Description: I have posted a number of times on a related cluster of topics including: Identity Development, Life Planning, and Emerging Adulthood (you can search these terms on this site to see the posts). The topics in this cluster reflect the developmental task or moment that is at play through that life phase — figuring… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Development of the Self
Psychology and Socialization: The Individual and (versus) the Social
Description: Psychology has a recurrent problem. Well, perhaps, it may be better to say that western (North American) Psychology, despite its commitment to empiricism and scientific objectivity, is a product of its culture. Try this thought on for size: Western Psychology strongly prefers to see the individual (singular person) as its unit of analysis. One… Read more »
Clarifying Your Future: Development and Living on Purpose
Description: If you are currently in high school, college or university, or any other post-secondary educational/training setting you undoubtably regularly spend time wondering what the job market will look like when you complete your education and wonder what potential employers will want to see in you when you engage with them in search of employment…. Read more »
Reflect on Your Current Development (By Considering Current Advice to Parents)
Description: We have had personal electronics for like ever, right? Weeeellll, the answer is yes ONLY if you were born in 1995 or later and if you were you are probably in college or university now or just starting to figure out your career path in the work world. As members of iGen (i for… Read more »
Developmental Resolutions and Getting Jobs That May or May Not Exist Yet
Description: I am writing this post on New Years Eve Eve (Dec 30) and thought it might be timely to link back to a series of posts I put up last year at this time. New Year’s often involves resolutions, stated intentions to do something differently and better than before. The previous posts linked in… Read more »
If all of your friends jumped off a bridge….. Groups, Conformity and Social Norms
Description: Do you remember a time when you and your friends did something a bit ill-advised or a bit sketchy and when your parents asked why you went along you said, “because all my friends were doing it”? And, of course, one or the other or both of your parents said …. what? …. “if… Read more »
Have to Remember Names in Psyc Class? No, but Yes, Remember Eleanor Maccoby
Description: I am often asked in my Introductory Psychology classes, just before exams, “do we have to memorize the names of the you talked about in class?” My answer to that question is not No but rather “I will not ask you any questions on the exam where the answer is a Psychologist’s name.” It… Read more »
Dear Diary: Maybe You Should Journal Regularly
Description: Did you every keep a diary? How about now? Do you write regularly in a diary or, perhaps so as not to suggest a dramatic teenager, do you journal regularly? Just think for a minute, not about the stereotypes associated with keeping a diary but, from a psychological (adjustment, reflection, self-care, and/or a developmental)… Read more »
Anxiety Disorders versus Plain Old Anxiety: The Difference and Some Developmental Opportunities
Description: This is the last of three posts relating to anxiety and research into its prevalence and management. For students in high school and especially in college or university, anxiety can be a regular occurrence. Particularly as one moves beyond high school and out into post-secondary life there are many things that can give rise… Read more »
Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow Test: Get it Right!
Description: Do you know what the Marshmallow Test is? (No, it does not involve a campfire and smores). The test was set up by Walter Mischel who recently passed away at the age of 88. As described in the video embedded in the article linked below, the marshmallow test, I its simplest form, provides young… Read more »
Books for Success!
