Early & Middle Childhood Emotional Development

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Personality Development 0-18mo 18m-3y 3-6 6-12 12-21 21-30 30-65 65+ Take initiative in doing new tasks & interact with peers in make-believe play Feel guilt (i.e., are self-conscious) if society is overly critical

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Personality Development 0-18mo 18m-3y 3-6 6-12 12-21 21-30 30-65 65+ Become industrious: good at something Feel a sense of inferiority

Self Understanding: Early Childhood Tell me about yourself? Self-concept: attributes, abilities, attitudes & values that define a person 3-5 yrs: based on external attributes & behaviors “I have yellow hair.” “I paint pictures.” “Yellow is my favorite color.” Do not yet mention internal traits Reason assert themselves over possessions “Mine!”

Self Understanding: Early Childhood How do you feel about yourself? Self-esteem: judgments & feelings about one’s own worth & competencies 4 yrs: “I’m a good painter” Overestimate competencies Contributes to development of initiative Is this a good or bad thing?

Self Understanding: Middle childhood Self-concept: emphasize internal competencies (& deficiencies) instead of external behaviors “I paint well, but I’m not a good piano player; I try hard in school, but I only do okay.” Contributes to development of industry Self-esteem: influenced by social comparisons gains in perspective taking form an ideal self to evaluate real self How do children decide what they are & are not good at?

What happens if the ideal self & real self are not in sync?

Hierarchically Structured Self-esteem

Hierarchically Structured Self-esteem Which type is most closely related to general self-esteem?

Changes in Self-esteem in Childhood (Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 1998) Participants: 396 preschool, 1st, & 2nd grader boys & girls Measure: Self-Description Questionnaire

Physical ability Appearance Social Competence Academic

Changes in Self-esteem in Middle Childhood (Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 1998) Participants: 396 preschool, 1st, & 2nd grader boys & girls Measure: Self-Description Questionnaire Results summary: Self-esteem drops during 1st few years of elementary Physical appearance esteem drops sharply for girls Most do not have exceptionally low self-esteem

** Culture & Child rearing practices** What influences a child’s self-esteem? ** Culture & Child rearing practices** Attributions: common explanations for causes of behavior

** Culture & Child rearing practices** What influences a child’s self-esteem? ** Culture & Child rearing practices** Attributions: common explanations for causes of behavior

Examples of influences on attributions “Your such a smart kid!” “Getting an ‘A’ is not what matters.” “It’s okay if you quit.” “You got lucky on that test.” “You could have studied harder to do well.” Attribution Style Helplessness Mastery

Emotional Development Understanding emotion 4-5 yrs: provide explanations for emotions “Happy because my picture’s pretty” Limit: emphasize external & obvious reasons “Happy because feel good about self”

Emotional Development Emotion self-regulation 3-4 yrs: strategies for adjusting emotional arousal Leads to decline in emotional outbursts Limit: Use external strategies until around age 10 Fear regulation & “display rules” When would children need to regulate emotions?

Emotional Development Self-conscious emotions: involve injury to or enhancement of self-concept 3 yrs: shame or guilt over (even accidental) wrongdoing Limit: audience is needed, rely on adult’s messages Intense shame = maladjustment Guilt = good adjustment Do self-conscious emotions foster or hinder adjustment?

Emotional Development Prosocial emotions & behaviors 3 yrs: empathy - feeling with another Related to perspective taking Limit: leads to personal distress & doesn’t translate into sympathy – feeling for another How do children acquire empathy?

Morality

Do you remember being spanked for bad behavior? Theories of Morality Develop from externally controlled morality to inner standards of morality through childhood Social learning theory Moral behaviors are learned through modeling & reinforcement in early childhood Harsh punishment promotes: momentary compliance relief for parents model for aggression, but… Doesn’t achieve long-term goals Do you remember being spanked for bad behavior?

“Wrong to take something that’s not yours” Theories of Morality Cognitive-developmental perspective Middle childhood become active thinkers about social rules More trustworthy in absence of adult supervision “Wrong to take something that’s not yours” Distributive justice (Damon, 1988)

Scenario One day a teacher let her class spend the whole afternoon making paintings and crayon drawings. The teacher thought that these picture were so good that the class could sell them at the fair. They sold the pictures to their parents, and together the class made a lot of money. Now all the children gathered the next day and tried to decide how to split up the money. What do you think they should do with it? Why? Should a child who made more paintings get more money than the others? Why? How about a child who doesn’t have enough money to buy lunch every day? Should they get more?

“Wrong to take something that’s not yours” Theories of Morality Cognitive-developmental perspective Middle childhood become active thinkers about social rules More trustworthy in absence of adult supervision “Wrong to take something that’s not yours” Distributive justice (Damon, 1988) 5-6 yrs: Equality 6-7 yrs: Merit 8+ yrs: Benevolence