Living life is not a field to cross. At a young age, it seems that all doors are open and you just need to make an effort. In maturity, one often comes to the understanding that many things could have turned out differently, that the open doors were illusory, and that efforts were directed in the wrong direction. The reasons for this situation are mistakes in personality development. They are the result of a combination of circumstances. Let's consider what factors influence personality development, what stages a person goes through in the course of his life and with what results he emerges from age-related crises.
Psychology of personal growth through motivation
“Psychology of personal growth” and “psychology of personality development” are similar concepts, but they are not much different. Many experts have repeatedly started discussions on the topic of the relationship between these branches of psychology, and only now their similarity has been proven. The fact is that the psychology of personality development itself goes shoulder to shoulder with the psychology of personal growth; they are completely interconnected and cannot exist without each other. It is about them that we will tell our readers today.
Personality is a high concept, meaning a fully formed and socialized person in the modern world, and possessing the psychological characteristics necessary for life in society.
Let's start with the fact that “ personal growth ” is a concept that came to us from the branches of the science of psychology. If we break down the term “psychology” itself, we will see that it consists of two ancient Greek words: “teaching” and “soul,” thereby showing us that the study of the human soul is worthy of a separate niche in the scientific world.
If we return to the psychology of personal growth, then it already studies in more depth the concepts of the laws of personality development and the very vision of the original human nature in a positive way. This section of psychology helps to develop a person’s inner potential and give him an impetus on the path of self-development.
The path in personality development psychology
Human nature and the path to personal self-education
Human nature has its own classification in psychology:
- Definitely positive;
- Conditionally positive;
- Neutral;
- Damaged.
Already based on the identified human nature, it is possible to build a path to personal growth.
For example, in the “unconditionally positive” nature of a person, the meaning of education will be the help of a psychologist in actualizing him. With a “conditionally positive” human nature, the meaning of education will change to the existential approach of a psychologist in helping with choice.
If we take neutral human nature, then the meaning of education will be the formation and correction of personality by a psychologist. As for the last variation of human nature - damaged, here a more difficult task will fall on the shoulders of the psychologist - correction and compensation.
The origins of the psychology of personal growth
If we return to the origins of the theory of the psychology of personal growth, then we should thank its “fathers”, American psychologists Carl Ransom Rogers and Abraham Harold Maslow. It was they who once created their own humanistic concept, within the framework of which the psychology of personal growth was formed.
Psychology of personal growth in the modern world
Years of practice and work of many talented psychologists have “polished” the psychology of personal growth in their own way, transforming it into a convenient tool for conducting motivational training on human self-development.
In modern practice, such training is especially popular among psychologists and their students. But it is worth noting that the original theory of the psychology of personal growth acquired its own new features over time.
For example, our contemporary, business coach Grigory Spizhevoy, authored a new book on the topic of personal growth. His theory includes such concepts as “inner harmony”, “relationship with oneself”, “I+I relationship”, “I+other relationship”, “relationship with the outside world” and, of course, “self-development”. According to Spizheva, all these concepts constitute the entire psychology of personal growth.
Psychologists' point of view
In psychology, self-development is considered to be the main tool, the action of which is aimed at developing the moral, moral and other qualities of an individual. This is an ongoing process during which an individual increases his own potential, which was originally inherent in him by nature.
Potential is traditionally understood as a certain set of personal qualities and values of a subject that give impetus to the development of determination and obtaining the right motivation, allowing one to make decisions or carry out actions at one’s own discretion.
The nature of man, the filling of his essence, according to psychology, has a clear classification. The path of personality development will directly depend on this:
- Of course, positive nature needs psychological help at the moment of actualization of the process;
- a conditionally positive essence is brought up by a psychologist based on an existential approach to choosing a path;
- neutral nature needs the formation and correction of personal qualities by a psychologist;
- the damaged nature of the entity requires the most serious work. A specialist must correct and compensate for it.
In a sense, personal growth is a victory over individual qualities identified by the person himself or his mentor as character weaknesses. These include various complexes, indecisiveness, fears and phobias, that is, everything that prevents a person from moving towards the formation of his ideal “I”.
Psychology calls personal growth such development of a person’s personality that became possible thanks to his own efforts. This is emotional labor that requires continuous work on oneself.
A person’s own efforts have a great influence on the development of his personality. But successful self-development is possible only when a certain environment is created around the individual: the atmosphere must be friendly. Many external factors, including excessive criticism and negative assessment of others, negatively affect a person’s motivation and determination.
Personal development in psychology
Personal development is a branch of psychology that deals with personal growth and self-development. This section of the psychology of personal development includes all changes in the psychological attitudes and processes of a person as an individual, under external and internal influences on him.
Personal development can be formed in a person not only with the help of his independent work, but also under the influence of any other external factors. The development of a person’s personality is a rather long process that accompanies him throughout his entire life journey. This can also affect personal development in human psychology, thanks to his continuous interaction with the outside world and other people.
To some extent, the human psyche is like a sponge. She absorbs everything that happens around her, which is reflected in a person’s personal self-development and development. That is why, in some cases, even an already formed personality needs correction by a professional psychoanalyst. Photo 4 – the result of personal development in psychology – complete harmony with oneself.
Find out what influences a child's development
Undoubtedly, parents play a leading role in the process of shaping a child’s personality, but outside influence should not be neglected. So this is:
- Biological factor - heredity. A child can inherit the parent's temperament, habits, talents and, unfortunately, illnesses.
- Social. This is the environment in which the child lives. Not only family, school, friends, but also the media. He watches the news on TV and reads newspapers and magazines that he can find at home. At an early age, he is not able to filter information and takes everything on faith. Therefore, it is very difficult to protect your child from negative content; it is better to try to explain that it is bad and is not necessary for him.
- And environmental. Climatic conditions influence both the physiological and personal development of a child.
It is important to be able to recognize developmental disabilities. This, for example, can manifest itself in a child’s anxiety
Excitement and fear should alert parents.
Mechanisms of personality development in psychology
The mechanisms of personality development in psychology are appropriation, isolation and identification of the individual.
If we look more deeply, then appropriation is the creation and formation of personality through a person’s communication with the outside world, in the literal sense of the word - the imposition of world principles and orders on him. Separation acts as a defense of its original natural essence. And identification is the reverse process - a correlation, and sometimes even a person’s copying of those around him or his idols.
Assignment
Thus, such a mechanism of personality development in psychology as “appropriation” is inherently the most widespread. In itself, it implies the independent formation and development of personality when a person comes into contact with the environment. That is, any of his personal and social activities contributes to the formation and “appropriation” of personal qualities and their subsequent development.
Separation
Such a mechanism of personality development in psychology as “isolation” carries much more freedom than “appropriation”. In this case, the individual is not ready to accept social principles and strive to distinguish himself from the rest. In this case, the process of individualization is launched, which forms the individual personal qualities of a person, separating him from other representatives of society.
Moreover, this mechanism of personality development in psychology has two directions at once: internal (psychological) and external (material-physical). Internal formation includes individual psychological characteristics (level of intelligence, type of temperament, character traits, and so on), and external formation includes physical changes (nationality, gender identity, and so on).
Identification
The last mechanism of personality development in psychology – “identification” – is the most complex. In this case, the individual tries to imitate the object in which he shows sympathy or interest. That is, this is the process of copying another personality on emotional and other levels. It is not without reason that they say that children from an early age imitate their parents in everything; this is precisely where this mechanism of personality development in psychology comes into play.
Modern theories
Today, there are several theories that explain the concept of “personal growth”. Each of these teachings considers not only how a person moves along the path of forming an ideal “I”. Attention is also paid to factors that influence the effectiveness of self-development, as well as various prerequisites.
A theory based on behaviorism states that every person has equal conditions from birth. According to this teaching, there are no innate talents or any uniqueness. These are individual traits acquired by an individual based on the conditions of his life and environment. This neutral approach is characteristic of Soviet psychology. At that time, it was believed that a person does not have any essence - he is born as a neutral subject, and the formation of his personality occurs due to the influence of society.
Proponents of existential theory believe that personal growth is possible only in the process of self-knowledge and self-development of the subject. The result of this work will be the achievement of a certain internal harmony, as a result of which the individual’s views on himself, his behavior and the world around him as a whole change.
Today, an increasing number of followers are appearing for the theory of inevitable or unconditional positivity. The main postulate of this teaching is the idea that from birth every person has unlimited potential. But its implementation becomes possible only under certain conditions.
Factors influencing personal growth, according to this theory, do not necessarily have to be positive. Positive personal development is possible under any conditions.
Laws of personality development
The psychology of personal growth is a rather complex process, and carries its own patterns and laws of personality development. Without them, it would be difficult to create educational programs for children and adolescents whose personalities are just forming. Also, the laws of personality development help qualified psychoanalysts better understand their patients and more effectively help them in the process of their formation and self-development.
The laws of personality development include:
- The presence of psychological changes in an individual.
- The relationship between different areas of development and their directions.
- The emergence of specific developmental features.
- Differences in development according to time frame and other criteria (different development between peers).
- Formation of clear views and personal beliefs.
- Development of certain psychological characteristics (sensitivity).
- Processing and learning/awareness of different areas of life.
- Plasticity of personality development (compensation for the development of one personality component by another).
- Contradiction between the individual and the world around him.
- Constant progress in personal development.
The influence of the social environment on personality
The social environment affects a person through various factors and agents. The following groups of socialization factors are distinguished:
- Microfactors - relatives, family, neighbors, friends;
- Mesofactors are the material conditions in which the socialization of various groups and communities takes place, the nature of the processes in production and in society;
- Macro factors - state, ethnic group, country of residence, social system.
The people around an individual are agents of socialization. Their composition changes radically at different stages of a person’s life. For children and adolescents, these are parents, sisters, brothers, other relatives, housemates, and school teachers. In this environment, the decisive years of a person’s life for social development occur.
Among environmental agents, the decisive role belongs to the family. It is in it that the formation of the individual’s needs, his values and outlook on life, and his range of interests takes place. There the laying of socially significant and moral qualities of a person occurs. The family creates conditions, moral and material, for the development of natural inclinations.
The following environmental institutions (kindergarten, school, technical school, university) lay the foundations for such social new formations as social and labor activities. It is advisable that these processes take place under the guidance of an authoritative adult. The value system a person develops depends on environmental influences.
