Lecture 6 - Development of Self and Self-Esteem

Question 1

What do children with ASD show about self-recognition?

Answer 1

Show delayed self-recognition (after the typical time at 18 months)

Show similar neurological responses to their own face, a familiar face and an unfamiliar face - they do not differentiate themselves from others until later than neurotypical children.

Question 2

Define self esteem.

Answer 2

Assessment of one’s worth and feelings about the self.

Question 3

Define self concept.

Answer 3

Perceptions of one’s unique attributes or traits.

Question 4

How does self esteem link with attachment?

Answer 4

Children with more secure attachments will have higher self esteem.

Question 5

What are 6 examples of domain-specific self esteem?

Answer 5

• Scholastic
• Athletic
• Physical
• Peer acceptance
• Job competence
• Romantic

Question 6

Describe the development/emergence of self esteem from pre school to adolescence.

Answer 6

Preschool - extremely positive views on all dimensions

Early school - still positive, but less extreme

Middle childhood - begins to see negative attributes in self and social comparisons start to influence them.

Adolescence - more complex social comparisons. Interpretation of comparisons vary.

Question 7

What conclusions did Robins et al., (2002) make about age differences in self esteem?

Answer 7

• Inflated self esteem of childhood gradually declines
• Decline continues into adolescence
• Girls’ self esteem dropped about twice as much as boys’ during adolescence.

Question 8

What is the heredity of self esteem?

Answer 8

29% - 73%

Question 9

What evidence is there that suggests gender is more influential than ethnicity in predicting self esteem?

Answer 9

Gender differences in self esteem are consistent across ethnicities (Sowislo & Orth, 2013)

Question 10

What is a good example of the sociometer theory of self esteem?

Answer 10

Child Development (2010) showed that disapproval of an adolescent’s personal profile decreased their self esteem, while approval of the profile increased self esteem.

Question 11

According to Trzesniewski et al., (2006), which life outcomes is self-esteem linked to?

Answer 11

• Mental health, sexual behaviour, bullying (more likely to defend a bully, and become a bully), antisocial behaviour
• Reactions to stress, confidence and independence in school.

Question 12

According to Trzesniewski et al., (2006), how does self esteem influence the number of adult adjustment problems?

Answer 12

High self esteem leads to less adjustment problems as an adult. This was found after controlling for key covariates such as depression, IQ, BMI as a child, etc.

Question 13

What did Sowislo and Orth (2013) find about self esteem and depression?

Answer 13

Self esteem was a vulnerability factor for depression - it influenced and explained later depression scores, after accounting for existing depressive symptoms.

Question 14

What did Boden et al., (2008) find about the correlates of low parental attachment at age 15?

Answer 14

Of those children who experience the poorest quality of attachment with their parents, many of them were low scoring group for self esteem.

None of the participants with the higher self esteem experienced poor quality of attachment relationship with their parents.

Question 15

What do self esteem interventions need to do if they are to work?

Answer 15

• Be based on theory

- Specifically focussed on self esteem.

Question 16

What is the potential problem with self esteem interventions?

Answer 16

They can lead to a mis-match in high confidence and low ability (over-inflated self-esteem).

Question 17

What did Brummelman et al., (2014) find about praise and self esteem, as an intervention?

Answer 17

Those children with low self esteem who received inflated praise from art experts for their drawing had their future behaviour inhibited, due to the apparent setting of too high standards to follow.