Developmental Psychology Chapter 10

Self-Development and Personality

What is Self-Concept?

perceptions of unique attributes and traits of ourselves

What is self-esteem?

Evaluation of the overall worth as a person based on all positive/negative self perceptions that make up the self

Self-Identity?

is who we are based on our social memberships

• multiple self identities: gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, SES, nationality, religion, disability status, etc.

What is self control?

ability to manage emotions/desires/behaviors to resits immediate temptations to achieve long-term goals

• +self-control → +school outcomes 10’s-20’s and + financial stability in 30s

• marshmellow test

What are the states in Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory?

Trust vs. mistrust Birth – (1 year) Can I trust others? Trust/Hope

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (1-3 years) Can I act on my own? Will

Initiative vs. guilt (3-6 years) Can I carry out my plans successfully? Purpose

Industry vs. inferiority (6-12 years) Am I competent compared to others? Competence

Identity vs. role confusion (12-20 years) Who am I and where am I going? Fidelity

Intimacy vs. isolation (20-35 years) Am I ready for a committed relationship? Love

Generativity vs. stagnation (35-65 years) Have I given something to future generations? Care

Integrity vs. despair (65 years +) Has my life been meaningful? Wisdom

Self Concept in 0-12 months old (infancy)

Infants do not recognize themselves visually as distinct individuals

• confusion of self and others

Self Concept in 12-30 months old (Toddlers)

• Recognition of self in mirror by 18 months

• Form categorical self by 18-24 months, e.g., social categories in age, sex, race, and other visible characteristics

• Self-recognition is affected by cognitive development & social interaction

• Self-recognition enables them to talk about themselves, assert their wills, experience self-conscious emotions, coordinate their own perspectives with others

Self-Concept in 2.5-6 year olds (preschoolers)

• Sense of self is very concrete: what they do, have, or look like; Self = what I can do…

• Dichotomized descriptors: good, bad, mean, nice

• Autobiographic memory: core self-concept

• Overestimate their abilities: “I can do it because I can think of it, or because I want to do it.”

Self-Concept in 5-11 year olds (elementary schoolers)

Structured learning environment & social comparison

• More realistic & self-adjustment

• Differentiation of multiple self-concepts: 8-10 year old children differentiating self-concept into 5 aspects:

1. Scholastic Competence

2. Social Acceptance

3. Behavioral Conduct

4. Athletic Competence

5. Physical Appearance

What is the trajectory of the global self-esteem score?

• Rather stable in early elementary school

• Declining from 8-10 yrs old & throughout teens (lowest in late teens)

• Rising from 17-18 y-o & throughout adulthood, and declining again in late 60s

• there is a significant gender difference

What factors affect high/low self-esteem?

1. Cognitive Development

2. Social Comparison

3. Socioeconomic Status

4. Supportive/Encouraging Parents

Changes in Self-Esteem?

Self-Esteem typically drops through childhood ( as children engage in more social comparisons) and in early adolescence (when adolescents are dealing with multiple changes in their lives)

• it rebounds as they gain stronger sense of identity and move toward adulthood

Adolescence is a critical period in

forming an integrated identity

• may experience identity crisis

What are some things that Adolescence deal with?

• IDENTITY CRISIS (may experience)

• Revision of body image

• Cognitive growth allows thinking about possible future selves

• Social demands require them to grow up

• Adjust to being sexual being

Adolescents must integrate

varied perceptions of the self concept into a coherent sense of self

• identity vs role confusion

Society supports youths by?

allowing them a moratorium period

• a period where young people are allowed to postpone permanent, adult commitments to explore different roles, identities, beliefs, and career paths

What is a critical aspect of identity development?

an ethical racial identity

• Sense of personal identification with an ethnic-racial group and its values and cultural traditions

• Emerging around 2-3 y-o, further developing during elementary school time, consolidating in adolescence years

Positive ethnic identity serves to

buffer against racial and ethnic discriminaiton

Critical Factors of Ethnic racial Identity?

opportunities to explore, support of the immediate environment, relationship quality w/ parents, etc.

WHo expanded on Erikons’s Psychosocial Theory?

Marcia (identity statuses)

Marcia’s Identity Statuses says that adolescents are classified into

one of four identity statuses depending on two dimensions

1. Amount of Exploration (crisis & questioning)

2. Level of Commitment

3. Identity Diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, & identity achievement

Marcia’s Identity Statuses says that identity formation

takes time

• less than 60% of the 24 year-odls reach identity achievement

Marcias Identity Statuses occurs at

different rates in different domains of identity

• Only 5% of the adolescents were in the same identity status in major areas,

• EX) Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Career

Marcias Identity Statuses Table

Identity development is a progressive shift. By age 24, the majority of individuals move from "identity-seeking" or "identity-avoidant" phases into Identity Achievement.

Diffusion (High @ 12): No exploration, no commitment. Drops sharply as responsibilities increase.

Foreclosure (Steady then Falls): Commitment without exploration (e.g., following parents' path).

Moratorium (Rising): Active exploration/crisis but no commitment yet. Peaks in late teens/early 20s.

Achievement (Low @ 12, High @ 24): Exploration completed + firm commitment made.

Temperament is

early, mostly genetically based styles of responding to the world that serve as the building blocks later personality

• Categorical System (Thomas and Chess)

• Dimensional System (Rothbart)

The Categorical System Percentages

Easy Temperament : 40%

Difficult Temperament : 10%

Slow-to-Warm-Up Temperament : 15%

The Dimensional System involves

Extraversion/Surgency : actively, confidently, & energetically approach new experiences w/ positive emotion

Negative Affectivity : Easily Sad, Frustrated, and Irritable

Effortful Control : Ability to focus and shift attention when desired, inhibit responses

Temperament Profiles

Personality is a

organized combination of attributes, motives/interests, values, emotionality, and behaviors unique & lasting to each individual

• Dispositional Traits

• Characteristic Adaptations

What are dispositional Traits?

interests, emotionality, attributes, values

• relatively enduring and somewhat inborn

What are characteristic Adaptations and Behavioral Patterns?

motives, self-concept interpersonal styles, coping

• Affected by Environmental Factors

What is the trait theory?

Personality is a set of dispositional trait dimensions

• Trait vs State

• The Big FIVE (OCEAN)

Trait vs State means

personality traits are consistent across situations

What are the BIG FIVE Personality Traits?