Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood*
Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
Stage: Industry-versus-inferiority stage (ages 6-13)
Children strive to attain competence and meet challenges.
They start to evaluate themselves based on psychological traits.
Children understand their strengths and weaknesses across various domains.
Self-concepts differentiate into personal and academic spheres.
Social Comparison
Definition: The process by which children compare their abilities, expertise, and opinions to others to assess their own accomplishments.
Upwards Social Comparison: Comparing oneself to peers who appear more proficient, which can motivate self-improvement.
Downwards Social Comparison: Comparing oneself to peers who seem less competent to protect self-esteem.
Self-Esteem
Definition: An individual’s overall self-evaluation of self-worth.
Self-esteem generally increases throughout middle childhood but declines around age 12 due to the transition to middle school.
Children with low self-esteem may become trapped in a cycle of low performance due to low self-expectations.
Conversely, high self-esteem can lead to a cycle of success.
Influence of Parenting: Authoritative, warm, and emotionally supportive parenting can promote higher self-esteem in children.
Friendships
The quality of children's lives becomes more influenced by friendships during middle childhood.
Friends provide emotional support and information about the world.
Friendship skills facilitate communication, promote intellectual growth, and reduce the likelihood of being targeted by aggression.
Family relationships typically remain more influential than friendships throughout middle childhood.
Stages of Friendship
Stage 1: Basing Friendship on Other’s Behaviors (Ages 4-7)
Children perceive friends primarily as individuals to share toys or activities with.
Personal qualities are not considered.
Stage 2: Basing Friendship on Trust (Ages 8-10)
Children start to take personal qualities into account.
Friendships are viewed based on the rewards provided, grounded in mutual trust.
Stage 3: Basing Friendship on Psychological Closeness (Ages 11-15)
Friendships are now characterized by closeness, loyalty, and mutual disclosure and support.
Popularity
Children's friendship circles are structured according to popularity.
Popular children typically have more friends and are likely to form exclusive and desirable cliques.
They interact with a greater number of peers and often possess social competence.
Characteristics of Popular Children: They tend to be cooperative, friendly, and warm. However, some may engage in negative behaviors that can also garner popularity.
Social Problem Solving
Definition: Refers to a child's use of strategies in resolving social conflicts, which is crucial for social success.
Children who can accurately interpret others' behaviors tend to have better social problem-solving skills.
Unpopular children may struggle to understand others' behaviors, often resulting in inappropriate reactions.
Teaching Social Competence
Several programs have been designed to promote social skills among children. Parents can encourage social competence through:
Promoting social interaction.
Teaching listening skills.
Assisting children in interpreting nonverbal emotional expressions.
Avoiding public selections for teams or groups to reduce anxiety.
Gender Segregation
During middle childhood, avoidance of the opposite gender becomes pronounced.
Boys' Friendships:
Tend to maintain larger networks of friends.
Prefer group play over pairings.
Establish a dominance hierarchy signifying social power rankings within the group.
Girls' Friendships:
Focus on having a “best friend” with equal or higher social status.
May ignore conflicts among themselves but can be confrontational with others, especially boys and non-friend girls.
Siblings
Siblings provide companionship and opportunities to practice social competencies, but can also lead to conflict.
Generally, having siblings is viewed as beneficial for social development as long as their relationship remains positive and parental attention is balanced.
Sibling rivalry tends to be more intense among siblings who are close in age and of the same gender.
Only Children
Only children miss early social interactions typically experienced with siblings but can enhance social competence through strong peer relationships later.
They might demonstrate greater self-reliance due to their ability to engage in solitary play.
Some studies suggest that only children may possess slight academic advantages.
Divorce
The period immediately following a divorce is often marked by psychological maladjustment for parents and children, lasting for approximately 6 months to 2 years.
Symptoms may include anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and phobias.
Most children revert to their pre-divorce psychological adjustment after two years.
Divorce can alter living standards, impacting child development positively or negatively; many children perceive divorce as an improvement over living in ongoing conflict.
Single Parent Homes
Statistic: 31% of children in the U.S. live with one parent or with grandparents.
The impact of single-parent households varies based on factors such as:
Socioeconomic status.
The presence of the other parent during upbringing.
The amount of free time available for the parent to spend with the child.
The level of household stress.
Bullying
Definition: Repeated, intentional aggressive behavior.
Types of Bullying:
Verbal Bullying
Physical Bullying
Relational Bullying
Cyberbullying
Bullying typically begins in middle childhood and often peaks during early adolescence.
Effects of Being Bullied
Emotional & Psychological Impact:
Increased risk for internalizing issues such as anxiety and depression.
Low self-worth and social withdrawal.
Social-Cognitive Effects:
Hypervigilance in social situations.
Difficulty with trust and emotion regulation.
Academic Impact:
Decreased engagement and academic performance.
Long-Term Consequences:
Higher likelihood of experiencing mental health issues and difficulties in adult relationships.
Who are Bullies?
Reactive Bullies (Impulsive):
Often easily angered and emotionally dysregulated.
May react to perceived threats with aggression.
Misunderstood and socially rejected.
Example: A child who lashes out when feeling overwhelmed.
Proactive Bullies (Strategic):
Use aggression to gain control or enhance social status.
Typically socially skilled and may be popular.
Often plan acts of bullying to avoid adult detection, showing low empathy despite understanding others' emotions.
Example: Spreading rumors to exclude a peer.
Characteristics of Bullies
Bullies are often influenced by exposure to harsh or inconsistent parenting and environments that reward dominance or ignore prosocial behaviors.
Proactive bullying is frequently associated with low empathy combined with high social intelligence.
Anti-Bullying Programs
Effective Programs Include:
Implementing clear anti-bullying policies.
Bystander training to empower peers to act.
Involvement of parents in the initiatives.
Media training to understand online behavior.
Conducting surveys for feedback from students.
Ineffective Programs:
Programs limited to “awareness” days or ineffective messages like “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully.”
Social Media
Victims of cyberbullying are at a higher risk of engaging in suicidal ideation.
Social networks can facilitate bullying and harassment, leading to various lawsuits against companies for:
Their addictive designs.
Inadequate protections against online predators.
Encouraging unhealthy patterns such as self-harm and disordered eating through content and advertising.
Recent Lawsuits and Effects of Social Media
Recent Developments:
Mayor Eric Adams introduced a lawsuit against social media giants for contributing to a nationwide youth mental health crisis, highlighting the addictive nature of platforms and the enduring impacts on children.
Harms of Social Media
Cyberbullying:
Includes harassment through threatening or mean messages.
Exclusion from group activities or chats.
Impersonation to harm reputations.
Doxxing, where private information is shared to embarrass or threaten individuals.
Public shaming through humiliating content.
Increased Access and Aggression:
Cyberbullying provides year-round access, leading to a lack of safe spaces.
The online disinhibition effect encourages individuals to behave aggressively due to feelings of anonymity.
Bullying behavior can reach a larger and immediate audience, making it hard to escape.
Emotional and Psychological Distress:
Non-consensual image sharing and online harassment leads to severe emotional distress, including anxiety and PTSD symptoms.
Can damage self-concept and reputation, causing social withdrawal or academic decline.
Body Image Issues:
Exposure to appearance-focused content can foster dissatisfaction with one's body.
Internalization of beauty ideals can result in early dieting behaviors, especially among girls and boys facing muscularity pressure.
Censorship and Regulation of Social Media
Social media platforms continually attempt to regulate harmful content associated with eating disorders but struggle to effectively manage newer, subtler variations of harmful hashtags.
Individuals often find solace in "secret" online communities, reinforcing harmful behaviors while fostering a sense of belonging.
Social Media Addiction in Children
Vulnerability Factors:
Ongoing development within the prefrontal cortex, which governs impulse control.
The importance of peer validation increases during middle childhood and adolescence.
Children's developing brains are sensitive to likes, shares, and comments, reinforcing potential addictive behaviors.
Signs of Problematic Use:
Preoccupation with social media usage.
Difficulty in stopping use despite negative consequences.
Mood changes, including irritability and anxiety when access is restricted.