10 Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Freud –Challenge is to form emotional bonds with peers and move beyond sole bonds with parents formed earlier Erikson –Industry versus Inferiority Stage Develop a sense of competence Willingness to work towards a goal Failure leads to feelings of inferiority in school or social settings Theories of Social and Personality Development

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Trait: stable pattern of responses across situations The Big Five Personality Traits –Longitudinal research suggests some stability –Emerge during middle childhood –Extraversion –Agreeableness –Conscientiousness –Neuroticism –Openness Theories of Social and Personality Development Trait Approach

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Bandura and reciprocal determinism Three components –Person component (traits) –Behavior –Environment Each of these three mutually influence each other Theories of Social and Personality Development Social-Cognitive Perspectives

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.1 Bandura’s Determinism Model

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers A person’s understanding of his or her enduring psychological characteristics Emerges from early to middle childhood Becomes more complex Uses comparisons in self-descriptions Less tied to external features More centered on feelings and ideas The Psychological Self

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Self-Efficacy An individual’s belief in their capacity to cause intended events Social comparisons are important Encouragement from valued sources, such as parents Actual experiences have the greatest impact

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Self-esteem Global evaluative component of self-worth Begins to develop by age 7 The Valued Self

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Key components –The amount of discrepancy between what a child desires and what child thinks he has achieved –Overall support the child feels she receives from important people, especially parents and peers Self-esteem is stable in the short term but somewhat less so over periods of several years Self-Esteem

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Child’s own direct experience with success or failure Labels and judgments from others Value a child attaches to some skill or quality is affected by peers’ and parents’ attitudes Origins of Self-Esteem

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.2 Harter’s Research on Social Support, Domain Values and Self Esteem

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The Child as Psychologist Focuses more on internal traits and motivations of others Less emphasis on external appearance Begins about age 7 Better understanding that the same person plays different roles in life, such as parent and spouse

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.3 Changes in Children’s Descriptions of Others

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Make judgments about rightness and wrongness of specific actions Moral Realism –Belief that rules can’t be changed because they come from authority figures –Belief that violating rules leads to punishment Moral Relativism –Realization that rules can be changed if all agree –Punishment doesn’t come by rules violations—but by being caught! –Accidents are not caused by “naughty” behavior Moral Reasoning: Piaget

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Parents recognize children’s increasing abilities to self-regulate –Ability to conform to parental standards of behavior without direct supervision –Parents must be good at self-regulations –Higher expectations with parental monitoring increases self-regulation Culture may play a role in the age of expected behaviors Family Relationships Parental Expectations

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Family Relationships Parental Expectations Parents typically grant boys more autonomy during middle childhood BUT Hold girls more accountable Parental authoritative style more often produces socially competent children –Children both assertive and responsible in relationships

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Only children –As well adjusted as children with siblings –Tend to have higher achievement test scores Siblings –Affectionate sibling relationships mitigate stressful events such as parental divorce –Positively contribute to children’s social and emotional understanding Family Relationships Only Children and Siblings

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Importance of peers increases in middle childhood “Best Friend” emerges Friendships depend on reciprocal trust by age 10 Children are open, supportive and cooperative with friends Friends help with problem solving and conflict management Friendships

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.4 A 10 Year Old’s Explanation of Friendship

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Appears in every culture Visible as early as 3 or 4 Preference for same-sex playmates increases across middle childhood. Rough and tumble play occurs in boys and is avoided by girls Boys establish stable peer groups with dominance hierarchies Girls develop social skills based on self-disclosure Gender Segregation

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Boundary Violations –Ritualized situations where boys and girls play together, such as chasing games Girls are more often play in pairs or small, fairly exclusive groups. Boys appear to focus on competition and dominance Girls include more agreement, compliance, and self- disclosure However cooperative play most common among both sexes Gender Segregation

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Physical aggression declines and verbal aggression continues to increase Anger increasingly disguised and aggression increasingly controlled In all boy groups, physical aggression remains high School-age boys often show approval for aggression Patterns of Aggression

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Girls display more relational aggression –Aggression aimed at damaging the other person’s self- esteem or peer relationships, ostracism, cruel gossip –Directed more at other girls Both boys and girls increase retaliatory aggression –Aggression to get back at someone who has hurt you –Peers support retaliatory aggression while parents find it unacceptable Patterns of Aggression

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Degree to which children are accepted by peers Popular children –Attractive and physically larger –Display positive, supporting, nonpunitive, and nonaggressive social behaviors toward most other children –Take turns in conversation –Explain things –Regulate strong emotions –Perceptive and empathetic Social Status

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Withdrawn/rejected –Realize they are disliked by peers –Eventually give up trying for peer acceptance and become socially withdrawn –Experience feelings of loneliness Aggressive/rejected –Disruptive and uncooperative but think peers like them –Unable to control expression of strong emotions –Interrupt peers more and fail to take turns –Boys may be rejected for aggression, or it may make them more popular Two types of rejected children

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Neglected or rejected –Being very different from peers Shy children Highly creative children –Neglected children may be lonely and depressed Aggressive boys tend to surround themselves with others who are aggressive, giving them social status. Combining prosocial and aggressive behavior is seen as positive Children approve of retaliatory aggression Social Status

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Self-care children –7.5 million children at home by themselves at least an hour each weekday –Effects depend on behavioral history, age, gender, neighborhood, and parental monitoring –More poorly adjusted peer relationships and school performance but behavior may precede self-care –May be vulnerable to abuse by older children –Self-care children in low-income neighborhoods experience more negative effects –Parental monitoring critical for effective outcomes Influences beyond Family and School: After-School Care

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Childhood poverty rate 17% in 2005 Rate is higher for younger children Parents in poverty –Talk to children less – Provide fewer age-appropriate toys – Spend less time providing educational opportunities –Stricter discipline and emphasis on obedience Influences beyond Family and School: Poverty

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.5 Poverty, Age and Time

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Children in poverty –More often ill –Lower average IQ scores –Perform poorly in school –Exhibit more behavior problems Poverty

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Children may grow up –Exposed to street gangs and street violence –Live in over-crowded homes –Subject to more abuse and drug use –Witness to or victims of more violent crimes These children more often show symptoms of post- traumatic stress disorder—sleep disturbances, angry outbursts High rates of school failure Inner-City Poverty

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Protective factors for resiliency –High IQ of the child –Competent adult parenting –Effective schools –Secure initial attachments –Strong community helping network –Stable parental employment –Strong sense of ethnic identity Inner-City Poverty

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers What are three factors that schools can focus on to help a student develop their sense of industry? Since we know poverty is a major factor in poor developmental outcomes for education, what can we do to encourage poor students to be successful? Questions to Ponder

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Causal link between violent television and aggressive behavior –Significant short-term aggression in children who watched aggressive programs –Those who watch more television more aggressive long term –Leads to emotional desensitization Prosocial behavior enhanced by quality programs that teach children moral and social values –Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood –Sesame Street Television

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Wealthier children more often have and use computers at home Use for school work, games, , chat rooms Boys become more verbal communicators on mixed-sex computer messaging Computers and the Internet

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Video Games Playing video games can increase participants’ hostility levels and Decrease empathy with others Children who watch violent TV shows more often prefer violent video games

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Policy Question Test Based Reform National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP: “The Nation’s Report Card” May be used as one assessment of educational improvement BUT—teachers end up “teaching to the test” Textbooks become geared to the tests However students may try harder and there are signs of improvement too

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 10.6 NAEP Average Scores Over Time

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