CHAPTER 1
Self-Direction
in a
Changing World
Chapter Overview
SELFDIRECTION
IN A
CHANGING
WORLD
Themes of Personal Growth
Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty
Continuity and Change
The Experience of Personal Growth
Beyond Individualism
Social Change
Living in a Technological World
Living with Other Social Changes
How Certain Is Our Future?
The Challenge of SelfDirection
Self-Direction and Society
The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom
Taking Charge of Our Lives
Living in Today’s Individualistic Society
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Social Change
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Living in a Technological World
Living with Other Social Changes
How Certain Is Our Future?
CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’D
The Challenge of
Self-Direction
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Self-Direction and Society
The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom
Taking Charge of Our Lives
Living in Today’s Individualistic Society
CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’D
Themes of Personal Growth
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Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty
Continuity and Change
The Experience of Personal Growth
Beyond Individualism
Social Change
Living in a Technological World
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Social changes--changes in social
patterns and institutions in society.
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Technological, scientific, and social change
is occurring world-wide.
The rate of change increases each decade.
Many changes have resulted in a smaller,
more interdependent world community.
Living in a Technological World
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One of the greatest changes has been the
vast increase in the use of technology.
Some people fear technology, however; this
phenomenon is known as technophobia.
Individuals who are not well educated, poor,
elderly or disabled are most likely to suffer
from technophobia.
Many new jobs and opportunities require a
knowledge of technology.
Living with Other Social Changes
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The world population will continue to climb.
As the population increases, so too will
pollution.
The population will also experience more
and more diversity.
Can you think of any other possible
changes?
How Certain Is Our Future?
Is the glass half empty, or half full?
Change has brought:
 Technological, scientific, medical
advances…
 Global warming…
 Economic prosperity…
 Economic inequality…
The Challenge of Self-Direction
Self-Direction and Society
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Self-direction--the need to learn more about
ourselves and our world as a means of directing our
lives more effectively.
Various factors can interfere with our need for selfdirection.
Interpersonal or intergroup conflict is but one example.
Self-Direction and Society
For example, there are two general types of
cultures or societies that sometimes conflict:
 Individualistic--individual gain is sought

after more than societal gain.
Collectivistic--collective or societal gain is
more important than individual gain.
Self-Direction and Society
EXAMPLES
Individualistic = United States
Collectivistic = Japan
The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom
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In the United States,
independence, freedom,
and rugged
individualism are
celebrated.
Freedom, however, can
be ambiguous.
Freedom, while
laudable, can also make
us anxious, lonely, and
insecure.
The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom
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Freedom can inspire us
to be afraid to make
decisions and to face
responsibilities.
Thus, we need to learn
how to relate to others
and to cooperate with
them despite our desire
for personal freedom.
The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom
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Individuals who are self-actualized enjoy their
personal freedom and are comfortable with it, but
relate well with and care about others.
Self-actualized individuals accept responsibility for
their lives and carefully scrutinize alternatives
available to them. They also possess the courage to
admit when they are wrong or need to change.
Such individuals do not blame others or fate for
personal problems.
Therefore such individuals experience more
interpersonal closeness than do other citizens of
individualistic societies.
Taking Charge of Our Lives
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As counterintuitive as
it sounds, then, acting
on our personal
freedom entails taking
charge of and being
responsible for our
own and sometimes
others’ lives.
An important and
relevant concept is
altruism, the desire
to help others at a
cost to ourselves.

Altruism generally
plays a larger role in
collective than in
individualistic
societies.
Taking Charge of Our Lives
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Taking charge of our
lives also involves
taking calculated
risks which can make
us anxious.
Taking charge of our
lives also means
keeping
commitments and
promises to others.
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Fortunately, living in
a time of increasing
technology provides
us better and faster
means to connect
with others, even
those who are a
world away.
Living in Today’s Individualistic Society
ARE WE:
 …more interpersonally connected because of
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technological advances?
…more self-absorbed and isolated?
…future-oriented?
…now-oriented?
…more concerned with personal rights?
…more concerned with social responsibilities?
Themes of Personal Growth
Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty
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Each of us faces
challenges and
uncertainties.
An academic course
such as the one you
are in offers guidance
about personal
growth, personal
freedom, and
subsequent
interdependence on
others.
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Life experiences
also teach valuable
lessons about how
to alter our selfdirection and
personal growth.
Continuity and Change
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A key issue regarding human development is
how much people change over the course of
their lives.
Longitudinal studies (which follow the
same individual for a long period of time) of
personality development have found key
traits that remain stable over a lifetime (e.g.,
extroversion).
At the same time, other studies claim that
there are features of human development
that fluctuate across time (self-esteem).
The Experience of Personal Growth
The experience of growth typically follows a
three phase cycle:
Acknowledging the change:

The first step in personal
change. Change occurs all the
time, but we are reminded to
think about change in times of
uncertainty and during
decision-making.
The Experience of Personal Growth
A sense of dissatisfaction:
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Many people respond to the
challenge of change by being
defensive or dissatisfied as well as
by feeling anxious, but this need
not be the case. This is the
second step in personal growth.
The Experience of Personal Growth
Reorganizing our
experience:
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This final phase can be
gratifying as we acquire
new ideas and hence alter
our behaviors, relations
with others, attitudes, and
values.
Beyond Individualism
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Growth is supposed to enlarge our selfunderstanding and enhance our relationships
with others.
As inferred earlier, there is a contradiction
between rugged individualism and the
necessity of social contact with others.
The result of this contradiction has been a
recent reassessment by Americans of the
need to balance the desire for personal
achievement with the need to be a good
member of the world community.
Human fulfillment and selfdirection are indeed complex.
This is the end of Chapter 1 BUT
hopefully a new beginning for you!