SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Self-Concept: One’s
perceptions of one’s unique
attributes or traits.
Looking-Glass Self:
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Must first achieve self
recognition before developing a
sense of who or what you are
(i.e. rouge on nose!)
Theory of Mind – coherent
understanding of your own and
others’ rich mental lives.
* desire theory of mind
* belief-desire theory
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Changes in Self
Descriptions
Mention DECREASES with age for:
• actions (e.g. “I can play Twinkle,
Twinkle.”)
• likes/dislikes (e.g. “I love pizza.”)
• physical characteristics (e.g. “I
have curly red hair.”)
• body image (e.g. “I’m short.”)
• gender (e.g. “I’m a girl.”)
• possessions (e.g. “I have a
gerbil.”)
• citizenship/territory (e.g. “I’m an
American.”, “I live on Birch
Street.”)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Changes in Self
Descriptions
Mention INCREASES with age for:
• age category “I’m almost 18.”
• family role “I’m the youngest
child”.
• interpersonal style “I’m very
talkative.”
• sense of determination “I’m pretty
ambitious and work hard.”
• sense of unity “I’m kind of mixed
up right now.”
• psychic style “I’m a moody
person, but really curious
about things.”
• ideology/personal beliefs “I’m not
a Republican/Democrat, etc.”
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem: One’s evaluation of
one’s worth as a person based
on an assessment of the
qualities that make up the selfconcept.
Origins of Self Esteem
1.
2.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Do Low-Self-Esteem Children
Need/Want from Adults?
Smith and Smoll (1990) studied 542
Little League players (all boys,
11.12 years) and 51 coaches.
• 14-item measure of self
esteem
• 10 questions on attitude
towards baseball (home
interview)
• Coaches behavior 3+
games observed and
coded
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Do Low-Self-Esteem Children
Need/Want from Adults?
Coaches behaviors that were
coded:
Coaches Reactive Behaviors
• Reinforcement
• Nonreinforcement
• Mistake-contingent
encouragement
• Mistake-contingent technical
instruction
• Punishment
• Punitive technical instruction
• Ignoring mistakes
• Keeping control
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Do Low-Self-Esteem Children
Need/Want from Adults?
Coaches behaviors that were
coded:
Coaches Reactive Behaviors
Coaches Spontaneous Behaviors
• General technical instruction
• General encouragement
• Organization
• General communication
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Do Low-Self-Esteem Children
Need/Want from Adults?
Results:
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Can We Do to Enhance the
Self-Esteem of Children Who
Don’t Have a Very High
Evaluation of Themselves?
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
What Can We Do to Enhance the
Self-Esteem of Children Who
Don’t Have a Very High
Evaluation of Themselves?
(Based on the research of Smith & Smoll as well
as Harter, Stipek, Dweck and their colleagues
1985, 1987)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Achievement
Intrinsic Orientation:
Extrinsic Orientation:
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Achievement
Mastery Orientation:
Learned helplessness:
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Home and Family Influences on
Mastery Motivation and
Achievement
• Child is securely attached
• Parents provide intellectually
stimulating environment
• Parents reinforce self-reliant
behavior
• Parents set high standards and
encourage children to do well
(CONTINUED….)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Home and Family Influences on
Mastery Motivation and
Achievement
• Parents reward successes and
are not overly critical of failures
• Parents are warm and
accepting, but set standards,
monitor progress, & provide
guidance.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Weiner’s Attribution Theory
High Achievers
• Attribute successes to stable,
internal causes (high ability)
• Attribute failures to unstable
factors (insufficient effort, bad
luck)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Weiner’s Attribution Theory
High Achievers
• Attribute successes to
• Attribute failures to
Low Achievers
• Attribute successes to
• Attribute failures to
Fostering a Mastery Pattern of
Achievement and Preventing
Learned Helplessness
1. Praise successes and attribute
to ability.
2. Attribute failures to lack of effort.
3. Provide failure and success
experiences and emphasize the
need to try harder after failures.
4. Set individual learning goals that
emphasize improvement rather
than competitive performance
goals.
5. View mistakes as something to
learn from rather than a sign of
insufficient ability.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
J. Marcia’s Identity Statuses
Status
Search
Commitment
Identity
No
Diffusion
Foreclosure No
No
Moratorium Yes
No
Identity
Achieved
Yes
Yes
Yes
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Influences on Identity Formation
1. Cognitive Influences
1. Parenting Influences
1. Scholastic Influences
1. Social-cultural Influences