Psychological development

Everyone goes through one in the course of their life psychological development. Mental and spiritual abilities develop more extensively and options for action and motives change.

What is the psychological development?

The degree of psychological maturity enables the individual to find his way around his environment and to behave appropriately in order to satisfy his needs.

The psyche of a person develops in the course of his life in similarly defined and generally valid steps as his physique. The development process begins at one to two months of age. The baby then begins to make contact with its environment. Up to the age of about six, the child will continuously change the way they come into contact with their environment, develop their personality and learn adult activities through imitation.

An infant still perceives its environment in a very object-related manner. That means that almost every object in sight is grabbed and put into the mouth. An important step in psychological development takes place as early as the 9th month of life: the infant registers that there are objects outside of its immediate environment and perceives itself as part of an environment.

Personality development begins around the age of 2. Dislikes are formed (e.g. against certain foods) and free will develops more and more.

A child's play behavior develops continuously up to around the age of 6. An infant plays largely alone and does not include its environment. Gambling behavior does not change significantly until around the age of three. At 3.5 years of age, the child begins to involve other people or dolls in their play. The child also re-enacts actions they have experienced. For example, it mimics the interactions between mother and father.

In the interaction with other people, the child also tries out which action triggers which reaction in his counterpart. The child's psyche learns which behaviors bring the desired success (e.g. the desire for attention) and which do not. It is therefore important that the behavior of the adult caregivers is reliable in this phase.

Until they reach school, one person is not able to take another's point of view. The ability to empathize only develops from around the age of 7. The training process then continues until around the age of 14.

Approx. From the age of 16, a person is able to relate his concrete actions to the consequences for the future: another important milestone in psychological development.

There is extensive psychological development during puberty. People learn to take responsibility for themselves and for others. At the same time, the phase of puberty is the most disruptive time in human psychological development, as mental and physical maturity are usually far apart.

The psyche experiences a change in advanced adulthood. Gerontopsychology deals with the development of certain psychological phenomena related to a person's old age.

Function & task

Psychological development is just as important a development for a person as that of the physical. Contrary to popular belief, it does not take place automatically, but requires continuous support through external incentives such as role models and teaching content. A stable and safe environment in which basic needs are satisfied is important for psychological development.

The degree of psychological maturity enables the individual to find his way around his environment and to behave appropriately in order to satisfy his needs.

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Illnesses & ailments

Delays in psychological development and the associated behavioral problems can usually not be explained physically (e.g. through brain damage), but are in the vast majority of cases acquired. For healthy psychological development, it is therefore essential that children find an environment that encourages and accompanies their development.

Leading psychologists assume that even relatively minor disorders can have a lasting negative impact on a child's psychological development. For example, it seems to be a hindrance to the maturation of the psyche if parents prevent their children from having their own experiences by intervening too strongly. Children of so-called “helicopter parents” tend to be difficult to adapt to external conditions in later adult life.

Actual physical illness can rarely be traced back to an underdeveloped psyche. Nevertheless, there seems to be a connection between an underdeveloped psyche and the development of depression. Doctors and psychologists see the reason for this in the fact that people who have experienced permanent rejection because of their behavior have a greater tendency to withdraw in adulthood, which is why relapses of depression can develop.