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Introduction To Personal Development

The document introduces human development and personal development. It discusses three domains of human development: physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. Personal development refers to one's own growth and development within these domains, influenced by heredity, environment, and maturation. It also discusses the relationship between personality development, psychology, and personal development. Key figures like Maslow and Rogers contributed theories of human motivation and growth. Later, positive psychology emphasized focusing on human strengths and potential.

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Justin Magnanao
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206 views

Introduction To Personal Development

The document introduces human development and personal development. It discusses three domains of human development: physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. Personal development refers to one's own growth and development within these domains, influenced by heredity, environment, and maturation. It also discusses the relationship between personality development, psychology, and personal development. Key figures like Maslow and Rogers contributed theories of human motivation and growth. Later, positive psychology emphasized focusing on human strengths and potential.

Uploaded by

Justin Magnanao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Personal Development

Concept Digest

Introduction

Human Development and Personal Development

Developmental scientist identified the three aspects or


domains of human development as (Papalia and Feldman 2012):

1. Physical Development, which covers the growth of the body


and the brain, motor and sensory skills, and even
physical health.
2. Cognitive Development, which covers our capacity to
learn, to speak, to understand, to reason, and to create;
and
3. Psychosocial Development, which includes our social
interactions with other people, our emotions, attitudes,
self-identity, personality, beliefs, and values.

While human development covers the whole lifespan of human


existence in relation to the three domains, personal
development is one’s own development and growth within the
context of the three aspects of human development. Human
development is also influenced by:

 Heredity or the inborn traits passed on by the generation


offspring form both of the biological parents’ families.

 Environment is the world outside or ourselves and the


experiences that result from our contact and interaction
with this external world; and

 Maturation is natural progression of brain and the body


that affects the cognitive (thinking and intelligence),
psychological (emotions, attitude, and self-identity),
and social (relationships) dimensions of a person. The
influence of physical maturations over a person’s
development is most pronounced during his or her
childhood and adolescence stages.

Is it Personality Development or Personal Development?

You must be familiar with the term personality


development and must have heard learning places where you
could enroll to learn skills like table etiquette, how to sit
properly and walk with grace, how to dress up appropriately,
how to communicate better. In some personality development
centers, they also offered sessions that deal with oneself and
how and how one relates with others. Training in skills bring
about noticeable transformation and improvement in one’s
personality.

1
Personality development has given birth
to many related business that span globe. It
includes image enhancement such as skin care
and

make-up, fashion and


clothing, and even
body contouring,
modeling and beauty
pageants; and many
others.

Psychology and
Personal Development?

Psychology, being
the study of human
thinking and behavior, serves as a foundation for personal
development.

The school of thought that gave birth to the contemporary


understanding of personal development started during the
flourishing of Humanistic and Positive Psychology in the
1950s, which dealt with personal growth and meaning as a way
of reaching one’s fullest potentials.

The two proponents of Humanistic Psychology were Abraham


Maslow and Carl Rogers. While Maslow
theorized the five stages of human
development based on a hierarchy of needs,
peaking in what he termed as “self-
actualization”, Carl Rogers, in his
psychotherapy practiced, theorize that
“the individual has within himself the
capacity and tendency, latent if not
evident, to move forward toward
maturity”. (On becoming a person, p.35)

Carl Rogers

Abraham Maslow

2
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to theorize the Five
Stages of Human Development

As Humanistic Psychology waned in the late 1970’s, it was


eventually revived decades later

Martin Seligman, a noted psychologist and president of the


American Psychological Association, realized how psychology,
after the Second World War, puts more emphasis in diagnosing,
treating, and preventing psychological disorders and therefore
focusing on a disease model of human nature. Martin Selignam
and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi helped focus this emphasis of
psychology form a disease model toward what is good and
positive about human persons and their desire to achieve their
full potentials. Positive psychology also created a balance
between what is humanistic psychology emphasized that human
nature is basically good, while adding that human nature is
include both the positive and negative aspects. In short,
positive psychology stresses that human nature has its good
and potential strengths, as well as its inadequacies and
weaknesses (Peterson 2006).

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