Willard+Christopher+Smith+Jr.

=Will Smith =

By: Brittany Trenchard


=**Biography** = =William Christopher Smith Jr., commonly known today as Will Smith, Fresh Prince, or Mr. July, was born in West Philadelphia on September 25, 1968 to mother, Caroline and father, Willard Christopher Smith Sr. His mother worked for the local school board and his father, Willard was an engineer and owned a refrigeration company. Smith admired his father’s strong work ethic and ability to provide for his children and still spend quality family time with them. Smith is African American and Native American. He was the second of four children and spent his childhood years growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his parents separating when he was only thirteen years old, but were not officially divorced until Smith was in his thirties. Smith was raised as part of a Baptist, middle class family, living an average lifestyle. He attended Overbrook High School, which was a very authoritative Catholic high school. His charisma was exposed early on in his high school years, where he did well in school academically and was able to talk his way out of trouble when necessary. Smith’s attractive personality soon earned him the nickname, “Prince,” which ended up sticking with him. =

==His rap career began at an early age. When Smith was just twelve years old he began rapping for fun. He idolized Grandmaster Flash and attempted to reflect his style in his own music, but added in his own style as well, which was humor. At sixteen years old, Smith was at a high school party where he met a DJ named Jeff Townes. With his recent pursuit of music, the timing of their encounter could not have been better. Soon after, the DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince duo emerged. At the time, other up and coming rappers from the West Coast such as Public Enemy and NWA, were following a trend in the rap music industry. They were more rough and tough and were considered ‘gangsta rappers.’ Smith and Jazzy Jeff stayed away from that trend and Smith carried on with his style of rap containing lyrics that spoke towards teenage life in a comical and entertaining way, without cursing in his songs. This style became Smith’s trademark in the rap music industry. The duo’s first single, “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” was released in 1986, and their debut album, “Rock the House” was released in 1990. The song was a hit and the album became very popular among the teenage demographic, making Smith a millionaire before eighteen years old. His focus was on his music, and with the instant success it was bringing him, the last thing that was on his mind was school and going to college. He says he could’ve had the opportunity to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but he had no interest or intention to. Luckily, he ended up making a wise decision in deciding to pursue his music. He enjoyed the wealth that came with his fame and spent a lot of his money on material things right away, leading to a bankruptcy scare that he was fortunately able to recover from. Smith won his first Grammy award in 1988 for best rap performance. ==

==Approximately two years later, Smith’s acting debut took flight. He moved to Hollywood when NBC signed him to star on the new sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” where he played a charismatic teenager from Philly who moves to live with his wealthy relatives in California. The show was a huge success winning many awards and lasted six seasons. As Smith continued with his music career, he was also trying to move forward with his acting. He began with small roles in television dramas in 1992 and 1993. Smith then starred as his first lead role in the film, “Six Degrees of Separation” and in 1995 took on another co-lead role in “Bad Boys,” with co-star Martin Lawrence. His performance and the success of the movie proved Smith’s ability to take on a lead role. His breakthrough film was “Independence Day,” a huge blockbuster hit where Smith played an action hero, proving he could also take on this character role. “Independence Day” had the highest U.S. gross income and highest worldwide gross income of all the movies Smith had starred in. Among other big hit movies Smith acted in were “Men In Black,” “Enemy of the State,” “Wild, Wild West,” “Ali," "I Robot,” “Hitch,” “Pursuit of Happyness,” “I Am Legend,” “Hancock,” and “Seven Pounds,” with roles and genres ranging from a cop, a boxer, a sci-fi cowboy, a dating consultant and a broke single father, collectively establishing himself as popular and among the most talented of American actors. Smith’s son, Jaden starred with him in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” leading to Smith’s Academy Award nomination for best actor. In a CBS interview, Smith stated that of all the movies he had done up until that point, this was the one he was most proud of because of the overall message the movie exemplified. In the same interview, Smith responds to his ongoing success, with “failure was never an option for me.” ==

==In recent years, Smith has begun producing films. He worked on the production of “Hancock” and “Seven Pounds,” both in which he acted in as well; and assisted in the production of the films “Lakeview Terrace” and “Secret Life of Bees.” During the time of all his acting roles, Smith also produced and released four Rap/Hip Hop albums. ==

==Smith has been married twice. His first marriage to Sheree Smith in 1992 lasted three years. Sheree and Will had a son, Willard Smith III, also known as Trey. Will married Jada Pinkett Smith in 1997 and they are still married. Their son, Jaden was born in 1998 and their daughter Willow was born two years later. Will and Jada have homes in Florida, Sweden and Philadelphia. In a recent Oprah interview, the couple shared their supportive attitudes about engaging their children in the family business. So far, Jaden and Willow have starred in a few movies and have also collaborated with artists in the music industry. ==

==Will Smith has shown great success in balancing the music industry and further mastering the film industry. His net worth currently stands at $188 million USD. In addition to his awards for film and music, Smith has continuously been listed in Fortune Magazine’s feature “Richest 40”, proclaiming him one of the forty wealthiest Americans under forty years old, and has also been honored in People’s Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” ==

=**Neo-Analytic Perspective** = ==The neo-analytic and ego aspects of personality revolve around the concept of identity and the individual’s sense of self-being the core of their unique personality. This perspective also puts emphasis on sexual maturity, comparisons and rivalries, and the external pressures of relationships. This approach was originally derived from Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, but many theorists broke away from the psychoanalysis to acknowledge the significance in how social interactions and relationships with others affect the ego. Will Smith’s fame began at the early age of twelve and by the time he reached eighteen years old, he was living a lifestyle that most boys his age could only dream of. His goals were instantly changing and more importantly his ego was changing. ==

==Neo-analyst, Carl Jung used the term archetype to define emotional symbols that are recognized universally. In Jung's opinion, Smith’s personality would probably best illustrate the persona archetype, which represents the socially acceptable front that one presents to others. Smith allows himself to show his persona archetype most of the time in his work and his everyday personality because his movies, music and personality have been socially accepted and society has labeled him as a celebrity, role model and asset. Jung could also relate his theory of complex to Smith. As a group of emotionally charged feelings, thoughts and ideas related to a particular theme, a complex that Will Smith would embody according to Jung would be his overall strong feelings of determination and motivation toward his idea of success within the theme of the entertainment industry and in leading a meaningful life. ==

==According to Adler’s neo-analytic theory of individual psychology, Smith is a prime example of someone who sees himself as a person who has a specific purpose in life, or a perceived niche in society, that motivates him to work for his success. In his interview with CBS discussing his film, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” Smith made reference to his grandmother always telling him that people need to be worth something. He discusses the meaning of her words and the impact it has had on him over the years reinforcing his desire to be successful and his wish for the world to be a better place because he was here. One of the film’s strong take home messages is “don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something.” ==

==Adler would also be able to categorize Smith with his three fundamental social issues or key tasks (occupation, society and love) in order to make sense of his social responsibility and understanding. Smith addresses occupational tasks in his every day life in that he has chosen and pursued a career that makes him feel worthwhile. Acting and making music allows him to influence others positively and gives him a sense of self-fulfillment. He is also able to create social networks and friendships through his career, and after one marriage gone bad, Smith has ultimately found a suitable life partner in Jada and has been able to start a family and share their life together, satisfying Adler's society and love tasks. ==

==Based on the theory of birth order, Adler would argue that Smith being a second-born child, had to work extra hard and compete in order to achieve great things. Since he was not the ‘favored’ last-born and was not the first-born leader, he was motivated to go the extra mile and become the most successful of them all. Smith’s dedicated, independent and driven personality reflects this view, and his great success over his other three siblings demonstrates the idea that hard work pays off. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Horney, another neo-analyst, would argue that in terms of identity and sense of self, Smith mostly shows his ‘real self,’ which is his inner core of personality, perceiving that is who he is. Smith’s personality does not come across as anything but real and straightforward in that he is hungry for success and being the best he can be, always. His ‘ideal self’ isn’t as strong in his reflected personality, because instead of focusing on what he hopes to achieve and his inadequacies, he has the attitude that he can accomplish anything he sets his mind to and he has proven that with his overwhelming success. In light of the neo-analytic perspective, Smith’s goal-oriented nature and the positive impacts of his relationships, culture and society allowed for his self-confidence and self-worth to motivate his goals and further achieve greatness as a person, father, husband and entertainer. ==

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; line-height: 200%;">**Trait Perspective** = ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">The trait and skills perspective is another one of the eight basic aspects of personality that was developed in order to create a limited set of adjectives to describe and scale individual’s personalities. Through this perspective, lots of research was done to conclude that there were five major dimensions to encapsulate personality. These dimensions are called the ‘Big Five’ and they are scaled high to low for extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. In Will Smith’s case, his personality would fall very high on the extroversion scale. The extroversion dimension describes personalities that are enthusiastic, dominant, sociable and talkative. Smith displays all of these characteristics because he is passionate about life, confident and happy about what he does, which are all things that lead to being considered highly extroverted. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">In terms of agreeableness and conscientiousness, Smith would also rate high on the scale. Agreeable and conscientious people are said to be friendly, cooperative, trusting, warm, dependable and responsible. The only time Smith may have fallen lower on the conscientiousness scale would’ve been during his adolescent years when he was first getting a taste of the benefits of his talent. His minor struggle with spending and his decision to not attend college could be considered irresponsible, undependable and careless. However, after some maturing and adjusting to the stardom, Smith’s passion and dedication to his family and his career exhibited dependability through his family members in maintaining the household, being a good father and husband and also from his fans by providing them with quality entertainment. He is trusting because he hasn’t proven himself not to be. We have never really seen any scandals or negative media attention directed his way. His level of success keeps rising and he promotes his positive intentions. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Through interviews and even some of his movie roles that he chooses to participate in, Smith has such charm and appeal. In "Hitch," his role is a dating consultant to help guys that have no ‘game’ score a date with the girl of their dreams. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">In “The Pursuit of Happyness,” the movie he takes great pride in, he plays a role that sends an inspirational message that as long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible and with the love and trust of those you love, that’s all you need when times get hard. “Seven Pounds” was another movie Smith played the lead role in that sent a positive message, by devoting his life to helping seven strangers. Even though these roles are characters in movies, Smith speaks about them passionately and indicates that he agreed to play the roles because they mean something to him and reflect his own character. Even in Smith’s music as an adolescent, he was more concerned with making people laugh and entertaining them with his lyrics and goofy dance moves than he was trying to act like a ‘gangsta’ like all the other rappers of that time. Overall, he had better intentions. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Scaling Smith on the neuroticism dimension, he would score much lower. Neurotic people tend to be less self-confident by acting moody, nervous and high-strung. Smith is more of a calm, collected and content person. Lastly, on the openness dimension Smith would be higher on the scale. He is far from simple, and acts more original, witty and imaginative, especially with his humor and charm. Will Smith does not settle for good, he always works towards great. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Furthermore, Eysenck would classify Smith’s personality as being extroverted rather than neurotic or psychotic according to his ‘Big Three’ trait approach. Extroverts are sociable, active and outgoing, which speaks true of Will Smith. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Considering Henry Murray’s trait theory on needs, Smith has a high need for affiliation along with a need for exhibition and achievement. His need for affiliation reflects his desire to bond and spend time with those close to him, also mirroring his traits of extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. His need for exhibition and achievement explain his career by wanting to please others through the entertainment that he provides and wanting to make a difference in the world. In order to do so, he also needs to be driven to succeed, which he is. ==

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">The zero acquaintance state is very interesting to observe when examining celebrity personalities or fictional personalities. This aspect of the trait perspective simply refers to observing and judging someone that you’ve never interacted with. I have never and probably will never directly interact with Will Smith; however, I am taking what I know about him as a public figure and trusting that how he portrays himself in the media, in his movies and in his music is truly the person he is behind closed doors at home. The funny thing is many people who have celebrity crushes or people who consider themselves to be die hard fans of celebrities, tend to read up on them and find out everything they can about their lives. These people will even talk about them as if they know them personally, but really they just know everything about their lives, thanks to the media. This actuality makes it hard for celebrities to conceal anything about their personality if they wanted to. ==

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">**Discussion** = ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">Will Smith overall demonstrates incredible character and has a personality that is considered to be extroverted, agreeable, open, dedicated, socially accepted, self-aware and charismatic based on the neo-analytic perspective and trait perspective of personality psychology. These traits have helped lead him to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars today. His personality as it stands is a great example of what many people may consider to be their ideal self, according to Horney, meaning the person that they strive to be. Smith’s most powerful personality trait is most definitely his passion for life. In the words of Will Smith himself, “I have a great time with my life and I want to share it. I love living. I think that’s infectious. It’s something that you can’t fake. Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, illusive, God-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It’s something that truly exists in all of us. It’s very simple.” == ==<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%;">Will Smith's Inspirational Words of Wisdom: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%;"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkrYX9EGUpM&feature=related ==

= = =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">**References** = =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">**Friedman, H.S. & Schustack, M.W. (2009). //Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research//. (4th ed.) Boston, MA:** **Pearson Higher Education.** =

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 80%;">Lad, Kashmira. “Will Smith’s Childhood Life.” //Buzzle//. Web. 14 Apr 2011.
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