chapter 12 development of the self and social cognition

Chapter 12 Development of the Self and Social Cognition

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

• Self-Differentiation in Infancy– 2 months – a limited sense of personal

agency – they are responsible for some events

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

• Self-Recognition in Infancy– Self-concept – who or what we are

• 5 months – recognize the self as familiar – Self-recognition

• Rouge test–18-24 months, most realized the

person in the mirror was them –2 to 3 years, limited to present self–4 to 5 years, extended self

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

– Contributors to Self-Recognition• Cognitive development is necessary• Social experience

–Secure attachment –Parents provide descriptive

information• Cultural differences

–Younger self-recognition if autonomy was stressed

• Figure 12.1 Average scores on a test of self-knowledge as a function of age and attachment quality. ADAPTED FROM PIPP, EASTERBROOKS, & HARMON, 1992.

• Table 12.1 Proportion of mothers adopting different parenting styles with 3-month-olds and the proportion of those children achieving self-recognition when they were 18- to 20-months old. ADAPTED FROM KELLER ET AL., 2004.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

– Social and Emotional Consequences of Self-Recognition• Necessary for self-conscious emotions• Infants become more socially skilled• May begin to cooperate• Begin to categorize themselves on

dimensions of how people differ

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

• Who Am I? Responses of Preschool Children– 3 ½ - 5 – use psychological dimensions

• Sociability• Intelligence• Athleticism

– Tends to be stable over time

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

• Conceptions of Self in Middle Childhood and Adolescence– Becomes more abstract with age– Recognize they are not the same in all

situations– May use false self behaviors – acting out of

character to improve image, etc.– Becomes more integrated with age

• Figure 12.2 Average number of inconsistent attributes reported by 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds (panel A) and the percentages of 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds who said they were confused or “mixed up” by these inconsistencies in their self-portraits (panel B). ADAPTED FROM HARTER & MONSOUR, 1992.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-CONCEPT

• Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept– Self descriptors

• American students – more likely to be personal or individualistic

• Japanese students – more likely to be social or relational

• Figure 12.3 Average percentages of personal/individualistic and social/relational attributes listed as core dimensions of the self-concept by American and Japanese students who responded to a “Who Am I?” questionnaire. ADAPTED FROM COUSINS, 1989.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Origins and Development of Self-Esteem– 4 – 5 years, an early, meaningful, stable

sense of self-esteem• Securely attached children more likely to

have high sense of self-esteem• Reasonably accurate with how others

(teachers) evaluate their social competencies

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Components of Self-Esteem• Academics, social acceptance,

appearance, athleticism, and behavior–4 – 7 years – positive on all–8 years – based on others evaluation–Adolescence – relational self-worth,

importance of relationships»Females – supportive friendships»Males – influencing friends

• Figure 12.4 A multidimensional and hierarchical model of self-esteem. ADAPTED FROM HARTER, 1996.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Changes in Self-Esteem• Some children experience a decline into

middle and high school• Multiple stressors likely to contribute to

declines• Overall stability is lowest in childhood

and early adolescence• Relatively stable in late adolescence and

early adulthood

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Social Contributors to Self-Esteem– Parenting Styles

• Warm, supporting, nurturing / democratic leads to high self-esteem

– Peer Influences• Social comparison, especially in

individualistic societies• Social support from peers – high esteem

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Culture, Ethnicity, and Self-Esteem• Self-Esteem appears lower in collectivist

societies–But being lower may make individuals

feel good, as it is what society wants• Ethnic minorities express lower levels of

esteem in elementary school, but equal or higher by adolescence

–Support and pride in ethnic group

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Development of Achievement Motivation and Academic Self-Concepts– Achievement motivation

• Willingness to strive to succeed at challenging tasks

• To meet standards of accomplishment– Mastery motive

• Inborn motivation to master the environment

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Early Origins of Achievement Motivation– Phase 1: Joy in Mastery

• Prior to 2 years, pleased with successes, but do not seek recognition, failures don’t matter

– Phase 2: Approval-Seeking• Near age 2, seek approval for

successes, expect disapproval for failure

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Phase 3: Use of Standards• Adopted objective standards

–Pride after success, shame after failure

–Less dependent on others evaluations

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Achievement Motivation During Middle Childhood and Adolescence– Home Influences on Mastery Motivation

and Achievement• Quality of attachment

–Secure attachment results in being more self-assured, and comfortable about taking risks and seeking challenges

• Figure 12.5 Scenes like this one were used by David McClelland and his associates to measure achievement motivation.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• The home environment–66% of children from intellectually

stimulating homes doing well in school

»Led to intrinsic orientation to achievement

–70% of children from unstimulating homes were doing poorly

• Table 12.2 Relation between Quality of Home Environment at 12 Months of Age and Children’s Grade-School Academic Achievement 5 to 9 years later. SOURCE: Adapted from Doorninick, Caldwell, Wright, & Franenberg, 1981.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Child-rearing and achievement–Independence training –Achievement training –Praising successes, not being overly

critical of occasional failures aids achievement motivation

–Authoritative parenting – style described above (warm, firm, democratic)

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Peer Group Influences• African American and Latino peer

groups in low-income areas may discourage academic achievement

• Parents value education, individuals may associate with peers sharing those values

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Cultural Influences• Chinese children much more critical of

personal failures in learning versus American children

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Beyond Achievement Motivation: Development of Achievement Attributions– Types of Achievement Attributions

• Ability – stable, internal • Task difficulty - stable, external• Effort – unstable, internal• Luck - unstable, external

• Table 12.3 Weiner’s Classification of the Causes of Achievement Outcomes (and Explanations of How You Might Explain a Terrible Test Grade).

• Figure 12.6 An overview of Weiner’s attribution theory of achievement.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

– Age Differences in Achievement-Related Attributions• Prior to age 7, unrealistically optimistic

–Incremental view of ability: ability is changeable and increases with effort

• 8-12 – distinguish ability from effort–Entity view of ability: ability is a stable

trait

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• Dweck’s Learned-Helplessness Theory– Mastery orientation: attribute successes to

ability, externalize failures or attribute them to unstable causes• Persist after failure, increase effort

– Learned helplessness orientation: attribute failures to stable and internal factor• Stops trying• Tends to persist over time

• Figure 12.7 Characteristics of the mastery-oriented and learned-helplessness achievement orientations.

SELF-ESTEEM: THE EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF

• How does learned helplessness develop?

–Praise hard work if child succeeds, and criticize ability when failure occurs

–Want to criticize lack of effort when failure occurs

–Can be changed relatively easily through attribution retraining

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

• Identity – firm and coherent sense of who one is, where one is heading, and where one fits into society– Identity diffusion: not yet thought about or

resolved identity issues– Foreclosure: committed to identity but

without a crisis of decision

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

– Moratorium: identity crisis, actively asking questions and seeking answers

– Identity achievement: resolved identity issues by making personal commitments to goals, beliefs, and values

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

• Developmental Trends in Identity Formation– 12-18 – majority are identity diffused or

foreclosed– 21 and older – moratorium status or

achieved a stable identity• Women place more importance on

sexuality, gender roles, family/career– Likely to be at different statuses in different

domains

• Figure 12.8 Percentages of participants in each of Marcia’s four identity statuses as a function of age. Note that resolution of the identity crisis occurs much later than Erickson assumed: Only 4 percent of the 15-year-olds and 20 percent of the 18-year-olds had achieved a stable identity. FROM MEILMAN, 1979.

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

• How Painful Is Identity Formation?– Moratorium - not a stressful status– Identity achievement – healthy, leads to

higher self-esteem, fewer personal concerns than other statuses

– Long-term failure to establish an identity is negative• Small minority of adolescents

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

• Influences on Identity Formation– Cognitive Influences – formal-operational

thought helps imaging and contemplate future identities

– Parenting Influences • Being neglected/rejected = diffused • Too controlling = foreclosed• Affection, mutual respect = moratorium,

achievement

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

– Scholastic Influences• College pushes people toward career

setting • College students behind working peers

in terms of political or religious identities– Social-Cultural Influences

• Desire to choose a personal identity after exploration may only apply in industrialized societies today

WHO AM I TO BE?: FORGING AN IDENTITY

• Identity Formation Among Minority Youth– Deciding to establish an ethnic identity

• Once achieved–Higher self-esteem, relationships with

parents and peers of other ethnicities• Parents need to

–Teach traditions and foster pride–Prepare children to handle prejudice–Be warm and supportive confidants

• Table 12.4 Based on a sample of 1,989 adolescents, the data show the percent of multiracial adolescents (based on their parent’s races) who self-identified with each single race, and those who refused to self-identify with a single race. ADAPTED FROM HERMANN, 2004.

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

• Age Trends in Person Perception– Younger than 7-8, characterize people in

same concrete, observable terms used to describe the self

– 4-6 are capable of thinking about traits in meaningful ways• Less likely to think they are stable• Traits are used to describe recent

behavior

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

– 6-8: used many behavioral comparisons– 8-11: rapid increase in psychological

constructs (traits)– 12-16: use of psychological comparisons– 14-16: recognize dispositional similarities,

and situational factors both affect behavior

• Figure 12.9 Percentages of descriptive statements classified as behavioral comparisons, psychological (traitlike) constructs, and psychological comparisons for children between ages 6 and 11. FROM BARENBOIM, 1981.

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

• Theories of Social-Cognitive Development– Cognitive Theories of Social Cognition

• Cognitive-development theory–Growth of social-cognitive abilities is

related to cognitive development• Selman’s role-taking theory

–Role-taking skills allow one to assume a different perspective

–Developmental sequence

• Table 12.5 Selman’s stages of social perspective taking.

• Table 12.5 Selman’s stages of social perspective taking.(continued)

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

• Role-taking and thinking about relationships

–Preschool – any positive interaction equals a friendship

–6-8 years – common activities and one-way friendships

–8-10 – reciprocal friendships–Adolescence – exchange of intimate

thoughts or feelings

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

– Social Influences on Social-Cognitive Development• Social experience as a contributor to

role-taking–Equal-status contacts with friends

and peers are important

THE OTHER SIDE OF SOCIAL COGNITION: KNOWING ABOUT OTHERS

• Social experience as a direct contributor to person perception

–Experience with others teaches what others are like

»Motivation and practice to understand others