social and moral development (lecture 5, week 6) Flashcards
What is self awareness?
The ability to understand that we are an entity separate from the world, that we have agency but also that people see us as an object.
What are the two main parts of self awareness?
-Self as agent
-Self as object
What is the self as an agent?
1st to develop in a baby
- Self is separate from outside world
- Self has control of thoughts and actions (baby aware it has agency in the world)
- First aspect of self-concept to develop
What is the self as an object?
Mirror test - watch how the baby reacts to reflection:
15 months – self recognition in mirror -baby has developed sense of self as own entity separate from the world.
2 years – baby refers to self as ‘I’ or ‘me’
What is self concept?
Develops during early childhood
Initially predominantly ‘concrete’, with basic
descriptions of emotions/attitudes (children attentive to what they do in the world, their attributes - e.g. ‘‘i have long hair’’.)
Refined in middle childhood with use of
personality traits to describe self
(e.g. ages 6-7 ‘‘i like to go to school’’)
What is self esteem?
Judgements we make about self-worth,
and associated feelings.
Becomes more differentiated with age
Appears in early childhood.
Pre-schoolers:
*Social acceptance / competence
7 years:
* Academic / Social / Physical
(Not necessarily equally weighted)
Adolescence:
* Extra dimensions added, e.g., job
competence, ‘romantic’ relationships
note- self esteem affected based on how you grew up
hierarchy of self esteem
slide 7 (also slide 8 useful summary)
levels of self esteem:
top overall self esteem of person
middle: self esteem within specific categories (academic, social, physical competence, physical appearance)
bottom: examples
What are influences on self esteem?
-Age
-Culture
How does age influence self esteem?
- High in early childhood
- Drops during first years of school
- Social comparison
- More ‘realistic’ in middle childhood
- Generally stable, and high, for majority from age 8 years
How does culture influence self esteem?
- Gender differences - (girls tend to develop depression and anxiety more than boy, bpys tend to have more externalised…)
girls self esteem dropped more than boys - Individual vs collectivist countries (America cf. Japan)
japan- children tend to have low self esteem
north america - children very confiedent, high self esteem
Who was Erikson? (identity as a construct)
-influenced by Freud
-saw identity as a construct that is developed across a lifespan
-believed that at every life stage we had conflicts/a major crisis that needed to be resolved
-Clinical interviewing led to formation of four identity statuses
What are the 4 identity status Erikson formed?
Identity achievement
Identity foreclosure
Moratorium
Identity diffiusion
what is identity achievement?
High levels of exploration leed to one’s strong sense of commitment to
their own identity.
“I have tried and experienced much, and decided what’s best for me”
what is identity foreclosure?
Low levels of exploration and a strong sense of “inheritance” (from
family/community values), coupled with little questioning about one’s
identity attributes.
* “I am who I am because this is how everyone in my family is like!”
what is moratorium?
- High level of exploration that never leads to commitment;
- Excessive “re-inventing” one-self that never reaches a stable
sense of identity
what is identity diffusion?
- Low commitment and low exploration – no seeking of creating a strong
sense of identity - No reflection on own’s attributes.
(1) What is the impact of the identity achievement.
- Higher self-esteem
- More abstract/critical thinking (allowed themselves to explore)
- Advanced moral reasoning
(2) Impact of Foreclosure/Diffusion
- Inflexibility & intolerance
- Long-term linked to higher risk of e.g., depression
What are influences on identity development?
- Personality
Flexible, open-minded - Family
Attached, but free to express own views - Peers, friends, school
- Larger society
Culture
Historical time period
how does gender identity develop in early childhood?
- age 2 can label self & others as male/female
- age 3 tendency to prefer gender-stereotypical toys
Can initially develop rigid stereotypes re: e.g., occupation by age 4 years
how does gender identity develop in middle childhood?
- Nuanced understanding of gender increases
- Can consider conflicting social information and therefore can display gender-stereotype flexibility
what are 2 theories that explain how we develop gender identity?
- social learning theory (SLT)
-cognitive development theory
how does SLT explain gender identity?
Behaviour comes first, then self-perception
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Self-perception comes first, then behaviour
Kohlberg: Development of Gender Constancy linked to
cognitive maturity
- Age 2-3: identify as boy/girl
- Age 4-5: gender stability
- Age 6-7: gender constancy
what are the 3 components of morality?
Emotional- How one feels about situations involving ethical issues ( E.g., Empathy for distress; guilt if cause of distress)
Cognitive - Knowledge of ethical rules and judgements of “goodness” and “badness” of acts
* Developing social cognition enables decision-making re: moral dilemmas
Behavioural- How one acts in situations that relate to ethical issues
* Behaviour may not necessarily follow on from emotions/thoughts
what is the psychoanalytical perspective on moral development?
- Morality appears between 3 & 6 years
- Children jealous of same-sex parent, but fear loss of relationship so compensate by identifying with same-sex parent – super-ego
- Current psychoanalytic research emphasises attachment
what is the Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura) on moral development?
Develops through modelling & then reinforcement
* Internalisation of social norms important, but cannot explain all moral behaviour
E.g., where society and ethical principles conflict
* Child more active in constructing morality
What are the 2 stages of Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory?
Heteronomous Morality (5-10 years)
Autonomous Morality (from 10 years)
What is Heteronomous Morality (5-10 years)? (piaget)
- Rules given by authority figures
- Rules are immutable and must be obeyed
- Focus on consequences (as enforced by adult authority) rather than intentions
What is Autonomous Morality (from 10 years)?
- Rules are socially constructed & flexible
- Base judgements on intentions
How can we evaluate Piagets’ theory?
limitations ?
- Children can take intentions into account at a younger age if intentions are made more obvious (age 6, stories videotaped - Chandler et al., 1973)
- Young children do question adult authority in certain contexts
- Many children show heteronomous & autonomous reasoning at the same stage
how do we evaluate piagets theory ? (2)
Kohlberg
- Kohlberg extended & refined Piaget’s theory from 10 yrs into adulthood
- Agrees that moral reasoning (cognitive dimension) drives moral development
- Presented ‘moral dilemmas’ to 10 to 16 year-olds
- Looked at how they justified their decisions
Kohlberg’s stages
PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience
Stage 2: Instrumental Purpose – does it
result in benefits for self or loved ones
(naïve hedonistic orientation)
Kohlberg’s stages (2)
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 3: “Good boy-good girl morality” –
child’s good behavior is designed to
maintain approval and good relations
with loved ones.
Stage 4: Social Order Maintaining
(accepts social conventions blindly)
Kohlberg’s stages (3)
POSTCONVENTIONAL OR PRINCPLED LEVEL
Stage 5: Social Contract (morality is
based on common agreement and can be
collectively changed)
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle
(people conform to social rules and
internalised ideals)
what are influences on moral reasoning?
Personality
* Flexibility linked to improved moral reasoning
Child-Rearing Practices
* Caring, supportive
* Discuss moral concerns openly
Schooling
* Moral development improves in late adolescence if remain
in education
Cultural Variations
* Emphasis on individulism vs collectivism
