Developmental Psychology: Self-Esteem and Gender Roles

• Lecture is from January 29th (Week 4) and February 3rd/10th/12th (Week 5/6)

Temperament vs. Personality

• Temperament is present from birth and relatively stable throughout life; it's the foundation for personality.
• Personality aspects emerge in early childhood, evolving throughout life in response to experiences.
• Temperament is biologically determined, influenced by genetics and neurobiology and consistent across cultures.
• Personality is influenced by a wider range of factors like genetics, environment, culture, and individual experiences, and changes over time.
• Temperament traits include activity level, adaptability, intensity of reaction, persistence, inhibition, and sensitivity to stimuli.
• Personality includes traits, characteristics, and patterns of behavior, like introversion/extroversion and the "Big Five" traits.
• Temperament sets the stage for personality development, while personality traits evolve throughout life.
• Temperament consists of innate, biologically-based behavioral and emotional tendencies evident from an early age.
• Personality encompasses traits developing over time, influenced by genetic, environmental, and sociocultural factors.

Epigenetics

• Epigenetics involves how genes are expressed, leading to the phenotype, and not all genes are expressed.
• Gene expression is probabilistic, not deterministic.
• Epigenomes can change in real-time, while genes cannot.
• Epigenome is heritable and can change for better or worse with positive lifestyle changes.
• Lifestyle choices/trauma can affect offspring which mice studies show.
• Shocking mice when they smell strawberries teaches fear that can be passed down generations.
• The Dutch Famine showed that offspring of pregnant women during the famine had slower metabolism and higher risk of diabetes.
• Epigenetic changes adapt to the current environment, but can cause mismatch if the environment changes.

Orchid-Dandelion Hypothesis

• Orchid children are highly reactive and sensitive to the environment, very beautiful, and inhibited.
• Dandelion children are less reactive/sensitive, not as beautiful, and uninhibited.
• A high-quality environment favors orchid children, while a low-quality environment favors dandelion children.
• Interaction is important for differential susceptibility in temperament
• Highly intelligent children thrive in rich environments but may not flourish in poor environments.
• People can not be categorized as better/worse based on temperament alone, environment must also be considered.

Beyond the Orchid-Dandelion Dichotomy

• Susceptibility to environmental influences exists on a gradient, not in a bimodal distribution.
• Most people fall in the middle of the spectrum, like tulips.

The Role of the Caregiver

• "Goodness of Fit" emphasizes compatibility between a child's temperament and the caregiver's temperament.
• Caregivers should create a compatible dynamic with the child as children can't change their temperament.
• Unlike a carpenter with a blueprint, caregivers should nurture the child like a gardener, adapting to how they grow.
• There's a sensitive period for developing regulation skills later in life, and needs to be supported by caregiver help.

Coregulation

• Coregulation is the mutual influence where one person's state affects another, creating a bidirectional relationship.
• The caregiver-child relationship, especially in early life, shapes personality based on coregulation experiences.

Synchrony

• Synchrony involves the dynamic, coordinated, and reciprocal interactions between infants and caregivers.
• Caregivers need to match a child's affect, like consoling a friend after a breakup whether you like them or not
• The Still-face experiment demonstrates how babies react negatively when mothers stop making facial expressions.

Attachment

• Attachment is the deep, enduring emotional bond between an infant and caregiver
• It's an innate, biological instinct for infant survival so they invest emotionally in the adult to survive
• Infants seek proximity to caregivers and explore the world confidently from that "secure base".
• Children with a secure base regularly check in with their caregiver for reassurance.
• Secure base is the foundation from which children explore and stranger anxiety is distinguishing the unfamiliar

Attachment Styles

• Secure attachment: Caregivers consistently provide sensitive and timely care.
• Insecure anxious/ambivalent attachment: Caregivers have low competence and inconsistent care quality.
• Insecure anxious/avoidant attachment: Caregivers are dismissive or neglectful of the child's needs.
• Insecure disorganized attachment: Frequently linked to caregiver abuse.
• Attachment experiences shape how individuals seek romantic partners.

Self-Esteem & Attachment

• Secure attachment leads to high self-esteem due to reliable and consistent caregiving
• Avoidant attachment is linked to defensive self-esteem, downplaying close relationships to appear self-sufficient
• Ambivalent/anxious attachment is associated with fluctuating self-esteem dependent on external validation.
• Disorganized attachment results in low self-esteem with feelings of insecurity from a lack of reliable caregiving.

Independence & Attachment

• Secure attachment leads to healthy independence
• Avoidant attachment may result in overemphasized independence, while Ambivalent/Anxious attachment is linked to underdeveloped independence.

Social Competence & Attachment:

• Secure attachment results in high social competence (empathetic/communicative).
• Avoidant attachment might result in high social competence but downplay close relationships.
• Ambivalent/Anxious attachment might result in high sensitivity to social cues but social competence can be influenced by a need for reassurance
• Disorganized attachment is challenged and experiences difficulties forming/maintaining relationships
• Social competence impacts identity formation.

Mental Health & Attachment

• Secure attachment leads to healthy mental health
• Avoidant attachment means higher rates of emotion regulation is difficult or emotional dissociation
• Ambivalent/Anxious attachment means higher rates of anxiety and depression.
• Disorganized attachment includes higher rates of mental health problems including PTSD

Self-Concept

• Self-concept is ones perception/view of themselves regarding traits, attributes, abilities and attitudes
• It relies on self-awareness
• Self-concept development begins prenatally; anxiety in the mother will cause fetus to blink more
• Newborns have basic sensory awareness (hunger, comfort, etc) with a primary focus on immediate needs.

Reflexes

• Proprioceptive feedback is sensory information from the muscles and joints which help locate the bodies position in space

Early Infancy

• Babies differentiate between self and others a few days after birth as proven when babies put fist in their mouth and babies respond differently to other approaching their mouth.
• Rooting reflex for other indication that there is distinction between self and others
• A two-month revolution is when babies directly respond and smile at attention they are getting

Agency

• Infants realize they can control their own functions, they look more at caregiver since they realize caregiver also has agency.
• Sticky Mittens is used to test is at-risk children have autism

7-9 Months of Age:

• Infants begin to distinguish themselves from their caregivers and have an increase in communicative skills.
• By 14 months, infants realize others selves as self-reflection
• A looking glass self is where individuals develop their view of themselves based on how they are perceived by others

Toddlers

• Self-recognition emerges around 18-24 months when children recognize they see themselves

Rouge Test

• Rouge Test shows if they know themselves
• Blush is placed on a child's forehead and they need stand in front of a mirror
• If they touch the mirror, they do no recognize themselves
• If they touch their forehead, they recognize themselves inside the mirror

The Self

• We learn to do these things from how parents respond to our emotions:
  • Repression: leads to extra glass of wine in adulthood
  • Aggression: can lead to violence and bullying
  • Expression: okay to express, can lead to good habits like journaling
• Emotional intelligence develops if parent listens and validates the child's emotions
• Children cant be what they do not see

Mechanisms of Self-Identification

• Attachment Quality is mechanism of self-identification
• Children use symbolic thought for symbolic play
• Play involves use of imagination and activities that include make believe
• Self-concept includes making choices

Preschool Age:

• Autonomy leads to more competence and easier decision making as an adult
• Preschoolers realize their physical qualities, what the belong to and how they behave
• They put themselves into defining attributes and have a need for autonomy

School Age:

• Theory of mind is knowing that people think differently between them self and the world
• There are cultural and social contexts by testing if Quechua children understand this
• Secure attachment has to do with development of theory of mind

Brain/ToM Model

• Brain maturation helps with Theory of Mind in the prefrontal cortex
• Social contributions and pretend play also facilitates the PFC

Adolescence

• Children's self-esteem goes down when they are conformed
• Gradual Evolution of self-concept is defined by external attributes compared to inner qualities in beliefs
• Self-Concept becomes abstract in early adolescence and more interested in conforming.

Self-Esteem

• Self Esteem is one's evolution of ones worth as a person based on assessment of the qualities that make up self concept
• Self concept is internal definition of you are
• Self-esteem is your personal evaluation and traits on the world
• Secure = describe self's more favorably whereas the opposite is the same
• Rated more competent and socially skilled by teachers and counselors
• 4-7 Y/o feel positive however, people rate them on perceptions of others
• Peers do assessment to rate classmates

Trajectories

• Self Esteem and Self Concept decline across adolescence due to puberty related
• Thinking abstract and one's future/missed opportunities also makes it decline
• They get more academically challenging and the middle age is chaotic
• Between ages 40-60 Estrone decline and we don't care

Gender Stereotypes

• Gender typing is the acquisition of identity including behaviors appropriate in their biological sex
• Females play an expressive role
• Males play an instrumental role
• Differences
• Not as accurate in Industrialized societies

Gender Identity

• Nurture and home influence, parent's tend to look at sons to outperform daughters in math
• Parents think sons do better because they are more hard working but success due to hard work
• Begin to instill in parents view and girls inclined to undermine themselves.
• There are no real diff in conformity but tend to reinforce to teachers belief

Differences with Gender:

• Females tend to be labeled to be more social
• No real indication on sex differences and conformity
• When babies are born and on file, adult females tend to speak more on recordings but speak more toward girl babies.
• Stereotypes occur from age 3-6

Outcomes Based on Period

• 5-7 age stereotype and need representation
• Toddlers can use pitch to discriminations and use it
• Long haired ones are ladies or men,
• Gender identity is influenced by nature and DNA, nurture on their genetic components
• David Reimer had no penis and turned female but actively protested feminine things which indicates more genetic component to change

Explore child development, focusing on self-esteem evaluation in children and the factors affecting self-esteem during adolescence. Additionally, understand gender roles, gender typing, and the influence of hormonal changes on self-esteem in women. Concluding with early infant developmental stages, reflex actions and self-recognition.