Developmental psychology and personality theory

To understand any theory of personality we need to understand the developmental psychology in which it is grounded. Further, we need to appreciate the enormous advances that the science of human development has made over the past century. The theories of personality that were predicated on obsolescent developmental models have become outdated themselves. Stating the obvious, personality theories that reflect the most recent research in developmental psychology inspire the most confidence, everything else being equal. This chapter explores the relationship between the postulates and science of these two disciplines and what they contribute to each other.

Current science informs us that human development is a life-long process, a conclusion we can draw from the recent research of a host of developmental psychologists (for example, Baltes, Reuter-Lorenz, and Rösler, 2006a; see also the balanced and well-documented article by Paul B. Baltes, 1997). Freud (1856–1939), on the other hand, affirmed that personality was largely “set in plaster” by the time the Oedipal conflict of the pre-schooler was resolved (or not resolved as the case might be).