Self-development in psychology relates to an individual’s personal growth and enhancement of a person’s faculties, feelings and effectiveness in life. The realm of self-development focuses on the cognitive and affective representation of a person’s identity. Development of self also majors on the ideal self, self-image and self-esteem. Multiple theories explain what self-development is including how the self-concept develops. The paradigms however agree that self-development is multidimensional and enshrines how a person views themselves in respect to religious, social, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects (Harter, 1998). The theories support the proposition that self-development is learned but not inherent. The different perspectives attribute development of self to biological factors, environmental factors and social interaction all which plays a big role.
Psychological Perspectives on Self-Development
Sigmund Freud Perspectives
One of the psychological perspective of self-development was proposed by Sigmund Freud who was a psychoanalysis. Sigmund Feud posited that in development of the sense of self, sexual development and personality are closely interlinked. The psychoanalyst categorized the human maturation process into psychosexual classifications. The stages included genital, phallic, oral, latency and anal phases (Cicchetti & Beeghly, 1990). Sigmund Freud’s perspective linked self-development to a human’s early phases of development that include sexual awareness, breastfeeding and toilet training. Freud inferred that occurrence of disengagement from one of the stages triggers emotional and psychological ramifications throughout a person’s adulthood. Example, an oral fixated individual may end up indulging in overeating or excess drinking. An individual stuck in the phallic developmental stage may experience emotional immaturity or promiscuity.
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Carl Rogers Perspective
Carl Rogers, a famed psychologist conceived the psychological perspective on self-development stating that the image that a person has about themselves shapes their personality and creates a feedback loop about how an individual views their image. As Rogers posits, variation in development of self-concept creates individuals with unique characters.
Another psychological perspective of self-development deduces that the self-concept grows and changes throughout a human lifespan in childhood, middle childhood and adolescent phases, although it experiences flux during a person’s early childhood years. The perspective explains that during childhood, young humans start getting perceptions about themselves in the world (Diehl, 1999). The self-development perspective classifies self-concept changes into three stages. The first stage occurs from 0 to 2years old when infants need to be shown love consistently for them to develop a positive and stable sense of self. During this stage, toddlers develop personal preferences that match with their inner self. The babies at this stage develop the sense of “me”. The second stage is experienced between 3 and 4 years. During this phase, children start perceiving themselves as unique individuals. The individuals at this stage increasingly become independent and explorative. The last stage occurs when a person is between 5 to 6 years. The individuals at this stage transition from the “me” stage to regarding themselves as “us”. The needs and interests of the larger group start making meaning. The children at this phase use the developed sense of speech to communicate their needs, feelings and wants. At this stage, 5 and 6 years old kindergarteners may develop an advanced language to define themselves with a group’s context.
In the middle childhood self-concept development stage, the children’s sense of social self grows from 7 to 11 years old. They start figuring out the best way to fit in with others. The children factor in how others think about them and more often make social comparisons. The last stage according to psychological perspective occurs during a person’s adolescence. Self-development explodes at this phase where individuals between 12 and 18 years start playing with their sense of self (Johnson, 1992). They experiment and compare themselves with others and form the foundation of their sense of self which may last throughout their lifetime. During this phase, the adolescents are susceptible to brain chemical change, self-consciousness and influence of their peers.
Sociological theories of Self-development
George Mead Theory
George Mead created the theory of social self with propositions of self-development. According to Mead, social interactions around a person’s surrounding give rise to the sense of self. Interacting and observing others and responding to ther people views about oneself are examples of social interactions. Mead posits that internal feeling about self and internalization of external opinions contribute to shaping of a person’s self-concept. Mead attributed self-development to three activities in a person’s life; games, language and play (Johnson, 1992). According to Mead, language triggers development of self when an individual permits other people to respond to each other through figures of speech such as sounds, gestures, symbols and words. Mead delineates that through language, other people’s attitude and opinions towards an individual are conveyed. Play as the second activity suggested by Mead develops self when individuals assume different roles, pretend and make an expression of other people’s expectations. Mead attributed self-consciousness development to role paying. An individual develops the sense of self by internalizing other’s perspectives and an understanding of other people’s perception of themselves in a varying social situations (Larrabee, 1993). Games which is the third activity develops self when a person understands and learns to play by the rules of an activity. The sense of self blossoms when an individual understands the rules they are supposed to abide by for them to succeed in an activity.
Jean Piaget Theory
Piaget theory of self-development asserts that the sense of self grows from birth through adolescence stage. Jean Piaget characterized different stages of development as language, reasoning, morals and memory. Paget made assumptions that children tend to build personal knowledge through individual experiences. As Piaget explained, children motivation to learn comes from nature. Jean Piaget proposed four critical stages of self-development: sensorimotor, formal operational, pre-operational and concrete operational phases. The sensorimotor stage occurs between 18 and 25 months, where infants learn things through trial, errors and experience. The pre-operational phase between 2 and 7 years is characterized by imagination, memory and language development. From 7 to 11 years (concrete operational stage), individuals experience methodical and logical symbol manipulation where one becomes more aware of the events transpiring in the outside world. During the formal operational stage, a person develops the ability to use symbols and capacity to make assumptions and form relationships.
Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory
Kohlberg perspective divided development into three stages; pre-conventional morality, conventional morality and post-conventional morality. During the first stage, (9 years and younger), an infant’s code of morality is shaped by the standards that guide adults and consequences of adherence or non-adherence to those codes (Larrabee, 1993). The stage has two classifications; obedience and punishment orientation where a child maintains good behavior to avoid punishment. During the second classification; individualism and exchange, children realize that authorities usually hand down multiple right views.
At the conventional level, individuals start to relate and internalize the moral code that relate to valued adults. A person internalizes but does not question the authority. During the developmental phase, individuals maintain good interpersonal relationships for them to be perceived as good. A child at this stage becomes cognizant of the social rule that govern the society (Spencer, Harpalani, Fegley, Dell’Angelo & Seaton, 2003). At post-conventional stage, a person’s self-chosen principles informs their individual judgement. A person at this level realizes that rules can at times work against the interests of people. Individuals also develop and relate more to their individual moral guidelines which may not be applicable to everyone.
References
Cicchetti, D., & Beeghly, M. (Eds.). (1990). The self in transition: Infancy to childhood . University of Chicago Press.
Diehl, M. (1999). Self-Development in Adulthood and Aging: The Role of Critical. The self and society in aging processes , 150.
Harter, S. (1998). The development of self-representations.
Johnson, C. (1992). The emergence of the emotional self: A developmental theory. Symbolic Interaction , 15 (2), 183-202.
Larrabee, M. J. (1993). Gender and moral development: A challenge for feminist theory. An ethic of care: Feminist and interdisciplinary perspectives , 3-16.
Spencer, M. B., Harpalani, V., Fegley, S., Dell’Angelo, T., & Seaton, G. (2003). Identity, self, and peers in context. Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies and programs , 123-142.
