The evolution of human consciousness is largely determined by the category of activity in the psychology of personality development, without which it is impossible to consider all other structural forms of self-determination of the individual and his relationships with the environment, in particular, communication with the society and psychological reflection of himself in various spheres of life.
Play, learn and work!
The main activities in human psychology are play, teaching and work, and each of them individually is dominant at a certain stage of personality development. In childhood, of course, the palm of primacy is given to the game through which the child learns the world around, trying to imitate the behavior of adults and thereby gaining a certain life experience. In an older age, the baton takes over the learning process necessary for the individual's future work. And finally, the time comes for the prevalence of the labor component in human life. All the above components of the activity can not exist separately from each other and are interpenetrating, and often complementary, forms of activity. In particular, the game takes an important place both in the process of teaching children and in various trainings aimed at improving the professional qualifications of adults.
And what's the point?
The psychology of human activity is unquestionably determined by all the factors that influence the development of the individual, beginning with the social environment in which personal development takes place and ending with subjective self-esteem and the desire to know their strengths and weaknesses. They determine the choice of the sphere of activity, as well as the motivation in all types of activities, the psychology of which often has a multilevel structure that can include all three components at the same stage of development. For example, a child is motivated to play, because it is interesting, he is completely captivated by the process and he feels himself the creator of his little world, which, of course, looks like an external one, but the kid can establish his rules in it, which contributes to the development of his personality.
Schoolchildren and students are motivated to learn, because they understand that it depends on their future and the place they take in the sun.
An adult at an active age is motivated to work, as this brings income that ensures his existence. But in all these types of activities, the motivational component is the red line for all of them: competition. The whole point is that the psychology of the individual and human activity is rooted in prehistoric times, where in the human genetic memory
But anyway, any kind of human activity has before itself one more goal, besides self-assertion of the ego: to join in activity of a huge public organism and to bring to it the benefit, becoming its full and integral part.