Lecture #7

Question 1

Sense of self

Answer 1

A self-concept is the way an individual thinks
about themselves as a person, as distinct or
separate from other people.

Question 2

Infancy- sense of self

Answer 2

Development of the existential self.
• Approx. 9 months old: joint attention, the ability to
share focus on an object or experience.
• Approx. 24 months old: self-recognition, the ability to
recognise oneself in an image.
• Toddlers begin to develop a categorical self (e.g.,
knowledge of gender, age and other characteristics)

Question 3

Temperament (chess)

Answer 3

Categories proposed by (Chess & Thomas 1999;
Thomas & Chess 1986):

• Easy temperament: even-temperament, content, open
to new experiences.

• Difficult temperament: irregular in habits, slow
adaption to new experiences (with protest).

• Slow-to-warm up temperament: moody, mild
resistance to new experiences.

Question 4

Temperament (Kagan)

Answer 4

Proposed an additional temperament

characteristic of behavioural inhibition.

Question 5

Temperament (Rothbart)

Answer 5

proposed the dimensions of
surgency/extroversion, negative affectivity, and
effortful control.

Question 6

Childhood- sense of self

Answer 6

• categorical self
• base ideas of self on observable features and their overt behavioural characteristics
• later in childhood, inner qualities are incorporated in description of self
• older children form social comparisons

Question 7

Self esteem- childhood

Answer 7

• middle childhood- positive and negative feelings of self worth
• self esteem made up domain specific measures
• -> physical
• -> academic
• -> athletic
• gradually declined throughout childhood
• social comparison, gap between ideal and reality, feedback from parents may contribute

Question 8

Self concept- adolescence

Answer 8

• more complex and abstract
• own views
• different perspectives
• decline: more realistic
• social support- self esteem can be maintained

Question 9

identity development during adolescence

Answer 9

• who am i?- critically consider existence

- erikson stage- identity v role confusion

Question 10

Process of identity formation

Answer 10

• Experimentation with different roles and
activities.
• In the process of experimentation, identity
development occurs.
• Period of psychological moratorium.

Question 11

Marcia’s identity status model ***

Answer 11

•Identity achievement: identity crises has been resolved
and commitments made to goals/beliefs/values.

•Identity moratorium: the process of exploring different
ideas has begun, but no commitments have been
made.

•Identity foreclosure: individual has arrived at a
committed identity without exploring alternatives.

•Identity diffusion: individual has not taken steps in
identity formation process.

Question 12

Factors related to identity formation - ethnic racial identity

Answer 12

A sense of the personal
meaningfulness of one’s group membership.

•Development through the identity status
process can also be observed in regard to the
development of a positive ethnic-racial identity

Question 13

Self concept in adulthood

Answer 13

• sense of self and esteem- increase and then drop off in older age
• erikson: highlight continuation of growth
• -> intimacy v isolation
• -> generativity v stangnation
• -> integrity v despair

Question 14

Personality

Answer 14

organised combination of
attributes, motives, values and behaviours
unique to each individual (Sigelman et al., 2019).

Key terms:

• dispositional traits
• characteristic afaptions
• narrative identities

Question 15

Trait

Answer 15

a characteristic way of thinking, feeling and acting

Question 16

The ‘Big Five’ dimensions of personality –> OCEAN

Trait model

Answer 16

Openess
Conscientiousness 
Extraversion 
Agreeableness 
Neuroticism

Question 17

Trait model- eysenck

Answer 17

suggested ‘three traits’:
• Introversion/extraversion
• Neuroticism/emotional stability
• Psychoticism

Question 18

Trait model- HEXACO

Answer 18

• Identifies six dimensions of personality
• Overlap with Big 5: (extraversion, consciousness and openness).
• Differences: emotionality, agreeableness, and
honesty-humility

Question 19

Psychodynamic theories of personality

Answer 19

•Psychodynamic theorists believe development is influenced by inborn biological drives and conscious and unconscious social and emotional experiences.

Question 20

Psychodynamic theories of personality Freud ***

Answer 20

Proposes unconscious forces act to determine
personality/behaviour as individuals resolve conflicts
between biological drives & social expectations
• Id: present at birth; unconscious, impulsive &
irrational; attempts to satisfy biological & emotional
needs & desires • Superego: acts as all-knowing internalised parent;
internalised moral standards. • Ego: rational, realistic part of personality which
coordinates impulses from the id with demands
imposed by superego and society

Question 21

Social learning theories of personality (bandura)

Answer 21

Cognitive process impact behaviour and
development (Bandura).

Key ideas
- Learning occurs in a social context.
- Observational learning: learning through
observation of others.
- Self-efficacy: beliefs of competency, of being
able to produce desired outcomes.

Question 22

Social learning theories of personality

Answer 22

• Emphasis is on characteristic adaptions.
• Behavioural tendencies are shaped by
interactions with people and social situations
(i.e., people change if their environment
changes).
• Culture impacts self-concept (e.g.,
individualistic = emphasis is on uniqueness;
collectivist culture = emphasis is on group
membership).

Question 23

Personality stability and change

Answer 23

• Continuity: individual personality traits (e.g., Big
5) tend to be relatively stable across adulthood.

• Change: average level of traits tends to change
across the lifespan (e.g., extroversion tends to
increase through midlife and decrease in older
age; neuroticism tends to decrease with age).