In general terms, the following sequence usually characterizes the early development of the primitive Externalizer. At first, the child manifests the rapid development of perceptual activity, at the expense of the ideational. Fairly early, the one-sided quality of his reactivity tends to give rise to more or less intense external pressures which push him toward developing along more internalized lines.
External pressures result, at first, in a relatively fluid developmental phase, during which the externalized child acquires the compensatory activities which will stabilize, at the basic level, and become an inherent part of his characteristic response pattern. During his later development, if he has remained sufficiently free to utilize his inherent tendencies constructively, he will employ perceptual maturity In the service of acquiring and utilizing ideational activity.
Since the theory regards the primitive personality structure as inherent, the externalized infant, from the moment he is born, is thought to experience very primitive, but genuinely externalized, feeling states, to which he responds in characteristically externalized, though primitive, ways. His behavior is active, and he appears to be alert, responsive, and aware. His earliest observable responses are directed toward achieving intimate environmental relatedness, for the gratification of his externalized needs. The initial activities of the Externalizer, then, are responses to overt stimuli, so that his behavior is intrinsically meaningful to the observer. He is concerned, from the start, with experiences which can be shared. In consequence, his early behavior tends to be understandable to those around him, even though it does not always meet with their approval. The externalized infant responds to sound, to sight, and to movement. He relates spontaneously to people and things in the environment, and finds comfort In intimate contact with them. On the other hand, he becomes frustrated when Interaction is denied him, and responds to isolation with fear and anxiety.
The inherent environmental dependence of the externalized child may evoke ambivalent feelings on the part of his parents. On the one hand., they are likely to respond in positive ways to his obvious outgoing qualities. On the other hand, he is apt to be regarded as over-demanding and over-Involving, because his externalized needs require not only that he continually respond to the environment, but also that the environment respond reciprocally. The constant activity and demands of the externalized baby may therefore arouse irritation, disapproval, and reproof. Consequently, very early in life, he may be pushed toward becoming less involving, less demanding, and less active by the application of pressure, training, and punishment.
Because of his extreme dependence on external support, the greatest psychological threat which an Externalizer can experience is rejection by the environment. Any suggestion that the significant people in his life regard him as Role Uniform will therefore arouse acute anxiety. If, over time, he is punished for the kinds of behavior which are indigenous to him, he will come to regard his own natural predispositions as sources of profound threat. Feelings of guilt and Inadequacy will thus become associated with his inherent perceptual dominance, high activity level, and spontaneous needs to relate.
The behavior for which the externalized child is approved and praised guide him toward the kinds of responses which will protect him from rejection. At the same time, disapproval and punishment serve to teach him what he should avoid, in order to minimize the threat. His environmental dependency forces him toward developing along the lines which are thus dictated to him.
If an externalized child is strongly pushed toward the kind of development which Is fundamentally alien to him, he will attach anxiety and guilt to virtually every attribute of his own primitive personality structure. He will then experience intense feelings of inferiority in connection with his inherent dispositions, believing that his personal safety rests on his ability to change them. As a result, he will strive to achieve Role Adaptive by developing the characteristics and attributes of the Internalizer.
Depending on the strength of the external pressure which is mobilized against his primitive externalized reactivity, he will suppress or repress his natural tendencies. His Inherent inclinations, however, will continue to press for expression, either in partial awareness, or, if extreme repression has taken place, in complete unawareness. The inevitable result is a conflict state, which cannot but serve to increase his feelings of anxiety, guilt, and inferiority.