Study of the phases of life

The study of the phases of life throughout its length remains on the agenda of modern age psychology, so it is interesting to turn to rich empirical material. The analysis of biographies of different people was carried out in three directions:
1) External objective course of events;
2) the history of creative activity,
3) age-related changes in the inner world of the individual, especially in relation to his own life, his attitude, awareness of age, self-esteem.

The phases of life are determined on the basis of the state of the core property of the personality - self-determination.
The first phase (age up to 16-20 years) is characterized by a rather low level of self-awareness and the lack of self-determination.
In the second phase (from 16–20 to 25–30 years old), a person tries himself in various types of work activity, starts dating to find a life partner. These tests indicate the functioning of self-determination, which is diffuse here.
The third phase begins when a person finds his vocation or just a permanent occupation. In maturity, a specification of self-determination occurs, that is, a person sets specific life goals and achieves some results on the way to them. Established self-esteem personality, which reflects the achievements of life.

An aging person, in the fourth phase, is experiencing a difficult age of biological wilting, leaving work, reducing the future life time. At the end of this period, for the majority the path to self-realization is completed, self-determination ceases to function.

In the fifth phase (after 65-70 years), the old man lives in the past, drags out aimless existence, therefore S. Bühler does not rank the last stage of life as part of the life itself.

Defining the topology and chronology of the phases of development, the researcher unreasonably believes that they repeat on a large scale the stages of child development. It is doubtful and characteristic of the finale of life as a passive expectation of death. Considering the frequent cases of active old age, S. Buhler herself resorts to the concept of the type of development. She interprets the type as determined only by the internal features of the personality - the ratio of the vital (biological) and mental (spiritual) factors of development.