lecnp11childadolesce ntdevelpmen3rd

Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence: 

Personality: A Systems Approach Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence

Topics: 

Personality: A Systems Approach Topics What Is Personality Development? Do Infants Have Personality? How Does the Young Child’s Personality Develop? What Are the Challenges of Middle Childhood? What Are Adolescents Doing?

What Is Personality Development?1A. Stage Theories: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Is Personality Development?1A. Stage Theories Erik H. Erikson’s Stage Theory of Development Development is psychosocial: The person develops along paths expected by society Early development is in the home. Development as a youth must meet the expectations of schools and community groups Later development in community, at work, with newly formed family Eight Stages of Development

What Is Personality Development?1B. Stage Theories : 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Is Personality Development?1B. Stage Theories

What Is Personality Development?1C. Stage Theories : 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Is Personality Development?1C. Stage Theories

What Is Personality Development?1D. Stage Theories : 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Is Personality Development?1D. Stage Theories

Do Infants Have a Personality?1. The Infant’s Challenge: 

Personality: A Systems Approach Do Infants Have a Personality?1. The Infant’s Challenge Buzzing, blooming confusion? Not hardly Facial recognition virtually from birth 6-10 weeks: Social smile 15-18 months: Self-recognition in mirror

Do Infants Have a Personality?2. Infant Temperament: 

Personality: A Systems Approach Do Infants Have a Personality?2. Infant Temperament Easy Child Rhythmic in hunger, sleep-wake, excretion Positive approach to others Low or mild intensity of reactions Positive mood Difficult Child Irregular in hunger, sleep-wake, excretion Withdrawal from others High intensity of reactions Negative mood

Do Infants Have a Personality?3. Attachment Patterns: 

Personality: A Systems Approach Do Infants Have a Personality?3. Attachment Patterns Secure Attachment Mother accurate and sympathetic about infant feeling Infants enjoy mother; tolerate her absence Mother is comforting, dependable figure Anxious Resistant Attachment Mothers attend inconsistently to infant Infants have difficulty tolerating being apart from mother Infants are tentative at reunion; unsure Mothers (and others) are unpredictable and not always comforting Anxious-Avoidant Attachment Mothers seem uninterested in their infants, and rebuff them consistently Infant does not seek out caretaker Deny importance of contact

The Young Child’s Personality1. Self Concept: 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Young Child’s Personality1. Self Concept 2 ½ - 5 years Infantile amnesia lifts Children have no cognitive organization of memories before about 3 years of age Now, sustained memories are laid down that form the basis of the person’s life story 3, 4, & 5 year-olds were ushered from a daycare center when a popcorn maker caught fire (Pillemer, Picariello & Pruett (1995). 7 years later, 4 & 5-year-olds clearly remembered the event 3 years old mistakenly recalled where they were

The Young Child’s Personality2. Changes in Temperament: 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Young Child’s Personality2. Changes in Temperament In Infancy, a “Big Three” of temperament are: Positivity Negativity, and Cuddliness In Young Children, Self-Control replaces Cuddliness Important in social interactions, meal-time, having friends, toilet training

The Young Child’s Personality3. Parents and the Family Context : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Young Child’s Personality3. Parents and the Family Context

The Young Child’s Personality4. Birth Order : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Young Child’s Personality4. Birth Order Sulloway (1996) First-born children may identify most closely with parents As they grow, tend to be more conservative and to uphold society as it stands In one study: 83 scientist siblings (brothers, sisters, or brothers and sisters), Both on record regarding an innovative scientific theory First-borns supported innovation 50% of the time Later-borns supported innovation 85% of the time

The Young Child’s Personality5. The Gendered World : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Young Child’s Personality5. The Gendered World Sex and Gender Sexual development diverges for the male and female fetus at 9 weeks Upon birth, most children can be identified as one or the other sex Social understandings of gender also come into play Children were studied in 90 nations on an International Survey. Example; “One of these people is emotional. They cry when something good happens as well as when everything goes wrong. Which is the emotional person?” The pointed to male or female figure Children indicate women more than men in response to the question by 5-years By Five Years of Age Children play in same sex groups (through to adolescence) Children take care to choose toys and television shows preferred by other members of their sex

The Challenges of Middle Childhood 1. Self Concept : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Challenges of Middle Childhood 1. 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

The Challenges of Middle Childhood 2. Temperament into Traits : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Challenges of Middle Childhood 2. Temperament into Traits

The Challenges of Middle Childhood 3. Friendship Patterns : 

Personality: A Systems Approach The Challenges of Middle Childhood 3. 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.”

What Are Adolescents Doing?1A. Sex and Gender: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?1A. 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

What Are Adolescents Doing?1B. Sex and Gender: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?1B. 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

What Are Adolescents Doing?1C. Sex and Gender: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?1C. Sex and Gender

What Are Adolescents Doing?1D. Sex and Gender: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?1D. Sex and Gender

What Are Adolescents Doing?2A. Establishing Identity: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?2A. 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

What Are Adolescents Doing?2B. Establishing Identity: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?2B. Establishing Identity

What Are Adolescents Doing?3A. Case of Identity Diffusion: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing?3A. 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…(cont.)

What Are Adolescents Doing? 3B. Case of Identity Diffusion: 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing? 3B. Case of Identity Diffusion [Identity Diffusion/Continued]: 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. 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.

What Are Adolescents Doing? 3C. Establishing Identity : 

Personality: A Systems Approach What Are Adolescents Doing? 3C. 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

~end of Chapter 11~: 

Personality: A Systems Approach ~end of Chapter 11~