Chapter 10 Self and Personality

Life-Span Human Development, 10e Chapter 10: Self and Personality

Conceptualizing the Self and Personality

Some Basic Concepts

• Personality: Organized combination of attributes, motives, values, and behaviors that are unique to each individual.

  • Dispositional traits: Enduring characteristics influencing behavior and reactions.

  • Characteristic adaptations: Contextual adjustments and habits formed in response to life experiences.

  • Narrative identities: Life stories that individuals create to define themselves.

• Self-concept: Perceptions of unique attributes and traits, shaping individual identity.

• Self-esteem: Evaluation of worth as a person, rooted in the balance of positive and negative self-perceptions that constitute self-concept.

• Identity: Overall sense of who individuals are, their direction in life, and their societal roles.

Theories of Personality

• Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud): Personality is primarily formed during the first five years of life.

• Neo-Freudian Theory (Erik Erikson): Proposed shared personality changes at similar life stages, emphasizing social influences and potential for growth throughout the lifespan.

• Trait Theory (Costa & McCrae): Views personality as a set of dispositional traits along which individuals can differ, suggesting that these traits are consistent across various situations.

  • The Big Five Personality Dimensions:

  1. Openness to Experience

  2. Conscientiousness

  3. Extraversion

  4. Agreeableness

  5. Neuroticism

  • Often summarized using the acronym OCEAN.

• Social Learning Theory (Bandura & Mischel): Rejects the existence of universal stages of personality development, focusing on situational influences on behavior rather than enduring traits.

Perspectives on Personality

• Psychoanalytic theory:

  • Theorists: Freud & Erikson

  • Themes: Personality as inner qualities, stage-like development.

• Trait theory:

  • Theorists: Costa & McCrae

  • Themes: Enduring dispositional traits (Big Five).

• Social learning theory:

  • Theorists: Bandura & Mischel

  • Themes: Behavior influenced by situational factors; criticism of universal traits/stages.

The Infant

The Emerging Self - Infancy

• Self-recognition starts: Rudimentary recognition appears as early as three months.

• Mirror Technique: Used to test infant's visual self-recognition. The Infant Rouge Test involves placing a mark (rouge) on the infant's nose and observing whether they touch it in a mirror.

  • Increased nose-touching indicates self-recognition.

  • Signs of self-recognition are expected between 15 and 18 months.

  • Conscious awareness of one's body emerges by age two.

• Social Classifications: By 18 to 24 months, infants can classify themselves into social categories based on age, sex, and visible characteristics.

Contributions to Self-Awareness in Infancy

• Factors influencing self-awareness:

  • Cognitive development

  • Social interaction

  • Cultural context: Different impact based on individualistic vs. collectivist cultures.

• Self-recognition outcomes for toddlers:

  • Enhanced ability to talk about themselves.

  • More assertiveness and ability to assert their wills.

  • Development of self-conscious emotions.

  • Enhanced capability to coordinate perspectives with others.

Temperament

• Temperament: Early genetically-based, environmentally influenced tendencies to respond predictably, foundational for later personality.

  • Easy child: 40% - Positive mood, establishes routines, adapts easily.

  • Difficult child: 10% - Negative reactions, frequently cries, irregular routines.

  • Slow-to-warm-up child: 15% - Low activity level, mildly negative reactions, less intensity in mood.

  • Remaining 35% do not fit these patterns.

• Goodness of fit: Refers to the compatibility between the child's temperament and social expectations, emphasizing the importance of understanding individual quirks and the benefits of sensitive parenting.

The Child

Description of the Self

• Early Childhood (Concrete & Individualistic):

  • Described as physical and active.

  • Unrealistic self-perception; e.g., “I’m never scared!”

• Middle to Late Childhood (Complexity Increases):

  • Shift towards description using psychological traits.

  • Inclusion of social comparisons in self-descriptions.

  • Gradual differentiation between real self and ideal self, leading to more realistic self-evaluations.

Changes in Self-Esteem

• Harter's Findings: Self-esteem becomes more dimensional with age.

  • By mid-elementary, children differentiate self-esteem into five components:

  1. Scholastic competence

  2. Social acceptance

  3. Behavioral conduct

  4. Athletic competence

  5. Physical appearance

Influences on Self-Esteem

• Factors contributing to higher self-esteem:

  • Heritability of self-esteem.

  • Environmental influences, especially warm and democratic parenting styles.

  • Success in important tasks fosters self-esteem stability throughout elementary school.

The Developing Personality

• Longitudinal research indicates:

  • Inhibited, overcontrolled 3-year-olds often become cautious teenagers.

  • Irritable, emotionally volatile 3-year-olds may evolve into impulsive adolescents and adults.

  • Well-adjusted children generally develop into socially and morally mature adults.

  • Self-controlled children demonstrate academic success and sound social skills; often show better health and financial stability in adulthood.

The Developing Personality (Continued)

• Freud’s theory that personality is formed entirely by age five is contradicted by evidence showing that:

  • Personalities continue evolving in response to environmental changes into adolescence.

  • Some aspects of personality may not stabilize until the teenage years.

• Goodness-of-fit: This concept can elucidate instances of both continuity and change in children’s personalities.

• Erikson's Psychosocial Stages: Proposed developmental conflicts applicable throughout life:

  1. Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth to 1 year)

  2. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (1-3 years)

  3. Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years)

  4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years)

The Adolescent

Self-Understanding

• Cognitive Development in Adolescence: Shift towards more abstract, idealistic thinking.

• Increased self-consciousness and recognition of contradictions within self-identity.

• Integration of Self-Concepts: Adolescents develop a clearer distinction between real and ideal selves and a more coherent self-identity.

• Possible Selves: Concept representing what adolescents aspire to be or fear becoming.

Self-Concepts and Self-Esteem

• Notable decrease in self-esteem from childhood to early adolescence due to:

  • Greater emphasis on realism regarding personal abilities.

  • Adjustment issues related to body image and overall self-identity during middle school transitions.

  • High school social dynamics affecting self-image, particularly among adolescents, especially females.

• Adolescents who enter adulthood with high self-esteem often benefit from:

  • Opportunities for achievement and peer or parental support.

  • Consequences of high self-esteem: Improved mental and physical health, better career prospects, and reduced criminal behavior.

Identity Formation

• Critical Development Period (Adolescence): Classified as a central phase in the evolving process of identity formation.

• Identity vs. Role Confusion: Represents Erikson's fifth stage of psychosocial development.

  • Adolescents must integrate divergent self-perceptions into a cohesive identity; addressing critical questions involving career aspirations and social fitting.

• Moratorium: Society permits a period where youth explore identity without pressure of immediate commitment.

Marcia’s 4 Statuses of Identity

• John Marcia: Proposed four statuses in identity development based on crisis and commitment:

  1. Identity Diffusion: Absence of crisis and commitment.

  2. Identity Foreclosure: Commitment present without a crisis.

  3. Identity Moratorium: Crisis present without established commitments.

  4. Identity Achievement: Successful resolution of a crisis resulting in commitment.

Marcia’s Identity Statuses as a Function of Age

• Identity formation spans time; about half of 24-year-olds have achieved a definite identity.

• Identity development occurs at varying rates and in different domains, with only 5% of adolescents maintaining the same status across all four identity aspects.

Forging an Identity

• Formation of ethnic identity contributes to overall identity development, characterized by:

  • Personal identification with one's ethnic group and associated values.

  • Development starts in infancy, with adolescents experiencing similar identity statuses in forming ethnic identities, showing that a positive ethnic identity can mitigate experiences of racial or ethnic discrimination.

The Adult

Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem typically rises throughout adulthood but declines in late old age.

• Individuals often achieve greater clarity regarding personal identity in middle age, with a subsequent drop as they enter old age.

• Gender differences in self-esteem tend to fade during older age.

Self-Esteem in the Elderly

• Strategies for maintaining a positive self-image among older adults include:

  • Narrowing the gap between ideal and real self-perception.

  • Adapting personal goals and self-evaluation standards.

  • Utilizing social comparisons to peers within the same age group.

  • Avoiding negative self-stereotyping effects.

Continuity and Discontinuity in Personality

• Continuity of Traits: Adults maintain consistent rankings on trait dimensions even as they experience growth in emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness from adolescence into middle adulthood.

• Minimal personality changes occur in later adulthood, with notable reductions in activity levels.

• Continuity is largely influenced by genetic factors, enduring childhood experiences, and stable environments, as well as gene-environment interactions.

Continuing Psychosocial Growth

• Research supports the notion that both genders can experience psychosocial development throughout middle adulthood, per Erikson's theories.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory Stages

Midlife Crisis?

• Seventh Psychosocial Stage: Generativity vs. Stagnation is discussed concerning middle adulthood and the potential for a midlife crisis.

• Debates among Theorists:

  • Erikson and Vaillant observed minimal signs of midlife crises.

  • Levinson proposed a transition from ages 40 to 45, suggesting a questioning phase where individuals reassess life structures and face unsettling issues.

  • Most researchers recognize a questioning period during midlife.

Late Adulthood

• Integrity vs. Despair: Represents completion of psychosocial growth, crucial for overall satisfaction in late adulthood.

• Life Review: Involves reflecting on unresolved past conflicts, allowing individuals to derive new meaning, coherence, and prepare for mortality.

Successful Aging & Psychological Well-Being

• Concept of Successful Aging: Represents an enhanced aging experience compared to typical aging, with criteria established by Rowe & Kohn including:

  • Freedom from disease and physical disability.

  • High levels of cognitive and physical functioning.

  • Active engagement in life activities.

• Activity Theory: Suggests that aging adults can derive satisfaction by maintaining previous levels of activity, continuing former activities, and finding suitable replacements if unable to continue original ones.

• Disengagement Theory: Proposes that effective aging involves a withdrawal from society.

Supporting Data for Successful Aging Theories

• Greater empirical support hinges on activity theory rather than disengagement theory, as some seniors exhibit decreasing levels of activity.

• Interactionist Model of Development: Highlights the importance of the fit between person and environment, emphasizing the bidirectional influence of each on the other.