A look at the mental development of personality

For a long time, in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in psychology, there was a methodological crisis associated with the fuzziness and uncertainty of the ultimate goals of psychological research. The discrepancy in understanding what mental development is, in determining the patterns and conditions of its course, has led to the emergence of many different concepts, based on social and biological factors, on the leading role of heredity or the environment in the development of the psyche. However, the existence of various scientific schools contributed to the accumulation of a lot of empirical data on the development of the personality in different periods of life, which formed in certain theories that explain the features of behavior, revealing the mechanisms that form certain psychic properties of a person.

In modern science, the development of the psyche is traditionally considered in the most well-known areas: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, gestalt psychology, humanistic and genetic theories.

Psychological development from the point of view of psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud, creating the theory of the unconscious, argued that mental processes are mostly unconscious, and only individual emotional experiences are realized by man. The processes of creating and mastering the cultural values of man Freud explained exclusively sexual beginning, and the productive interaction of the biological and social aspects in the development of the psyche - protective mechanisms. Within the framework of psychosexuality, the great analyst also considered the mental development of the personality in children's periods. Everyone knows the stages of sexual instinct that he has identified, which are reflected in the psyche of the child, and then of the adult person.

Mental development in terms of genetic psychology

The theory of development J. Piaget - the most vivid and well-known, connects the development of the child's psyche with the intellect. Cognitive maturation scientist defined the processes of adaptation, assimilation, accommodation and balancing. The knowledge of the world around us is caused by the desire for adaptation or adaptation. Adaptation, in turn, consists of the process of assimilation - changes in existing representations under the influence of new information, and accommodation, which allows to process the information received and develop new ways of behavior as a reaction to it. The psychic develops with a balanced alternation of these processes.

Humanistic theory and development of the psyche

A completely new view of the psychic development of man in existential psychologists. They recognize the uniqueness and uniqueness of a person who is an open and self-developing system. The inner world of every personality, its self is a complex interweaving of individual psychological qualities and needs. How true is real experience helps to realize one's inner self, and consequently, the level of needs and claims, the degree of congruity of personality will be so high. The desire for greater congruence is, in the opinion of humanistic psychologists, the fundamental sign of human nature, and the goal of its development is the maximum manifestation of the self in the process of self-actualization. The well-known psychologist A. Maslow believed that it is necessary for a person in life to determine as accurately as possible and show the personal qualities that create his "I". It is conscious aspirations, and not unconscious drives, that control his actions and actions. On the path of self-actualization and self-improvement, there are various obstacles that each person must overcome, pasuya before the difficulties, it stops its development, which can lead to neurotic disorders.

Humanistic psychology also defined the important role of the social environment for the mental development of man. This role is twofold, because, on the one hand, society promotes development and self-actualization, and on the other hand, tries to erase individuality, make a person look like everyone else. Optimal in relation to the individual and society, from the point of view of humanistic psychologists, is an interaction in which a person identifies with the society in outward manifestations, but at the same time retains his individuality and self in the process of personal development.