Human Growth and Development - Essay Example

Human Growth and Development Erikson’s nine stages psychosocial development theory has a central importance to the human growth and development studies. Each stage has its own psychosocial dimensions. For me, care and attention from my mother played main role as her nurture attracted me more than any other person. Through his direction and support, I started to rely on things and taking actions. However, reluctance and hesitation continued their existence in my early childhood. Punctuality and commitment were my personal development milestones and traits theory was mainly applied for making new friends. Being a believer of religion, spirituality and spiritual development has been part of my life. Development Theory Erikson’s nine stages psychosocial development theory is very important for understanding the process of human growth and development. This theory is based on nine stages and each stage has its own socio psychological dimension and aspects (Beyers and Seiffge-Krenke, 2010). In addition, each stage has its own typical developmental characteristics which subsequently determine the personality traits and characteristics in the upcoming developmental phases of human life. For example, first stage, which starts from birth to 1 year, is known as trust vs. mistrust, highlights the psychological process of identification in which new born child determines between trust or mistrust on others. The second stage, from 2 to 3, has been identified as autonomy vs. shame and doubt and the main features of this stage include increased physical activity along with decisional authority to determine whether to assert will on others. Kroger (2007) mentions that Erikson supports the concept of hierarchical integration in which a strong sense of identity is identified as the central to entire theme of theory. The third stage, known as initiative vs. guilt, between 4 to 5, is more relevant and child is more curious and tries to mould things and objects. In the fourth stage, which is industry vs. inferiority, between 6 to puberty, experience the rise of curiosity about things in which more inquisitive behavior and thinking develop till the age of puberty. In the fifth stage, identity vs. identity confusion, which occurs in the period of adolescence, is mainly confronted with the fundamental question of personal identity (who am I?). In this regard, Beyers and Goossens (2008) contend that some parents may not able to provide a required level of support to their children for exploring the identity issues. In the sixth stage, known as intimacy vs. isolation, which primarily takes place in early adulthood, mainly highlights social connections with the surroundings in which friends and relatives are the one who receive either intimacy or isolation experience from the person undergoing the process of growth and development. Particularly, in this stage, young people engage in long term affectionate relationships (Collins et al., 2009) and that represents their interaction and understanding about intimacy. And sometimes, such relationships are become idealistic (Connolly and McIsaac, 2008). However, Luyckx et al., (2006) mention that ego development is largely in cognizance with the process models of identity development. In the seventh stage, which is known as generativity vs. stagnation, occurs in the middle adulthood, is mainly characterized by the consideration beyond the personal development and more thinking is diverted toward society and future generations as well in the eighth stage, integrity vs. despair, which is late adulthood, experiences the process of self-contemplation in which past is analyzed and both positive and negative experiences are taking into account. In the ninth stage, despair vs. hope and faith, which takes place in late 80s and beyond, requires care from others while encounters new sense of self. Personal Development Human development is a dynamic process of environmental and innate factors (Beckett and Taylor, 2010). My early development saw various changes in my socio-psychological development. Within the theory of Erikson’s nine stages of psychosocial development, I experienced different socio psychological development. For example, in the first stage, I placed my entire reliance on mother (as mother told me) and was very keen to remain attached with mother. Even my father showed affection and care to me but my trust and reliance was more toward my mother than to my father. The main reason for this trust was provided by the true and natural care offered by mother to child. As a considerable care and attention is provided by mother, it is logical and natural that the child would be more inclined and would be more relying on mother. In the second stage, I was always took a first step with reluctance and hesitation and these two factors were mainly encountered by me. Due to this reluctance and hesitation, I was more fearful and preferred to avoid doing anything new. As a result, I was more doubtful than fearless. In the third stage between 4 to 5, I received considerable nourishment from my mother as she always directed me to fetch things from a distance and when I was reluctant to do so, she came along and showed me that it was nothing to wear about. In the fourth stage, after learning to work against fear, doubt and directional control from mother, I started to experience a new change in my life in which understanding and doing things in a way that is done by others, especially was more common. I still remember that I always followed my mother if she took a chair and placed to another location. I exactly did the same thing and was insisting to do. It was like a learning process in which first understanding of things and purpose was determined and then act was carried out. In the fifth stage, I was not interested to know about myself but more keen to learn things as I had developed a sense that it is the power of learning and understanding things that would enable one to decide things in a proper manner. Instead of focusing on the personal psychological development in which personal choices, preferences, good and bad habits are normally determined, I mainly attached more significance to things that matter most like relationships and their importance and effect on the personal and social life structure. Developmental Milestones Socially, I planned to construct a basis for friendship before getting admission to college. In this social framework, I was of the opinion that social and personal relationships are assets and besides being a social necessity as well. Instead of developing irrational or immature friendship, more emphasis and focus should be given to the rationality. Personally, punctuality and commitment were two main personal goals envisioned by me. Both are highly significant for the future life because both are generally admired by people and institutions. For developing the habit f punctuality, I decided that I would plan my daily life schedule in which each personal and social activity would be done on time. For obtaining this purpose, I still awake early in the morning and try to achieve the milestone of punctuality through this act. Challenges There were a number of challenges for practicing and achieving this objective. First, what social and personal traits and qualities should be used for determining friendship and how they should be identified? In other words, more time and energy were required for getting answers about these questions. However, instead of consuming more time and energy, I determined certain personality benchmarks and always preferred to observe them. For example, honesty was the first fundamental personality benchmark that was used for evaluating and deciding for friendship. Personally, maintaining both punctuality and commitment has been a challenging task. In this stage of life, personal, social, economic and domestic changes and extra-ordinary circumstances and their effects are unavoidable. One way or other, they influence on the routine schedule, making the consistency in pattern more difficult. In addition, it is important to mention that such changes are also difficult to predict and it is also more challenging to figure out their effect on the routine structure, psychological development and growth as well. Some events de-motivates while others motivates to a certain extent. Based on this understanding, it can be highlighted that smoothness and consistency in the daily routine are always hindered by the unforeseen social and personal events. Achievement of Developmental Milestones Well-being is construed as human growth is mainly influenced by surrounding contexts (Ryff and Singer, 2008). Socially, I have a few friends but they all are of high caliber. They are honest, loyal and highly committed to their life goals and objectives. They full a social sense in which they understand things not from their personal perspective but from the standpoint of others. And it is this rationale understanding that encouraged me to develop and retain friendship with them. Personally, I rarely come across any loopholes in my routine schedule and that is a sign of commitment to my life goals and objectives. Personally, the developmental goals are being pursued and they are being appropriately achieved as well. In this regard, it is important to mention that I have developed a strong theory of motivation which motivates and encourages me to ensure punctuality and commitment because they are those factors that have capacity to ensure a successful journey towards the career and higher character personality in the long run. Spiritual Development There are numerous ways to understand the terms spiritual development and spirituality (Roehlkepartain et al., 2005). Religion provides a sense of hope and takes away despair from life. The attachment with God and attachment with the existence of God are two important factors that determine the path of the spiritual development. Without having a strong belief on these fundamental religious realities, it would be meaningless to pursue the spiritual development and seek purification through the process of spiritual development. It is the strength of beliefs that enables one to establish a connection with God for making life easier and comfortable and non-violent and peaceful as well. I always seek assistance from God in the precious decisions and issues of my life. For example, I attend religious ceremonies and pay visit to the sacred place as well in which the main purpose is to seek spiritual guidance from the religious personalities and God as well. Through this spiritual path, I feel sense of serenity and peace inside me and simultaneously I receive guidance. In this regard, it is important to mention that the attachment with God through the spiritual development is a key aspect which is highly significant and useful for peaceful living in this temporal world. And it has become an established fact that the spiritual attachment has direct link with the psychosocial development in which social and personal understanding and maturity continue to increase throughout the process of spiritual development. Current Lifestyle and Influence of Aging Process Current lifestyle has both aspects of life: age-related standards and rationality. The age-related standards include making new friends, trying to understand their mental and psychological level and so on. And in this evaluation process, rationality plays a pivotal role as it highlights the dark and shinning aspects of various introvert and extrovert personalities. Aging and its effects are in unavoidable. Despite so many huge claims, science has not been able to stop the speed of aging process. However, as it has been said that every cloud has a silver lining, aging has its own positive effects on human growth and development as well. For example, maturity, rationality, experience-based decision making and other factors that come through the process of ageing are highly useful because they enable us to foresee certain events and their future direction and effects on the personal and social aspects of life. In other words, more responsible and rational decisions are made as life undergoes different stages of human growth and development. Conclusion Erikson’s nine stages development theory is an important growth theory in which each stage has its own specific characteristics and age-related psychosocial dimensions. My reliance was more on mother as she was the one who greatly cared for me throughout my early part of life. Socially, I follow traits theory for making friends and punctuality and commitment are my key personal development milestones. Spiritually, I seek guidance from God by attaching a relationship through the source of trust on the existence of God. References Beckett, C., & Taylor, H. (2010). Human Growth and Development. 2nd edn. London: Sage. Beyers, W., & Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2010). Does Identity Precede Intimacy? Testing Erikson’s Theory on Romantic Development in Emerging Adults of the 21st Century. Journal of Adolescent Research, XX (X), 1-29. Beyers, W., & Goossens, L. (2008). Dynamics of perceived parenting and identity formation in late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 165-184 Collins, W. A., Welsh, D. P., & Furman, W. (2009). Adolescent romantic relation­ships. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 631-652. Connolly, J., & McIsaac, C. (2008). Adolescent romantic relationships: Beginnings, endings and psychosocial challenges. International Society for the Study of Behav­ioral Development Newsletter, 53, 1-5 Kroger, J. (2007). Identity development: Adolescence through adulthood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Luyckx, K., Schwartz, S. J., Berzonsky, M. D., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Smits, I., et al. (2008). Capturing ruminative exploration: Extending the four-dimensional model of identity formation in late adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 58-82. Roehlkepartain, E., King, P., Wagener, L., & Benson, P. (2005). The handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing. Ryff, C.D., & Singer, B.H. (2008). Know Thyself and Become What You Are: A Eudaimonic Approach to Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol.9, Is. 1, pp.13-39. Read More