Chapter 11 Flashcards
Personality
Organized combination of attributes, motives, values, and behaviors unique to each individual.
Dispositional Traits
Relatively enduring qualities along which people differ. (Ex: Introversion vs. Extraversion)
Characteristic Adaptations
Situation-specific and changeable ways in which people adapt to their roles and environments.
Narrative Identities
Unique and integrative life stories that we construct about our pasts and futures to give ourselves an identity and our lives meaning.
Self-Concept
Your perceptions (positive or negative) of your unique attributes and traits as a person.
Self-Esteem
Your overall evaluation of your self-worth as a person, high or low, based on the perceptions that make up your self-concept.
Identity
Overall sense of who you are, where you’re heading, and where you fit into society.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Believe and agree that personality develops in stages!
Trait Theory
Believe personality is a set of dispositional trait dimensions along which people can differ. They assume personality traits are consistent across situations and relatively enduring. (Believe in BIG 5 Personality Traits)
Big Five Personality Traits
- Openness to experience
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
(We know that they seem to be universal!)
Social Cognitive Theory
Emphasize that people’s behavior is influenced by the situations they are in and changes if their environments change and different behaviors are reinforced. They think personality boils down to a set of behavioral tendencies shaped by interactions with other people in specific social situations.
What age do infants recognize themselves visually as distinct individuals?
18 Months
How can we test for infant self-recognition?
Mother dabs a spot of lipstick on an infant’s nose and then places the infant in front of a mirror. If the infant recognizes the mirror image as himself, he should notice the red spot and reach for/wipe his own nose rather than touch the mirror image.
______ and _______ contribute to the development of self-awareness in infancy.
Cognitive Development and Social Interaction
Temperament
Early, genetically based, and environmentally influenced tendencies to respond in predictable ways to events that serve as the building blocks to later personality.
Thomas and Chess’s System for Temperament
Based on patterning of temperamental qualities, most infants could be placed in 1 of 3 categories. (Easy Temperament, Difficult Temperament, and Slow-to-warm-up Temperament)
Behavior Inhibition
Tendency to be extremely shy, restrained, and distressed in response to unfamiliar people and situations. (Kagan used this to test children/adolescent response to novelty.)
Rothbart’s Approach to Temperament
- Surgency/Extraversion (confidently approach new experiences)
- Negative Effectivity (tendency to be sad/fearful/irritable)
- Effortful Control (Ability to focus and shift attention when desired)
Goodness of Fit
Extent to which a child’s temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of the social world to which he/she must adapt.
How can parents provide goodness of fit with their child?
By getting to know the baby as an individual and allowing for their personality quirks.
How do Preschoolers Describe Themselves?
With physical characteristics, possessions, physical activities, accomplishments, and preferences.
By 3rd grade the 5 aspects of self-worth are?
- Scholastic Competence (feeling smart or doing well in school)
- Social Acceptance (being popular and feeling liked)
- Behavioral Conduct (staying out of trouble)
- Athletic Competence (Being good at sports)
- Physical Appearance (feeling good-looking)
By 3rd grade how accurate are children’s self-evaluations?
Pretty accurate!
How does the relationship between real self and ideal self-evaluations change in childhood?
The gap between real self and ideal self increases as children get older.
How do parents and teachers potentially contribute to a decrease in self-esteem across childhood?
By “raising the bar” and giving older children more critical feedback than younger children.
What parental behaviors are associated with higher child self-esteem?
Being warm, democratic, loving, and frequently communicating acceptance and approval.
Damon (1994) thinks?
Thinks that American parents/educators go overboard trying to make children feel good about themselves. Self-esteem means little unless it grows out of a child’s REAL achievements.
What did Caspi et al. (2003) find about the stability of temperament?
Temperament is stable and continuous from infancy to adulthood.
How do self-conceptions change from childhood to adolescence?
- Less physical and more psychological
- Less concrete and more abstract
- More differentiated
- More integrated and coherent
- A greater reflection of self-awareness
How does self-esteem change from childhood to early adolescence and why?
From childhood to adolescence, self-esteem tends to decrease.
Who is most likely to experience a decrease in self-esteem?
White females.
Why might adolescents experience a serious “identity crisis”?
- Their bodies are changing and they must revise their body images
- Cognitive growth lets them think about hypothetical possibilities (the future)
- Social demands are placed on them to “grow up”
Moratorium Period
Time during high school/college when youth are relatively free of responsibilities and can experiment with different roles to find themselves.
Of Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses describe the Diffusion Status
Individual has not yet thought about or resolved identity issues and has failed to chart directions in life.
Of Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses describe the Foreclosure Status
Individual seems to know who he or she is but has latched onto an identity with little thought.
Of Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses describe the Moratorium Status
Individual is experiencing an identity crisis, actively raising questions, and seeking answers.
Of Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses describe the Identity Achievement Status
Individual has resolved their identity crisis and made commitments to particular goals/beliefs/values.
What occupational identity status did Meilman (1979) find most 12-15 year old boys to be in?
Either the diffusion status or foreclosure status.
What is the main developmental trend evident in vocational choice?
INCREASING REALISM WITH AGE!
5 Influences on Identity Formation
- Cognitive Development
- Personality
- Quality of relationship with parents
- Opportunities for exploration
- Cultural context
What did Robins et al. (2002) find?
Self-esteem drops after the 60’s once adults reach late old age.
What did Ryff (1991) find was related to maintaining a positive self-image until late adulthood?
Older adults scaling down their visions of what they could ideally be, lessening the gap between the ideal and present self, which helps maintain self-esteem.
How early can cultural differences in self-descriptions of individuals living in collectivistic vs. individualistic societies be detected?
By age 3 or 4
Is Levinson’s theory of a midlife crisis well supported?
Nope!
What is selective optimization with compensation?
How older people deal with aging in the workplace.
What makes for a favorable adjustment to retirement?
- Retire voluntarily
- Enjoy physical and mental health
- Have positive personality traits
- Have financial resources to live comfortably
- Are married or have strong social support
Describe the conflict or “crisis” at each of the 8 Eriksonian stages
- Trust vs. Mistrust (birth-1 year
- )Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1-3 years)
- Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years)
- Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years)
- Identity vs. Role Confusion (12-20 years)
- Intimacy vs. Isolation (20-40 years)
- Generativity vs. Stagnation (40-65 years)
- Integrity vs. Despair (65 years and up)
Activity Theory
Aging adults will find their lives satisfying if they can maintain their previous lifestyle/activity level either by continuing old activities or finding substitutes.
Disengagement Theory
Successful aging involves a withdrawal of the aging individual from society.
