Self and Personality Flashcards
Temperament:
an individual’s behavioural style and characteristic way of emotionally responding to events.
Personality
Unique, organized combination of characteristics, motives, values and behaviours that make up an individual.
Self-concept
Perception of self; your understanding of what you are like.
Self-esteem
Your evaluation of yourself; self-worth.
Identity
An overall sense of who you are.
Thomas and Chess (NYLS)
assessed infants on 9 temperamental dimension: 1 Activity level 2 Rhythmicity (regularity) 3 Approach/withdrawal 4 Adaptability 5 Sensitivity 6 Intensity of reaction 7 Mood 8 Persistence 9 Distractibility
Three temperamental catregories
- easy infants
- difficult infants
- slow to warm up infants
Easy infants
are cheerful and even-tempered, have regular biological rhythms and adapt easily to new experiences.
Difficult infants
are active, intense and irritable, have irregular biological rhythms and are negative towards new experiences
Slow to warm up infants
are much less active and intense, but take some time to adapt to new experiences.
Rothbart’s three basic temperamental dimensions
- Surgency/extraversion
- Negative affectivity
- Effortful control
Surgency/extraversion:
tendency to actively and energetically approach new experiences
Negative affectivity:
tendency to be sad, easily frustrated, and irritable
Effortful control:
ability to sustain attention, control one’s behaviour, and regulate one’s emotions.
Behavioural inhibition:
(Kagan)
unihibited children are confident, eager and positive whereas inhibited children are shy, cautious and timid.
How is temperament measured?
3 main techniques:
- Parental questionnaire
- Laboratory observations
- Home observations
How does temperament affect development?
- How caregivers react to the child
- How the child interprets and makes sense of life experiences
- The child’s choice of certain activities and environments
inhibited children brain
The amygdala and hypothalamus, which control responses to uncertainty, are more easily aroused in inhibited children.
Kagan’s belief about temperamental genetics
Early temperamental differences in behavioural inhibition are rooted in inherited differences in brain chemistry and functioning.
Heritability research
- indicates that only about half of the individual differences in temperament can be traced to differences in genetic make-up.
- A child’s experiences play an important role in shaping temperament-based behaviours.
Goodness of fit
- the match between the child’s temperament, and the demands and expectations of their environment
- For children to develop at their best, parenting must be tailored to their temperaments.
How can professionals use temperament research to assist children and parents?
- Education
- Individual behavioural assessment
- Environmental intervention
- Support groups
Trait theories
personality consists of broad dispositions (traits) that tend to produce characteristic responses
The Big Five Personality Dimensions
Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness to experience Extraversion
Personality changes in adulthood
neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience show modest declines during adulthood, whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness increase from early to middle adulthood, and then level off.
Compared to younger adults, middle-aged adults become more introspective and show increased:
- self acceptance
- autonomy
- environmental mastery
Explanations for stability of personality
- Heredity
- Childhood experiences
- Stability of environments
- Gene-environment correlations
Explanations for change of personality
- Biological factors
- Major life events
- Socio-political factors
- Poor person-environment fit
I-self
(sense of self as an agent) emerges during the first year.
Me-self
(sense of self as an object of knowledge and evaluation) develops during the second year.
From about 18 months, toddlers show self-recognition.
Self-awareness leads to:
- Self-conscious emotions
- Perspective-taking
- Empathy
Compliance begins to appear
between 12 and 18 months.
Self-control first appears around
18 months
Categorising the self
From about 18 months, toddlers begin to classify themselves and others into social categories.
Developmental changes in self-concept: early childhood
Preschoolers define themselves in concrete, physical terms.
Developmental changes in self-concept: middle childhood
Children develop a more complex self-concept incorporating:
- Internal, psychological characteristics
- Social aspects (e.g. social groups)
- Social comparison
Developmental changes in self-concept: Adolescence
Self-concepts become more:
- Self-conscious
- Abstract
- Fluctuating
- Integrated
-And adolescents increasingly start to think about possible selves.
Developmental changes in self-concept: Adulthood
- Self-concepts become more secure and complex.
- Possible selves become fewer and more modest, concrete and realistic.
Cultural influences on self-concept
In individualistic cultures, self-descriptions focus on unique personal characteristics and emphasise positive qualities.
In collectivist cultures, people are more likely to describe themselves in terms of their social roles, and are more modest and self-critical.
Developmental Changes in Self-esteem: early childhood
Preschoolers tend to have very high self-esteem.
Developmental Changes in Self-esteem: Middle childhood
- self-esteem drops to more realistic levels, as children compare their real selves to their ideal selves and judge themselves in comparison with others.
- Self-evaluations become more differentiated, and more integrated
Developmental Changes in Self-esteem: Adolescence
A dip in self-esteem is common in early adolescence.
Nevertheless, most adolescents have a positive self-image.
Developmental Changes in Self-esteem: Adulthood
Some evidence that self-esteem may rise gradually in adulthood, then decline slightly in old age.
Effective strategies for increasing self esteem
- Identifying areas of competence
- Providing emotional support and social approval
- Acquiring skills
- Coping
3 big issues of identity
- Career choice
- Adoption of values to believe in and live by
- Development of a sexual identity
No crisis + no commitment
diffusion
no crisis + commitment made
foreclosure
crisis experienced + no commitment
moratorium
crisis experienced + commitment made
identity achievement
Contemporary views of identity
- Identity development does not happen neatly, but in bits and pieces (“MAMA” cycle is probably healthy).
- Identity development is a gradual, life-long process, although important changes do take place in adolescence and young adulthood.
Factors influencing identity development
- Cognitive growth
- Personality
- Relationships with parents
- Experiences outside the home
- Broader social, economic and cultural context
