In order to answer the question of why and how development occurs, it is necessary, first of all, to answer the question of what we mean by development as such. In everyday use, this word is, of course, associated with improvement, but in a scientific context, the content is more ambiguous. For example, we say: "the degradation process is developing." What do we put in this? What are we talking about? Naturally, you cannot call such an improvement. Therefore, consideration of the human development process requires some initial clarifications.
Let us dwell on one of these conditions, which in itself represents one of the theories, or rather, a metatheory that considers a person as an object of the material and spiritual nature of the Universe. Today this problem is the subject of scientiological research, due to the fact that no single science of our time can give comprehensive answers to questions of human evolution.
If we limit the scope of the issue to the problems of the traditional, sociological-psychological subject field, then it should be borne in mind that in this sense we will deal with the analysis of something (an individual, in this case) that originally exists in a certain initial state.
To date, the most popular theories of personality development (or conceptual points of view that generalize several theories), which are very contradictory and, moreover, underdeveloped. This underdevelopment is explained by the fact that they all constitute, according to one of the most famous researchers of this problem, A. Maslow, “the highest level abstraction”.
We will name and consider some of them.
The psychosexual theory of human development (Z. Freud), as the dominant factors determining personal development, especially highlights such as attraction, emotional complex, and features of the sex-role behavior of the individual. Moreover, Z. Freud and his followers identify five main stages of personality development.
In such a theory of personality development as psychosocial analysis, its authors (E. Erickson, DB Elkonin), in contrast to Z. Freud, see the social aspect as the dominant of development. The dominant factors in this process are socio-historical and cultural-spiritual aspects. So, according to Erickson, each stage of human development is associated with overcoming a certain conflict, the nature of which depends on age, external causes and many other motives. For example, school conflicts, as a rule, often come down to overcoming the contradictions that arise in a teenager between a sense of inferiority and hard work, an understanding of the principles of freedom and a lack of understanding of the role of moral criteria of behavior that limit this freedom, etc.
In the theory of personality development of the famous French psychologist and teacher J. Piaget, the main criterion for development is the intellectual, cognitive sphere, which is why the concept of J. Piaget was called cognitive. This theory gained particular fame during a scientific polemic with the outstanding Soviet pedologist L. Vygotsky. The subject of discussion was the issue of primary and secondary development and education. According to J. Piaget, each age stage contains some restrictive limits on the development of a person’s cognitive potential.
Vygotsky and his followers - P.P. Blonsky and A.N. Leontyev - in the framework of the activity theory of personality development, they argued that such limits are practically surmountable with the help of external factors, which may primarily be upbringing and education.
L. Kohlberg, based on the views of J. Piaget, substantiated a development theory, in which the main criteria are indicators of a moral nature. It is argued that there is a direct relationship between the intellectual and the moral. In this sense, the preconventional and postconventional stages of personality development are distinguished, which, in the opinion of the representatives of this teaching, is completed by the age of 25.
Behavioral or behavioral doctrine (L. Kolberg), considers the development of personality as a permanent process of increasing and expanding its role set, which is achieved by training.
The humanistic theory (C. Rogers, A. Maslow) considers man as an end in itself for the development of mankind as a whole. In their opinion, it is very difficult to establish any patterns in the dynamics of such a complex phenomenon, which is a person, personality. Therefore, he (the person) is a self-valuable creature developing according to its own laws, the development logic of which should not be interfered with at all, you can only adapt to it.
To date, there is no single view on the problem of personality development. In addition, ideas about the possibilities and abilities of a person are rapidly changing, and therefore the vision of these processes is changing. These theories consider only certain aspects of personal development.