I am introverted or extroverted, stable or unstable, sensitive or insensitive, intuitive or rational. All these categories reflect aspects of personality that are widely used in psychology.

The personality we have is going to mark how we see the world and react to it. But the personal characteristics that are specific to us have not always been there in the same way, but rather we have gone through different stages of personality development until we became the way we are, from childhood to our current situation and even to our future death.

Definition of personality

Personality is defined as a pattern of behavior, thought and emotion that is relatively stable over time and through the different situations we live in. This pattern explains how we perceive reality , the judgments we make about it or the way we interact with the environment, being partly inherited and partly acquired and subsequently shaped through life experience.

Because it is born in a great part of the set of experiences that we live throughout our life, it is considered that the personality as such is not fully configured until adulthood, having a long process of development until it reaches stability (although it can suffer later variations, they are not frequent nor tend to be marked).

Evolution through the different life stages

To establish a chronology of the stages of personality development it is interesting to start from the classification of the main life stages.

Using them as a reference, let us see how the psychological structure of human beings develops.

1. The first moments

At the time a baby is born, we cannot consider it to have a marked personality, since the new individual has not had concrete experiences that make him/her be, think or act in a certain way. However, it is true that as the days go by we see how the child has a tendency to behave in a certain way : for example we can observe if he cries a lot or a little, how he feeds himself or if he responds to touch with fear or curiosity.

These first characteristics are part of what is called temperament , which is part of the innate constitution of the person and which can later be shaped by learning. Temperament has a biological basis and comes mainly from the genetic heritage of our ancestors. Being a component linked mainly to affectivity, it is a primal component that will act as a basis for the construction of the personality.

2. Childhood

As the subject grows, he or she gradually develops different cognitive and physical capacities that will allow him or her to grasp reality, begin to try to understand how the world works and how one’s own being can influence and participate in it.

This stage is characterized by the acquisition of values, beliefs and norms coming from the outside , in an initially imitative way and with few critical tints. The personality begins to form as the characteristics of the temperament are confronted with reality, acquiring patterns of behaviour and ways of seeing the world and forming the character.

At this stage self-esteem tends to be initially high due to the high level of attention that is usually lavished on the child in the family environment. However, at the time of entry into the school world it tends to decrease, due to the fact that the family environment is left behind to enter an unknown one in which numerous points of view converge.

3. Puberty and adolescence

Adolescence, the point at which we go from being children to being adults, is a key stage in the formation of the personality . It is a complex life stage in which the organism is in the process of change, while at the same time expectations regarding the individual’s behaviour increase and the individual begins to experience different aspects and realities.

This is a vital moment characterized by the need to differentiate oneself, with the frequent appearance of a break or separation from the adults in charge and a continuous questioning of everything that has been instilled in him until then .

The number of environments in which the person participates is increased, as well as the number of people with whom he or she interacts, which, together with the hormonal changes and the increase in the capacity for abstraction inherent in cognitive maturation, will cause the person to experience different roles that will teach him or her what he or she likes and what is expected of him or her. There is a strengthening of the search for social bonding and the first relationships appear. The adolescent seeks his/her own identity as well as a feeling of belonging to the social environment, trying to insert him/herself as part of the community and the world.

In this stage self-esteem tends to vary as a result of the insecurities and discoveries of adolescence. Through experimentation, the adolescent will try different ways of seeing life, staying and introjecting some aspects and varying others. They are looking for their own identity, a search that in time crystallizes into a differentiated personality.

4. Adulthood

It is considered that it is from adolescence onwards that we can talk about personality proper, having already forged a relatively stable pattern of behaviour, emotion and thought.

This personality will still vary throughout life , but in broad terms the structure will be similar unless some very relevant event happens for the subject that pushes him to make changes in his way of visualizing the world.

In relation to other life stages, self-esteem tends to rise and in general the self-concept of the adult tends to try to bring his or her real self closer to the ideal, so that shyness decreases , if it has been raised before. As a consequence, what others think of oneself ceases to be so important, and activities that in previous stages would be embarrassing can be carried out.

5.Old age

Although in general the personality remains stable, the arrival of old age implies the progressive experience of situations such as the loss of skills, work activity and loved ones, which can greatly affect our way of relating to the world. There is a tendency to decrease extraversion and self-esteem .

Two old theories about personality development

The elements written above reflect a general trend throughout the life stages. However, many authors have established theories about how personality develops. Two of the best known, although also outdated, are Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, each establishing different stages of personality development .

It must be taken into account in any case that these proposals of personality development are based on a paradigm of meta-psychology that has been highly criticized for its speculative character and impossible to test, so that today they are not considered scientifically valid, despite the fact that historically they have had a great influence.

Freud’s psychosexual development

For the founding father of psychoanalysis, the personality of the human being is shaped throughout life through various stages of personality development. Personality is structured in an it or a drive part, an overlay that censors such desires on the basis of morality and an I that mediates between such aspects.

With the libido as fundamental psychic energy , Freud’s theory considers that we are born only with our pulsional part, being born with time the self and the superego as we introduce the social norms. The constant conflicts of drives make the organism use defence mechanisms in order to reduce the tension that these produce, mechanisms that are often used and that allow us to explain personality traits and facets.

For Freud, we go through a series of stages in which we place our sources of pleasure and frustration in different body areas, expressing the libido from them. These stages are progressively overcome, although there may be regressions or stagnation that produce fixations in certain behaviours and ways of seeing the world and personal relationships.

1. Oral stage

During the first year of life the human being is immersed in the so-called oral stage, in which we use the mouth to explore the world and obtain gratification from it. We feed ourselves, bite and taste different objects through it. Thus, the mouth exercises the role that the hands will later have, and that for Freud conditions the psychosexual development in this stage of life.

2. Anal stage

After the oral stage and up to about three years of age, the nucleus of psychosexual interest becomes the anus, as it begins to control the sphincters and assume an element of pleasure in being able to manage what it keeps inside and what it expels . The child can defecate, which allows him to reduce his internal tension, or retain the faeces voluntarily.

3. Phallic stage

Between the ages of three and six, the individual usually enters the phallic phase or stage. It is in this stage that there begins to be an interest towards the sexual, focusing on the genitals and the Oedipus complex, jealousy and regret appear.

4. Latency stage

From the age of seven and until adolescence we can find that the expression of sexual energy does not find a physical correlate through which to express itself , due in large part to the influence of the social and moral. Modesty appears and sexual impulses are reduced.

5. Genital stage

Typical of puberty and adolescence, this stage is accompanied by the physical, psychological and emotional changes typical of such a vital time. The libido begins to express itself through the genitals, appearing in an intense way the desire of attachment and bonding and having the sufficient capacity to carry out the expression of sexuality in a symbolic as well as physical way.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development

Another outstanding author and one of the pioneers in proposing that personality develops from birth to death was Erik Erikson, who considered that the development of psychic configuration and personality derive from the social nature of the human being or, in other words, from social interaction.

For this author, each life stage entails a series of conflicts and problems that the individual has to face until he manages to overcome them, growing and strengthening his ego as he overcomes them and forges his way of seeing, thinking and acting in the world of each subject.

The different stages of personality development for Erikson are as follows.

1. Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

The first of the crises that the human being has to face throughout his life appears at the very moment of birth, being the base from which the rest of the psychic structure will be configured. According to this theory, d ura until approximately eighteen months of age . During this stage the individual must decide whether or not to trust the stimuli and people coming from outside or the effects that one’s actions have on the world.

That is, if you can feel comfortable in the presence of, for example, your parents and family members. Getting through this stage correctly will mean that you are able to find a balance between trust and mistrust in which trust prevails, allowing you to establish secure relationships with other people while also having confidence in yourself.

Thus, in this stage of Erikson’s development, as in the following ones, the goal is to reach a point of balance or adjustment where autonomy fits well with the social life one leads, without harming or being harmed.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

From the time they overcome the previous stage and up to three years of age, the individual will gradually develop their body and mind, learning to control and manage their body and their behaviour based on both maturation and practice and on the information they receive from their parents, who teach them what they can and cannot do.

With time, these circumstances will be internalized, and the child will make behavioral tests to verify the effects and consequences , developing little by little his autonomy. They seek to be guided by their own ideas. The aim of this crisis is to achieve self-control and self-management of one’s own behaviour so that we can act in an adaptive manner.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt

In the period of time between three and five years of age the child begins to develop a greater activity in an autonomous way . Their level of activity drives them to generate new behaviours and ways of relating to the world, and the initiative appears.

However, the feedback from such an initiative can generate feelings of guilt in the child, if the consequences of experiencing are adverse. A balance is needed that allows us to see our responsibility in our actions while at the same time being free.

4. Laboriousness vs. inferiority

From the age of seven until adolescence, children continue to mature cognitively and learn how reality works. You need to act, to do things, to experiment . If she does not succeed in doing them, feelings of inferiority and frustration may arise. The result of this stage of personality development is a feeling of competition. It is about being able to act in a balanced way, without giving up the least obstacle but without making unattainable expectations.

5. Exploring Identity vs. Spreading Identity

Typical of adolescence, it is one of the crises most familiar to most people . At this stage the main problem of the individual is to find his identity, to discover who he is and what he wants. To do this, they tend to explore new options and separate themselves from what they have known until then. But the great amount of variables involved or a coercion of the exploration can generate that the identity does not develop freely, producing multiple personality problems.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

From the age of twenty to forty, the main conflict that human beings must face in the development of their personality is the search for personal relationships and an appropriate and committed way of bonding. The capacity is sought that in the interrelations feelings of security and trust can be given .

7. Generativity vs. stagnation

From the age of forty to approximately sixty, people tend to dedicate themselves to protecting their own and to finding and maintaining a future for the next generations.

At this stage the main conflict is based on the idea of feeling useful and productive , feeling that their efforts make sense. However, it is necessary to take into account that one has to look for a balance between activity and quietness, or one runs the risk of either not being able to reach everything or not being able to produce or feel useful.

8. Integrity of Self vs. Despair

The last of the vital crises occurs in old age . When the moment arrives in which productivity is reduced or ceases to exist, the subject begins to assess whether his existence has had any meaning. Accepting the life that we have lived and seeing it as valid is the fundamental part of this stage, which culminates at the moment of death.

Bibliographic references:

  • Gélis, J. (1989), “The Child: from anonymity to individuality”, in Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby, A History of Private Life III: Passions of the Renaissance , 309.
  • Kail, Robert; Barnfield, Anne (2014). Children and Their Development. Pearson.
  • Kawamoto, T. (2016). “Personality Change from Life Experiences: Moderation Effect of Attachment Security.” Japanese Psychological Research, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 218 – 231.