Lecture 11
Self-concept: Who am I?
- Origins of self-recognition
- The evolving self-concept
- The search for identify
Origins of self-recognition
- By 15 months, infants begin to show self-recognition in mirror task
- At 18-24 months, children look more at photos of self than others and refer to self by
name or personal pronoun
- Awareness of self extends to an understanding of ownership
- Self-concept comes from self-awareness
• Also understanding that roles are different, and that others behave differently than
them
• What we believe about our identity is based on our environment and how others view
us, and the norms in our society
The evolving self-concept
- Preschoolers mention concrete characteristics such as physical characteristics,
preferences, possessions, and competencies
- At 6-8 years, children begin to mention emotions, social groups, and comparisons to
others
- Adolescents mention attitudes, personality traits, religious/political beliefs, variation with
context, and an orientation to the future
Developmental changes in self-concept The search for identity
- Adolescents use hypothetical reasoning to experiment with different selves
- Adolescence characterized by
• Self-absorption (concerned with themselves)
• Imaginary audience
• Personal fable (adolescents often think that their experiences are unique of others—
they’re the only one going through a particular situation)
• Illusion of invulnerability (adolescents think they’re untouchable (can’t be harmed),
which leads to them performing risky behaviors)
- Stages of identity:
• Diffusion: not concerned about values or beliefs
Younger children are at this stage
• Foreclosure: children will adopt a certain identity or beliefs because primary
caregivers or those around them have these (e.g., say they’re Catholic because their
parents are)
• Moratorium: identity crisis
Challenging beliefs, ideas, etc. that you’ve adopted from environment
It’s only in doing this that you can truly discover who you are • Achievement: when you know who you are
Mostly in late adolescents and adulthood
Self-esteem
- Measuring Self-Esteem
- Developmental Change in Self-Esteem
- Sources of Self-Esteem
- Low Self-Esteem: Cause or Consequence?
Measuring self-esteem
- One common measure: Self-Perception Profile for Children
- Measures overall self-esteem as well as self-esteem in 5 specific areas:
• Scholastic competence
• Athletic competence
• Social acceptance
• Behavioral conduct
• Physical appearance
Sample items and profiles from SPPC Developmental change in self-esteem
- Self-esteem is highest in preschoolers
- Drops during the elementary school years due to social comparisons
• How others react to you, and how you compare to others on many different levels
(academically, physical appearance, athletic ability)
- Self-esteem sometimes drops during the move to middle school or junior high
- Pattern of change in self-esteem varies for different domains
- Self-esteem becomes more differentiated
- There is a high rate of depression in early adolescents (ages 12-14)
• 2% of boys and 6% of girls
Because girls tend to see themselves in a more negative light than boys do
Girls tend to define themselves more in relation to group members or
membership and how they’re seen by others
• Could be related to higher stressors during this period
As a result of the many changes happening during this period (e.g., hormonal,
school, relationship changes)
Family conflict or environmental stressors
Because of attributions (adolescents are more likely to blame themselves for
failures—internal attributions)
• Storm and stress period in adolescents (p. 372)
Universally false
Changes in self-esteem Percentage of children who view selves negatively
Sources of self-esteem
- Children have higher self-esteem when parents are nurturing and involved and establish
rules concerning discipline
• Parents level of involvement or responsiveness
• If parents respond to children in hostile manner gives the impression that they’re not
worthy of care
•
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