Chapter 10: Middle Childhood: Social and Personality Development

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Chapter 10 Middle Childhood Social and
Personality Development

• Development Across the Lifespan

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Social Personality Development Understanding
Oneself in Middle Childhood

• Children in middle childhood are struggling to
  understand who they are, and continue to explore
  answers to the question Who am I?

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The Developing Self

• During middle childhood, children begin to view
  themselves less in terms of external physical
  attributes and more in terms of psychological
  traits.
• Children realize they are good at some things and
  not so good at others.
• Their self-concepts become divided into personal
  and academic spheres

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As children get older, their views of self become
more differentiated.
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(The Developing Self, continued)

• Children use SOCIAL COMPARISON, comparing
  themselves to the abilities, expertise, and
  opinions of others.
• Festinger proposed that when objective measures
  are absent, people rely on social reality to
  evaluate themselves (understanding that comes
  from studying how others act, think, feel, and
  view the world).
• Children look to others who are similar to
  themselves.

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(Social comparison, continued)

• Sometimes children make downward social
  comparisons with others who are obviously less
  competent or successful to raise or protect their
  self-esteem.
• This explains why some students in elementary
  school have very high self esteem in spite of the
  fact that are in special education classes
• Big fish in a small pond

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Psychosocial Development Industry versus
Inferiority

• According to Erik Erikson, middle childhood
  encompasses the INDUSTRY-VERSUS-INFERIORITY
  STAGE, the period from ages 6 to 12 characterized
  by a focus on efforts to attain competence in
  meeting the challenges presented by parents,
  peers, school, and the other complexities of the
  modern world.

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(Psychosocial Development Industry versus
Inferiority, continued)

• Success in this stage is evidenced by feelings of
  mastery, proficiency, and confidence.
• Difficulties lead to feelings of failure and
  inadequacy, and to withdrawal from academics and
  socialization with peers
• Attaining a sense of industry during middle
  childhood has lasting consequences!
• High levels of childhood industry associated with
  adult success (more so than intelligence and
  family background!)

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Self esteem Evaluating the self

• Children evaluate themselves in terms of physical
  and psychological characteristics, but they also
  think of themselves as being good or bad
  (involves emotions)
• SELF-ESTEEM, an individual's overall and specific
  positive and negative self-evaluation, develops
  in important ways during middle childhood.

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Self esteem develops in important ways during
middle childhood

• Children increasingly compare themselves to
  others.
• Children are developing their own internal
  standards.
• Self-esteem, for most children, increases during
  middle childhood.
• Children with low self-esteem may become enmeshed
  in a cycle of failure that is difficult to break.
  

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A cycle of Low Self-Esteem
If a child has low self-esteem and expects to do
poorly on a test, she may experience anxiety and
not do as well, which confirms the negative self
view. Parents can break this cycle a warm and
supportive style.
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Self esteem, continued

• Early research showed that the self-esteem of
  minority groups was lower than majority groups'
  due to prejudice and discrimination.
• Tajfel (French psychologist) showed that if
  minority groups do not accept the views of their
  group by the majority group, their self-esteem
  will not suffer.
• Societal attitudes favoring group pride, ethnic
  awareness, and sensitivity have resulted in more
  similar levels of self esteem in members of
  different ethnic groups

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Self efficacy Building expectations of the self

• Will I do well in the spelling bee?
• I wonder if I would be good at playing the
  flute?
• Do I have a chance at winning the award for best
  science project?
• These type of questions resemble those that
  children commonly ask themselves during the
  elementary school years. The way children answer
  is based on their levels of self efficacy.

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(Self efficacy, continued)

• SELF-EFFICACY refers to the learned expectations
  that one is capable of carrying out a behavior or
  producing a desired outcome in a particular
  situation.
• Self-efficacy is crucial to children's success
  because it motivates greater effort and
  persistence in the face of a challenging task.
• High self-efficacy is related to success in
  academics and athletics.
• Observing others' success, failure, praise, and
  encouragement are other sources of self-efficacy.

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Social Personality Development Morals in
Middle Childhood

• Different theories of moral development exist
• Moral development is often used as a measure of
  social personality development in middle
  childhood, albeit in different ways

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An Overview
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Morals in Middle Childhood

• Moral Dilemmas
• Cancer drug question in text
• Should you steal the drug?
• Developmental psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg
  asserts that the way that children answer this
  question reveals central aspects about their
  morality and sense of justice.
• Information about stage or moral development
• Information about cognitive developmental level

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Lawrence Kohlberg
Born 1927, Bronxville, NY Died 1987, Boston,
MA Education PhD, U. of Chicago
Accomplishments Major contributor to the
field of moral development and reasoning
Published major work in 1981, Essays on Moral
Development.
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Kohlbergs stages of moral reasoning

• ? Lawrence Kohlberg suggests that people pass
  through a series of stages in the development of
  moral reasoning. (summary in text table)
• Preconventional Morality (stages 1 2) is where
  people follow unvarying rules based on rewards
  and punishments (children in MIDDLE CHILDHOOD are
  at this level!)

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(Kohlbergs stages of moral reasoning, continued)

• Conventional Morality (stages 3 4) is where
  people approach problems in terms of their own
  position as good, responsible members of society.
  
• Postconventional Morality (stages 5 6) is where
  universal moral principles are invoked and
  considered broader than a particular society.

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Some key points related to Kohlbergs theory

• Kohlberg assessed people's moral reasoning using
  moral dilemmas.
• According to Kohlberg, people move through these
  stages in a fixed order.
• Middle childhood is at stage 1 2, the
  preconventional stage, because of the limits of
  children's cognitive abilities.

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(key points related to Kohlbergs theory,
continued)

• Kohlberg's theory is a good account of moral
  judgment but not adequate at predicting moral
  behavior.
• Another problem the theory is based on data from
  males, and is inadequate in describing the moral
  development of females!

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Moral Development in Girls Carol Gilligans
theory of moral development

• Carol Gilligan suggests that the way boys and
  girls are raised in our own society leads to
  differences in moral reasoning.
• Kohlberg's theory is inadequate and places girls'
  moral reasoning at a lower level than boys'.
• Boys view morality primarily in terms of justice
  and fairness.
• Girls see morality in terms of responsibility and
  compassion toward individuals and a willingness
  to sacrifice for relationships.

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Carol Gilligan
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• ? Gilligan sees morality in girls developing in 3
  stages.
• Orientation toward individual survival - where
  females concentrate on what is practical and best
  for them.
• Goodness as self-sacrifice - where females think
  they must sacrifice their own wishes to what
  others want.
• Morality of nonviolence - women come to see
  hurting anyone as immoral, including themselves.
• The highest levels of morality are represented
  by compassionate concern for the welfare of
  others

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Relationships in Middle Childhood Building
Friendships

• Childrens development is seriously effected by
  the formation of friendships in middle childhood
• Friendships influence children's development
  in several ways.

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The influence of friendships on childrens
development, continued

• Friends provide information about the world and
  other people.
• Friends provide emotional support and help kids
  to handle stress.
• Friends teach children how to manage and control
  their emotions.

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The influence of friendships on childrens
development, continued

• Friends teach about communication with others.
• Friends foster intellectual growth.
• Friends allow children to practice relationship
  skills

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Status among school age children

• Children's friendships show clear hierarchies in
  terms of STATUS, the evaluation of a role or
  person by other relevant members of a group.
• High status children have greater access to
  resources such as games, toys, books, and
  information.
• High status children tend to form friendships
  with high status children and low status children
  form friendships with other lower status children

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Status among school age children, continued

• Lower status children tend to follow the lead of
  higher status children.
• Popularity is a reflection of a child's status.
• High status children are more likely to form
  exclusive and desirable cliques and tend to play
  with a greater number of children than lower
  status children.
• Lower status children are more likely to play
  with younger or less popular children.

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During the middle childhood period, childrens
ideas about friendship undergo changes

• ? According to developmental psychologist William
  Damon, children's friendships go through three
  stages.
• Stage 1 - ages 4-7.
• Children see friends as like themselves.
• Children see friends as people to share toys and
  activities with.
• Children do not take into account personal traits.

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Damons 3 stages of friendship, continued

• Stage 2 - ages 8-10.
• Children now begin to take other's personal
  qualities and traits into consideration.
• Friends are viewed in terms of the kinds of
  rewards they provide.
• Friendships are based on mutual trust.

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Damons 3 stages of friendship, continued

• Stage 3 - ages 11-15.
• Friendships become based on intimacy and loyalty.
  
• Friendships involve mutual disclosure and
  exclusivity.
• Children also develop clear ideas about the
  behaviors they seek in friends

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Behaviors favored in friends during middle
childhood

• Most-liked
• Sense of humor
• Nice/friendly
• Helpful
• Complementary
• Sharing
• Loyalty

• Least-liked
• Verbal aggression
• Dishonesty
• Critical
• Greedy/bossy
• Teasing
• Physical aggression

Table in text
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What makes a child popular during middle
childhood?

• Popular children have SOCIAL COMPETENCE, the
  collection of individual social skills that
  permit individuals to perform successfully in
  social settings.

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More characteristics common to popular children

• They are helpful and cooperative.
• They have a good sense of humor.
• They have good emotional understanding.
• They ask for help when necessary.
• They are not overly reliant on others.
• They can adapt to social situations.

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Popularity issues in development, continued

• ? Lack of popularity may take two forms.
• NEGLECTED CHILDREN receive relatively little
  attention from their peers in the form of either
  positive or negative interaction.
• REJECTED CHILDREN are actively disliked and their
  peers may react to them in an obviously negative
  manner.

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Some characteristics of unpopular children

• Unpopular children lack social competence.
• They may act immature or inappropriately silly.
• They may be overly aggressive and overbearing.
• They may be withdrawn or shy.
• They may be unattractive, handicapped, obese, or
  slow academically.

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Popularity issues in development, continued

• Another factor that relates to children's
  popularity is skill at SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING,
  the use of strategies for solving social
  conflicts in ways that are satisfactory both to
  oneself and to others.
• Developmental psychologist Kenneth Dodge argues
  that successful social problem solving proceeds
  through steps that correspond to children's
  information-processing strategies

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Dodges social problem solving steps

• Find and identify relevant social cues.
• Interpret and evaluate the social cues.
• Determine possible problem-solving responses.
• Evaluate responses and their possible
  consequences.
• Choose a response.
• Knowing these steps allows adults to intervene
  and target a child's specific deficits.

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Problem-solving Steps
Childrens problem-solving steps proceed through
several steps involving different information
processing strategies (Dodge, 1985)
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Several programs have been developed to teach
children social skills.

• Skills in holding a conversation
• Decoding facial expressions to increase
  sensitivity to others emotions and moods
• ? These programs have led to more acceptance by
  peers and improved skill at making friends and
  getting along with teachers

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Gender Friendships in Middle Childhood

• Avoidance of the opposite sex becomes very
  pronounced during middle childhood.
• Children's friendships are almost entirely
  sex-segregated.

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(Gender Friendships in Middle Childhood,
continued)

• When the sexes interact it is called "border
  work",
• often romantic
• helps emphasize the clear boundaries between
• the sexes
• Lays the groundwork for future interactions
  during adolescence
• Girls threatening to kiss boys
• Boys luring girls into chasing them

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The nature of boys' and girls' friendships are
different.

• Boys have larger networks of friends than girls
  do.
• Boys have a strict DOMINANCE HIERARCHY, which is
  composed of rankings that represent the relative
  social power of those in a group hierarchy.

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(The differing nature of boys' and girls'
friendships, continued)

• Boys attempt to maintain and improve their status
  in the hierarchy, which makes for a style of play
  known as restrictive play where interactions are
  interrupted when status is challenged.
• Girls focus on one or two "best friends" of
  relatively equal status.

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(The differing nature of boys' and girls'
friendships, continued)

• Conflicts among girls are solved by compromise,
  ignoring the situation, or giving in.
• Girls, however, can be confrontational with other
  girls not their friends or with boys.
• Girls' language is less confrontational and
  direct than boys'.

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Promoting Cross-race friendships

• Children's closest friends tend largely to be
  with others of the same race.
• Research supports the notion that contact between
  majority and minority group members can reduce
  prejudice and discrimination.
• Contact must occur in equal status settings.
• Contact is enhanced through cooperative
  activities that are important.
• The contact must promote equality and disconfirm
  negative stereotypes.

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The Family and School Shaping Children in Middle
Childhood

• The structure of the family has been changing
  dramatically over the past several decades with
  serious implication for the development of
  children!
• Increase in the of parents working outside the
  home
• Rise in single parent families
• Societal environment
• Escalating divorce rate

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The Consequences of Divorce

• Only 1/2 of children in the U.S. will pass
  through childhood living with both parents, each
  of whom has been married only once!
• School-age children tend to blame themselves for
  the breakup.
• Both children and parents may show several types
  of psychological maladjustments for 6 months to 2
  years after a divorce.
• anxiety
• depression
• sleep disturbances
• phobias

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More about the impact of divorce on school age
children

• Most children will live with their mother and the
  mother-child relationship may decline
  temporarily.
• After 18 months to 2 years, most children return
  to their predivorce psychological adjustment.
• Twice as many children of divorced parents
  require psychological counseling as do children
  from intact families.

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(impact of divorce on school age children,
continued)

• Divorce brings a decline to both parents'
  standard of livingespecially the mothers!
• For some children, living in a home with an
  unhappy marriage and which is high in conflict
  has stronger negative consequences than a
  divorce.

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For many children, the aftermath of divorce
includes remarriage of 1 or both parents

• BLENDED FAMILIES include a remarried couple that
  has at least one stepchild living with them.
• Experts predict that by 2000, over 50 of
  children born in the last decade will be
  stepchildren.!
• Living in a blended family involves role
  ambiguity, in which roles and expectations are
  unclear

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More about BLENDED FAMILIES

• School-age children often adjust relatively
  smoothly to a blended family.
• financial status of family improves
• more people to share household chores
• more social interaction and attention
• Some children do not adjust well,especially if
  the new relationship is threatening.
• (have to share parents attn with a stepsibling)

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When both parents work, how do children fare?

• In most cases, children whose parents both work
  full-time outside the home fare quite well.
• Women who are satisfied with their lives tend to
  be more nurturing at home.
• Research shows that children whose parents both
  work spend essentially the same amount of time
  with the family, in class, with friends, and at
  home as children who have a parent at home.
• Children may spend more time with their father if
  their mother works.

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How Kids Spend Their Time
The amount of time kids spent on some activities
has remained constant over the years, and others
have changed significantly. Think about what
might account for these changes.
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Childrens success in families where both parents
work is often based on the quality of substitute
care. For many children, no care is available
when they return home from school

• SELF-CARE CHILDREN are youngsters who let
  themselves into their homes after school and wait
  alone until their parents return from work,
  previously known as latchkey children (but now
  not because of negative connotations).

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SELF-CARE CHILDREN, continued

• The consequences of being a latchkey child are
  not necessarily harmful.
• Some children report being lonely.
• Some children develop a sense of independence and
  competence.
• Some research shows latchkey children have higher
  self-esteem because they are helping the family.

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Single parent families

• Almost one-quarter of all children under 18 in
  the U.S. live with only one parent.
• Numbers are higher for minority children.
• 60 of African-American children live in single
  parent homes.
• 35 of Hispanic children live in single parent
  homes.

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Single parent families, continued

• In the majority of cases, the single parent is
  the mother.
• The consequences of living in a single parent
  home depend on
• whether the other parent ever lived at home
• economic status

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Increase of Single Mothers, 1940-1993
The number of mothers without spouses has
increased significantly over the last 50 years.
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The consequences of group care Orphanages in
the 90s

• The term "orphanage" has been replaced by group
  home or residential treatment center, which are
  group homes used for youngsters whose parents are
  no longer able to care for them adequately.
• The number of children in group care has grown
  over 50 since 1987.
• About three-quarters of children in group homes
  are victims of abuse and neglect.

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Orphanages in the 90s, continued

• Most will eventually return home, however,
  one-fourth will be in group care throughout
  childhood.
• Experts disagree on the advantages and
  disadvantages of group care.
• Some see them as a solution to unwed mothers who
  become dependent on welfare.
• Many who work in these homes say they cannot
  provide adequate love and support as a family
  could.
• They cost ten times as much as foster care or
  welfare (e.g., 40,000/yr.).

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School The Impact of the Academic Environment on
Development in Middle Childhood

• During the school year, more of the day is spent
  in a classroom than anywhere else and schools
  have a large influence on children's lives.
• Bernard Weiner proposed a theory of motivation
  based on people's ATTRIBUTIONS, their
  understanding of the reasons behind their
  behavior.

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Weiners theory of attributions

• People attempt to explain their behavior in one
  of three ways.
• Whether the cause is internal (dispositional) or
  external (situational).
• Whether the cause is stable or unstable.
• Whether the cause is controllable or
  uncontrollable.

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The attributions children make about their
successes and failures in school have important
implications for their performance.

• If success is internal, children feel pride.
• If failure is internal, children feel shame.
• If success or failure is attributed to stable
  characteristics, children can expect similar
  results in the future.

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The implications of childrens attributions,
continued

• If success or failure is attributed to unstable
  characteristics (such as luck), their
  expectations for the future are unknown.
• If children feel failure was within their
  control, they feel anger.
• If children feel failure was due to
  uncontrollable reasons, they fell sadness or
  pity.

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Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status have
strong influences on attributions of success and
failure.

• African-American children are less likely to
  attribute success to internal causes, feeling
  that prejudice and discrimination are to blame.
• Women tend to attribute failure to low ability
  and success to luck.
• In Asian countries, academic success is perceived
  as being caused by hard work.

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Mothers Beliefs in Childrens Abilities
Compared to moms in Taiwan Japan, U.S. moms
were less likely to believe that all kids have
the same degree of inborn ability. Think about
how this affects schooling.
Subjects responded to a 7 point scale, where 1
was equivalent to strongly disagree and 7 was
strongly agree.
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How expectancies influence childrens behavior

• Research suggests a TEACHER EXPECTANCY EFFECT,
  the cycle of behavior in which a teacher
  transmits an expectation about a child and
  thereby actually brings about the expected
  behavior.

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Teacher expectancy is an instance of
self-fulfilling prophecy, in which a person's
expectation is capable of bringing about an
outcome.

• ? Teacher's expectations are conveyed to the
  child by complex verbal and nonverbal cues.
• Classroom social-emotional climate.
• smiling
• warmth
• feedback
• more positive feedback to high expectation
  children
• more criticism to low expectation children

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Teacher's expectations and their influence on the
classroom climate, continued

• Input to children
• more opportunities to perform well for high
  expectation children
• more difficult material for high expectation
  children
• Output from teachers
• more contact with high expectation children
• more opportunities to respond in class for high
  expectation children.

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Teacher Expectation and its Effect on Student
Performance
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Educators in many elementary schools in the
united states are setting a new educational
trend working to improve students emotional
abilities

• ? Schools are beginning to teach techniques to
  increase students EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, the
  set of skills that underlie the accurate
  assessment, evaluation, expression, and
  regulation of emotions.

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• Critics suggest that nurturance of emotional
  intelligence is best left to students families
  and that schools should concentrate on the
  basics.
• Most consider emotional intelligence worthy of
  nurturance.
• What do you think? Should schools teach
  emotional intelligence?

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