Chapter 5 Flashcards
Self-system
aspects related to the self, such as self-concept, self-regulation, self-esteem
I-Self/self-as-subject
- “I”
- Active agent or as the knower
- It is that part of the self that experiences a sense of subjective self-awareness
- The side of the self that experiences continuity over time
- Even though we all grow and change, we know we embody core elements of the same “self” throughout our lifetime.
- Recognizes the distinctiveness of the self as a person compared to other persons.
- Agency or is that part of the self that engages in self-directed activity, self-control, and contemplation of the “Me”
Me-Self/self-concept
- “Me”
- Part of the self that is the object of self or others’ observations, or the part that is known
- Includes all those attributes that are used to define the self and that make up the self-concept
- “Material self”, “Social self” and “Spiritual self”
- Material self: encompasses a person’s physical characteristics and material possessions
- Social self: includes her social standing, her reputation, and those personal characteristics that are recognized by others
- Spirtual self: the most precious, incorporates her qualities of character, beliefs, and personal values
Self-concept
a description of personal attibutes
Self-esteem
one’s evaluation of these attibutes, or th epositive or negative valence associated with those attributes
*Depends upon the number of successes we enjoy relative to our aspirations, or, in his terminology, pretensions
Valence
the affective value of a characteristic, either good, bad, or neutral
Pretensions
goals that we choose highly important to you to be poular and socially active
“Looking-glass self”
the process of self-development as one that originates from observing the reflected appraisals of others, primarily attachment figures
Initiative vs. Guilt (Erikson)
- During early childhood, children must discover who they are
- Identify strongly with parents
- Use their perceptual, motor, cognitive, and language skills to make things happen
- Discover that conscience must govern exploration
- Guilt can lower self-esteem
Self-system
Inclueds aspects related to the self, such as self-concept, self-regulation, and self-esteem
Pre-self
- composed of early inklings of the permanence of her body, its separateness from others, and the rhythms of interpersonal connections.
- Promote by the regularity and reliability of the caregiver
Representations of interactions (RIGs)
- “procedural” representations or schemata-preverbal, unconscious, and a kind of sensorimotor memory
- Patterns generalized from the repeititive nature of caregiver-infant interactions
Social referencing
- the baby’s adjustment of reactions depending on feedback provided by a caregiver- also implies recognition of the separateness of the other.
- Source of information for the self-system, providing the baby with context in which she begins to differentiate experience of the self from experience of the other and from the combined experience of the “we”
- Demonstrates how transactional the self-development process really is
- Uses the caregiver’s emotions to discern meaning in events and to intuit information about the self
self-recognition
*when they view themselves in a mirror
Is typically manifested by the observer’s display of self-directed behavior upon viewing her reflection
*Reasoning that self-directed behavior -> presence of objective self-awareness
*Is universally acquired late in the 2nd year of life
*Maturation of one cortical area- the juncture of the parietal and temporal lobes- is activated in adults during self-recognition tasks
*The timing of self-recognition shows some variability among children from different cultures.
*Caregivers’ descriptions can be neutral and objective or evaluative and subjective, and these appear not to be differentiated by young children according to their objectivity or subjectivity.
Maltreated children in self-recognition
- Maltreated children show considerably more negative or neutral affect when seeing their faces in the mirror than do non-maltreated children, who display more positive affect.
- Self-recognition-> formulate a conscious concept of self
- 2 years old: Language skills -> elaboration of the self-concept or “Me-self”
- When self-description begins, maltreated children use fewer words to describe their feelings than do non-maltreated children
Self-control/behavior regulation
- The child’s ability to stop herself from performing a proscribed act
- Ability to make herself perform an act that she may not feel much like doing
Self regulation
- ability to comply with a request, to initiate and cease activities according to situational demands, to modulate the intensity, frequency, and duration of verbal and motor acts in social and educational settings, to postpone acting upon a desired object or goal, and to generate socially approved behavior in the absence of external monitors.
- More advanced and flexible version of self-control
- Professionals regularly deal with problems involving self-regulation
- Formidable task for a mischievous toddler or even for a sophisticated high schooler
Self-conscious emotions
- shame, embarrassment, guilt, and pride take their place in the child’s emotional repertoire after objective self-awareness, or self-recognition
- Growth of emotions -> violations of standards for everyday behavior - late in 2nd year
- Require the ability to consider the self as separate from others and as the subject of others’ judgments
- Ages of 2-3, emotional responses to their wrongdoing and mistakes -> evaluate themselves in ways that they expect to be evaluated by others-> conscience development
- 18 months: a child might take notice of her rule violation but without any discernable emotional response.
- Child’s emotional responses to rule violations -> when she perceives her parents’ reactions might be -> shape her developing sense of morality
- Feeling of guilt -> Increase other-directed empathy, positive reparative action, constructive problem solving, low defensiveness and anger
- Shame-> hiding or denying wrongdoing, elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines, heightened self-focus, balming other people or situations, displaced aggression, externalizing behavior, low self-esteem, and other psychiatric disorders
- Use of shaming as disciplining children -> anxiety disorders in a cross-cultural study
Emotion-coaching
Parents monitor their child’s emotions, view them as opportunities for teaching, and coach them in how to deal with emotions effectively
Emotion-dismissing
Parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions
Early Socialization: Parenting and the Development of the Self-System
- Caregivers are faced with the need to grant some autonomy to the child.
- Feelings of worth
- Experience self-sufficiency, or autonomy
- Caregiver must begin to socialize the child, that is, to prepare the child to be a competent member of society.
- Limiting some behaviors and demanding others-> child will be safe
- Learn the standards of her culture and behave in ways that are conventionally acceptable
- Socialization pressure requires discipline: when parents limit or demand behavior using techniques that either exert or require control
Warmth dimension (parental responsiveness)
- listening to the child, being involved and interested in the child’s activites, accepting the child, making positive attributions toward the child, being “tuned in” and supportive.
- Toddler- autonomy needs-> parents accept these needs, acquiescing when possible to their children’s resonable demands for autonomy
Child centered
- sidelining parental needs (for time, convenience, and coordinated outfits)
- Help maintain secure attachments and increase the likelihood that toddlers will be cooperative when mothers place demands on them
Parent centered
show little responsiveness to their children’s concerns and are unlikely to do things just to meet those concerns, even make hostile attributions when children’s needs are out of line with their own
Control dimension (parental demandingness)
Require their children to curb some of thier behaviors and insist that they perform other behaviors that are suitable to thier level of maturity: maturity demands
- Can be child or parent centered
- Child centered: parent’s concern is the development of self-control necessary for children to feel secure, to behave in ways that gain social acceptance, and to become skillful at social give and take
- Parent centered: parent’s concerns are primary
- Control: parent’s behavioral control of their children-> important element of responsible parenting
- Psychological control: kind of intrusiveness and interference on the part of parents- criticizing and/or derogating the child and leaving the child without choices; emotional climate
Parenting styles
- constellations of parenting characteristics by combining and crossing the positive and negative poles of parental responsiveness and demandingness
- Predictive of child characteristics
Authoritative style
- both highly responsive and demanding
- Create a positive emotional climate for thier children, promote autonomy and supporting assertiveness and individuality
- Accept respnsibility for socializing their children by expecting mature behavior and setting and enforcing clear standards
- Openly affectionate; they encourage two-way communication with their children
- Clear expectations and standards
- Do not use psychological control, strong on behavioral control
Authoritarian style
- low on responsiveness, highly demanding
- Do not create a positive emotional climate nor encourage children’s individualistic strivings or assertiveness
- Do tend to exercise considerable control, making maturity demands and requiring conformity to rules
- Communicate less effectively with their children
- One-sided communications
- Express less affection
- Restrictive control- emotional control by using power assertion
- Less likely to provide explanations that go beyond “Because I said so”
Permissive
- moderately to highly responsive to their children, but low on demandingness
- Exercise less behavioral control
- Putting fewer maturity demands
- More nurturing and affectionate
Neglecting-uninvolved
- low on responsiveness and low on demandingness
- Invest little time or attention in a child
- Are largely parent centered in their concerns
- Neglect thier responsibility socialize the child
- Express less affection and not likely to be responsiveness to their children’s needs
- Even expressing hostility or making negative attributions to their children
- Impose limits-> power assertive techniques and less explanation
Parenting Style and Child Outcomes-Authoritative parenting
Authoritative parenting -> positive outcomes: adaptability, competence, achievement, good social skills and peer acceptance, low levels of antisocial or aggressive behavior, promote positive self-development (high self-esteem and the capacity for self-regulation)
Parenting Style and Child Outcomes-authoritarian
*Children of authoritarian-> irritable and conflicted, anxiety and anger signs, comforming with authority figures, not socially skillful, and are susceptible for being bullied, low self-esteem, exhibit self-control wiht authorities, lack self-regulation when they believe authorities are not monitoring them
Parenting Style and Child Outcomes-Permissive parents
Permissive parents’s children -> exhibit uncontrollable, impulsive behavior and low levels of self-reliance, low on cognitive competence and social agency, high on aggression
Parenting Style and Child Outcomes-Neglect/uninvolved parent
*Neglect/uninvolved parent -> impassive
High levels of both externalizing problems (e.g. agressiveness) and internalizing problems (e.g. depression) and have low self-esteem
Method of control
parents choose when they attempt to exercise control
Categories of control method
Power assertion
- can involve physical punishment or the threat of physical punishment, ranging from spanking ont the buttocks to harsh beating with objects; drawal of privileges, from mild forms to severe denial
- Effective for the immediate control of behavior
- Children show self-control when they feel threatened
- Self-regulation
Love withdrawal
- parent’s withdrawing attention or affection, expressing disappointment or disillusion with a child, turning away from a child, cutting off verbal or emotional contact, or enforcing separations- is rarely used alone by parents
- High anxiety, and is more effective in eliciting immediate compliance
- Exercise psychological control over their children
Induction
- parents’ use of explanation: giving reasons for rules, appealing to children’s desires to be grown-up
- Promoting empathy
- Promote the internalization of rules
Moderators of Parenting and Parenting Effectiveness
- The shared biological inheritance of parents and children might account for both the parental and the child characteristics
- Children’s predispositionsand temperaments may actually cause parents’ behaviors rather than vice versa
- Multidimensional approach- effects in children’s social development
The Child’s Temperament, Parenting
- Toddlers and preschoolers
- Temperament and other child characteristics -> quality of the parent-child relationship
- Adults’ reactions
- Multilayered, complex interactive system between parent and child
- Child’s characteristics -> parent’s behavior and style
- Practices -> child’s behavior
- The degree to which the child affects the parent’s practices and beliefs depends in part on the parent’s initial attitudes toward children and child rearing, as well as the parent’s emotional state and ability to manage stress
Differential susceptibility
- to different rearing approaches depending on their early temperament characteristics
- Children with difficult temperaments are more likely than children with easy temperaments to show inappropriate levels of aggression with peers and/or adults
The Cultural Context, Parenting, and Child Outcomes
- Cultural factors can moderate parenting practices and may even alter their effects
- Cultures transmit methods of coping with and adapting to specific challenges, a process that fosters resilience in children and youth
- The need for parents to set limits is a critical part of the socialization process, and different patterns of discipline have been observed across different cultural groups.
- Disciplinary practices with physical punishments-> problematic child outcomesand are not considered normative, regardless of culture.
- Some studies of power assertive discipline have shown culture-specific differences.
- Corporal punishment and later mental disorders
Corporal Punishment
Cross-culturally, US. and Canada are among those most favoring corporal punishment
- Associated with higher levels of immediate compliance, aggression, and antisocial behavior in children
- Lower levels of moral internalization and mental health
Internalization
process by which children adopt adults’ standards and rules as their own
Conscience
feelings of discomfort or distress when the violation of a rule is contemplated or carried out
Anxious arousal
State children are thought to experience when parents discipline them
*Helps child pay attention but is not really upsetting
Minimum sufficiency principle
mild power assertion is more effective for long-term internalization of rules than harsh power assertion
Committed compliance
- their eager and enthusiastic willingness to go along with their mothers’ requests
- Kochanska (1995)
- Committed compliance is predictive of measures of internalization and conscience in the later preschool period.
- Toddler’s fearfulness is indeed an important ingredient in the effectiveness of mothers’ discipline.
Moral Development
Development of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding rules and conventions about what people should do in their interactions with other people
Moral Feelings
Psychoanalytic theory emphasizes feelings of anxiety and guilt
- Children identify with parents to reduce anxiety and avoid punishment
- Superego: moral element of personality
- Guilt can motivate behavior
- More positive emotions contribute to child’s moral development
- Empathy-> perspective-thinking
Moral Behavior
Processes of reinforcement, punishment, and imitation help to explain the development of moral behavior
- What children do in one situation is often only weakly related to what they do in other situations; poor generalizability
- Ability to resist temptation and delay gratification si closely tied to the development of self-control
Moral Reasoning
Piaget
* 4-7: heteronomous morality: regard rules as immutable, existing outside the self, and requiring strict adherence
The latter of the law must be followed, and failure to do so requirements punishment
*Is based on the child’s experiences in relationships with parents and other authority figures, where rules seem to come from above and must be obeyed.
Immanent justice
expecting that misbehavior will eventually be punished, even if no one knows about it, as though some higher authority is always watching
Autonomous morality
- 10 and older
- begin to understand that rules are based on social agreements and can be changed
- Rules and laws are created by people and subject to change
- Actions and intentions should be judged
Parenting and Moral Development
- Both parents and peers contribute to child’s moral maturity
- Relational quality, parental discipline, proactive strategies, and conversational dialogue are particularly important
- Parents should proactively avert potential misbehavior before it takes place
Peer relations
- Provide a source of information and comparison about the outside world
- Good peer relations-> necessary for normal socioemotional development
- Preference for same-sex playmates increases in early childhood
- Increase in overall frequency of peer interactions
- Proportion of aggressive exchanges decreases
Television
*Can have a negative influence
-Passive learners for children
-Distracts them from homework
-teaches stereotypes
-Provides violent models of aggression
-Presents an unrealistic view of the world
*Positive influences
-Presents motivating educational programs
-Increases information about the broader world
Provides models of prosocial behavior
