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Personality development is a much
talked and discussed about concept. A great number of psychoanalysts,
psychologists and philosophers have tried to analyse different stages of
personality development. There is plenty of Personality development
material on stages of personality development. The moot point is how do
our personalities develop? One can delve deep into these stages from
different angles. Some of the prominent psychologists have put forward
interesting insights into evolution of a personality.
Some of the famous theories given are,
- Trait theory of personality that talks about number of broad traits
comprising a personality.
- The "Big Five" personality dimensions that categorise personality
traits and explains thereafter characteristics of each category.
- Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid that covers aspects like
self-actualization and other basic necessities.
- Self-Efficacy theory was propounded by Albert Bandura.
- Psychogenic needs theory given by Henry Murray that finds psychogenic
needs at core of human personality.
- Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual stages of personal development and
- Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial stages of personality development.
Most of these theories have been seen from the perspective of
psychosocial and psychoanalytic themes. Erikson’s psychosocial theory is
a very famous personality development theory and has found many takers
because of it taking into consideration eight stages of human life, from
the time child is born to old age when life ends. The main element of
his theory is ‘ego identity’. According to him, ego identity keeps on
changing and evolving as humans come to new environment and their
experiences are subject to change.
The first stage is of Trust versus Mistrust and it takes place between
birth and one year of age. In this stage child develops trust and
security based on the dependability and quality of his parents. But if
parents fail to provide love and affection to the kid he will have hard
time trusting others.
The second stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt that takes place during
early childhood and here, child grows from a totally dependent infant to
a toddler. Child learns to move around independently and is introduced
to toilet training. Child’s control over his choices, body’s function
leads to feeling of control and he will become self-competent.
The third stage is of Initiative versus Guilt which begins when a child
enters three years of age. Child starts exploring his power, goes to
pre-school and gets a feel of social interaction. Successful child in
this stage feels control but in case he fails to acquire skills he will
have feeling of guilt and self-doubt.
The fourth stage is of Industry versus Inferiority that runs from the
age of five to thirteen years. Increasing social interaction, developing
sense of pride and adequate encouragement are highlights of this stage.
Absence of these will make him develop inferiority complex.
The fifth stage is of Identity versus Role Confusion which is very
crucial. This is also a typical teenage phase where child is confused
between childhood and adulthood. He is expected to make new identity in
every sphere like career, social domain and relationships. He also
learns about gender roles. Good experience in this stage will make him a
confident adult who is ready to take responsibilities.
The sixth stage is of Intimacy versus Isolation and it occurs between
ages of 20-40 years. In this phase people develop factors like intimacy
and commitment. Every stage builds upon skills developed in previous
stages. People who fail to develop commitment and intimacy in this stage
turn out to be depressed and commitment phobic.
The seventh stage is Generativity versus Stagnation which is all about
consistency in building up important aspects of life like career and
family. Individual also learn to give back to society in this phase.
Failure to do so leads of stagnation and meaninglessness.
The last stage is Ego Integrity versus Despair where individual reflects
back on his life. Ego identity is completely formed in last stage. A
sense of accomplishments will help in developing a sense of integrity
and wisdom else feeling of bitterness and despair.
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