When we meet new people, it is often their personality that grabs our attention. Understanding how personality develops can provide insight into who someone is and their background while also increasing our understanding of what's behind our own personality traits and characteristics. Personality development refers to the process by which the organized thought and behavior patterns that make up a person's unique personality emerge over time. Many factors influence personality, including genetics and environment, how we were parented, and societal variables. Perhaps most importantly, it is the ongoing interaction of all these influences that continue to shape personality. Personality involves not only inborn traits but also the development of cognitive and behavioral patterns that influence how we think and act.
Temperament is a key part of personality that is determined by inherited traits. Character is an aspect of personality influenced by experience that continues to grow and change throughout life. Personality development has been a major topic of interest for some of the most prominent thinkers in psychology. Since the inception of psychology as a separate science, researchers have proposed a variety of ideas to explain how and why personality develops. Our personalities make us unique, but how does personality develop? What factors play the most important role in the formation of personality? Can personality change? To answer these questions, many prominent thinkers have developed theories to describe the various steps and stages that occur during the development of personality. The following theories focus on several aspects of personality formation—including those that involve cognitive, social, and moral development. In his well-known stage theory of psychosexual development, Sigmund Freud suggested that personality develops in stages that are related to specific erogenous zones. These stages are:
Freud also believed that failure to complete these stages would lead to personality problems in adulthood.
In addition to being one of the best-known thinkers in the area of personality development, Sigmund Freud also remains one of the most controversial. Freud not only theorized about how personality developed over the course of childhood, but he also developed a framework for how overall personality is structured. According to Freud, the basic driving force of personality and behavior is known as the libido. This libidinal energy fuels the three components that make up personality: the id, the ego, and the superego.
According to Freud, these three elements of personality work together to create complex human behaviors. The superego attempts to make the ego behave according to these ideals. The ego must then moderate between the primal needs of the id, the idealistic standards of the superego, and reality. Freud's concept of the id, ego, and superego has gained prominence in popular culture, despite a lack of support and considerable skepticism from many researchers. Erik Erikson’s eight-stage theory of human development is another well-known theory in psychology. While it builds on Freud’s stages of psychosexual development, Erikson chose to focus on how social relationships impact personality development. The theory also extends beyond childhood to look at development across the entire lifespan. Erikson's eight stages are: At each of these stages, people face a crisis in which a task must be mastered. Those who successfully complete that stage emerge with a sense of mastery and well-being. Those who do not resolve the crisis at a particular stage may struggle with those skills for the remainder of their lives. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development remains one of the most frequently cited in psychology, despite being subject to considerable criticism. While many aspects of his theory have not stood the test of time, the central idea remains important today: Children think differently than adults. According to Piaget, children progress through a series of four stages that are marked by distinctive changes in how they think. And how children think about themselves, others, and the world around them plays an important role in the formation of personality. Piaget's four stages are: Lawrence Kohlberg developed a theory of personality development that focused on the growth of moral thought. Building on a two-stage process proposed by Piaget, Kohlberg expanded the theory to include six different stages:
These stages are separated by levels. Level one is the pre-conventional level, it includes stages one and two, and takes place from birth to 9 years. Level two is the conventional level, it includes stages three and four, and takes place from age 10 to adolescence. Level three is the post-conventional level, it includes stages five and six, and takes place in adulthood. Although this theory includes six stages, Kohlberg felt that it was rare for people to progress beyond stage four, also stressing that these stages of moral development are not correlated with the maturation process. Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been criticized for a number of different reasons. One primary criticism is that it does not accommodate different genders and cultures equally. Yet, the theory remains important in our understanding of how personality develops.
While these theories suggest different numbers and types of stages, and different ages for progressing from one stage to the next, they have all influenced what we know today about personality development. The goal of personality development theories is to explain how we each develop our own unique characteristics and traits. While the list of options could be almost endless, most of these personality traits fall into five basic categories:
The "Big 5" is one of the most recognized models of personality and also the most widely used, though some suggest that it isn't comprehensive enough to cover the huge variety of personality traits that one can grow and develop. On a global level, people spend a lot of money on personal development, with this market bringing in more than $38 billion annually (and expected to grow). If you're interested in making positive changes to your personality, these tips can help:
Understanding how personality develops can provide insight into others, as well as into ourselves. There are many different theories as to how personality forms, each of which has contributed to what we know about personality today. |
What are the four forces of development and describe how each force shapes individual people throughout their lives?
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