Abstract: In this article Gvozdeva presents the results of her research of the need in self-development, motives for self-development and associated personality traits of psychology students at different stags of University education. The research involved 100 first- and the fourth-year students of the Psychology Department of the Southern Federal University. Self-development motives included career achievements, commitment to ideal Self, and reliance on others' opinion. Personal grounds included personality traits and the feeling of self-attachment. The research was carried out using survey methods, (questionnaire offered by the author), psychological tests (Cattell's test, Kuzikova's Dispositional Description of Personal Self-Development, Stolin's and Pantileev's Self-Attitude Inventory) and statistical data processing methods (Friedman test, Wilcoxon's test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, binominal distribution, and quartile procedure). The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author proves that self-development motivation of psychology students is caused by their need in self-development, particular personality traits and their stage of University education. Gvozdeva has discovered that the first-year psychology students have more distinct idea of their self-development and better need in self-development. The researcher also demonstrates that the intensity of the need in self-development determines intensity of self-development motives and achievement of self-development goals by psychology students depending on what year of University they are in.