The Life Project Construct From A Task Model

Abstract

This paper presents a proposal of theoretical development with respect to the construct "Life Project" as an organized motivational structure and for this purpose the elaboration of a construct that involves the different stages within the life cycle of the human being organized around a Model is proposed of Tasks, so that the different tasks and their processing or elaboration (psychic work) in the different stages of the life cycle are evaluated and presented. The "Project of life" is a concept that is widely used in the different professions of aid and education, but in its conceptualization there is little literature and it has not been systematized in a very clear way, so that contributions are being made in this way. The models of tasks have been used in some conceptualizations of development and the exercise seeks to present a sustained and organized proposal that contributes to the field of human development. The proposal consolidates previous approaches prepared by the author, which have been selected from the analysis of some theories of evolutionary development as well as concepts of quality of life and well-being from different perspectives. The aim is to establish a conceptual development base that integrates the elements to enrich the field and facilitate research and analysis.

Keywords: Life projectpsychic workpsychological wellbeingtask model

Background

The human being propose to himself objectives that guide him in his different stages of the development, so that he can fulfill a project that is built step by step through these stages. This structure of partial goals implies an organization that, at each stage, generates the basis for the goals of the following and that is evaluated, modified or improved to the extent that it is necessary to achieve that objective or total long-term project. For this process should take into account the resources and experiences that are counted and on which the individual can be supported in each period of his life.

From this approach, it can be affirmed then, that each individual is going to focus his vital perspective taking into account diverse factors, but that his final goal is the search and achievement of well-being and happiness (Rojas-Otálora, 2008, 2015).

This vital objective, in a human being, begins from the first weeks of life and is maintained throughout its life cycle, linked to the biological basis of its temperament and nervous structure, through the particular reactions it presents to search its adaptation and in which the Central Nervous System plays an important role, in the sensitive, integrative and motor function, which are part of the goals of the evolutionary development of each being. From the earliest stages, the child has fundamental tasks for his life, such as knowing, analyzing and relating to his external world, perceiving the stimuli through his senses and facing this, making decisions that allow him to satisfy his needs and assume answers Muscular and glandular according to your emotional state. It will then have reactions of crying, movements, smiles, rejection, inhibition and action, different to each stimulus and according to its own temperamental characteristics to seek adaptation, adjustment and assimilation to the environment so that it finds its best emotional position in its ecological niche.

However, development goals, as part of the life cycle and project, are not only at the expense of the biological, but are integrated with the socio-environmental and emotional aspects of their first fundamental relationships.

According to this, the mother-child couple appears as the main characters, initially, and the relationship with the immediate environment, which is usually their family nucleus. These relationships contribute to the vital tasks of self-control and emotional and social management, which, in the first instance, are born from the parental bond or initial caregivers, to then expand to other relatives, to the school, to their neighbors, to their peers; that is, the social goals of a human being's life project are associated with tasks from different domains of the individual.

It is then appreciated that the first moments of life correspond to the search for immediate and pleasurable satisfaction, while the second, seek to satisfy more complex psychological needs such as affinity, autonomy, competition and also the perspective of values or transcendence (Reeves, 2010).

When reviewing this global approach of the individual, then we introduce ourselves in two concepts: 1) the concept of Life Plan or Life Project and 2) the task model.

On the first concept, the Life Plan or Life Project, has been previously defined, and is proposed as a psychological construct of the area of development psychology that integrates a structure which includes complex objectives based on values that each individual internalizes, and that they are generated according to their needs structures, their particular characteristics and the social expectations of their contexts. This Life Plan or Life Project is configured as a motivational system that is fundamental for the behavior of the individual. The Life Project is a device that is constantly reworked throughout the life cycle in accordance with the changes that occur as a consequence of the Project itself and its interaction with the development of the subject, the varying circumstances of the context, and the changes of the individual (Rojas Otálora, 2015).

The second concept, Task Model, is a theoretical assumption that is used in Psychology, to refer to a series of psychological work that every subject performs to achieve goals, achievements and objectives, and that is demonstrated with skills and actions that evidence the scope of the task. This model of tasks is constant in the subject and generates new mental structures in him.

From this theoretical perspective, it is presented in the article as the Model of tasks, it can be an organized structure that allows the development of psychological works in the construction and development of Life projects in an individual. The two constructs will be related from an approach of indicators of change, resources used and achievements.

Object of Study: Task Model for Life Project

This document evaluates the importance of a task model that is proposed to complement and extend the construction of the "Life Project" that is being deepened as a result of the research carried out by the research group (Rojas Otálora, 2008, 2015; Rojas Otálora & Suárez Barros, 2015, 2016, 2017).

According to Rojas, in 2015, he proposes that the Life Project is:

"..a construct in development psychology that comprises a complex scheme of goal-oriented purposes, which arises from internalized values based on their needs, individual characteristics and social expectations, which are configured as a motivational structure that guides the behavior of the individual. This structure is elaborated and modified according to the changes that are generated by the same fulfillment of the objectives and by the changes in the circumstances that surround its development" (Rojas Otálora, 2015, p.10).

According to the previous thing, it is deduced, that the Life Project, is a psychological construct that is characterized for being a dynamic, flexible structure and with a motivational base. These meanings highlight the Life Project as a systematic, modifiable process that does not have extreme rigidity, allowing the individual to make adjustments, organizing himself through the process of the person's development, from the fundamental needs and configuring himself in response to the interactions with the different contexts.

The Life Project can be considered as a system that includes several domains or areas in which progress is evaluated through achievements that define levels of development in them. Some of these achievements are defined by culture and others are defined by the process itself. These subjects have been approached by authors from different theoretical perspectives: in relation to psycho-affective development (Freud, 1920; Erickson, 1982; Blos, 1976), among others; or intellectual development (Piaget, cited by Maier, 1978) or moral development (Piaget, 1979; Kohlberg, 2003).

The individual in his psychological development has several facets or domains and this document proposes a model that integrates two major aspects, such as: the deepening in the stages of development, and the evaluation of development in those areas.

Research Methods: Documentary review

This document is derived from a theoretical review about the conceptual construct Life Project and the Task Model, as part of the human development in the psychological. The method used was the documentary analysis of scientific articles associated with the subject and derived from several researches carried out by the Psychology, Human Development and Education research group and a doctoral thesis of the author, associated with the Task Model, in order to deepen the strength of the model and the methodological advantages of applying it to the research associated with the construct Life project.

The sources of information, predominantly, were primary, those that presented positions of classic authors, modern researchers and results of scientific investigations carried out. The selection criteria were associated to the search engines: life project, life project, life plan and task model and the organization and analysis of the data, was done through a research analysis matrix (MAI), to make conceptual and theoretical analyzes and extrapolations as elements of debate.

Results

In different development models, the concept of task is proposed as an adequate criterion to evaluate levels of development and, although people differ in many aspects, there are general tendencies of the processes that are evaluated through achievements or tasks to demonstrate those milestones of the developing (Papalia, Wendkos, & Duskin, 2009).

From the perspective of dynamic psychology, there are classical and modern authors who use the concept of tasks or psychic work to study development, focusing mainly on the psycho-affective field, as are Blos (1976) in his theories of adolescence.

Erickson (1982) is also famous for his proposal of crises or conflicts that are overcome by tasks that demonstrate achievements.

Freedman (1996) raises the most modern perspectives, which develops a model to overcome the period of latency in the child through the achievement of five tasks and that once fulfilled, the child can begin his transition to adolescence.

The author has developed what he has called the task model that includes latency and preadolescence and focuses on three types of origins of tasks: biological, social and psychological; and has structured an intervention-prevention program for psycho-affective development in this age called "Odd and Even", in which a series of themes or factors were proposed that are addressed with mini intervention programs that make up the global program (Rojas Otálora, 2012, 2013).

Additionally, the application of the Task Model to human development research has been proposed as a tool that has an important conceptual and empirical importance and that deserves its use as a powerful tool to analyze and organize different development issues (Rojas Otálora, 2017).

On the other hand, an investigation was carried out on the Life Project in which the relationship between the Life, Wellbeing and Academic Performance Project was evaluated and within the results of the Life Project theme, it was concluded that the Life Project is an individual process, which is in permanent construction, and which is also deconstructed and reconstructed in a dialectical way. In this process we work with an important variable such as time, which is integrated from what was initially proposed and which is normally focused on the future time as a goal to be achieved, which is constantly being revised in the present time.

This proposal is based on objectives that are interrelated in the different dimensions or areas of development of the individual and that are structured as a complex motivational system and that can be focused as tasks.

After proposing the previous approaches, a task model is presented that is applied to the Life Project and that allows to structure the characteristics of the objectives in the different stages of life, starting from the preadolescence that is the stage in which they begin the phase. The first organized sketches of the Life Project up to the age of the older adult is when it approaches a comprehensive evaluation of the results of that Project.

From this perspective and from the analysis of the revised categories and the integration of the task models together with the stage’s development visions, important factors have been determined for the proposed model and are:

Task: the concept of "task" or "psychic work", is defined as: "the effort of organization, differentiation, complexity and expansion of the psychic apparatus and, at the same time, the change in the process of the impulse in a new dynamic and ordination of the unit" (Rojas Otálora, 2012, p. 4).

Origins of the tasks: Source from where the tasks arise and can be biological, for example, by maturation, growth or circumstances of motivational cycles; social, imposed by culture or society (fashion, customs, rituals, etc.): psychological, defined by the process of development of the personality of the individual, such as hobbies, vocation, structure of internal satisfaction, psychological needs, etc.) and Finally axiological, origin given by the need to have a value structure.

Topics: The organization of the task in a structure of actions that, when complete and complete, defines the achievement of the task, as in the example of "Physical changes and identity", is an issue for the adolescent where, through the recognition of the physical changes that occur in their body and body and the needs and concerns that arise from them, as well as the understanding of these in their relationships with other young people, of the opposite sex with the potential to establish relationships, and with those of your same sex, as a reference and Elements of identification, will complete the task of acceptance of the body and its potential for mature sexual expression (Rojas Otálora, 2012, 2017).

Types of needs: in this context, the different types of needs are reviewed, from the physiological, for survival; To the most advanced and complex of self-realization and transcendent human development.

Ecosystem domain: refers to the contexts in which the tasks are related to their support and support for their adequate achievement, for example, the achievement of a role of a couple moves in different ecosystems to the role of job success.

Approach to well-being: the importance and relationship between the hedonic aspects of well-being and the eudaimonic aspects thereof are evaluated.

Relevant aspects of the personality: an important factor that is proposed to evaluate has to do with the basic characteristics of the personality and that has to do with the way in which the relationship with welfare and the Life Project is focused and planned.

An example of the application of the matrix is presented, which will be developed for the different stages of development and their task groups.

Some advantages of the task model have already been raised and are retaken in this exercise (Rojas Otálora, 2017):

• The structuring of tasks allows defining with certain precision the definition of the Life Project.

• Facilitates the rigorous evaluation of the development stages of the Life Project and, therefore, combines the characteristics of the qualitative (categories) and quantitative (levels and values) research approach.

• Facilitates the vision of complex tasks composed of simpler tasks that allow more systemic and comprehensive type evaluations.

• Defined tasks can integrate new knowledge improving its accuracy and consistency

• An epigenetic approach is integrated, in a way that implies that the tasks and the structuring of the later levels of development are the result of the successive interactions of the subject and the environment (Goldberg, 1980).

The integration of this model into the Life Project construct strengthens the power of the analysis that emerges from its application as well as its value as a motivational structure to support the development of people, achieving a transfer of psychosocial technology for the generation of a better quality of life and well-being.

Conclusions

The proposal of the Task Model has been revised to apply it to the Life Project construct and has been based on existing Models such as "Peer and Odd" and trends in Developmental Psychology. This approach has been used to structure an evaluation matrix, which intends to integrate task-based theories, such as Erikson's model (1976), Blos's model (1972), and the author's in the field of psycho-affective development.

The matrix of the model is established from the evaluation of the theories and concepts that have been identified as important for its application and is structured in a way that allows to analyze and validate the different development tasks in the domains that have been considered as fundamental. It shows an example of a task that was already defined in a previous investigation and is completed with the new aspects that the model integrates.

This matrix will be expanded to complete the structure with the next step of the process consisting of integrating the tasks that some authors have already defined for the stages, and adjusting and expanding others that will be developed later.

The application of this model gives greater strength to the Life Project construct and to the research related to it.

References

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