chapter 11: understanding self and others

Question 1

what is self concept

Answer 1

attributes, abilities, attitudes and values than define an individual

• core of a person, body is a vehicle for carrying around this important mental entity

Question 2

origins of self awareness

Answer 2

6 months: aware of being a separate entity (subjective self)

18 months: self recognition, able to recognize self in the mirror, same time as referring to self by name

2 years: point to self in photos, refer to themselves with personal pronoun (me, mine) , realize characteristics (toys, food)

3 yrs: recognize their own shadow

Question 3

mirror test

Answer 3

putting red dye on a child’s forehead
- younger babies will touch the mirror as if the red mark had nothing to do with themselves, where older infants will rub their foreheads, indicating awareness of their unique experiences

Question 4

me self/categorical self

Answer 4

a persons sense of his or her objective characteristics such as appearance and abilities
- develops around age 2; at first very basic descriptors
(ex. im a boy)

Question 5

age 5 -7 evolving self concept

Answer 5

at this age child is able to add general personality traits
(ex. im truthful, im shy)

• be able to make social comparisons
  (the process of judging oneself in relation to ones peers)
• bc in elementary school, children begin to spend time judging appearance, abilities and behaviour

Question 5

i self/enduring self

Answer 5

a persons subjective sense of being a particular individual who exists over time and experiences the world in a particular way
- develops after “me self”
- being able to recall events that happend and create a story

Question 6

current self compared with ideal self - who we aspire to be

Answer 6

discrepancy between ones current self and ones ideal self can be either a source of motivation for self improvement or a source of distress and discouragement

Question 7

identity development: erik erikson

Answer 7

8 stages; each has a challenge that must be resolved
- developed via CRUCIAL SOCIALIZATION

• each stage has a challenge that has to be successfully resolved (or a skill that must be acquired) before a child can move on to deal with the next stage; if not resolved properly, this might cause psychological problems for an individual in the future

Question 8

ERIKSON - stage 1

Answer 8

basic trust vs mistrust (birth-1yr)

• infants learn that other people can be trusted
• when recieved warm and responsive care they learn to trust others to take care of basic needs
• mistrust: occurs when infants have to wait too long for comfort or are handled inconsistently (sometimes warm, other times cold (see the world as dangerous, insensitive)

Question 9

ERIKSON - stage 2

Answer 9

stage 2: autonomy vs shame and doubt (age 1-3)

• children can control own actions and strive for independence
• want to choose for themselves (parents can foster this by allowing free choice)
• not given that = shame

Question 10

ERIKSON - stage 3

Answer 10

stage 3: initiative vs guilt (age 3-5)

• challenge: to develop a sense of purpose in accomplishing speciifc goals
• initiative (responsbility and ambition) develops when parents support child’s sense of purpose
• undertake goals that conflict with parents rules = guilty

Question 11

ERIKSON - stage 4

Answer 11

stage 4: industry vs inferiority (age 6-puberty)

• critical for development of self confidence
• am i competent or am i worthless
• challenge: develop self confidence via positive interactions with teachers and peers at school
• children encouraged to demonstrate skills = industry
• if children punished for efforts and found incapable of meeting expectations = inferiority

Question 12

ERIKSON - stage 5

Answer 12

stage 5: identity vs identity confusion

• age: adolescence
• balancing desire to try out multiple selves vs need to select a single self
• challenge: to develop a lasting integrated sense of self
• how you fit in the world around you

Question 13

identity vs identity confusion

Answer 13

• identity formed in 3 areas: love, work, ideology
• resolves through meaningful interactions with others
• trying out cultures, interactions, life choices, traits
• will point out ‘falseself’ behaviour

Question 14

James Marcia

Answer 14

Marcias theory of identity development

• expanded eriksons identity crisis into:
  4 different identity statuses

1. identity diffusion
2. identity foreclousure
3. identity moratorium
4. identity achievement

Question 15

1. identity diffusion

Answer 15

• state characterized by lack of exploration and commitment
• associated with psychological and interpersonal problems
• finding ones self to be very difficult
• result in: socially withdrawn, disconnected from parents and peers, low self esteem

Question 16

2. identity foreclosure

Answer 16

foreclosure: states (values, goals, careers) determined by adults (usually parents) , not personal exploration

associated with:
- authoritarian values
- high need for social approval
- low levels of autonomy

Question 17

3. identity moratorium

Answer 17

moratorium: actively exploring alternatives but not yet found one thats satisfactory in terms of identity

• trying personal, occupational and ideological possibilities and restricted

Question 18

4. identity achievement

Answer 18

young people who have made definite personal, occupational and ideological choices

if commitment takes place w out exploration = identity foreclosure

associated with:
- content with where you are headed
- high levels of moral reasoning
- high levels of intimacy with peers
- authoritative parenting

Question 19

negative identity

Answer 19

selection of an identity that is undesirable in the eyes of significant others and broader community

Question 20

sexual orientation - identity

Answer 20

sexual orientation: the attraction that individuals experience for people of the same sex, both or none

• Modern day psychologists believe that sexual orientation is something that occurs on a continuum, rather than a dichotomy (i.e., it’s not the case that a person is either “straight” or “gay”; there is room for much variation between these endpoints)

Question 21

sexual orientation - adolescents

Answer 21

• most adolescents are foreclosed in terms of sexual identity
• sexual minority youth often experience identity conflict during moratorium
• parental understanding is critical for positive adjustment

Question 22

lgbtq issues

Answer 22

LGB+ youth report lower levels of family support, overall, than their heterosexual age-mates, and parental understanding is very important
- strongest predictor of favourable adjustment

Question 23

ethnic identity

Answer 23

developing a feeling of belonging, and learning the customs and culture of ones ethnic group

• immigrants to new culture experience identity conflict
• adolescents from a minority group develop an awareness of what it means for them to be a member of their minority group within society dominated by majority culture

Question 24

biculturalism

Answer 24

involves developing a dual identity, one based in ethnic group and one based in majority culture
“shifting frames” - moving back and forth between one’s two identities, depending on who one is with

Question 25

multiethnic identity

Answer 25

becoming much more common
- interracial parents
- bicultural individuals, bi- and multiracial individuals forming their identities might incorporate elements, or adopt values, from both or multiple ethnic backgrounds

Question 26

self esteem

Answer 26

our evaluation as to our own worth, how we feel about ourselves
- peoples judgment of their own worthiness
- general affect towards one self
- assessment of ones competencies
- physical, psychological and moral being

Question 27

self esteem in childhood - harters model

Answer 27

children aged 4-7 might be accused of having inflated egos because they tend to rate themselves positively in all domains

five domains:
1. behavioural conduct
2. physical appearance
3. social acceptance
4. scholastic competence
5. athletic competence

• by age eight, children’s assessments of themselves tend to be more in line with what others think of them

4 to 7 yrs old: overall positive self-appraisal
> 8 yrs old: self-appraisal more closely reflect others’ evaluations

Question 28

contributors to self esteem

Answer 28

parenting styles
- early sensitive parenting, authoritative parenting in childhood and adolescence

peer influences
- social comparison, peer support, relationship quality

Question 29

praise and self esteem

Answer 29

avoid inflated praise
- can cause children with a low self esteem to choose an easy task
- it backfires because sets high standards

The researchers surmised that inflated praise sets high standards (e.g., you need to be “perfect” or “the best” at something to get praise), which in turn leads these children to avoid activities where they might fail, as a form of self-protection.

Question 30

selmans stage theory of role taking

Answer 30

role taking = ability to think about something from another point of view
- perspective taking progresses from less complex to more complex, as a child grows from a pre-schooler to an adolescent
- 5 stages

Question 31

stages of: selman stage theory of role taking

Answer 31

1. undifferentiated (age 3-56)
   - confuse own and others POV
   - egocentric (struggles to understand others have diff perspectives than their own)
2. social informational (age 4-9)
   - realizes that others can have a different POV than a child does
3. self reflective (age 7-12)
   - can think about others point of view
   other people can also imagine things from her point
4. third person (age 10-15)
   - can systematically compare his own POV from someone else
   take perspective of a third party and assess
5. societal (age 14+)
   - assess whether their POV is the same as most people of their peers
   - multiple perspectives simultaneously

Question 32

prejudice

Answer 32

a negative view of others based on their membership in a specific group

• we start to clearly delineate between ingroups (groups we belong to) and outgroups (groups we don’t belong to), and to favour our ingroups over outgroups, at a very young age

Question 33

prejudice in pre school aged children

Answer 33

• have positive views of their own groups, stereotyped rigid views of others
• inflexible views about people in any outgroup that they lack familiarity with
• declines during elementary - school years
• see groups as more heretogenous (diverse) in terms of traits
• by grade 6-8, largely aware of stereotypes

Question 34

prejudice increases in high school years for 2 reasons

Answer 34

1. experiential
   - exposed to friends, parents, teachers and religious figures who are prejudiced
2. identity search
   - affiliate with ethnic/cultural heritage group

Question 35

intergroup contact theory

Answer 35

involves people from different groups working together to achieve a common goal