the conscience. As the child, actuated by fear, unquestioningly had
obeyed the father, so he now has no choice but to obey the
imperatives of the super-ego which, he feels, have their source
outside himself. His attitude to his father is transferred to the super-
ego which is based on the repressed image of the father. This,
according to Freud, is the secret of the powerful influence that the
conscience exerts on the mind of the individual.
Sociologists maintain that human personality takes root in a
social environment and is shaped by social forces. According to this
point of view, the individual plays a negligible role in his own
development. He remains passive while society moulds him into the
form which happens to enjoy social approval at the moment. The
inadequacy of this view is obvious, for we see it happening before
our eyes that two children, brought up in the same social
environment, develop different types of personality. If the
sociologists were right, the members of a particular social group
would be indistinguishable from each other in respect of
personality. As compared to the sociologists’ view, the
psychologists’ view is more in agreement with observed facts.
According to this view, personality develops as the result of the
reactions of the individual himself. The important thing for
personality is not the social influence to which the individual is
exposed, but the way in which he reacts to it. Man, therefore, does
not passively receive but actively acquires personality. The biological
factor operating in man is of crucial importance for personality
development. However, it will not do to disregard the social factor
altogether. Man has, perforce, to accommodate himself to the
demands of the group on which he is dependent and which
provides him with security and the necessities of life. According to
the psychological theory, which does justice to both factors,
personality is the product of the interaction between the hereditary
constitution of man and his social milieu.
Science aims not merely at knowledge but at precise knowledge.
Precision is possible only when the subject matter is susceptible of
measurement and when the technique of measurement has been
perfected. For a long time it was believed that quantitative methods
could not be applied to so elusive and imponderable a phenomenon
as personality. We cannot deny the tribute of praise to the
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 54