INTRODUCTION TO

PERSONAL
DVELOPMENT
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Developmental scientist identified the three aspects or domains of
human development as (Papalia and Feldman 2012)
1. Physical Development
- covers the growth of the body and the brain, motor and sensory
skills and even physical health.

2. Cognitive development
- covers our capacity to learn, to speak, to understand, to reason,
and to create.
3. Psychosocial development
- includes our social interactions with people, our emotions, attitudes, self
identity, personality, beliefs, and values.
Factors that Influences Human Development
• Heredity
-inborn traits passed on by the generations of offsprings from both sides of the
biological parents’ families.
• Environment
- the world outside of ourselves and the experiences that result from our
contact and interaction with this external world.
• Maturation
- the natural progression of the brain and the body that affects the cognitive
(thinking and intelligence), psychological (emotion, attitude , and self identity) and
social ( relationships) dimensions of a person.
 Personality development
-  the development of the organized pattern of behaviors and attitudes
that makes a person distinctive. Personality development occurs by the
ongoing interaction of temperament , character, and environment.

Personal
- defined as belonging or relating to a particular person
- of, relating to, or affecting a particular person.

Development
- the act or process of growing or causing something to grow or become
larger or more advanced.
What is Personal Development?

Personal development
-may be defined as a process in which persons reflect
upon themselves, understand who they are, accept what
they discover, about themselves, and learn ( or unlearn)
new sets of values, attitudes, behavior, and thinking skills
to reach their fullest potential as huma beings.
Zorka Hereford
In her book, 9 Essential Life Skills
– A Guide for Personal
Development and Self
Realization, she defined personal
development as “ the process of
striving to be the best that you
can be in order to reach and
realize your full potential. It is a
journey of self-discovery, self-
improvement, and self-
realization.”
Psychology and Personal Development
Psychology
- the study of human thinking and behavior, serves as the
foundation for personal development.

- The two proponents of Humanistic Psychology were Abraham

Maslow and Carl Rogers.
MARTIN
SELIGMAN
He is a psychologist and
president of the American
Psychological Association,
realized how psychology after
the Second World War , puts
more emphasis in diagnosing,
treating, and preventing
psychological disorders and
therefore focusing on a disease
model of human nature.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Csikszentmihalyi is noted for his work in the study
of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the
architect of the notion of flow and for his years of
research and writing on the topic. He is the author of
many books and over 290 articles  or book chapters. 
Martin Seligman, former president of the 
American Psychological Association, described
Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher
on positive psychology.[10] Csikszentmihalyi once
said: "Repression is not the way to virtue. When
people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are
by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen
discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the
boaunds of reason." His works are influential and are
widely cited.
Personal Development in Adolescence
Adolescence
-transition period between childhood and early adulthood.

In the Philippine context, authors Corpuz, Lucas, Borabo and Lucido

(2010) defined the three stages of adolescence as :

• Early adolescence – between 10 – 13 years of age

• Middle adolescence – between 14 – 16 years of age
• Late adolescence – between 17 to 20 years of age
KNOWING
ONESELF
DEFINING THE SELF
Self
- the essence of a person,: his thoughts, feelings and actions,
experiences, beliefs, values, principles and relationships. It includes a
person’s life purpose, meaning and aspirations.

- in holistic approach, it is defined as the cognitive and affective

representation of one’s identity and is then defined in terms of human
characteristics as behavior and thought.
personality
- in Psychology, it is referred to as the set of behaviors,
feelings, thoughts and motives that identifies an individual.
- the essence of who we are and is the embodiment of one;s
physical psychological, cognitive, affective and spiritual self.

Gordon Allport defines personality as “ a pattern of habbits,

attitudes and traits that determines the individual’s
characteristics, behaviors and traits,” (Sanchez, Abad, and Jao
2012).
Nature, Nurture, and Personality
Nature – heredity or genetic make-up
Nurture – environment

There is no single genes that creates a trait. It is always a

combination of genes, environmental exposure, experiences
and cultural backgrounds.
 Trait Theories
Trait
- is a major factor for personality.
Trait Theory
- an approach in identifying types of personalities based on certain
traits of attributes, which vary from one person to the other. This theory
wa developed over the past 60 years, started by D. W. Fiske (1949) and
later pursued by the other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith
(1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae and Costa (1987).
BIG FIVE TRAIT AXONOMY
BIG FIVE OR FIVE –FACTOR MODEL
-five universal and widely agreed upon dimensions of personality.
For it to be easily remembered, it uses the acronym OCEAN.
Personality Traits
-it is a disposition to behave consistently in particular way.

Personality
-broader term that comprises of traits, motives, thoughts, self-
concept, feelings.

It can be measured using different kinds of tests like Rorschach Inkblot

Test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter.
 Myers – Briggs Type Indicator
 - an introspective self-report questionnaire indicating
differing psychological preferences in how people
perceive the world and make decisions.

Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers developed the

Myers- Briggs personality model based on four preferences
of individual.
Four Preferences of Individuals