Title: Chapter 10: Becoming Who We Are: The Development of Self, Gender, and Morality
1Chapter 10 Becoming Who We Are The Development
of Self, Gender, and Morality
- Who Am I? The Development of Self
By Kati Tumaneng (for Drs. Cook and Cook)
2What is the Self?
- Self The characteristics, emotions, and beliefs
people have about themselves, including an
understanding that people are unique individuals. - I-self The conscious awareness that you exist
as a separate person and that you can affect
others. - Me-self What you know about and how you
describe yourself (also self-concept or
self-representation). - Self-representation The ways people describe
themselves (also me-self). - Self-evaluations The opinions people have and
judgments they make about their own
characteristics. - Self-esteem The emotions people feel about
themselves.
3What is the Self?
- Most believe that the I-self and the me-self are
cognitive constructions that children create as
their cognitive skills develop. - Looking-glass self The idea that in social
interactions the child uses others as a social
mirror into which the individual gazes in order
to detect their opinions toward the self
(Harter, 1999, p. 17).
4Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Self-Representation in Infancy and Childhood
- Newborns have no sense of themselves as separate
individuals no I-self. - During first few months, babies move from this
state of not knowing they are physically or
emotionally separate from other people and
objects to an understanding that they are
individuals with unique physical sensations and
emotions.
5Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Cross-modal perception helps infants become aware
of physical self and understand that their
emotions distinct are from others. - Personal agency Learn that their actions and
feelings have an effect on environment. - Consistent interactions form basis for sense of
self-efficacy.
6Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Between 1st and 2nd year, the me-self begins to
emerge. - Toddlers who recognized that the features in the
mirror were their own touched their own faces to
wipe off a spot of rouge rather than the
reflection in the mirror (Lewis Brooks, 1978). - Me-self also emerges in childrens language.
7Development of the Me-Self
(Lewis Brooks, 1978, p. 214)
8Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Factors that influence changes in
self-representation - Overall cognitive development
- Language (personal narratives)
- Social comparison The process of comparing our
own qualities and performance to those of our
peers.
9Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Adolescence and the Search for Identity
- Eriksons theory of psychosocial development
Adolescents increasing cognitive abilities
enable them to think about abstract qualities of
the self, to compare their real selves to their
ideal selves, and to think about other
possible selves (Erikson, 1968). - Social demands increase.
- If dont resolve the crisis of identity, their
unclear sense of self will make it more difficult
to deal with the crises that will arise during
the adulthood years.
10Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Adolescence and the Search for Identity (cont.)
- James Marcia (1966)elaborated Eriksons theory
with 2 components crisis and commitment - Identity statuses
- Identity achievement
- Identity foreclosure
- Identity diffusion
- Identity moratorium
11The Four Identity Statuses of James Marcia
(Marcia, 1966)
12Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Adolescence and the Search for Identity (cont.)
- Some adolescents have additional task of
developing ethnic or racial identity - Phinneys 3 stages (1990)
Developing identity http//teacher.scholastic.co
m/products/ect/identity.htm
13Phinneys Three-Stage Model of Ethnic Identity
Development
(Phinney, 1989)
14Changes in Self-Representation Across Ages
- Adolescence and the Search for Identity (cont.)
- Identity is multifaceted an adolescent may reach
commitment in some facets well before others. - Culture plays an important role.
- Relationships with parents affect how adolescents
deal with issues of identity.
15Evaluating the Self
- Begin to evaluate their performance on individual
tasks during toddler years age 7 form an overall
opinion of themselves (global self-evaluation
Harter, 1998 Stipek, Recchia, McClintic,
1992). - More negative beginning at age 11 or 12.
- Gradually increases during later adolescence.
16Evaluating the Self
- Influences on Self-Evaluation
- Roots in quality of caregiving in infancy secure
attachment (Bowlby, 1982). - Comparisons children draw between their real
selves and their ideal selves. - Actual discrepancy between the ideal and the real
in domains that are important to the child
(Harter, 1999). - The degree of social support the child receives
from parents and/or peers (Harter, 1999). - Perceived physical appearance has highest
correlation with self-esteem (.65-.82 Harter,
1998).
NASE http//www.self-esteem-nase.org/
17Evaluating the Self
- Consequences of Positive and Negative
Self-Evaluations - Childrens evaluations of their own skills and
competencies directly affect their choices of
activities and their persistence on difficult
challenges. - There is a strong relationship between
self-evaluations and depression (.72-.80).
18Evaluating the Self
- Suggestions for parents
- Provide sensitively responsive caregiving.
- Provide positive support and encouragement but
also honest feedback. - Help children learn to set realistic and
achievable short-term goals (Damon, 1995). - Ethnic minority parents should help children
develop positive self-evaluations and ethnic
identities.
Parent info http//www.cyberparent.com/esteem/
19Self-Regulation
- The ability to control our own behavior,
emotions, or thoughts and change them to meet the
demands of the situation. - Includes the ability to inhibit first responses,
to resist interference from irrelevant
stimulation, and to persist on relevant tasks
even when we dont enjoy them. - Aspects of self-regulation correlate with various
positive outcomes for children and adolescents.
20Self-Regulation
- When Do Children Develop Self-Regulation Skills?
- Precursors appear early in life.
- Very young babies show primitive control of some
aspects of behavior and reactions. - 12-18 months Awareness of social demands in
their environment. - 24 months Show aspects of self-control even
when caregiver is not immediately with them. - 3-7 years Grow steady in ability to inhibit
first responses.
21Self-Regulation
- When Do Children Develop Self-Regulation Skills?
(cont.) - Older children and adolescents increasingly able
to self-regulate behavior, emotions, and
problem-solving strategies. - Comes from internal and external sources.
22Context and Self-Regulation
(Kochanska, Coy, Murray, 2001)
23Self-Regulation
- What Factors Influence the Development of
Self-Regulation? - Aspects of temperament related.
- Maturation of certain areas of the brain,
especially frontal lobes, enables children to
resist interference and inhibit responses. - Environment has strong influence.
- Modeling The process of imitating, practicing,
and internalizing others behaviors (Schunk
Zimmerman, 1997). Also, the process of providing
the example behavior, as in her parents are
modeling good study skills. - Parenting style affects how well and how quickly
self-regulatory skills develop.
Teaching self-regulatory skills
http//www.talaris.org/pdf/spotlight_effort.pdf
24- Graph on Slide 7 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
(2005). Child development Principles and
perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 372). Boston Allyn
and Bacon. - Picture on Slide 7 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
(2005). Child development Principles and
perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 373). Boston Allyn
and Bacon. - Chart on Slide 11 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
(2005). Child development Principles and
perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 376). Boston Allyn
and Bacon. - Chart on Slide 13 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
(2005). Child development Principles and
perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 377). Boston Allyn
and Bacon. - Charts on Slide 22 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
(2005). Child development Principles and
perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 384). Boston Allyn
and Bacon. - All other images retrieved from Microsoft
PowerPoint Clip Art.