The Development of Children, Seventh Edition Cynthia Lightfoot, Michael Cole, and Sheila R. Cole Chapter 9: Social and Emotional Development in Early Childhood

Chapter Overview Identity Development A New Moral World Developing Self-Regulation Understanding Aggression Developing Prosocial Behaviors Taking One’s Place in the Social Group

Social and Emotional Development Two Paths: Socialization Personality Formation

Social and Emotional Development Socialization: The process by which children acquire the standards, values, and knowledge of their society. Personality Formation: The process through which children develop their own unique patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving in a wide variety of situations.

I. Identity Development Identification: A psychological process in which children try to look, act, feel, and be like significant people in their social environment. Includes acquisition of sex-role and ethnic identities

Sex-Role Identity Psychodynamic View Social Learning View Cognitive-Development View Gender Schema View Cultural View

Psychodynamic View Sigmund Freud Still influential, even though not always substantiated by evidence Assumes young children are caught in hidden conflicts between their fears and desires.

Psychodynamic View Phallic Stage: The period around the fourth year when children begin to regard their own genitals as a major source of pleasure.

Phallic Stage Mental conflicts with same-sex parent Oedipus complex Electra complex

Social Learning View Emphasizes two processes: Modeling The process by which children observe and imitate individuals of their own sex. Differential Reinforcement The process by which girls and boys are differently rewarded for engaging in gender-appropriate behavior.

Cognitive-Development View Central Idea: A child’s own conceptions are central to the formation of sex-role identity. Jean Piaget Lawrence Kohlberg Three Stages

Kohlberg’s Three Stages Basic Sex-Role Identity: - Labeling oneself as a boy or girl Sex-Role Stability: - Understanding the stability of sex roles over time Sex-Role Constancy: - Understanding their sex remains the same no matter what the situation

Gender Schema View Includes features of both social learning and cognitive-developmental theories. Gender Schema: A mental model containing with information about males and females that are used to process gender-relevant information.

How Gender Schemas Work

Cultural View Cultural gender categories mediate Methods of mediation Children’s organization of activities Way children relate to environment Methods of mediation Content Which behaviors specifically male or female Extent of rigidness of gender categories

Ethnic Identity Ethnic identity: A sense of belonging to an ethnic group, and the feelings and attitudes that accompany the sense of group membership. Parents can communicate different sorts of ethnicity-related messages

Personal Identity Personal identity: I-self: A person’s subjective sense of being a particular individual who exists over time and who acts and experiences the world in a particular way Me-self: A person’s sense of his or her objective characteristics such as appearance and abilities that can be objectively known

Personal Identity Cognitive limitations in young children: Focus on the objective self Disconnected Unrealistically positive Fluid and disjointed

I. Apply – Connect – Discuss Visit a major toy store and look for evidence of social categories of gender and ethnicity. What sorts of toys are marketed for boys, girls, or children of specific ethnic backgrounds? How might these toys mediate children’s behavior?

Apply – Connect – Discuss Visit the children’s section of a public library and look for similar evidence of social categories in books appropriate for 3- to 5-year-olds (you might enlist the help of the librarian). What similarities and differences do you note between books and toys?

II. A New Moral World Three perspectives Psychodynamic View Cognitive-Development View Social Domain View

Psychodynamic View Sigmund Freud Source of moral sense: Internalization of the moral standards of our parents (especially same-sex parent) Personality Mental Structure Id Ego Superego

Cognitive-Development View Jean Piaget Heteronomous morality Early childhood External authority Objective consequences In middle childhood: Autonomous morality Freely chosen morals

Social Domain View Emphasizes different type of right and wrong Social domain theory Moral rules Social conventions Personal sphere rules Cultural variations

II. Apply – Connect – Discuss Erikson believed that identity development and moral development are closely related. Using material presented in this chapter, pull together evidence for his argument.

III. Developing Self-Regulation The ability to control one’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

Self-Regulation and Play Importance of play Vygotsky Sociodramatic play

Regulating Emotions Controlling feelings Controlling and understanding emotion expressions The influence of culture

III. Apply – Connect – Discuss We argued in Chapter 6 that one of the earliest purposes of emotion regulation was to maintain intersubjectivity. Review pages 205-209 and discuss the similarities and differences between infancy and early childhood in the purposes and consequences of emotion regulation.

IV. Understanding Aggression Two main categories of aggression: Hostile aggression: intended to hurt someone in some way Instrumental aggression: intended to achieve a particular goal

Forms of Aggression Physical aggression Teasing Relational aggression By age 2, more likely to tease siblings than hurt them physically Relational aggression

Gender Differences Boys: Girls More often use direct, physical aggression Girls Use more relational aggression: Indirect aggression aimed at excluding a child or harming their friendships

Causes of Aggression Biological contributions Social and cultural contributions Emotional and cognitive contributions

Biological Contributions Evolutionary Factors Competition for resources Development of dominance hierarchies Physiological Factors Testosterone

Social and Cultural Contribution Imitation of others Rewarded for behaving aggressively Influence of parents Cross-cultural studies The work of Douglas Fry

Emotional and Cognitive Contribution Focus more on how children think and feel Emotional reactions to events and emotion regulation depend on: Interpretation of the social context Ability to understand others’ emotions and intentions

IV. Apply – Connect – Discuss Based on evidence presented in this section, design an activity for preschoolers that might reduce their aggressive behavior.

V. Developing Prosocial Behaviors Voluntary actions intended to benefit others, such as sharing, helping, caregiving, and showing compassion.

Empathy Empathy: Relationship to egocentrism The sharing of another person’s emotions and feelings. Relationship to egocentrism

Sympathy Sympathy: Personal Distress: Feelings of sorrow or concern for another. More likely to lead to prosocial behavior Personal Distress: A self-focused emotional reaction to another person’s distress.

V. Apply – Connect – Discuss From a Vygotskian perspective, what might account for whether children react to someone’s distress with their own personal distress or with sympathy?

VI. Taking One’s Place in the Social Group Increasing abilities: understanding others’ mental states regulating social relations individual ways of thinking and feeling