Running head: oprah winfrey 1 oprah winfrey 8Oprah Winfrey Paula King Walden University Lifespan Development (DPSY-6215) Dr. Matthew Hertenstein March 10, 2018 Oprah Winfrey The influential individual chosen for the paper is Oprah Winfrey. Selection of Oprah Winfrey is as the individual on whom the discussion will be based informed by aspects of her life about development as well as her contributions to humanistic psychology. Her growth was endowed with problems in the environmental and social-economic spheres. She was faced with a terrible childhood because of a dysfunctional family and poverty but persevered nevertheless. She is immensely involved in charity work through philanthropic endeavors engaged. She has been voted the most generous celebrity, and her actions have persuaded other to participate in charity work. She has also created schools and clubs, and this has helped to further touch the lives of other people; especially the poor. They are reminiscent of attributes discussed by developmental theories of psychology (Crain, 2015). The developmental argument to be used is Erikson’s psychological theory. It holds the idea that development occurs in eight stages and it is mainly influenced nature of social interactions of persons. Conflicts that emerge from social communications are essential in shaping the psychological development of persons. One fundamental assumption of the viewpoint is that growth occurs throughout the life of persons as opposed to other theories that focus on a limited aspect of human development. The ability of persons to successfully deal with conflicts that emerge at various levels, therefore, determines their development. According to the Erikson’s viewpoint, social-economic and environmental factors are crucial to the development of the individual. For example, poverty and dysfunctional families affect the growth of persons (Crain, 2015). Reference Crain, W. (2015). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Psychology Press. Kelley, K. (2010,2011). OPRAH: A BIOGRAPHY. I I. B. Productions, Inc.; Three Rivers Press: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., Ne ...