Robert+Downey,+Jr.

=**Robert Downey, Jr.**=
 * By Michael Spirer**

Biography
Robert Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is a highly-regarded American actor with a tumultuous past. Downey started his acting career at the age of 5 in his father's film //Pound// and, despite numerous arrests and incarcerations, has continued to act with great success to this day. Following success as a childhood actor, Downey went on to make a series of coming-of-age films that earned him the distinction of being a member of the Brat Pack. Following a critically-acclaimed performance in //Less Than Zero//, Downey went on to make bigger films including roles in //Air America//, //Soapdish//, and //Natural Born Killers//. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Charlie Chaplin in //Chaplin//, a role that wowed critics and won him accolades as a young up-and-coming actor. However, life in the late 1990's and early 2000's did not go smoothly for Downey. As his drug problems worsened, he became unable to handle his career or, indeed, his life. He was arrested numerous times for drug offenses and spent a good deal of time in treatment and prison. His career briefly resumed with a television role on //Ally McBeal// but fell flat once again after two more drug arrests led to his dismissal from the show. It was around this time that Downey cleaned up his act and began to rebuild his reputation. Staying clean, he received critical acclaim for roles in several semi-independent movies and eventually, in 2007, he starred in //Iron Man//, one of the biggest box office successes to date. He is set to act in several more volumes of the //Iron Man// saga, and his roles in movies as varied as //Tropic Thunder// to //Sherlock Holmes// have won him rave reviews and heartfelt praise from fans and critics alike.

Drugs came into Robert Downey, Jr.'s life at a young age. He was just six years old when his father first exposed him to marijuana, and he continued to use drugs, often with his father, throughout his childhood and adolescence. For years Downey spiraled out of control while nothing could seem to stop his drug use. He said to a judge, in 1999 after several arrests and treatment programs, that: "it's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth and my finger's on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gunmetal." This self-destructive pattern would all but end the promising career Downey had worked so hard to build. There was also talk of his possibly having bipolar disorder, something that fit but that he would not entertain or accept. After the //Ally McBeal// debacle, nobody would hire Downey as they could not get him bonded. It was his friend Mel Gibson that put up the insurance bond so that Downey could act in //The Singing Detective//, a role that signaled his return to fame. A new clause was made in his contract that allowed the studio to withhold 40 percent of his salary should he relapse and fail to complete the movie. Downey beat the odds and stayed clean, and in doing so he has built a reputation for himself as one of the premier actors of our time. Few others have achieved such success and received such accolades, and few have emerged from the depths of addiction to reinvent themselves as Downey has remarkably done.

Robert Downey, Jr. dated Sarah Jessica Parker for a time, but they separated due to his admitted drug issues. He quickly married actress and singer Deborah Falconer in 1992 and had a son, Indio, in 1993. In 2001, as a result of his continued drug use, Ms. Falconer took their son and left Downey. He soon met Susan Levin on the set of //Gothika// in 2003 and they became involved, marrying in 2005. Downey has been sober since 2003 and credits Ms. Levin, along with therapy, twelve step programs, meditation, yoga, and the use of Wing Chun Kung Fu in his continued ability to remain clean. Eight years later, Downey is at the top of his game. Having had the epitome of a comeback, Robert Downey, Jr. is an inspiration to millions and continues to be one of the most highly regarded actors of his generation.

Psychoanalytic Perspective
The psychoanalytic perspective of personality psychology was pioneered by Sigmund Freud and concerns itself with a variety of personality components, including the structure of the mind, psychosexual development, and defense mechanisms, with an overwhelming emphasis on unconscious drives and motivations. It was the unconscious, the mysterious entity that Freud sought to access through hypnosis, free association, dream analysis, and the like, that was believed to be at the root of all behavior. In the psychoanalytic perspective, the mind has a three part structure; there is the id, the unsocialized, undifferentiated center of personality that holds the basic motivations and psychic energy, the ego, which develops to deal with the real world, and the superego, which develops to take in societal rules and guide behavior toward pursuits that are socially acceptable. The id follows the demands of the pleasure principle, that is to reduce inner tension and satisfy pleasure. The ego follows the reality principle, which allows it to solve real problems. The ego serves to keep the id in check, finding realistic solutions to what might be called primal urges, while the superego, in a healthy adult, governs the ego and guides that person to engage in socially-acceptable behavior. Thus, in a healthy adult, the mind operates so that the three parts work together to satisfy urges realistically while maintaining socially-acceptable behaviors. However, in some individuals the ego and superego are not able to hold the urges of the id at bay. For some the pleasure principle is so strong, or perhaps the development of the ego and/or superego so weak, that one cannot resist the demands of the id and that person overindulges, be it with food, sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, and so on. Whether or not it is an overdeveloped id or an underdeveloped ego and/or superego, whatever the case, a person is left at the whim of their most basic drives and motivations for satisfaction and pleasure. Robert Downey, Jr. appears to be one of these people with a too strong id or a too weak ego and/or superego. Thus, despite all the consequences that crashed down upon him over the years, the failed relationships, public embarrassments, forfeited career, treatment centers, prison, everything, he was still unable to stop using drugs. He operated on the pleasure principle; his runaway id, his insatiable appetite for mind-altering substances, drove him to keep using even when he must have known that he was destroying his life and likely killing himself. Somehow, in 2003, something changed in Downey. Somehow his ego and/or superego strengthened to the point that he could insulate himself from the demands of the id and remain clean. Eight years later he still has that control, and the pleasure principle of the id no longer dictates his life.

In addition to the structure of the mind, the psychoanalytic perspective concerns itself with psychosexual development as well as defense mechanisms. It is hard to say where Robert Downey, Jr. falls in regards to these two concepts. Psychosexually, there is nothing to indicate that anything was amiss in Downey's childhood or adolescence that would have led him to get fixated in a stage. He did start using drugs at a very early age, at six years old, which corresponds to the latency period; thus, it could be said that he did not go through the stages as he should have. Perhaps when other children progressed to the genital stage, Downey was stuck in the latency period. His childhood drug use could have wreaked havoc with his psychosexual development, as well as the development of his ego and superego. In terms of defense mechanisms, what is drug use but a defense mechanism? It can be said that drugs and alcohol are just a form of repression, that the user takes the substance to forget or push the damaging thoughts out of their mind. Could the intensity of a high be a chemical form of reaction formation? Could the stupor that follows the use of drugs or alcohol aid in denial? The same goes for concepts such as projection, displacement, sublimation, rationalization, and regression, largely through the ability of drugs and alcohol to lower inhibitions. Thus, it could be said that Downey's drug use was his way of coping with his anxiety. Furthermore, if a defense mechanism is a process that protects the ego by distorting reality, then drug use is the embodiment of a defense mechanism. Looking at Downey, we see a man ruled by the pleasure principle, dominated by id. He does drugs to satisfy his id, only to then have to confront the consequences realized by the ego. So what does he do? Rather than cope with the anxieties created by his actions, or deal with the damage to his ego, he continues to use drugs to distort reality and shield his mind. It is a vicious cycle, one of which Downey is now very fortunate to be free. It seems that in getting his id in check, his ego is able to exert control and thus no longer requires the defense mechanisms that it once needed for protection. From the psychoanalytic perspective, Downey's drug use relates directly to the structure of the mind, and with his newfound ability to control his id impulses with a healthy ego that does not require defense mechanisms in the form of drugs, Downey seems to have resolved his imbalance as well as completed his psychosexual development, rendering him a healthy, well-adjusted adult.

Trait Perspective
Although within one person there is variability in behavior, changes that occur from situation to situation, time to time, person to person, trait psychology concerns itself with the invariant part of behavior that accompanies the changing parts. According to trait psychology, in each of us, no matter how different we might act from setting to setting, there is a core tendency that follows in our behavior across situations and time. In a given population people share common traits, and each person possesses a proprium, or defining core of personality, which possibly has a biological basis. There are personal, cardinal, and central dispositions, all of which serve to influence behavior and organize personality. In developing a key set of traits, one must look at the concept of functional equivalence, which tells us that a lot of behaviors of people are similar in their content because the people often view many stimuli and situations in the same way; thus, the internal structure at the root of the behavior is the trait. Looking at this broader perspective, Allport outlined five main personality traits. They are: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. These "Big Five" personality traits serve as a way to define personality as well as standardize it; all humans are thought, under this model, to have personalities that fall under the scope of the "Big Five" and can thus be quantified and compared. Let us look at Robert Downey, Jr., circa 1998. Circling the gutter, life in shambles, where does he fit into the trait perspective of personality psychology? On extroversion, he is clearly more introverted as he shies away from people to do drugs and other antisocial behaviors. It is conceivably quite difficult to engage in antisocial behaviors such as drug use and weapons possession and try to be an extroverted person. In terms of agreeableness, Downey is again low. He is not cooperative in his work and he continues to get into trouble and engage in behaviors that are dangerous to himself and his loved ones. Conscientiousness is a big no. Downey is not responsible. He backs out of deals, misses work, and is in no way responsible to anybody. The opposite of this trait is impulsivity; that is exactly the trait that Downey holds. For neuroticism, Downey would likely score on the higher end. This aspect of his personality is not well documented, but it stands to reason that a drug addict would be high on measures of neuroticism. Finally, openness. Robert Downey, Jr. is definitely an open person, as evidenced by his artistic ability and humor. However, it stands to reason that the drugs could have stifled this element of his personality.

Trait psychology gives us a picture of Downey, at his lowest point, of a man who is submissive, cold, careless, undependable, nervous, high-strung, original, and artistic. Contrasting that with the man he is today, clean eight years, we see a very different person. Today he is energetic, enthusiastic, sociable, dominant, talkative, friendly, trusting, cooperative, warm, dependable, organized, responsible, calm, contented, imaginative, artistic, original, and witty. As a sober man, Downey holds desirable traits as opposed to where he was if one had quantified his standing ten or twelve years ago. It is remarkable when looking at it from a trait perspective to see how much Downey changed when he stopped using drugs. He was able to reverse the pattern that these traits held in him, and come out of it a stronger, better person.

Discussion
What is most interesting in analyzing a man such as Robert Downey, Jr. for this exercise is the remarkable change that took place in him and how that plays out in these two perspectives on personality. In theory, both the psychoanalytic perspective and the trait perspective should follow a course to maturity of an individual and thereafter remain rather static. Be it psychosexual stages for Freud or Allport's theory of development, a being should mature into having a certain personality structure that for the most part does not change over time. Of course, one could work to alter this structure, but still, we are looking at a mostly consistent phenomenon. Now, add drugs into the mix. Suddenly there is a variable that neither scientist anticipated in their models. For Freud and the psychoanalytic perspective, drugs are a part of the id, a pleasure principle cause and effect. For Allport and the trait perspective, drugs completely short-circuit the very essence of the theory, for they induce behaviors that would cause an inaccurate representation of the "Big Five." How can one measure the "Big Five" when a person is actively using drug? If the purpose of the exercise is to find salient personality traits, examining a drug addict could not yield such traits. The drugs will color the results. Of course, if you are going for a measure of personality at that moment, then it would work. But if the goal is to determine one's true personality, their unique and lasting characteristics, then such an endeavor must be made in sobriety. The picture of Downey twelve years ago from the trait perspective is not a pretty one. He sounds to be an undesirable person. Looking at it now, he comes off as absolutely charming. This major personality difference exists in the psychoanalytic perspective, although it is measured in a different way. In that vein one sees ego integrity as improving, as well as less use of defense mechanisms. In both instances, one can use the personality construct to define the personality in each context and then show the difference between the two. A number of questions exist about drugs and their influence on personality, temporary or permanent, cause or effect, and an answer to such questions will require further study.

It was of interest that the psychoanalytic perspective provided a rationale of sorts for drugs use, that being the overactive id, the underactive ego and/or superego, and the use of defense mechanisms. A plausible understanding of drug abuse comes from this model where the pleasure principle can override the reality principle, and where use can continue as a way to cope with damage to the ego. No such explanation is offered from trait psychology, at least to my knowledge. It is possible that people low on some of the measures, such as extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, or high on neuroticism, might resort to drug use to cope with the social and personal problems they are bound to encounter. The question arises, however, of whether or not those measures were low/high before the drug use started. It stands to reason that drugs could influence those measures in a negative way, masking the true nature of the individual. It is just altogether complicated, when mind-altering substances are involved, to measure personality, and to understand changes over time. However, using both of these approaches to personality study, we can now find Robert Downey, Jr. to be a man of health, integrity, and discipline, having finally left his old ways behind for a better, stronger personality.