Development of Self, Identity

**Self-Concept**

A conceptual system including thoughts and attitudes about oneself across physical

**Three Main Aspects of Self**

Self-concept (how you view yourself)

**Infant Self-Concept Development**

At birth: distinct from external world; 3 months: can control objects; 4 months: others as social partners; 8 months: objects/people are stable; 1 year: joint attention

**Toddler Self-Concept Development**

15 months: distinguish self/others by gender and age; 18–20 months: mirror self-recognition (limited); 2 years: self-recognition in photos/videos

**Mirror Test**

A measure of self-recognition where a child recognizes their own reflection — typically achieved by 18–20 months

**Shopping Cart Study**

A measure of body awareness showing toddlers' developing sense of their own physical self. Concluded that self-recongition develops differently in different cultures

**Cultural Variation in Self-Recognition**

Self-recognition develops differently across cultures (e.g.

**Preschool Self-Concept**

Described using concrete and absolute terms with generally positive (often inflated) estimations of own abilities

**Middle Childhood Self-Concept**

Shifts to social/psychological terms

**Adolescent Self-Concept**

Uses abstract/idealistic and increasingly relative terms; marked by growing self-consciousness and self-focus

**Personal Fable**

Adolescent egocentric belief that their thoughts and feelings are unique to them

**Imaginary Audience**

Adolescent egocentric perception that everyone else is focused on them

**Adolescent Contradictions in Self-Concept**

Early adolescents notice but are bothered by contradictions in self; older adolescents begin to integrate these into a coherent identity

**Self-Esteem**

How a person evaluates and feels about themselves; high = hopeful and positive; low = worthlessness and hopelessness

**Hierarchical Model of Self-Esteem**

Overall self-worth is composed of five domains: scholastic competence

**Crocker & Wolfe (2001) Alternative Model**

Self-esteem is global; domain-specific evaluations only affect self-esteem if one's self-worth is contingent on that domain

**Preschool Self-Esteem**

Rate themselves highly in all domains; evaluate across two broad areas — competence (physical + cognitive) and social acceptance

**Middle Childhood Self-Esteem**

Evaluate across all five domains; ratings become more realistic, similar to others and varied across domains

**Individual Factors in Self-Esteem**

Varies by age, physical attributes, and gender

**External Factors in Self-Esteem**

Parental sensitivity/acceptance

**Cultural Variation in Self-Esteem**

Western cultures tie self-esteem to individual accomplishment and self-promotion; Asian cultures tie it to contributions to group welfare

**Erikson's Identity vs. Role Confusion**

Adolescent psychosocial stage where the key challenge is forming a coherent sense of identity and exploring roles; basic virtue is fidelity

**James Marcia's Identity Statuses**

Four statuses based on exploration and commitment: Diffusion (low/low), Moratorim (high/low), Foreclosure (low/high), Achievement (high/high)

**Identity Diffusion**

Low exploration and low commitment — no clear identity direction

**Identity Moratorium**

High exploration and low commitment — actively exploring but not yet committed

**Identity Foreclosure**

Low exploration and high commitment — committed to an identity without exploring alternatives

**Identity Achievement**

High exploration and high commitment — coherent identity formed after active exploration; typically achieved in late adolescence

**Factors Influencing Identity Formation**

Parental warmth and support vs. psychological control; sociohistorical context including social expectations and social media

**Ethnic and Racial Identity**

Beliefs and attitudes about the ethnic/racial groups to which one belongs; higher levels associated with greater well-being

**Ethnic-Racial Identity Development**

Preschool: little understanding; early school years: group membership awareness and self-identification; adolescence: central to identity, bicultural identities, acculturation gaps, family discussions about race

**Racial Discrimination and Self-Esteem**

Racial discrimination negatively affects both collective and personal self-esteem

**Sexual Identity**

One's sense of self as a sexual being

**Sexual Orientation**

Who a person experiences romantic or sexual attraction toward

**Sexual Identity Statistics (Canada)**

Wang et al. (2023): 79.3% heterosexual

**Coming Out Process**

Youth typically first disclose to a best friend

**Autism Identity and Self-Esteem**

Autism identification positively predicts collective self-esteem (β = .43); collective self-esteem negatively predicts anxiety (β = −.79) and depression (β = −.16) (Cooper et al., 2017)

**Intersectionality**

The importance of considering overlapping identities (e.g.