PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… Getting Started Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence Focus on Middle Childhood and Adolescence 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 in part, of any image; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are the Challenges of Middle Childhood? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Self Concept The child increasing focuses on life tasks –Doing well in school If industry fails, individual may feel inferior –Making friends If relationships fail, child may be victimized Begins thinking about adult relationships and occupations

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are the Challenges of Middle Childhood? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach From Temperament to the Big Five Traits Dimensions of Temperament The Big Five Traits Extrav.Neurot.OpenConsc.Agree. Surgency Neg. Affect Sensitivity Paying attention

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are the Challenges of Middle Childhood? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Friendship Patterns Children rely very much on their friendships –Some children are far more socially skilled and have more successful relationships –Other children gradually become isolated This can be teased out in the “entry” situation, in which children are asked to join a dyad of children already at play. What will they do? –Skilled children take on roles relevant to the dyad: “Oh, you are superman and batman? I’ll be spiderman” –Unskilled children speak in unrelated terms: “Oh, okay, my mom is taking me to a restaurant today.”

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Sex and Gender Adolescence begins with the sexual maturation of puberty –For girls, vagina, uterus, and ovaries mature menarche, the first menstrual cycle, occurs Assume a more rounded appearance; breasts mature –For boys, testes and penis mature Shoulders broaden Facial hair grows; Childhood fat tissue change to muscle

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Sex and Gender With rapid physical maturation: –The child now looks much different –Often feels all eyes are on her or him –Reconcile inner and outer self –A new sense of identity emerges

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Sex and Gender Adolescent Women, Men, and Sexual Desire MenWomen Peer groups Often encourage sexual experimentation; often positive attitudes toward casual sex Often concerned with image among friends; often try to restrain one another’s sexual activity Desired Sexual Partners Average men desire 18 or more sexual partners over their lives Average women desire 4 to 5 sexual partners over their lives Thoughts of sex Struggle with thoughts, often distracted, disturbed. Struggle with thoughts, but not as badly as men

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Sex and Gender Adolescent Women, Men, and Personality Traits MenWomen AggressionAre higher than women in self-rated aggression and aggressive behavior Are lower than men in self-rated aggression and lower in aggressive behavior Thing versus Person Are “Thing” oriented: cars, electronics, houses Are “People” oriented: relationships, connections DepressionRates of depression are similar to women before puberty Rates of depression rise relative to men after puberty

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Establishing Identity Identity –Who one is –Group memberships –Beliefs that guide life Identity Crisis (Erik H. Erikson) –Inability to assemble an identity –Drifting –Possible serious psychological crisis Concept further developed by Marcia

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Marcia’s Concept of Identity Status Commitment LowHigh Self- Exploration HighMoratorium: Prolonged exploration Achievement: Finding a right Identity LowDiffusion: Unfocussed, Unconcerned Foreclosure: Influenced by someone else

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Case of Identity Diffusion Kathy moved from her home in Ohio to the University of Chicago (Littwin, 1986, p. 49, 61-62). Unfortunately during her first years there, her financial aid was cut off. To make ends meet, she took three jobs: a research assistant to a professor, a departmental assistant in the philosophy department, and a cashier in a near by health food restaurant. It was the latter of the three jobs she enjoyed the most as it enabled her to deal with people in an off-campus environment. As time went on, she became focused on matters other than school and dropped out in her fifth year without a degree… She felt tired and depressed concerning her experiences, and decided to move to New York. By coincidence, the professor she worked with at the University of Chicago was starting a business in New York, and he hired her to assist with the organization’s computers. (cont.)

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Case of Identity Diffusion (Cont.) She did well at this, despite a lack of training, and began to earn a respectable salary. At the same time, she didn’t like the values of the Wall Street firm, or what she was doing, so, after a supervisor commented negatively on her informal dress, she quit, and collected unemployment for five months. By now, Kathy was 25 years old, she appeared drawn, uncertainly, toward a number of different possible futures, including finishing school and entering a Ph.D. program in history, doing New Age dance therapy, writing, public policy research, and yet, was uncertain about doing any of them. Kathy seemed less involved in exploring than in a somewhat chaotic maneuvering among a variety of uncertain possibilities.

PART 4: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY DEV… What Are Adolescents Doing? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Establishing Identity Outcomes –Little is known, really –Josselson (1996) Among 30 women, those with identity achievement –Were able to move ahead in 30’s and 40’s in a clearer fashion –Better sense of meaning –Better coping with setbacks

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