Lecture 7: The self and resilience Flashcards
- Describe self-concept
- Describe the development of self-esteem and self-perceived ability
- Describe the sociometer theory and social comparison theory
- Explain a moderator and a mediator with a concrete example
- Describe resilience and relate it to self-concept component
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affirmatory talk is important for self concept development because it helps children:
- develop a positive view of themselves
- feel valued and appreciated, understand own strengths
- recognize and accept themselves
- feel secure, trust in their own abilities
self concept=
- the ways children think about themselves and have distinct kinds of self-awareness
- something unique to a person
- sense of self in several ways, with own developmental pathways
- children do have intuitive theories about the self
Neissers five senses of the self
- ecological self (birth onward): sense of where we are as we move through the world, perceptual and motor awareness, automatic, immediate, nonverbal
- interpersonal self (shortly after birth): interacting with other intentional agents, automatic, without reflection, inherently social
- extended self (age 4 onward): autobiographical timeline, understanding that we are linked to the past and have the ability to think about the future
- private self (age 4 onward): understanding that we have priviledged experiences no one else has, knowledge, dreams, perspectives
- conceptual self (age 4-5 onward): most influenced by others and culture, social roles (gender/family), articulate who we are relative to others
what aspects are central to the development of self
- social relationships (interactions and feedback)
- self-compassion
- mind sets (fixed vs. growth)
- self-perceived ability
- self-esteem (more global)
self-perceived ability =
- something that developes, together with the cognitive abilities of a child and self-evaluative tasks
- dus age related changes: can differ throughout the years. at first mostly based on the feedback the children get (which may not also be true, e.g. parents who motivate them), later on they will compare to other peers and have a more realistic perception of their ability
- understand how good they are in a certain task (math, language, soccer, etc)
- ability ranges from general to specific domains
- academic/school contexts: regularly monitored by grades, tests, etc
domain specific findings on math and verbal
math self-concept predicts math ability later on in life. but it math self concept is not related to verbal ability. also the other way around.
-> domain specific!!!
Which domain-specific self-evaluations are most central to children’s global self-worth?
Global self-worth was most strongly correlated with self-evaluations in the domain of physical appearance (r = .64), followed by behavioral conduct, peer relations, academic competence, athletic competence, and parent relations (rs = .39 to .54)
Does this differ across countries with different levels of collectivism–individualism?
no, the effect of collectivism–individualism on the associations between self-evaluation and global self-worth was similar across domains
self-esteem=
Generally: refers to a global evaluation of oneself as a person:
* (Positive) self-regard or attitude
* Perception of own worth and value
* Essential ingredient of self-concept and personality
developmental changes in self-esteem
1) preschool years: extremely positive on all dimensions, related to general tendency towards excessive optimism, overestimation of abilities may serve adaptive function by reducing discouragement when failures occur
2) early school years: still positive but less extreme, begin to make social comparisons but only to their younger self
3) middle childhood: break down self-image into components, see clear negative attributes, social comparisons begin to influence self worth
4) adolescence: social comparisons become more complex, depend on context, individual differences in ways of interpreting these comparisons become more pronounced
is self-esteem stable?
- fluctuates over time, but…
- average tone that remains stable over time (over days, months, years)
- high self-esteem -> reduced risk of developing anxiety and depression
what parent factors contribute to self-esteem
- praise (direct)
- bonding, warm relationship, showing interest, feeling loved (indirect)
Sociometer theory:
- Self-esteem = Internal monitor for how much one is valued by others
- If a child has relational value -> higher self-esteem
Social comparison theory:
Compare with others to evaluate ability (and worth)
how to measure self-esteem in childhood
- self-report (maar bias door positive self-regard)
- Preschool Implicit Association Task (5 yr olds, categorization task (me, not-me & good or bad categories -> children with high self-esteem more likely to combine my flags and good words and not-my flags and bad words. second task is the other way around)
voorbeeld mediator and moderator
peer rejection & internalizing problems
mediator: self-concept
moderator: teacher support
competency based model on negative social self concept
Competency-based model:
* Child’s construction of a sense of competency going wrong
* Negative feedback only (parents, peers, and teachers) -> negative construction of self-concept
* Peer rejection -> maladaptive self perceptions of ability to function in the social domain
negative social self-concept=
- A belief that one’s social skills are inadequate
- Negative evaluation of own competence in social situations
- Not the true authentic identity
- Often feel shy, awkward, and insecure in social settings
Experimenet of children’s self-concept and internalizing problems: The influence of peers and teachers
- rejected children -> internalizing problems
- self concept is a possible mechanism or mediator
- teacher support may weaken the effect (moderator)
results:
- Peer rejection predicted internalizing problems via social self-concept
- Individual support from teachers may compensate negative effects of peer rejection (partial support)
- Effects same for boys and girls
discussion of that paper regarding self concept
Inconsistent results over time:
* Effect peer rejection on social self-concept not at time 4
* Effect social self-concept on internalizing only time 3 + 4
Possible explanation: older children -> self-perceptions less influenced by environment
Effect teacher inconsistent over time: may be because buffering effect may take time, teacher change may counteract
Limitations
* Low reliability social self-concept at time 1
* Only peer rejection, what about victimization, lack of friends?
* Other mediators? Loneliness, negative beliefs about peers?
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resilience=
- The process of adapting well in the face of adversity and sources of stress
- “Bouncing back” from difficult experiences
- People commonly demonstrate resilience
- The road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress
- Behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone
Resilience: Developmental Systems Theory
The capacity of a system to adapt successfully to challenges that threaten the function, survival, or future development of the system
Thus…,
…resiliency also depends on an individual’s connections to other people and systems external to the individual through relationships and other processes
common resilience factors for child development
- caring family, sensitive caregiving (nurturing)
- close relationships, emotional security, belonging, family cohesion
- skilled family management
- agency, motivation to adapt, active coping, mastery
- problem-solving skills, planning, executive function skills
- self-regulation skills, emotion regulation
- self-efficacy, positive view of the self
- hope, faith, optimism
- meaning making, believing life has meaning
- routines and rituals
- engagement in a well functioning school
- connections with communities
