Developmental Psychology Lecture Notes PDF

# Developmental Psychology Lecture Five - Social and Moral Development <3 ## Social and Moral Development - The development of the self - Self-concept and self-esteem - Constructing identity - Gender development - Moral development - Compliance to rules - Judging people's behav...

# Developmental Psychology Lecture Five - Social and Moral Development <3 ## Social and Moral Development - The development of the self - Self-concept and self-esteem - Constructing identity - Gender development - Moral development - Compliance to rules - Judging people's behaviour ## Self-awareness - Self as agent - Self is separate from the outside world - Self has control of thoughts and actions - First aspect of self-concept to development - Self as object - Self as unique with specific qualities - 15 months - self recognition in mirror - 2 years - refer to self as 'I' or 'me' ## Self-concept - Develops during early childhood - Initially predominantly 'concrete', with basic descriptions of emotions/attitudes - Redefined in middle childhood with use of personality traits to describe self ## Self-esteem - Judgements we make about self-worth, and associated feelings - Becomes more differentiated with age ### Pre-schoolers - Social acceptance/competence ### ~7 years - Academic/social/physical - Not necessarily equally weighted ### Adolescence - Extra dimensions added, e.g., job competence, 'romantic' relationships ## Hierarchy of self-esteem - General self-esteem - Academic competence - Language arts - Math - Other school subjects - Social competence - Relationship with peers - Relationship with parents - Physical/athletic competence - Outdoor games - Various sports - Physical appearance ## Summary - Self-awareness → self-concept and self-esteem - Self as agent - Sense of agency/control - Separate from the world - Infancy and early childhood - I am perceived by others - Unique attributes - Self as object - Pre-schoolers - Concrete, basic descriptions ("I am tall", "I like yellow") - Use of personality traits to describe oneself ("I am happy", "I sometimes get mad") - Primary school - Social acceptance and competence as new dimensions of self-esteem - Middle childhood and adolescence - Refined self-concept and self-esteem in extra dimensions (academic/social/romantic/sports, etc) ## Influences on self-esteem - Age - High in early childhood - Drops during first years of school - Social comparison - More 'realistic' in middle childhood - Generally stable, and high, for majority from ~ 8 years - Culture - Gender differences - Japan cf. America ## Constructing an identity - Defining who you are, what you value, and what you will do in life - Erikson saw it as the defining aspect of adolescence - resolving the identity crisis - Identity achieved vs. identity confusion - Clinical interviewing led to formation of four identity statuses ## Identity statuses - High level of commitment + high level of exploration = identity achievement - High level of commitment + low level of exploration = identity foreclosure - Low level of commitment + high level of exploration = moratorium - Low level of commitment + low level of exploration = identity diffusion ## Identity achievement - High levels of exploration lead to one's strong sense of commitment to their own identity - "I have tried and experienced much, and decided what's best for me" ## Identity foreclosure - Low levels of exploration and a strong sense of “inheritance” (from family/community values), coupled with little questioning about one's identity attributes - “I am who I am because this is how everyone in my family is like!" ## Moratorium - High level of exploration that never leads to commitment - Excessive “re-inventing” one-self that never reaches a stable sense of identity ## Identity diffusion - Low commitment and low exploration - no seeking of creating a strong sense of identity - No reflection on own's attributes ## Impact of identity status - Identity achievement linked to - Higher self-esteem - More abstract/critical thinking - Advanced moral reasoning - Foreclosure/diffusion linked to - Inflexibility and intolerance - Long-term linked to higher risk of e.g., depression ## Influences on identity development - Personality - Flexible, open-minded - Family - Attached, but free to express own views - Peers, friends, school - Larger society - Culture - Historical time period ## Gender identity ### Early childhood - By age 2 can label self and others as male/female - By age 3 tendency to prefer gender-stereotypical toys - Cause…? - Can initially develop rigid stereotypes re - e.g., occupation by age 4 years ### Middle childhood - Nuanced understanding of gender increases - Can consider conflicting social information and therefore can display gender-stereotype flexibility ## Development of gender identity - Social learning theory - Behaviour comes first, then self-perception - Cognitive-developmental theory - Self-perception comes first, then behaviour - Kohlberg - development of gender constancy linked to cognitive maturity - Age 2-3 - identify as boy/girl - Age 4-5 - gender stability - Age 6-7 - gender constancy > Alice looks a lot like her father, she found a photo of him as a child, and she looked at it and was terrified \ > "Mum, I used to be a boy!" \ > "No, that's Dad when he was a child" \ > She put her hand to her mouth \ > "Oh my God, he used to be a girl!" ## Moral development - Morality has three components - Emotional - How one feels about situations involving ethical issues - E.g., empathy for distress; guilt if cause of distress - Cognitive - Knowledge of ethical rules and judgements of "goodness" and "badness" of acts - Developing social cognition enables decision-making re moral dilemmas - Behavioural - How one acts in situations that relate to ethical issues - Behaviour may not necessarily follow on from emotions/thoughts ## Theories of moral development - Psychoanalytic perspective (Freudian) - Morality appears between 3 and 6 years - Children jealous of same-sex parent, but fear loss of relationship so compensate by identifying with same-sex parent - super-ego - Current psychoanalytic research emphasises attachment ## Theories of moral development - Social learning theory (Albert Bandura) - Develops through modelling and then reinforcement - Internalisation of social norms important, but cannot explain all moral behaviour - E.g., where society and ethical principles conflict - Child more active in constructing morality ## Theories of moral development - Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory - Two stages - Heteronomous morality (5-10 years) - Rules given by authority figures - Rules are immutable and must be obeyed - Focus on consequences (as enforced by adult authority) not intentions - Autonomous morality (from ~10 years) - Rules are socially constructed and flexible - Base judgements on intentions ## Evaluation of Piaget's theory - Children can take intentions into account at a younger age if intentions are made more obvious (age 6, stories videotaped - Chandler et al., 1973) - Young children do question adult authority in certain contexts - Many children show heteronomous and autonomous reasoning at the same stage - Kohlberg extended and refined Piaget's theory from 10 years into adulthood ## Theories of moral development - Kohlberg - Agrees that moral reasoning (cognitive dimension) drives moral development - Presented 'moral dilemmas' to 10-16-year-olds - Looked at how they justified their decisions ## Heinz dilemma > Heinz needs a particular expensive drug to help his dying wife \ > The pharmacist who discovered and controls the supply of the drug has refused Heinz's offer to give him all the money he now has, which would be about half the necessary sum, and to pay the rest later \ > Heinz must now decide whether or not to steal the drug to save his wife; that is, whether to obey the rules and laws of society or to violate them to respond to the needs of his wife \ > What should Heinz do, and why? ## Kohlberg's stages - Pre-conventional level - Stage 1 - punishment and obedience - Stage 2 - instrumental purpose - does it result in benefits for self or loved ones (naïve hedonistic orientation) - Conventional level - Stage 3 - "good boy-good girl morality” - child's good behaviour is designed to maintain approval and good relations with loved ones - Stage 4 - social order maintaining (accepts social conventions blindly) - Post-conventional or principled level - Stage 5 - social contract (morality is based on common agreement and can be collectively changed) - Stage 6 - universal ethical principle (people conform to social rules and internalised ideals) ## Influences on moral reasoning - Personality - Flexibility linked to improved moral reasoning - Child-rearing practices - Caring, supportive - Discuss moral concerns openly - Schooling - Moral development improves in late adolescence if remain in education - Cultural variations - Emphasis on individualism vs collectivism ## Glossary - **Self** - the totality of the individual, consisting of all characteristic attributes, conscious and unconscious, mental and physical. Apart from its basic references to personal identity, being, and experience, the term's use in psychology is wide-ranging. (APA Dictionary of Psychology) - **Self-concept** - one's description and evaluation of oneself, including psychological and physical characteristics, qualities, skills, roles, and so forth. Self-concepts contribute to the individual's sense of identity over time. (APA Dictionary of Psychology) - **Self-esteem** - the degree to which the qualities and characteristics contained in one's self- concept are perceived to be positive. It reflects a person's physical self-image, view of their accomplishments and capabilities, and values and perceived success in living up to them, as well as the ways in which others view and respond to that person. (APA Dictionary of Psychology)