Chapter 11A - Development of the Self Flashcards
The SELF
The SELF consists of all of the characteristics of a person - the self:
1) Determines the ways in which each of us constructs reality and seeks experiences to maintain our self-image;
2) Allows the individual to adopt a specific and unique PERSPECTIVE from which to observe the world;
3) Develops across the lifespan and is influenced by COGNITIVE SKILLS and SOCIAL EXPERIENCE - it is the product of nature and nurture.
4) Is NOT a UNITARY concept - it comprises different aspects, such as self-esteem, self-concept and self-understanding.
SELF-UNDERSTANDING and UNDERSTANDING OTHERS
The SELF is a SOCIAL CONCEPT because:
1) To effectively interact with others, children need to understand that other people have internal states, emotions, and thoughts which orient behavior;
2) It is strictly related to social-cultural norms;
Thus, SELF-UNDERSTANDING and UNDERSTANDING OTHERS are necessary prerequisites for SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
JAMES’ conceptualisation of the SELF
JAMES devised the distinction between:
1) The I-SELF - the subjective self, the part of the self that reflects on, guides and directs the object self - it is the perception of being agents in our own existence. It includes self-awareness, self-agency, self-continuity and self-coherence. In case of traumatic experiences, there is a sharp break in self-continuity and self-coherence - therapeutic strategies try to reconstruct trauma narrative to reconstruct continuity and coherence;
2) The ME-SELF - the objective self, which comprises the categories we use to define ourselves, and which can be objectively assessed. It includes social roles and relationships, material possessions and personality traits.
CULTURAL INFLUENCES on the SELF
A CULTURAL APPROACH to the study of the SELF maintain that it consists of 3 elements:
1) UNIVERSAL factors, for every individual has a sense of self.
2) CULTURAL factors, for mental representations of ourselves vary according to cultural background;
3) IDIOSYNCRATIC factors, or influence of personal, individual experiences.
Scholars of such viewpoint argue that the biggest influence of culture on the self is related to INDIVIDUALISTIC and COLLECTIVISTIC values.
- INDIVIDUALISTIC cultures produce INDEPENDENT SELVES and poorly defined ingroups;
- COLLECTIVISTIC cultures produce INTERDEPENDENT SELVES, in which the concept of self strongly depends on other ingroup members. On the other hand, the boundaries between ingroup and outgroup members are sharply defined.
INDICATORS of the EMERGENCE of the SELF
INDICATORS of the EMERGENCE of the SELF are:
1) SELF-RECOGNITION;
2) LANGUAGE - starting from the 2nd year of life, children use self-referring terms and are able to understand their name;
3) BEHAVIOUR - DISOBEDIENCE can be seen as a signs of self-determination;
4) EMOTION - SECONDARY EMOTIONS, such as pride and shame, require a sense of self.
SELF-RECOGNITION
A rudimentary form of SELF-RECOGNITION - being attentive toward one’s image in a mirror - appears as early as 3 months of age. However, a central, more complete index of self-recognition - the ability to recognize one’s physical features - does not emerge until the second year of age.
These findings are due to the use of a mirror technique, such as the ROUGE TEST, devised by LEWIS - in this test, an infant’s mother first puts a dot of rouge on the infant’s nose without the infant’s awareness. Next, the infant is placed in front of a mirror, and observers detect whether nose touching increases above the baseline level - children who have developed self-recognition try to delete the red spot on their own nose.
SELF-CONCEPT
SELF-CONCEPT refers to the cognitive aspects of the organization of the self - it expresses the psychological subjective knowledge individuals have about themselves. Self-concepts are evident in self-descriptions, in which individuals are asked to describe themselves. Self-descriptive terms can be grouped into 4 categories, whose relative importance varies according to age:
1) Physical;
2) Psychological;
3) Activity-based;
4) Social-relational.
Self-concepts are organised by means of different principles in different developmental stages:
1) Categorical identification, between 4 and 7 years of age - “I am short”;
2) Comparative assessments, between 8 and 11 years of age - “I am shorter than most kids”;
3) Interpersonal implications, between 12 and 15 years of age - “I am shorter than most kids, so they make fun of me”
The impact of PUBERTY on the SELF
PUBERTY - which starts at around 11 years - is a critical period for the development of the self, characterised by:
1) PHYSICAL CHANGES;
2) COGNITIVE CHANGES - the development of advances self-regulatory skills due to the ongoing development of the prefrontal cortex, and the general cognitive shift towards the formal operational stage;
3) ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES - such as the change of school.
There are large variations in the timing and rate at which these changes occur, between and within boys and girls.
Early or late puberty affects males and females differently:
1) Early maturation in boys is linked to increased leadership, physical and psychological strength and higher self-confidence;
2) Early maturation in girls is correlated to independency and social popularity, yet it usually leads to insecurity in physical appearance.
SELF-ESTEEM
SELF-ESTEEM is the evaluative component of the self, the set of feelings of one’s own personal worth - it corresponds to the perceived difference between the IDEAL SELF and the ACTUAL SELF.
Positive self-esteem is important for MENTAL HEALTH - it can be differentiated into specific components:
- Physical appearance;
- Social acceptance;
- Academic competence;
- Athletic ability;
- Behavioural conduct - trust in one’s own ability to behave appropriately.
At the same time, individuals usually express a GLOBAL LEVEL of SELF-ESTEEM which comprises all these different aspects.
Self-esteem develops relatively late: at 8 years of age, children can express a global evaluation of their own sense of worth, and around the same time a correspondence between self-evaluations and judgements of others emerge.
A steep decrease in self-esteem in ADOLESCENCE is common in Western societies, especially among girls - since this large-scale studies have been carried out with questionnaires, such gender difference could simply be the result of males not feeling free to express their insecurities.
Influence of PARENTING on SELF-ESTEEM
SELF-ESTEEM is strongly influenced by parenting - research identifies 4 PARENTING STYLES, which vary on two dimensions - WARMTH and DEMANDINGNESS:
1) AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING scores high on both dimensions - it is related to good self-esteem in children;
2) AUTHORITARIAN PARENTING scores high on demandingness and low on warmth;
3) PERMISSIVE PARENTING scores high on warmth and low on demandingness - it is related to dangerously high self-esteem in children;
4) UNINVOLVED PARENTING scores low on both dimensions - it is related to low self-esteem in children.
A key antecedent of self-esteem is the feeling that one has some ability to control one’s own future by controlling both oneself and the environment.
CONSEQUENCES of SELF-ESTEEM
Research shows that high self esteem is positively correlated with creativity, less conformity, high academic performance and self-confidence.
In a circular relationship self esteem, general emotional state and motivation influence each other - this is why self esteem is an important topic in clinical psychology.
