Description: The fall term approaches and that means that many of you are gearing up to head back to college or to university. It also means that some of you are about to take the first step on your post-secondary developmental pathways. I have written a lot previously on issues related to the developmental shift… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Development of the Self
The Winter Olympics and You: Reflections on Identity
Description: There is an increasing large research literature on Sports Psychology in generally and on Olympic performance in particular. I have posted about parts of this research work previously in this blog (http://wileypsychologyupdates.ca/?s=Olympics). The British Psychological Society has suggested in the posting linked below that it would be interesting to consider what the winter Olympics… Read more »
EQ: What is it? Should you get more?
Description: In VERY general terms what makes you successful and happy in the world? Is being smart important? Well you would think IQ should or could help and in many ways, it certainly contributes BUT it is NOT the best predictor of career success and wellbeing and general life happiness. I suspect you know or… Read more »
New Years Resolutions? Developmental Life Design is Better!
Description: In my previous 2 blog posts (1. http://wileypsychologyupdates.ca/human-development/resolutions-not-the-places-to-start-life-development-and-change/ and 2. http://wileypsychologyupdates.ca/general-psychology/adult-development-and-aging/resolutions-better-to-work-on-life-engagement/) I wrote about the Big Life Task of identity formation and about the bleak picture painted of how this important post-secondary developmental enterprise is seen as going for many (40 to 45%) emerging adults (18 to 29-year-old’s). I pointed out that there are a… Read more »
Regrets: Don’t Have a Few, Just Have Fewer of Them
Description: How quickly can you come up with a personal example of a situation where you’re a choice that you made (or did not make) resulting in regrets, wishing you had done something different or simply wondering if perhaps you should have done something different or not acted at all. If people are honest then… Read more »
Psychology Research and The Transition to Post-Secondary Developmental Pathways
Description: In discussing one of the courses I developed a couple of years ago (a dual credit course for high school students focused upon the psychology of student transition and adjustment to post-secondary developmental pathways) I often found myself consistently pointing out that Psychology as a discipline is uniquely situated to provide insight and opportunities… Read more »
Age of Majority/Maturity? 18!?? How do we know?
Description: The age of majority is 18 where I live, 19 where I grew up and 21 in some other jurisdictions. This is the age at which one can drink legally, vote, and other things. It is also the age at which the local justice system starts to treat you as an adult and to… Read more »
Resist the Self-Help Craze: Resistance is NOT Futile!
Description: Spank your inner child! Well that may be an extreme sentiment but what are we to make of the thriving and, at times, overwhelming self-help industry of books, websites, television shows etc etc? Is there no pushback? Well, yes, there is. Svend Brinkmann is a Danish psychologist and philosopher (nice combination!) who has written… Read more »
Young Male Development and Extreme Behavior: Understanding → Prevention
Description: Mass shootings are terrifying both in their consequences and in the challenges they pose when trying to figure out why they happened, if they could have been prevented and what steps may be taken to reduce the likelihood of anything like them happening again. I am not talking here about acts of terrorism planned… Read more »
Moral Flexibility and Other Effects: The Case of International Travel
Description: International travel to exotic places and cultures is a broadening experience right? Certainly my own research on identity development suggests that travel, whether part of gap year before or during post-secondary study or after your university experience or at any point in life can broaden your horizons, help you to see wider possibilities and… Read more »
Books for Success!
