Personality Growth and Orderly Sequence
When we think in terms of personality growth, we may find it useful to break behavior down into reactions of dominance, indifference, sub· mission, self-confidence, inferiority, sociability, and the like. The big job involves understanding the integration of habits, skills, interests, abilities, emotions, and perceptions into a whole concept we call "personality". How does it grow?
The shy, timid child is heading more in the direction of becoming too self-centered than in the direction of sociability. It is doubtful if an introverted child can be transformed into an extrovert, and it would perhaps be undesirable to attempt such a transformation. However, children who seem to be headed toward withdrawal can be helped by being given more opportunities to be with other children of their own age, size, and abilities. The more studious type of child may be encouraged to get out and develop interests that will involvet:ooperation with others. The socially minded child may be encouraged to settle down more to schoolwork.
Children raised in a family in which the parents are aggressive, autocratic, and hard-headed may take on dominance instead of becoming submissive as one might expect. Submissive persons may have many creative qualities and they may be well adjusted and easier to get along with than the upward-mobile person. Research on the past lives of people wh.o have sRown extreme tendencies of submission show that related causes may include physical defects, real or imagined; unfavorable comparisons with other persons; fric· tion in the home; ridicule by others; lack of opportunities to learn; and rigid parental discipline. Among the causes of dominance, investi· gators have found such contributing factors as early assumption of responsibility; parental training; absence of discipline in the home; superior mental or physical ability; and some unusual skill, frequently in athletics.
An Orderly Sequence
Children follow an orderly sequence in development. Some are more rapid in motor development and slower in verbal development. The reverse is true in other children. Some are slower in all steps of development, and others develop rapidly step by step. There is a wide range of individual differences in growing up. No child is exactly like another. It is difficult to compare unlikes. Sequential development is the same, but growth does not necessarily proceed at the same rate at any given time. Understanding these generalizations is helpful in answering many practical questions.
