Deloris worked in a bank while his father James was an equipment supervisor. As a toddler he and his family moved to North Carolina. He attended Emsley A. Laney High School where he played baseball, football and basketball. He tried out for his basketball team during his sophomore year but at 5 feet 11 inches he was deemed too short and cut from the tryouts. His motivation to play basketball grew even more and he finally made the team the next year and became the star of his school. After high school he accepted a scholarship from the University of North Carolina to play basketball. He led his team to win the ACC championship and also the NCAA championship by hitting the clutch jump shot against Georgetown University. On the third of his collegiate year he was drafted to the NBA and picked third overall for the Chicago Bulls in 1984. The world of the NBA drastically changed as the world’s best basketball player stepped on the court. Not only was he a star but he was one of the most effective marketed athletes of his generation and popularized the NBA globally during the 1980’s and 1990’s. His success in the NBA reaches the knowledge of those who never even had the opportunity to see him play. He is now currently a businessman and owns the majority of the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA.

**The Humanistic Perspective/Self-Actualization**
Humanistic psychologists and their perspective on personality tend to focus on conscious experiences, individuals freedom to choose, and their capacity for personal growth. They emphasize on conscious experience, free will, creative abilities and study all factors relevant to the human condition. Humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow believe that it is vital that psychologists study healthy people as much as they study “sick” people. In their eyes, they believed that personality was shaped more by people’s unique capacity to determine their future than by their unconscious conflicts or just their past learning. Abraham Maslow is best known for developing the hierarchy of needs, which proposed that people must satisfy their physiological needs before they can try to meet higher-level safety and psychological needs. At the very highest level of his hierarchy of needs he puts the concept of self-actualization, which is the need to live up to full and unique potential. Michael Jordan was very dear and near to his parents. He was always motivated by his father and taught to work hard and not falter to the street life he was growing up on. He had the patience to learn how to sew, clean and do laundry. He had this need to love and be loved and be accepted by his parents so it wasn’t verbal or physical coercion that led him to comply to fulfill the duties of his guardians. His need for self esteem actually grew when he failed to make the high school basketball team his junior year. He strived to gain recognition and respect from his parents and peers so he went back the next year after having vigorous training, growing four inches taller and developing a mindset to accomplish a mission he once failed before. Motivated to prove his worth, not only did he make the varsity team but his confident attitude led him to average twenty plus points per game. He was, as Maslow would say, already a self-actualized individual by the time he graduated high school and transitioned into college. He made the roster in the McDonalds All American team after averaging a triple double in the last season of his high school career. Maslow stated that self-actualization was the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and when one acquires the motivation to fulfill their actual potential. Not only did Michael Jordan live up to his teenager potentials, but he developed to become a man with different future potentials as he earned a scholarship to play basketball with the University of North Carolina. Jordan claimed his game winning jump shot in the NCAA championship title against Georgetown as being a major turning point in his basketball career. Jordan needed only one season to prove to the Chicago Bulls, who picked him third overall in the draft, that he was actually worth it. Believe it or not, but controversy arose before Jordan’s first All Star game because certain veteran players were quite upset on how much attention he received from the fans not only in his city, but in opposed cities too. Players in his team during the All Star game deliberately became oblivious to his presence and did not pass him the ball throughout the game. Despite the disrespect and unfairness his teammates showed him, he was unaffected and returned to the regular season only to be voted to become the Rookie of the Year. Jordan was really close with his family members especially his father who would say that he had a competition problem. His father once claimed that he was born with this mentality and the person he tries to outdo most of the time is himself. Tragedy struck in 1993, when his father was murdered by two robbers who shot him in the chest and threw him into a swamp. Despite this horrific incident, Jordan held on to his father’s teachings and motivational speeches to continue firmly with his success in mind. Throughout his basketball career in the NBA he was married to Juanita Vanoy and had three beautiful children. Sadly but eventually they filed for divorce in 2006 and the decision was made mutually and amicably. Jordan gave his ex-wife a 168 million dollar divorce settlement, which made it the largest celebrity settlement in history at the time. Maslow the Psychologist studied self-actualized people and he found that those who live productive and rich lives are self-aware, self-accepting, open, loving and caring, not paralyzed by others’ opinions and focused on particular tasks they often see as missions. Jordan seems to fit into all of these qualities and his personality is a reflection of his success that he attained through self-actualizing himself every step of his journey in life.

**The Trait Perspective/The “Big Five” Traits**
Gordon Allport was a trait theorist whose research identified more than 18,000 ways to describe people. Raymond Cattell’s Factor Analysis helped contribute to the trait perspective by showing that some traits predict others. Not long ago researches studying in the field of the trait perspective compiled many characteristics and traits that people possessed and put them in five essential factors usually referred as the “Big Five.” The Big Five traits consist of conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion and that these traits seem to be stable in adults. For instance a twenty-five year old agreeable man will most likely not become a suspicious, uncooperative man at the age of sixty. Psychologists who study this area also take into consideration the genetic predispositions and environmental factors that may influence the five factors. They also believe that these traits could predict other personal attributes such as marital satisfaction and often this may seem high for those who score high on the agreeableness, stability and openness. Michael Jordan had once said that if anyone ever runs into a wall, they should not turn around and give up rather they should try to figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. His experiences in life molded his personality and mentality to what it is. If he were to be analyzed based on the five factors I believe he would score high on the conscientiousness part because ever since he was a kid he was known to be organized, careful and disciplined. He grew up in the streets of Brooklyn and his parents moved away from that atmosphere just so he can be surrounded by nicer people and feel comfortable. He grew up loving baseball and always playing catch with his father in the backyard. The more time he spent with his father, the more disciplined he became. He also grew up idolizing his older brother, Larry. He followed his footsteps and started to play basketball. He was soft-hearted and very helpful to his brother and he made his decision to pursue a life on the basketball court because of Larry. It was said that one of the reasons why Jordan’s marriage ended with his wife was because of failing to rectify differences and that it was irreconcilable for both of them. If he were to be judged on his personality from the agreeableness factor he would not score too high but he would definitely not score low either. On the neuroticism scale which basically measures emotional stability vs. instability, Jordan would definitely score low. He won his college team a NCAA championship only because of calmness and confidence during the game. He was never anxious enough to falter in the biggest moments of his basketball career. He became well known for being a clutch performer after his 1998 finals-winning shot against the Utah Jazz. Jordan was imaginative and independent as well. He had a clear vision on making history in the NBA therefore he left college early. He did not conform to any one else’s idea’s or thoughts about his decision but with his personal rational he came back to his University in 1986 to complete his degree in Geography. He would be rated high on the openness factor in the Big Five personality traits. Jordan did not ever try to hide his personality. He did not want his appearance on TV just to be for the adult audience who would engulf themselves in sports but he wanted to attach himself with the younger audience at home. So he appeared on Space Jam, the movie that attracted thousands and thousands of kids in 1996. He was looked up to by kids because of his fun-loving, sociable attributes and affectionate characteristics on TV. Jordan, by People magazine in 1991 and 1997 was rated the Top 50 most beautiful and most intriguing people in the world on and off the court. He would without a doubt, be definitely rated high on the extraversion portion of the Big Five Traits.

= **Discussion** =

When a person becomes famous, miniscule flaws in their behaviors and characteristics tend to be highlighted and emphasized as something worse than they actually are. Michael Jordan’s personality consisted of patience and perseverance. He did not let other players and their negative attitude in the NBA get into his mind set. I think it’s important to note someone’s self-actualization process and Michael Jordan surely became the man that he is because of his ability to self-actualize. Jordan had a dream and he succeeded to make it into reality because he understood his self-worth and his responsibility in life. After his father’s death he did retire, but he soon came back better than ever. A loss of a family member can be unbearable for some but when people are focused in life they always seem to find the positive aspects of negative things and just move on. On most of the trait dimensions from the Big Five personality factors Jordan seems to be relatively high except for neuroticism which is actually a good thing. His ability to stay calm has helped him a lot throughout his career. His sociable trait did not only make him famous on the court but also in a movie that was enjoyed by many people. Looking at Michael Jordan’s personality from these two perspectives cannot do justice to his actual personality. One would need to spend quality time with him in person to really figure out his personality. Michael Jordan is an important figure and role model for many. His personality affects those who look up to him and follow his footsteps. Therefore it is essential for him to display his positive qualities but at the same time relay to people that he also may have negative qualities. After all Jordan, just like any other superstar is a person who goes through the same difficulties and emotions as all human beings do.

**References**
T. Blair-Broeker & Randal M. (2008). Thinking About Psychology-The science of Mind and Behavior (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Ernst Worth Publishers //Michael Jordan-IMDb (1990-2011)// Retrieved fromt []

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//Michael Jordan, Wikipedia-// Retrieved from []