INTRO TO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Self
Personal Development
 the process of advancing oneself to reach one’s
highest potential as a human being
 self-development is a lifelong process and is
qualitative
 no two individuals develop at the same rate
 each should develop according to its age
developmental task to be ready for life
challenges and responsibilities
Goal:
 for individuals to reach their highest potential
Highest potential
 knowing one’s self
 knowing and fulfilling one’s purpose
 overcoming limitations
 establishing and maintaining meaningful
relationships
Factors Affecting Personal Development:
 Heredity
- refers to the inborn traits passed on by parents to
their children
 Environment
- surroundings where one grew up
- includes people and experiences you encounter
in your day to day life
 Maturity
- refers to the natural progression of the brain and
body that affects the: (PCPSDS)
 physical – biological growth of the body
 cognitive – thinking and intelligence
 psychological – emotion, attitude, and self-
identity
 social – relationships
 dimensions of a person
 spiritual – meaning and purpose in life
 The self is the essence of your being which
includes your thoughts, feelings, actions,
experiences, values, principles, and
relationships.
 generally defined as what an individual sees,
perceives, and defines oneself apart from others
Dimensions of the Self:
 Physical Dimension
- revolves around the physical body of a human
being; its processes, functions, mechanisms, and
chemistry
- responsible for giving us the ability to move our
muscles, to perceive our surroundings, and to
think of the ideas and opinions that bring
wonders to our lives, and of others
- refers to the individual as an organism under the
species of Homo sapiens hence a person is
viewing himself/herself based on his/her
physical traits
 Psychological Dimension
- contains the concepts of stress, cognition,
behavior, attitude, and ultimately, personality
- has both internal and external factors that can or
cannot be measured, observed, and calculated
- refers to the individual as a set of characteristics,
behaviors, attitudes, cognitions, and emotions
 Spiritual Dimension
- allows us to view our selves in a spiritual level –
as spiritual beings
- cannot be observed but can be subjectively
altered and perceived by the person
- holds a relevance to a perceived/non perceived
existence of God, of a greater good, or a
Superior Being relating to the humble individual
Attitudes and its Components
Attitude
 a settled way of thinking and feeling about
someone or something, typically reflecting in a
person’s behavior
 manifests itself as a behavior, as a representative
of personality
 Implicit – thoughts or feelings that conscious
awareness does not cover; can be changed
 Explicit – can be perceived consciously and
expressed accordingly; cannot be changes
3 Components of Attitude: (ABC Model)
  Affect - BOBO Doll Experiment
- the term used to represent emotions/feelings of
Two types of Consequences:
someone towards another person/thing
 Pleasant
 Unpleasant
 Behavior
2 Subsystems of Self
- the action form or manifestation of attitude
 Self-Concept
- actual self
 Cognition - realistic view of who you are
- way of thinking, belief towards - includes one’s strengths and weaknesses that
someone/something they are aware of
 affect + cognition = behavior
Formation of Attitudes: (SLOM)
 Ideal Self
 Social Factors - includes the things you wanted or what you
- roles in a social environment and the social wished for
norm that tells you what to do and what not to - knowledge, skills, and attitude you wanted to
do in a social situation affect attitude acquire to achieve your dream
- also related to upbringing
Carl Rogers
- parents, elders, and peers set examples to actions
we would later conform to and sometimes we  1959
will not even know why  the one who proposed the two subsystems
Self-Esteem
 Learning  related to self-concept
- The affect component being triggered by the  attitude towards ourselves
hunger centers in our brain, our observant  situational approach in terms of attitude because
cognition component observing how the people this is how we value ourselves, given the
in the commercials are all happy, pleasant and negative or positive feedback we receive
satisfied and their behavior of eating with sheer
delight has an effect on your attitude. Factors that Shape Personality:
- classical conditioning  Nature
- genetic and hereditary factors
- physical appearance
 Operant Conditioning - personality characteristics
- common example are the cigarette packs and
either the pleasure or danger this gives a person Kandler (2012)
- a matter of consequences, pleasant or  according to him, intelligence can be inherited
unpleasant, that our attitude towards it is through genes
affected
- if it helps one to escape from stress, problems, or
other diversities one is suffering, a person
 Nurture
develops a pleasant attitude towards it
- brought by the influences in the environment
where one grew up
- parenting style, culture
 Modelling
- when someone particularly close to us, a person
we adore, or a parent does something, it is more
Points to remember:
likely we would be doing the same thing they
are doing
  Self is the essence of the person which gives - behaviors others directly see from us;
your existence meaning and importance. controllable
 Can be subdivided into two: self-concept and - talking to someone over the phone
ideal self. Self-concept is your view of who you
are based on your evaluation of your thoughts,
feelings, and behavior. On the other hand, the  Covert
ideal self pertains to the person you wanted or - not controllable; blinking of eyes, heartbeat,
wished to become. breathing pattern
 Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent - body language
traits that is consistent over time. It involves
characteristics that make you unique from
others.
 Personality is molded by two factors: nature
which refers to the traits that were passed on by
your parents through genes and nurture which
includes environmental influence like parenting
style and culture.

HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT
Baltes and his colleagues (2006)
 process that involves growth, maintenance, and
regulation of loss
 development happens within the different stages
of your life, from the womb to the tomb
Thoughts
 products of your thinking which are often
expressed as an idea, opinion, or perspective
 can occur consciously (solving math problems, • Feelings and Behavior relate to each other
forgetting phone at home) interchangeably – we may act or behave out of
 should promote your well-being, enhance your feelings or we may feel pleasant or unpleasant
capacity to cope, and help you build meaningful after an action.
relationships • Our ability to evaluate our feelings and behavior
 high expectations: main root of maladaptive will allow us to get better at knowing when and
thoughts when not to express a particular feeling or
Feelings action.

 mental interpretation of our brain to the body • Thoughts, like feelings, are also related to
reactions that took place in response to external behavior. We act in accordance to what we
stimuli think, be it overt or covert behavior, from either
 emotions – variations in terms of physical state implicit or explicit attitude.

Behavior • Once the action has been done, our thoughts

analyzes the reaction of the environment to the
 acting out of one’s attitude action – absorbing social emotive reactions,
 attitude – thoughts, feelings, emotions about physical changes if any, and what others think.
another person, object, idea, behavior, or
situation • Once the cognition component has analyzed the
reactions with the behavior, it can then again
2 Types: change the attitude associated with the action or
maintain it depending on discretion.
 Overt
4 MAJOR ASPECTS OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT:
 Physical
- puberty - most significant change that a human
being has to go through
- the body matures in all aspects, with its sexual
characteristics – primed for the natural process
of reproduction
- curiosity arises from the availability of a whole
new variety of sensations, emotions, and
cognitions
sex hormones start activating and metabolisms
coordinate with these to make way for what we
call the sex drive
- transitioning from being a TEENAGER to
becoming an ADOLESCENT/ADULT
 Neurobiological
- brain rapidly grows but matures slower
- the brain goes through various stages of building
connections with neurons to allow
functionalities in the physical, biological, and
psychological aspects
- strengthens particular connections and circuits
and eliminates unused or useless ones
- until 9 years old
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
- proposed by Jean Piaget
 Sensorimotor
- 0-2 years old
- coordination of senses with motor responses,
sensory curiosity about the world
- language used for demands and cataloguing
- object permanence is developed
 Preoperational
- 2-7 years old
- symbolic thinking, use of proper syntax and
grammar to express concepts
- imagination and intuition are strong, but
complex abstract thoughts are still difficult
- conservation is developed
 Concrete Operational
- 7-11 years old
- concepts attached to concrete situations
- time, space, and quantity are understood and can
be applied, but not as independent concepts
 Formal Operational
- 11 years old and older
- theoretical, hypothetical, and counterfactual
thinking
- abstract logic and reasoning
- strategy and planning
- concepts learned in one context can be applied to
another
Kolberg’s Levels of Development
 Preconventional
 Stage 1
- Doing what is right because of fear of judgment
- Punishment-Obedience Orientation
 Stage 2
- Doing what is right because of personal grain –
reward
- Instrumental Relativist Orientation
 Conventional
 Stage 3
- Doing what is right according to the majority
(good interpersonal relationships, conformity)
- Interpersonal Concordance Orientation
 Stage 4
- Doing what is right because it is your duty and it
helps society
- Authority Social Order Maintaining Orientation
 Postconventional autonomous or principled
 Stage 5
- Doing what is right even if it is against the law
because the law is restrictive
- Social-Contract Legalistic Orientation
 Stage 6
- Doing what is right because of our inner
conscience which has absorbed the principles of
justice and equality and sacredness of life. This
 could also mean that the individual would be
able to go against the majority or even the
society to defend his/her morals.
- Universal Ethical Principle Orientation
Socio – emotional
 the emphasis of the individual’s self-esteem is
bound on external factors, especially the
immediate peer group
 As puberty comes to a close and the adolescent
gets accustomed to the drastic changes his/her
body went through during puberty, one learns
that self-esteem ideally is internally and should
not be bound on external factors.
 It is determined not by self-perception and peer
evaluation solely but is more of a subjective
view of self, therefore, more controllable by the
individual.
 Handling and coping with rejection is an
accurate measure of emotional maturity
 Rejections such as being dumped by a lover,
being denied permission by his/her parents,
being ousted by peers for personal opinions, or
being hated by the group just because of his/her
distinct preferences