Conceptualizing the Self and Personality: Development, Theories, and Lifespan Perspectives

Conceptualizing the Self and Personality

This section introduces the foundational concepts of self and personality in psychology, emphasizing their roles in understanding individual differences and development across the lifespan.

Key Terms

• Self-concept: Perceptions of unique attributes and traits that define an individual.

• Self-esteem: Evaluation of one's worth as a person, based on positive and negative self-perceptions that make up self-concept.

• Identity: Overall sense of who one is, where one is heading, and where one fits into society.

Personality: Definition and Components

Personality refers to the organized combination of attributes, motives, values, and behaviors unique to each individual. It encompasses:

• Dispositional traits (e.g., the Big Five)

• Characteristic adaptations (contextualized traits and habits)

• Narrative identities/Life stories (personal meaning and self-understanding)

Theories of Personality

Several major theories explain the development and structure of personality:

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud: Personality develops during the first five years of life. It consists of three conflicting elements:

  • Id: Selfish, irrational, seeks immediate gratification of needs.

  • Ego: Rational, problem-solving, mediates between id and reality.

  • Superego: Moral standards or conscience.

• Jung: Introduced the concept of archetypes—universal, symbolic images in the collective unconscious.

• Erik Erikson (Neo-Freudian): Emphasized social influences and developmental stages throughout the lifespan, recognizing potential for personal growth and change.

Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

Healthy personality development occurs when conflicts at each stage are resolved. Fixations result from lack of resolution.

• Oral (birth to 1 year): Trust in caretakers

• Anal (1-3 years): Accomplishment from controlling body

• Phallic (3-6 years): Understanding of sex differences; Oedipus complex

• Latency (6-puberty): Social and intellectual skill development

• Genital (puberty-death): Mature life areas (e.g., ego, superego develop)

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson proposed eight stages, each with a psychosocial crisis and a virtue developed:

Approximate Age	Psychosocial Crisis/Task	Virtue Developed
Infant – 18 months	Trust vs. Mistrust	Hope
18 months – 3 years	Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt	Will
3 – 5 years	Initiative vs. Guilt	Purpose
5 – 13 years	Industry vs. Inferiority	Competency
13 – 21 years	Identity vs. Confusion	Fidelity
21 – 39 years	Intimacy vs. Isolation	Love
40 – 65 years	Generativity vs. Stagnation	Care
65 and older	Integrity vs. Despair	Wisdom

Trait Theory

Trait theory posits that personality is a set of dispositional trait dimensions along which people can differ. Traits are assumed to be consistent across situations.

• Big Five Personality Traits:

Trait	Description
Openness	Curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas
Conscientiousness	Organized, systematic, punctual, achievement-oriented, dependable
Extraversion	Outgoing, talkative, sociable, enjoys being in social situations
Agreeableness	Affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, warm
Neuroticism	Anxious, irritable, temperamental, moody

Social Learning Theory

• Rejects universal stages of personality development

• Questions the existence of enduring personality traits

• Emphasizes that people's behavior is influenced by situations and environment

Humanistic Theory

• Carl Rogers: Focused on self-actualization—the drive to realize one's full potential.

• Abraham Maslow: Personality is formed through how well needs are met, as described in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Personality Across the Lifespan

Personality and self-concept develop and change throughout life, influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.

Emerging Self

• 2-3 Months: Sense of agency (awareness of being able to influence events)

• 18 Months: Recognize self visually as a distinct individual

• 18-24 Months: Categorical self (development of self through social categories such as age, sex, etc.)

Contributions to Self-Awareness

• Self-recognition depends on cognitive development, social interaction, and cultural context

• Toddlers who recognize themselves in the mirror are more able to:

  • Talk about themselves and be assertive

  • Experience self-conscious emotions

  • Understand other people (empathy)

  • Coordinate their own perspectives with others

Temperament

Temperament refers to early, genetically based but environmentally influenced tendencies to respond in predictable ways to events. These serve as the building blocks of later personality.

• Chess & Thomas: Most infants placed in 3 categories based on 9 dimensions:

  • Easy temperament (40%)

  • Difficult temperament (10%)

  • Slow-to-warm-up temperament (15%)

Dimensions of Temperament

• Surgency/extraversion: Actively, confidently, energetically approach new experiences in an emotionally positive way

• Negative affectivity: Tendency to be sad, fearful, easily frustrated, irritable, difficult to soothe

• Effortful control: Ability to focus and shift attention, inhibit responses, and appreciate low-intensity activities (emerges in toddlers and early childhood)

Goodness of Fit

• Genes and environment interact to produce temperament

• Goodness of fit: Extent to which the child's temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of the social world they must adapt to

Development of Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

Self-Concept (Pre-school to Early Childhood)

• Concrete and physical self-descriptions (physical characteristics, possessions, activities, accomplishments, preferences)

• By age 7-8, children include psychological and social aspects (group membership, comparison)

Self-Concept in Adolescence

• Self-descriptions become less physical and more psychological

• Less concrete, more abstract, more differentiated, and more integrated

• Reflect greater self-awareness

Childhood Self-Esteem

• Becomes more differentiated or multidimensional with age

• By mid-elementary school, children differentiate among five aspects:

  • Scholastic competence

  • Social acceptance

  • Behavioral conduct

  • Athletic competence

  • Physical appearance

Influences on Self-Esteem

• Genetics

• Competence and social comparison

• Supportive social feedback (warm, supportive, democratic parents)

Self-Esteem in Adolescence

• Tends to decrease from childhood to early adolescence, plateau, then increase in late adolescence/early adulthood

• Adolescents become more realistic about strengths and weaknesses

• Temporary uncertainty about self when transitioning to middle school

• Unhappiness with body changes is most common among white females

High Self-Esteem and Adolescence

• Most emerge from adolescence with high self-esteem if they have opportunities to feel competent and experience approval/support from peers and parents

• Adolescents with high self-esteem have better physical and mental health, better career and financial prospects, and lower involvement in criminal behavior

Adult Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem rises gradually through the adult years until the mid-60s, then drops in late old age

• Sense of clarity about who they are rises through middle age, declines in old age

• Gender differences in self-esteem disappear in old age

Maintaining Positive Self-Image

• Reduce gap between ideal and real self

• Change goals and standards of self-evaluation

• Make social comparisons to people in the same age group

• Avoid negative self-stereotyping

Personality Development and Stability

Developing Personality

• Some elements of personality in 3-year-olds relate to functioning in adolescence and adulthood

• Inhibited and overcontrolled children tend to become cautious and unassertive

• Irritable, highly emotional, and lacking in self-control tend to be impulsive

• Well-adjusted children continue to be well-adjusted

Early Temperament and the Big Five

• Dimensions of early temperament are related to Big Five personality traits later in life

• Self-controlled children do well in school, are socially and morally mature, healthier, and more financially stable in their 30s

• They are able to focus on long-term goals, act responsibly, and resist temptations

Adults and Trait Dimensions

• Adults retain rankings on trait dimensions

• Personality growth from adolescence to middle adulthood includes greater emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness

• Little personality change in later adulthood except decreased activity level

Trait Consistency Increases with Age

• Personality traits become more stable as people age, due to genetic makeup, lasting effects of childhood experiences, stable environments, and gene-environment correlations

Freud and Personality Development

• The view that personality is formed by age five is not supported

• Personalities change in response to environmental influences

• Some aspects of personality do not stabilize until adolescence

• Goodness of fit concept helps explain continuity and change in children's personalities

Erikson and Personality Development

• Adolescence is a critical period in the lifelong process of forming an identity

• Identity vs. Role confusion: Integrate varied perceptions of the self-concept into a coherent sense of self (e.g., "What kind of career do I want? Where do I fit in?")

Identity Crisis

• Revision of body image

• Adjustment to being a sexual being

• Cognitive growth allows thinking about possible future selves

• Social demands require adolescents to grow up

Marcia's Identity Statuses

James Marcia identified four identity statuses based on crisis and commitment:

• Identity achievement

• Identity moratorium

• Identity foreclosure

• Identity diffusion

Adolescents move through these statuses as they explore and commit to various aspects of identity.

Influences on Identity Formation

• Cognitive development

• Personality

• Quality of relationship with parents

• Opportunities for exploration

• Cultural context

Continuing Psychosocial Growth

• People are capable of psychosocial growth during middle adulthood

• Elderly adults confront integrity vs. despair, engaging in life review to find meaning and prepare for death

Midlife Crisis

• Erikson and Vaillant: Few signs of midlife crisis

• Levinson: Transition period from age 40-45, where a person questions their life structure and raises unsettling questions

Ethnic Identity Development

• Sense of personal identification with an ethnic group and its values and cultural traditions

• Begins in infancy; adolescents proceed through the same identity statuses as in other identities

• Positive ethnic identity buffers against racial and ethnic discrimination

Influences on Positive Ethnic Identity Development

• Socialization (teaching about cultural traditions, instilling pride)

• Preparation to live in a culturally diverse society and deal with prejudice/discrimination

• Supportive friends of one's own background

Benefits of Positive Ethnic Identity

• Protects adolescents from damaging effects of discrimination

• Boosts self-esteem

• Contributes to academic achievement and good adjustment

Successful Aging and Psychological Well-Being

• Successful aging is an experience better than typical aging, characterized by freedom from disease/disability, good cognitive and physical functioning, and active engagement with life (Rowe and Kohn)

Theories of Successful Aging

• Activity theory: Aging adults will find their lives satisfying if they maintain previous lifestyles and activity levels, continue old activities, or find substitutes

• Disengagement theory: Successful aging involves withdrawal of aging individuals from society, which is satisfying to both

• Interactionist model: Emphasizes goodness of fit between person and environment and their influence on each other