Personality Theories II

Assignment. No.3

Submitted to: Maam Rabbiyya Rasheed

Submitted by: Afza Batool

Registration number: FA18-BPY-002

Department of Humanities
 Edward Elric

Part A (Descriptive)

Context of the Character

Edward Elric is a fictional character from the Japanese animated series Fullmetal

Alchemist: Brotherhood. The Fullmetal universe revolves around the fictional country called

Amestris where caucasian people live, in the neighborhood with Ishval country which they

invade and ethnically cleanse its people called ishvalans. Within this fictional universe exists the

Science of alchemy, which is the destruction and reconstruction of matter; which they call

transmutation, using natural energy. People who are capable of Transmutation are called

alchemists; they are the most powerful people in the country and are part of the army responsible

for the war in Ishval.[ CITATION Ani09 \l 1033 ]

The harsh realities of war and the blurring lines of morality are the dominant ideas in the

series, which greatly influences our Main character,

Edward Elric who becomes a state alchemist at the age of

12; the youngest state alchemist in the country.

Physical Characteristics

Edward Elric is a 16-year-old Caucasian teenager

with golden eyes and blonde hair that comes down to his

waist which he usually puts in a braid. He is petite and

short with a below-average height of only 4ft. 11 inches. He has an arm and a leg made of auto-

mail metal. [ CITATION Ful20 \l 1033 ]

Personality

On the surface, Edward Elric is this 4ft.11 inches brat, who loves to throw tantrums and

hasn’t learned any manners in life. He is loud, brash and cantankerous. He does not show any

consideration for people’s emotions in telling the truth about their delusions they may have about

their lives, their problems or their wrongdoings, because of which he is considered harsh and

blunt.

Foul-mouthed and aversive to authority, He is also overdramatic and gets extremely

defensive; almost to the point of Napoleonic complex, when someone mentions his height, which

he is very sensitive about. Moreover, he is highly aggressive with a short temper and easily gets

aggravated and ready to fight.

Furthermore, He also seems self-serving and pompous of his position as a state alchemist

and is seen using it to his advantage most of the time, which he also does with people.

But to the people who know him and who have earned his respect he is extremely

compassionate and caring about; like he is with his younger brother, Alphonse Elric who he feels

personally responsible for. Because he lost his mother at a very young age due to illness and later

lost his one arm, one leg and the whole body of his brother (soul of whom he attached to a suit of

armor) in a taboo alchemical process called human Transmutation to bring that mother back. He

feels guilty towards his brother and feels like it is his responsibility to bring their bodies back to

normal. This feeling also manifests itself in his compassion and sympathy for people who are

going through hardships and always tries to save people.

 Along with being loyal to the point of selfless recklessness, he also has a much defined

moral compass. He believes in minimizing the sufferings of the people and would try to do

everything to help save lives, which is why he takes part in the fight against the villain of the

story called the “the Father” who wants to create the Sorcerer’s stone by sacrificing the whole

country of Amestris. [ CITATION Ful20 \l 1033 ]

Part B (Psychodynamic Perspective)

Alfred Adler’s Theory of Individual Psychology

Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology is a teleological theory that stands on several basic

assumptions which I will attempt to apply to Edward Elric. The basic assumptions that I shall be

touching upon will b; the inferiority complex and the subsequent strive for superiority, the

parenting styles, the birth order, and the psychological types that Adler put forth. [ CITATION Jes08

\l 1033 ]

Teleology

The Adlerian theory has a teleological perspective according to which the person’s actions

are driven by the motivations of the future rather than the past. This concept dictates that we are

driven by our goals, ambitions, and visions of the future.

Looking at Edward Elric, the teleological view of the Adler applies to him. Edward is

driven from the very first episode towards one goal, and that was to restore his and his brother’s

body back to the way it was before they performed the taboo human transmutation and lost them.
 Throughout the series, Edward Elric keeps looking for ways through which they can

achieve this aim. This strive takes them from place to place and puts them in a different situation

and essentially drives the plot of the series.

The Inferiority Complex

According to Adler, every child

in this world is born in this weak,

fragile and dependent and these

conditions create his feelings of

inferiority [ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ].

The feelings of inferiority create the

strive for superiority in the person

throughout his life.

In the case of Edward Elric, we

see feelings of inferiority stems from

both physical and emotional reasons.

Seeing at the physical aspect, it is

quite clear that Edward is very sensitive, almost to the point of aggression, about his height,

which is quite comical in the series.

An example of him being called a pipsqueak and the subsequent reaction is, “don’t call me

small, I will break your feet and stick them on your head”

His extreme reaction against the mentions of his height being small is the direct use of the

safeguarding tendencies of Aggression proposed by Adler. As opposed to Freud’s defense

mechanisms, the safeguarding techniques are mostly conscious. As we see in Edward’s case who

is aware of his aggression about his height and he persists on it.

The deeper and with the more profound effect on his personality is the inferiority that

comes emotionally to him, as in the story the lack of father makes their unhappy and he and his

brother try hardest to keep her spirits high, usually with alchemy. But he cannot make his happy

and then she dies of the illness, it stems in him the feeling of being not good enough to protect

his loved ones, the feeling which just gets stronger, when the human transmutation makes him

lose his brother’s body too.

Edward’s feelings of inferiority, the physical aspect is rather surface level and is comical at

best, it’s the emotional causes of inferiority which drives him throughout the series and makes

him strive for the kind of superiority over the alchemical laws so that he will be able to restore

his brother’s body.

Parenting style

Adler agreed with Freud on early

childhood experiences and how it could

affect the child in later years [ CITATION

Rab19 \l 1033 ]. In this context, he has

talked about two extreme parenting style

which contributes to problems in later life.

One is the pampering style and the other

is neglecting style. According to the

Adler, the best parenting style is the

balance between the two, in which the child is allowed to see the bad in the world but from a

protective shelter of their parents so they can be ready to face the world, and yet have trust in

themselves [ CITATION Rab19 \l 1033 ].

Considering the childhood of Edward Elric we can see that his mother Trisha Elric is a

mother who quite pampers her children and tries to give them the love of both parents as their

father has left them. She also refrains from telling her children that their father has left them and

tries to keep them happy. Her parenting style is mostly the pampering type which results in great

devastation in Edward and Alphonse when she dies and since they were sheltered so much from

the evils of the world, they feel it acceptable to perform a taboo ritual to bring their mother back.

At the same time, we see a discrepancy as Adler posits that the pampering style of

parenting will lead to a child ill-equipped to deal with life, and may doubt their abilities to deal

with life [ CITATION Rab19 \l 1033 ]. Edward’s case is quite the opposite as he learns to be quite

equipped to deal with the harsh realities of war and suffering. He also shows great confidence in

his abilities to deal with life and becomes a figure of

inspiration and support for people that come in his

life.

Birth Order

Adler has talked about Birth order and

according to him the order in which you are born in

the family greatly influences how the person will

turn out. In the case of Edward, as he is the Elder of

the two of them, he does fulfill the criteria of how a

firstborn turns out as he is riddled with feelings of inferiority and always tries to bring attention

back to himself; he is also more responsible and tries hard to keep everyone around himself

happy and safe.

Part C (Non-Psychodynamic Perspective)

Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory combines the behaviorist perspective proposed by

Skinner and Watson with the earlier ideas which posited the existence of an internal process

which he referred to as cognition.

In this part, I shall try to apply the Social learning theory of Bandura to Edward Elric; I

shall explain the triadic Reciprocal causation model, along with observational and enactive

learning and will also touch upon Bandura’s ideas of Self Efficacy.

Reciprocal Triadic Causation Model

Instead of the deterministic view given by Skinner according to which the behavior is

dependent upon the environment and that environment solely is responsible for causing the

behavior, Bandura takes the stance that

in addition to the environment exerting

its influence on behavior, the organism

also affects its environment and his

behavior and all these factors interact

among themselves interchangeably.

[ CITATION Rob14 \l 1033 ]

 This Model Also Applies to Edward Elric as we can see that his factors .i.e., his guilt and

feelings of responsibility to restore his and his brother’s body, drives him. These personal factors

influence his behavior as we can see that all he does is do research and travel to places to find the

solution to their problem. This also functions vice versa as his behavior of looking around for

solutions to their problems solidifies his resolve to restore his brother’s bodies.

These two factors, in turn, influence his environment as seeing his resolve, never-ending

drive; belief and great aptitude in alchemy catch the attention of Roy Mustang who helps him

become a state alchemist. It also influences how he is seen as an adult who is responsible and

capable of taking care of himself and solving his problems; all the adults in the series treat him as

such. Even the villain of the series does not treat him as a 16-year-old teenager but rather as a

rival to be careful of.

His environment in which he is treated like an adult who is responsible also affects his

internal factors as he also sees himself in that light. This, in turn, affects his behavior towards

others and towards life in general.

So in this triadic model, Edward’s internal factors, his behavior, and his environment all

play a role in determining his psychological functioning and how he accomplishes his goals.

Self Efficacy

Bandura explains the concept of Self-efficacy as a person’s belief that they are capable of

performing a particular task or not, and this belief interacts with the triadic model between

person, environment and behavior and determines the course of action a person will take.
 The strong Self-efficacy that Edward Elric Exhibits in the series, earns The full metal

alchemist the fame it has, as it gives people hope in an unlikely situation. Edward Elric believes

that he can find a way to restore their bodies to normal. Despite the hopelessness of the situation,

since whoever performs human transmutation loses something valuable and its irreversible, he

still believes he can find away.

This efficacy is contagious too, in a way that whoever gets to know Edward in the series

being in hopeless situations learns to hope and resolve. It’s because of his high Self Efficacy that

he exerts influence on his environment and bends it to his ways until he finds the solution. It’s

also what drives the last battle between him and the antagonist ‘father’ who wants to sacrifice the

whole country and Edward cannot let him do that because he believes in those dire situations that

he can restore his brother’s body and win.

Observational learning

According to Bandura people learn several behaviors from their environment and most of

these behaviors are learned vicariously, that is they see others (a Model) performing the

behavior, and they learn to imitate those behaviors.[ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ]

In the case of Edward Elric, we

can see that he has learned behaviors

like being caring and taking care of his

younger brother by observing his

mother take care of them in childhood.

He has also learned to be foul-

mouthed and quick-witted from

Pinako their neighbor who took them after their mother’s death, as she is always seen being

rather rude. In addition to that, Edward has learned to be harsh and honest when breaking

people’s delusions about life, can also be attributed to him learning it from Pinako as she is

always seen as someone brutally honest and sarcastically critical of people; while he learned to

get extremely aggressive and foul-mouthed from his teacher Izumi Curtis who taught them

alchemy.

He also learned to avoid certain behaviors as he observed his mother suffering due to

hoping for their father to return until she died. He learned to not hope for their father’s return and

their salvation from his hands or any other savior for that matter. He took matters into his own

hand's age at the tender age of 12 and took the responsibility of himself and his brother.

Enactive Learning

Social learning theory proposes the idea that people can learn behaviors by thinking about

and evaluating the results of those behaviors [ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ]. Enactive learning is the

learning in which people perform behaviors, evaluate what kind of consequences entails and then

decide about whether they should keep up the behavior or extinguish it. Simply put, the result of

behavior will determine whether that behavior is more likely or less likely to occur in the future.

Considering Edward’s case here, it’s quite clear that most of his behaviors in the series are

a result of Enactive learning. Edward performs those behaviors which bring him closer to his end

goal of restoring their bodies, which is why he accepted Mustang’s offer to join the army at the

age of 8, it’s why he opted for Auto mail to gain mobility despite the pain and why he keeps

traveling and researching to find the solution.

 The ultimate consequences of all these choices and behaviors are one, the restoration of

their bodies and since these things bring for his knowledge and an increase of people who can

help him along that path, and they are also reinforcing which is why he sustains on these

behaviors throughout his journey.

Part D (Critical Analysis of the Theories)

Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology

Adler’s theory does a good job of explaining the personality of Edward Elric and why he

behaves the way he does. The inferiority complex and strive for Superiority clearly explain his

aggression towards his height as well as his never-ending drive to find a way to fix their bodies

back.

Theirs comes to a discrepancy in how Adler explained parenting style and how it affects

the person in adult life, as we see that despite the pampering parenting style of his mother,

Edward does not learn to fear the world, nor does he doubt his abilities to fix his problems, he

also learns to trust the world and has hope for a better future for everyone he meets.

The birth order theory applies quite satisfactorily on Edward as we see him act the way

Adler predicts firstborn usually do, though we see no competition or hatred or lack of esteem in

Edward due to being replaced by Alphonse in childhood. Rather we see the opposite as Edward

always tries to bring his brother higher and cares about him.

Bandura’s Social Learning theory

Bandura’s theory applies quite nicely to Edward Elric’s case; it has given me newfound

respect and understanding for the whole series. as it is clear from the behaviors of Edward and
how he deals with his problems is all part of the triadic Reciprocal causation model as he is his

being influenced by his environment, so he is influencing his environment and his behaviors

according to his internal states and beliefs.

In addition to that, the types of learning that are observational and enactive also explain

why Edward does what he does and where they stem from.

To Sum it up it would say that the social learning theory by Bandura explains my character

more effectively than Adler’s theory.

Conclusion

This assignment was a very interesting learning experience, as I realized that I would not

have tried to understand theory in so much depth otherwise. Because I had to apply it to a

character I was passionate about, I had to do justice to both the theories and to the character

himself.

Despite all, this assignment came at a very unfortunate time, as everyone is stressed about

not catching the coronavirus or dying, our university pressurizes us to write papers which is not

the priority at the moment.

I would have liked to do this assignment in calmer conditions, but as I have learned from

Bandura, if the environment can influence me so can I.

References
 Anime News Network. (2009, march 20). Retrieved April 04, 2020, from Animax Asia to

Run 2009 Fullmetal Alchemist in Same Week as Japan:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-20/animax-asia-to-simulcast-

fullmetal-alchemist/brotherhood-on-tv

 Ewen, R. (2014). An Introduction to Theories of Personality. Newyork: Psychology Press

711 Third Avenue,NY.

 Feist, J. F. (2008). Theories of Personality. McGraw-Hill Education.

 Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved april 04, 2020, from FMA: Edward Elric :

https://fullmetal-alchemist-database.fandom.com/wiki/Edward_Elric

 Rasheed, R. (2019). Alfred Adler. Notes .