Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood

Flashcards about emotional and social development in middle childhood.

Self-Understanding

The attainment of knowledge about and insight into one’s characteristics, including attitudes, motives, behavioral tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses.

Self-Concept in Middle Childhood

Between ages 8 to 11 years, major changes occur, with competencies and personality traits becoming significant parts. Descriptions become less extreme as children approach middle school.

Social Comparisons

During elementary years, children judge their appearance, abilities, and behavior in relation to peers, initially comparing themselves to a single peer, then to several classmates as they get older.

Cognitive Influences on Self-Concept

Cognitive development supports coordination of situations and reasoning, impacting their worldview.

Perspective-taking skills

Inferring what others are thinking

Recursive thought

Enables children to “read” others’ messages more accurately and internalize expectations.

Ideal Self

Formed as children evaluate their "real self."

Self-Esteem

During elementary school years, it is based on academic, social, physical/athletic competence, and physical appearance.

Global Self-Esteem

Viewing the self in terms of stable dispositions, allowing combination of separate self-evaluations into an overall psychological image.

Mastery-oriented attributions

Crediting success to one’s abilities.

Growth mindset attributions

Linking improvement to effort and effective strategies.

Learned helplessness

The tendency to attribute failures, not success, to one’s abilities, anticipating failure and lacking self-efficacy.

Fixed mindset

The belief that abilities are set in stone and cannot be improved by effort, viewing difficult tasks as a threat.

Basic Emotions

Happiness, anger, sadness, and fear.

Self-Conscious Emotions

Guilt, envy, shame, and pride.

Problem-centered coping

Appraising a situation as changeable, identifying the difficulty, and deciding what to do about it.

Emotion-centered coping

An internal, private strategy aimed at controlling distress when little can be done about the outcome.

Emotional self-efficacy

A feeling of control over one's emotional experience, fostering a favorable self-image and optimistic outlook.