9 Middle Childhood Personality and Sociocultural Development Chapter

Middle Childhood Personality and Sociocultural Development • Personality Development in an Expanding Social World

Personality Development in an Expanding Social World • Three perspectives on middle childhood –

Three Major Perspectives on Middle Childhood Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

Personality Development • Self-concept – Children form increasingly stable pictures of themselves, and self-concept

Personality Development • Industry versus inferiority – Erikson’s stage of middle childhood – When

Personality Development • Self-esteem: children’s positive or negative evaluation of themselves – Significant correlation

Social Knowledge and Reasoning • Children move from Piaget’s preoperational stage to the concrete

Development of Social Cognition • Social cognition is a person's knowledge and understanding of

Aspects of Social Cognition Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of Morality • Morality—a sense of what is right and wrong and of

Moral Development • Kohlberg presented children of different ages with moral “dilemmas” • A

Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

Video Clip Interviews with people of various ages providing responses to Kohlberg’s Heinz dilemma:

Peer Relationships • Functions of Friendships – help with social concepts and skills –

Selman’s Stages of Friendship Development Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer Groups • Peer groups – three or more children who interact and share

Peer Groups (continued) • Children may experience discrimination and prejudice due to their ethnicity

Peer Groups (continued) • Children have to figure out what it means to be

Video Clip ABC news video provides information on cyberbullying: http: //abcnews. go. com/Video/player. Index?

Family Influences in Middle Childhood • Parent-Child Relationships – Family continues to be the

Changing Nature of the Family • Single parenthood has become commonplace • Married women

Seven Guidelines for Single Parenting Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Changing Family • About half of all U. S. marriages divorce end in

Video Clip Two girls describe their experiences of their parents’ divorce: http: //www. youtube.

Video Clip Scene from the documentary In My Room: girl describes how she has

Factors That Affect Children’s Reactions to Divorce Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All

Summary • The context within which personality and sociocultural development takes places widens during

Summary • Their self-concept becomes more stable, more realistic, more complex, and more accurate

Summary • Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas indicate how children of this age think about right

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Middle Childhood Personality and Sociocultural Development • Personality Development in an Expanding Social World • Social Knowledge and Reasoning • Peer Relationships • Family Influences in Middle Childhood Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personality Development in an Expanding Social World • Three perspectives on middle childhood – Social-learning – Psychodynamic – Cognitive-developmental • The development of the self is among the most important task of this period • Self-concept is a central component of self Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personality Development • Self-concept – Children form increasingly stable pictures of themselves, and self-concept becomes more realistic – They begin to attribute specific traits to themselves – They start to compare themselves specifically with others Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personality Development • Industry versus inferiority – Erikson’s stage of middle childhood – When children succeed in school they incorporate a sense of industry into their selfimage – Children who don’t achieve mastery may perceive themselves to be inferior – Their success in this stage lays the groundwork for their self-esteem Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personality Development • Self-esteem: children’s positive or negative evaluation of themselves – Significant correlation between self-esteem and academic achievement & achievement in other activities – Positive self-esteem is linked to being viewed positively by family, peers, and others – Praise is good, but not if it is unrealistic – Excessive praise can lead to distorted perceptions of right and wrong and make children too egocentric Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Knowledge and Reasoning • Children move from Piaget’s preoperational stage to the concrete operational stage • Central to development is: – development of social cognition – development of morality Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of Social Cognition • Social cognition is a person's knowledge and understanding of the social world. It includes: – Social inference: guesses and assumptions about what another person is thinking or feeling – Social responsibility: one’s obligations to family, friends, and people in authority – Social regulation: adhering to the customs and conventions that govern social interaction Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of Morality • Morality—a sense of what is right and wrong and of fairness and justice • Stage Theories – Piaget’s moral realism versus moral relativism – Kohlberg’s preconventional, and postconventional reasoning Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Moral Development • Kohlberg presented children of different ages with moral “dilemmas” • A person’s level of moral reasoning assessed by evaluating reasoning behind response • Critics say that moral behavior is not as orderly and predictable as Kohlberg suggested and that his emphasis on “justice” shows a male bias Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Video Clip Interviews with people of various ages providing responses to Kohlberg’s Heinz dilemma: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. Y 4 et. XWYS 84 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer Relationships • Functions of Friendships – help with social concepts and skills – vehicle for self-expression • Developmental Patterns in Friendship – Selman’s stage model – Selman’s model may be too simplistic, as it does not differentiate among different kinds of friendship – Children’s friendships today are complex and multifaceted Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer Groups • Peer groups – three or more children who interact and share norms and goals • In early middle childhood, groups are relatively informal • At ages 10 to 12, peer groups become more formal and are usually gender-segregated • Peers often conform to the expectations of their peer group, which may be desirable or undesirable effects Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer Groups (continued) • Children may experience discrimination and prejudice due to their ethnicity or nationality • Children develop an ethnic awareness in early childhood, but in middle childhood begin to self-identify themselves with ethnic labels Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer Groups (continued) • Children have to figure out what it means to be a member of their peer and ethnic groups • Popularity in one’s peer group is important – Popular children generally have good emotional control and can cooperate and share – Children who are overly aggressive, timid, or different in some way are usually less popular Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Family Influences in Middle Childhood • Parent-Child Relationships – Family continues to be the most important socializing force – Effective parenting in middle childhood involves effective monitoring of children’s activities and behaviors, so as to promote selfregulated behavior – Children adjust better when parents and children share responsibilities for regulating behavior (coregulation) Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Nature of the Family • Single parenthood has become commonplace • Married women are more likely to work outside the home • 27% of single mothers are unemployed and therefore likely to be living in poverty • The fact that most parents work outside the home has had an impact on child care related institutions • Other factors add to stress, including finances, divorce, moves, illness, and deaths Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Changing Family • About half of all U. S. marriages divorce end in • Children feel a sense of loss and worry about what will happen to them • Exactly how children react to divorce depends on their individual temperament and the hostility level of their parents • If a parent remarries, children face additional challenges: resentment about discipline, having to “share” their parent, living with stepsiblings Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Video Clip Scene from the documentary In My Room: girl describes how she has been affected by her parents’ divorce: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=XS 3 c 3342 UCc Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary • The context within which personality and sociocultural development takes places widens during middle childhood • Children come to understand themselves and their place in the world • They learn what is right and wrong • They associate with peer groups. Their family relationships and circumstances have a huge impact on their development Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary • Their self-concept becomes more stable, more realistic, more complex, and more accurate • Their self-esteem is linked to being viewed positively by family, peers, and others • Erikson called this the age of industry versus inferiority • They make advances in their cognitive abilities that aid in their expanding social cognition • They become less egocentric, and are able to make social inferences and assume social responsibility Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary • Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas indicate how children of this age think about right and wrong • Peer relationships become very important to development and popularity in one’s peer group is an important dimension of group membership • The family continues to be the most important socializing force, however • The goal of parenting at this stage is to help children learn to self-regulate their behavior • Many life situations can cause stress to the family at this stage, especially divorce Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.