Personality Development

Sonya Hu
The issue of how personalities develop is a controversial issue in the study of psychology,
and still has not been resolved. The personality theories of three men have more or less defined
the different opinions of modern-day psychologists on the subject. These men are Abraham
Maslow, Eric Erikson, and Sigmund Freud.
Many people are familiar with Maslows hierarchy of needs consisting of physiological,
safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Maslows hierarchy is used to describe the
pattern in which human motivations typically move in. According to Maslows theory, it is these
motivations that cause humans to grow and develop in the areas in which they pertain to.
Maslow saw the first four needs as deficit needs as in, if they are not met, a human
typically will not strive to develop, or meet the other basic needs in the hierarchy. The first of
these deficit needs is physiological needs, which refers to the basic bodily needs, including food,
water, and shelter. If a persons biological needs are not met, they will typically feel distrustful
towards their environment, leaving them with high neuroticism and anxiety, making it difficult
for them to have a sense of safety, thus preventing their motivations from continuing on to the
next layer of the hierarchy. After ones physical needs are relatively satisfied, their safety needs
tend to dominate their behavior. Their safety needs are defined by ones yearning for a
predictable, familiar environment. If a persons safety requirements are met, then they will
experience feelings of autonomy and control, in contrast to feelings of doubt and shame that may
result from a lack of consistency. The third need is the desire to experience love and belonging.
This layer of human needs involves emotionally-based relationships, including friendship,
having a supportive and communicative family, and sexual intimacy. Experiencing a failure in
close relationships such as these can lead to negative social emotions such as guilt, causing poor

extraversion values. After ones physiological, safety, and belonging needs are fulfilled, a person
experiences the natural need to be respected, have self-esteem, self-respect, and to respect others.
During the esteem layer of human motivations, a person will typically engage themselves in
activities in attempt to gain recognition and/or experience a sense of contribution, which makes
them feel accepted and valued. This helps a person to become more industrious, as opposed to
feelings of inferiority that can emerge due to dissatisfaction in these needs.
After these four needs have been fulfilled, a person typically strives to fulfill the final of
the five basic needs mentioned in Maslows hierarchy the self-actualization layer of the
hierarchy. Self-actualization is the instinctual human need to strive to be the best that they can
be and make the most out of their abilities. When fulfilled, a person is able to experience
feelings of productivity. The final part of the hierarchy triangle is self-transcendence, which is
also known as spiritual needs. When these needs are fulfilled, one can experience a sense of
integrity.
Each of the five hierarchy layers or motivations cause a person to develop in the areas
that they pertain to, allowing one to reach the higher layers and strive to fulfill higher
motivations. According to Maslows theory, different personality traits can develop based on the
success or failure in each layer. For example, failure in the physiological needs layer not only
prevents one from advancing to the safety needs layer, but also gives a person the detrimental
personality traits of high neuroticism and anxiety. Failure to fulfill ones safety needs can leave
one with feelings of doubt and shame, which can remain permanent in ones personality if not
addressed, whereas success can give a person feelings of autonomy and control, and so on.

Another mans work and theories contributed to the current psychological ideals in
personality development. Eric Erikson believed that human personalities developed throughout
life, starting from infancy and ending at death. He divided the human life into eight different
stages infancy (birth to eighteen months), early childhood (eighteen months to three years),
preschool (three to five years), school age (six to eleven years), adolescence (twelve to eighteen
years), young adulthood (nineteen to forty years), middle adulthood (forty to sixty-five years),
and maturity (sixty-five years to death). Each stage had a basic conflict, important event, and
multiple possible outcomes depending on the failure or success of certain events. For example,
during the infancy stage, one of the most important events is consumption of food. If provided
the proper reliability, care, and affection by their caregivers (who are the ones supplying the
food), a child will develop optimism, trust, confidence, and security. A lack of such proper care
will lead to insecurity, worthlessness, and general mistrust, thus making the basic conflict during
the infancy stage basic trust vs. mistrust.1
Likewise, during the early childhood stage, one is faced with the conflict of autonomy vs.
shame,2 with the major event of toilet training. The toilet training helps children to develop a
sense of physical control, helping them to build self-esteem and autonomy. Success leads the
child to be able to carry themselves with pride, while failure leads to shame and doubt. In the
next stage, the preschool stage, a child is forced to face the conflict of initiative vs. guilt.3
During this stage, children begin to explore the world around them, and ask the famous question
- Why? They develop a desire to attain a greater understanding of the world around them, and
1 Ericksons Stages of Development. Learning-Theories.com., Learning Theories.
2014. Web. 10 June 2014.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.

one method is by asking questions. The other is by asserting their newfound control and power
over the environment around them. Success in this stage leads to experiencing a sense of
purpose. However, failure during this stage may lead to disapproval from others, which results
in a sense of guilt.
The stage following preschool is the school age stage, wherein children face the issue of
industry vs. inferiority.4 In this stage, children must cope with their new social and academic
demands, forcing them to focus on learning, creating, and accomplishing many new skills and
knowledge, providing them with a sense of industry. If they succeed, then they will have a sense
of competence, whereas if they fail, they will experience feelings of inferiority, which will likely
affect their self-esteem in an adverse fashion. In the following stage, as children mature into
teenagers, they face social relationships and, based on those relationships success or failure,
either find their own identity, or experience identity diffusion. During this stage, teens
experience the issue of trying to fit in, a problem that many understand all too well. They
develop morality, find their own identity, and begin to develop strong devotion to ideals, causes,
and friends. However, failure can lead to role confusion and a weak sense of self.
In the next stage, the young adult stage, one must choose between intimacy and isolation.
During this time, many begin to form relationships, many of which are deep and intimate; some
even decide to settle down and start families during this stage. Success leads to intimate,
strong relationships, whereas failure can cause one to choose loneliness and isolate themselves.
In the following stage, middle-aged adults typically concentrate on their careers and being a
parent. They have greater responsibilities and control, and also experience major life changes,
such as their children leaving home, during this stage. Their basic conflict is generativity vs.

4 Ibid.

self-absorption.5 If they choose the path of generativity, the middle-aged adults attempt to
create, or nurture, something that will outlast them, usually by having children or by producing
something that makes a difference to society. The final stage is older adult, or maturity. In this
stage, one reflects on their life and follows either the path of integrity, or the path of despair.
Some experience feelings of contentment with their life, while some despair as they reflect on
their lifes failures. Still others fear death, and try to look for a purpose in their lives, wondering
whether or not their life was truly worth living.
Each of the eight stages cause a person to develop in certain areas. In infancy, they develop
trust, or the lack thereof. As a toddler, they develop a will and self-esteem, or shame. This
continues throughout ones life until they finally reach maturity and reflect on their life, falling
into integrity and contentment, or into despair. According to Eriksons theory, up until the end, a
person is learning more and developing in terms of personality. They never truly stop growing in
certain fields, as they are unable to truly completely develop there until they reach the age that
pertains to that certain area. Ones personality is something that, although is partially defined
from infancy, does not stop changing until death.

The third theory of personality development was that of Sigmund Freud. Freuds beliefs,
are incredibly controversial. Freud believed that personality develops during the childhood,
where pleasure-seeking energies, or libido, become focused on certain erogenous areas. This
psychosexual energy then becomes the driving force behind behaviors that later become
personality traits. The five stages that make up his theory are very similar to the several of the
stages in Eriksons, however, he does not mention any large changes in personality in later life,
and believes that personality is most likely completely established at the age of five.
5 Ibid.

The first stage is the Oral Stage, which focuses on the mouth, which is the erogenous
zone. This stage takes place between birth and one year of age, wherein the key event is
consumption of food. The mouth is a necessary component in eating, which is where an infant
derives pleasure by tasting and sucking. If the caregivers provide the proper care and love when
feeding the infant, they will develop trust and comfort. The first conflict that occurs in this stage
is the weaning process as in, making the child less dependent. After the first year, the child
enters the Anal Stage, wherein the focus is on bowel and bladder control. This stage lasts from
one year to three years of age, and the major conflict is toilet training. Success in this stage
allows a sense of accomplishment and independence; however, it is completely based on the
parents way of teaching. Using praise and rewards is beneficial, as it makes the child feel
capable and productive. Such positive experiences at this stage help people to become creative,
productive, and competent later on in life. Punishing, ridiculing, or shaming the child for
accidents is bad, as is being either too lenient or too strict. Being too lenient can result in an
anal-expulsive personality, wherein a person is messy, wasteful, or destructive. However, being
too strict or beginning too early can cause an anal-retentive personality to develop, which causes
a person to be stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.
The third stage is the Phallic Stage, which occurs between three and six years in the
genitals. This stage is where children discover the differences between males and females.
Young boys begin to see their fathers as rivals for their mothers affections, making them
possessive, and leading to what Freud titled the Oedipus Complex. Young girls experience a
similar sensation with their mothers, which is called the Electra Complex. Eventually, the young
child will begin to connect with their same-gender parent by way of possessing the other. During
the next stage, the Latent Period, libido interests are suppressed and sexual feeling are left

inactive. During this stage, children enter school and become more and more concerned about
peer relationships, hobbies, and other such interests. Although the energy is still present, it is
directed towards other areas, such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. This stage is
crucial in the development of social and communication skills, as well as self-confidence. At the
end of puberty, one transitions into the fifth stage, the Genital Stage, which lasts from puberty
until death. During this stage, a person develops strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This
stage differs from the earlier stages, as those were mostly focused solely on ones individual
needs, whereas in this stage, interest in the welfare of others grows. If this stage is a success, a
person should become well-balanced, warm, and caring.
This theory is very similar to Eriksons in that in each of the five stages, a person
develops in certain areas pertaining to those stages. Only, in Freuds, it concerns sexual energy.
Another part that Freud mentioned was that if the stages were not all completed at the
appropriate age, one would experience fixation, which refers to when someone becomes stuck
at a certain stage. For example, if fixation occurs in the Oral Stage or, rather, failure occurs
during the weaning process a person may develop issues with dependence or aggression, which
can lead to problems with drinking, smoking, eating, and nail-biting. According to Freuds
theory, a persons personality is decided upon by the five stages, most of which occur during
childhood. After that, there is very little variation.

Each of these three mens theories are different, but they are the most common
psychological ideals that are famously used by many psychologists. Each of them have been
criticized for their theories, particularly Freud, with the controversy around the libido becoming
the driving force behind personality-creating behaviors. However, each share a very

fundamental component there are certain things that occur in ones life that will determine their
personality, whether it be that certain needs must be met, or they must be cared for in a certain
way.