ADULT DEVELOPMENT

Adult Development



Stages of Adult Development

Introduction

The stage of adult development carries a lot of value, and, it carries lots of importance. Theories of adult development, which are premised, on the belief that their meaning systems shape the experience and organize the thinking, feelings, and acting of people. These theories suggest that despite the infinitely unique ways, individuals make sense of themselves, others, and their world, that there are clear patterns, which underlie these differences. Moreover, the patterns illustrate the ways that adults can grow and change in a predictable direction, gaining more complex, encompassing, and differentiated ways of making sense of themselves and their experience. These theories can, therefore, explain how individuals have developed more complex capacities that are uniquely able to address the most complex leadership challenges, and individuals who undertake personal development increase their capabilities for effective leadership. Therefore, further issues related to stages of adult development will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

Main Body

However, some theories of adult development may be better suited to this task than others. One key difference among theories is the distinctions made between the “levels” or “stages” of adult development. Some distinguish between the tasks adults undertake at different ages or phases in their lives, whereas others distinguish stages in terms of degree of complexity, depicting the ways that adults' minds continue to grow and become more complex. Another key difference is the scope of a theory. While some theories seek to describe the development in one domain or aspect of human experience (e.g., moral development, spiritual development, cognitive development), others present models that incorporate these various domains into a larger framework that describes the holistic development of the personality or self. The descriptions of the basic stages of adult growth are based on Kegan's theory and grounded in related descriptions and examples that are relevant to the field of leadership. (Day, 2009)

Some theories of adult development focus on the ways that an individual can evolve within one domain of human experience. These domains include, for example, moral development, cognitive development, spiritual development and adult learning and higher education provide a review and synthesis of these various theories. Theorists, who trace the development of the self, ego, or personality, integrate the various domains of human experience into a larger framework, suggesting that there is basic coherence across the various domains of the self. Some researchers have focused particularly on ...