1. Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood

2. Psychosocial (Erikson) Development in Middle Childhood
Industry vs. Inferiority stage – period from ages 6 to 12 characterized by a focus on efforts to attain competence in meeting the challenges presented by parents, peers, school, and the complexities
of the world

3. Industry vs. Inferiority
Children really begin to learn and play by rules
Concern for how things work, how things are made, and what things actually do
Children who are encouraged to make things, do things or build things will develop a sense of industry

4. Erikson cont’d
Parents who see their child as mischievous or as messy will help the child develop a sense of inferiority
School plays a critical role during this period-friends and teachers play an integral role in development
It is in this stage that lifelong academic failure can begin

5. Social Comparison When children begin to compare themselves to
others their age
sports
academics
physical attributes

6. Downward social comparison – makes child feel better to compare themselves to those who are less able (although children with a negative cognition about the world may set impossible standards)

7. Social comparison and self-esteem
Which student do you think will have higher self-esteem – higher achieving students or lower achieving students?

8. Understanding the Self
As children become older, they view themselves in terms of psychological attributes in addition to their physical attributes
Children’s self-concept becomes divided into personal and academic spheres

9. Looking Inward: Development of the Self

10. Self-Esteem – an individual’s overall and specific positive and negative self-evaluation
Self-esteem drops around 12 and picks up again in late teens (puberty? Hypothetical thinking? High school transition?)
If self-esteem is low in middle childhood, the result can be a cycle of failure

11. A Cycle of Low Self-Esteem

12. Success Cycle

13. Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development
Latent Stage –
At this point in time, Freud believed that sexual desires would be sublimated and would reemerge in the teenage years
Child is identifying with same sex parent
Love for opposite sex parent is repressed

14. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning
Level 1 – Preconventional Stage – child’s moral reasoning is based on external authority
Stage 1 – Punishment orientation – based on being or not being punished (ages 1 to 5)
Stage 2 – Naïve Reward Orientation – based on receiving or not receiving a reward (age 5 to 10)

15. Level 2 – Conventional Level – child sees rules as necessary for maintaining order.
Stage 3 – Good boy/good girl-seeks approval and avoids disapproval from others (8 to 12 years old)
Stage 4 – Authority Orientation – morals based on society’s rules which should be obeyed. Rules are very rigid (around 10 to 14 years old)

16. Gilligan – Moral Development
Looked at moral development of girls-
Felt that
Kohlberg
viewed
the same ways as boys
Realizes that all should have fun
Does things that
she likes
Does things that others like

17. Friendship in Middle Childhood
Stage 1 – Basing friendship on others’ behavior – 4 to 7 years old
Stage 2 – Basing friendship on trust – 8 to 10 years old
Stage 3 – Basing friendship on psychological closeness – 11 to 15 years old

18. What Makes A Child Popular?
Status- the relative position of a person ascribed by other members of a group
Social competence – the social skills that allow children to understand others’ cues and emotions
Social problem solving – the use of strategies for solving social conflicts that appease everyone in the group

19. Bullying
Bullying victims are often passive, cry easily, and lack social skills.
Bullies often come from abusive homes, watch more violent TV, misbehave more at home and school, and they often lie their way out of things.

20. Psychology of the bully
They have a strong need to dominate and subdue other students and to get their own way
Are impulsive and are easily angered
Are often defiant and aggressive toward adults, including parents and teachers
Show little empathy toward students who are victimized

21. Psychology of victims
The typical passive or submissive victims, generally have some of the following characteristics:
Are cautious, sensitive, quiet, withdrawn and shy
Are often anxious, insecure, unhappy and have low self-esteem
Are depressed and engage in suicidal ideation much more often than their peers
Often do not have a single good friend and relate better to adults than to peers
If they are boys, they may be physically weaker than their peers

22. Family Life During Childhood
Co-regulation – joint control of children’s behavior exercised by the parents and the children themselves-beginning of a ‘mind of their own’
Children spend significantly less time with their parents during middle childhood.
Children with both parents working fare quite well. As long as parents are loving and sensitive to their children’s needs, the children can be well adjusted.

23. How Children Spend Time

24. Divorce
Both children and parents may show psychological maladjustment for 6 months to a few years following divorce. Children may experience anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, or phobias. By the age of 10, children feel the pressure to choose sides and experience some divided loyalty. In some cases, the divorce produces a more positive effect since the children are no longer subject to the high conflict that existed in the intact relationship.

25. Single Mothers