Unit 4. Personality and Socio-Emotional Development PDF

Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development in childhood Organization of contents 1. Development of emotion and its regulation 2. Temperament as the foundation of personality 3. Construction of the individual identity 4. Moral development  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional...

Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development in childhood Organization of contents 1. Development of emotion and its regulation 2. Temperament as the foundation of personality 3. Construction of the individual identity 4. Moral development  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.1. Components of emotional development Emotion is an inner reaction of aversion or preference; it constitutes the foundation for feelings. Affect refers to the external expression of emotions. Positive emotions Joy Pleasure Smiling Laughter Negative emotions Discomfort Anger/frustration Fear Sadness https://penfieldbuildingblocks.org/home-and-family/is-your-child-afraid-of-dogs/  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.1. Components of emotional development Aspects of emotional development: Emotional expression: how people experience and express their emotions. Emotional comprehension: the understanding of others’ emotions. Self-regulation: modification of inner states and behavior to adapt to situations. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/2953-childhood-fears  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.2. Development of emotions A variety of negative and positive emotions are already present when children enter early childhood. Examples: discomfort, fear, anger, sadness, smiling, laughter, and pleasure. New emotions appear as a consequence of the development of self-consciousness (awareness of oneself, one's appearance, or one's actions). Examples are: self-confidence or pride. https://herviewfromhome.com/kids-distance-learning/  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.2. Development of emotions Other emotions come with an increased social awareness: Shame or embarrassment: distress that comes from a person’s awareness of not meeting the group’s standards. It involves an expectation of being negatively evaluated by others. Guilt: emotion of distress when an individual feels responsible for some action or inaction that is perceived as having negative results. This emotion is the result of rules internalization. Images: https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/spot-and-stop-bullying (up); https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-its-okay-if-your-child-feels-guilty_b_6459498 (down)  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.2. Development of emotions Yet other emotions develop thanks to decreasing egocentrism and improving theory of mind: Empathy: the ability to understand emotions and concerns of another person, especially when they differ from one’s own. Two components have been differentiated: Cognitive Empathy: understanding others’ feelings. Affective Empathy: feeling in consonance with others’ feelings.. It is necessary for social competency.. It is encouraged by a sensitive care from parents. Antipathy: feelings of dislike or even hate for another person.. It is encouraged when parents express negative emotions predominantly.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation Self-regulation: the adaptation of a person’s behavior to meet the environmental demands. Emotion-related self-regulation: intrinsic and extrinsic processes through which emotional reactions are modified. Developmental course: 1. Children become progressively more autonomous in the use of self-regulation strategies. 2. Strategies will become more sophisticated and efficient over time. https://www.heysigmund.com/age-by-age-guide-to-fears/  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation Self-regulation mechanisms present before childhood Attentional distraction: when distressed, ability to focus on a different source of information, reducing the experience of negative emotion. Approach/withdraw: use of motor abilities to approach stimuli that cause positive emotions and avoid those which induce negative emotions. Behavioral inhibition: inhibition of the approach to high- intensity or uncertain stimuli. Intentional communication: ability to express to others one’s own needs so that they can be accomplished.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation Self-regulation abilities appearing in early childhood Early childhood is a period of great improvements in effortful self- regulation but limitations will be still quite apparent due to a still immature Prefrontal Cortex. New skills Limitations Adaptation of own behavior to Inconsistency to obey norms due social demands. to poor working memory capacity. Inhibitory control, resist Episodes of lack of control: temptation temper tantrums. Delay of gratification First self-instructions Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation Self-regulation abilities appearing in middle childhood ▪︎ Better executive functioning and social awareness will facilitate a flexible use of self-regulatory strategies. ▪︎ Improved cognitive and linguistic abilities service self-regulation. Ex.: Private speech (increased used from 4 to 10 years) ▪︎ More sophisticated strategies appear such as: Hiding a given emotional response. Positive cognitive restructuring (focus on the positive aspects of a given situation to be coped). Relative valuation (relativize the negative impact of a situation). Proactive coping (control on a given emotion to prevent its manifestation or reduce its intensity). Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation What factors influence emotional self-regulation? Developmental factors Individual differences 1. Brain maturation, especially 1. Temperament Prefrontal Cortex 2. Early stress 2. Social awareness 3. Family climate (understanding of social 4. Parenting styles situations and people’s emotions, intentions and needs) 5. Current experiences  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 1: Development of emotion and its regulation 1.3. Development of self-regulation Consequences of poor self-regulation Image:https://allianceofhope.org/find-support/children-teens/supporting-children-and-teens- Externalizing problems Internalizing problems Difficulties that arise when Difficulties that arise when negative emotions are negative emotions are externalized, such as showing internalized, such as withdraw, rage, harming others or self-aggression or blame after-a-suicide-death/my-middle-schooler-blames-herself/ braking things. themselves. https://bumpkin.com/playing/your-childs-friend-is-your-childs-responsibility/  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality What is temperament? Definition of temperament: Individual differences in the tendencies to express and experience emotions and arousal (Reactivity), and ability to regulate the expression of such tendencies (Self-regulation) (Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981).  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality Does temperament belong to personality? Personality: set of characteristics relatively enduring in which one individual differs from others (Guilford, 1959). Temperament is the subset of personality traits which have a constitutional origin (influenced by genetic inheritance, neural processes and hormonal activity). Temperament is influenced by maturation and experience. Image: autor LaWr123 licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality What traits compose Temperament? Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire TMCQ Temperament dimensions Surgency/Extraversion/Exuberance Effortful Control High Intensity Pleasure Attentional focusing Activity Level Inhibitory Control Assertiveness/dominance Activation control Low Shyness Low Impulsivity Negative mood/Neuroticism Anger/frustration Affiliation Fear/Behavioral inhibition Affiliation Sadness Perceptual sensitivity Discomfort Low Intensity Pleasure Low levels of Self-soothing  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality How can temperament be modified? Parenting constitutes one of the most important sources of influence on children’s temperament. High anger-low inhibitory control Firm but inductive discipline ➔ optimal self-regulation Coercive, punitive discipline ➔ low self-regulation High Fear-Shyness Sensitive care, not intrusive ➔ optimal self-regulation Overprotective ➔ poor self-regulation Images; Left: https://www.heysigmund.com/anxiety-or-aggression-children/; right: https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/behaviour/common-concerns/shyness  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality Does temperament in infancy predict later development? Temperament at 6 months of age Negative Emotionality Anger Fear Behavioral problems at school Externalizing problems Internalizing problems (aggression, (phobias, discipline problems) depression, isolation) (Bates et al., 1987)  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality Is children’s temperament relevant for school? Children with low negative emotions and high Effortful Control tend to exhibit positive school functioning. ✓Good academic achievement. ✓Adaptive behavior in the classroom. ✓Ability to manage conflict in interactions with peers. ✓They are liked amongst their classmates. ✓Their teachers tend to set high expectations for them. ✓Teacher-child interactions are usually positive. Image: https://healthy-food-choices-in-schools.extension.org/3-ways-nutrition-influences-student- learning-potential-and-school-performance/  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality How can we understand temperament*school relations? Goodness of fit (Chess & Thomas, 1977): Degree of consonance between the child’s characteristics and the opportunities and demands given by the school. Harmony (good fit) Disharmony (poor fit) Targets for possible intervention to obtain better adjustment: 1.The child: Training self-regulation skills. 2.The school: Making adaptations attending to the child’s characteristics.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 2: Temperament as the foundation of personality Can teachers help children with poor self-regulation? Longitudinal study (T1: 6 years; T2: 7 years) Results: (1) Children showing poorer inhibitory control obtained lower scores in reading and mathematics. (2) Children with low Inhibitory control did not obtain lower score in reading abilities in classrooms where the teachers gave much Inhibitory control task accuracy support to their students (Liew, Chen, & Hughes, 2010).  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity 3.1. Gender identity A person’s sex is expressed by three biological aspects: (1) genes; (2) genitals; (3) hormones. We should distinguish between two concepts: Sex differences: biological differences between males and females in organs, hormones, and body type. Gender differences: differences in the roles and behaviors of males and females that are prescribed by the culture. Gender-typed (objects, behavior): expected for a given gender. Cross-gender (objects, behavior): expected for the other gender.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity Normative developmental pattern of gender identity: Toddlerhood: (1) children categorize humans in males and females based on their perceptual characteristics; (2) form gender-related expectations about objects. Preschool years: (1) children apply gender labels consistently and refer to themselves as boy or girl; (2) show preferences for some gender-typed toys; (3) gender segregation emerges: children prefer playing with same- gender peers and avoid other-gender peers. (4) Base their concept about gender in the physical appearance.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity Middle childhood (early period): (1) Realize that sex has a biological nature and will not change; (2) Do not differentiate between sex and gender concepts; (3) Develop a feeling of belonging to same-gender group; (4) Strongly refuse to play with children of the other sex. Middle childhood (late period): (1) Distinguish between sexual and gender identity. (2) Understand that gender is a social category. As as a consequence, admit that a person should be allowed to do activities usually assigned to the other gender. (3) Recognize that gender discrimination is unfair but despite this capacity, they tend to exclude children from activities based on their gender.  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity Adolescence: (1) Understand that gender roles are conventionally assigned by a given society. This may lead to: a) Gender-role intensification: more concern with adhering to traditional gender roles. b) Gender-role flexibility: reject traditional gender and search for a flexible range of attitudes and interests. (2) Girls tend to be more flexible than boys. Adulthood: Less stereotyped personality and behaviors. Androgynous personality (containing typical male and female traits) is considered a sign of mental health. Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity How do we end up behaving like girls or boys? Behaviorist Theory: Children observe their parents and tend to imitate the same-sex parent. Children are reinforced by close people when they behave matching their sex standards. Boys will be especially punished if they show cross-gender behaviors. 5-year-old boy banned at church. Source: https://metro.co.uk/2014/05/08/boy-5-banned-from-church-run- club-for-wearing-princess-dresses-4722113/ Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity Cognitive theory: Children develop a gender schema and try to fit to it. How children try to fit to gender-typed behaviors (Martin & Halverson, 1981; source: Siegler et al., 2014) Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity Socio-cultural theory: Evolutionary theory: Cultural values and customs are Sex-linked dispositions evolved transmitted through social throughout generations to interaction in the family, the increase the chances that men school, and larger community. and women would mate and protect their offspring. How to be charming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsFanYsJ-co  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity 3.3. Self-concept and self-esteem Self-concept: a person’s understanding of who he or she is (Cognition). Self-esteem: the extent to which a person likes, accepts or approves his/herself. It involves a positive or negative evaluation (Emotion). Image: https://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/how-to-build-your-childs-self-esteem/ Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity In early childhood, children: ✓ Have an optimistic view about themselves, overestimating their skills. ✓ Their own evaluation is not connected to their actual experiences. ✓ In general, they show a high self-esteem. ✓ This high self-esteem facilitates a feeling of security and the initiative for undertaking new activities. ✓ This high self-esteem promotes intrinsic motivation to learn and initiate new activities. ✓ Altogether with persistence and attentional focusing, a high self- esteem will help children gain knowledge and skills. Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 3. Construction of the individual identity In middle childhood, children: ✓ Base their self-concept on actual experiences, including (1) The relationship with their parents. (2) The relationship with their peers. (3) The evaluation of their own abilities. ✓ Self-concept includes emotions, behavioral tendencies and skills, among other aspects. ✓ Self-esteem is based on own experiences. ✓ Self-criticism emerges. As a consequence, self-esteem descends compared to early childhood period. Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Moral development: how to behave in the social context During childhood, children will learn about morality, that is, the principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice, others’ welfare, and rights. Role of moral reasoning in influencing social behavior Moral Social Prosocial/antisocial Reasoning Emotions Behavior  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Development of moral judgement by Piaget 1) Morality of constraint: preoperational period ▪︎ Justice is whatever authorities say is right ▪ Rules are unchangeable ▪︎ An action is good or bad based on its consequences. 2) Transitional period: concrete operational period ▪︎ Rules are constructed by the group ▪︎ Rules can be changed. ▪︎ Intentions and motives determine if an action is good or bad. 3) Autonomous morality: formal operational period ▪︎ Rules are the product of social agreement. ▪︎ Rules can be changed ▪︎ Intentions and motives are considered in moral judgements ▪︎ No longer blind obedience to authority. Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Development of moral judgement by Piaget Causes of moral judgement development: ▪︎ Cognitive development (especially perspective taking) ▪︎ Peer interactions (cooperative interactions). Image: http://www.momentsaday.com/how-to-teach-cooperation-to-young-children/ Criticism: Piaget underestimated young children capabilities ▪︎ Can use intentions in judgments if they are more obvious ▪︎ They understand fairness of actions from an early age. Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Kohlberg’s theory of moral development Characteristics ▪︎ It is based on Piaget’s theory ▪ Proposed 6 stages of progressive advancement ▪︎ The stages are qualitatively different ▪︎ Studied boys since 10 years and until adulthood ▪︎ Analysis of answers to moral dilemmas (reasons). Image: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/what-will-you-do-scenarios/ Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Kohlberg’s theory moral development  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development More about children’s moral values The development of moral values is influenced by: What punishment should The family administer the father to The peer group his child for having The community broken the glass window? (Study by Personal experiences Leman & Björnberg, The development of 2010; influence of peers) empathy. Expiatory punishment Restorative punishment Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development Results: * 9-year-old children who discussed with another child their positions about what kind of punishment should administer tended to choose a restorative punishment in similar vignettes 8 weeks later. *Children who did not discuss about that issue did not change their initial opinion. Study by Leman & Björnberg, 2010  Unit 4. Personality and socio-emotional development Part 4. Moral development More about children’s moral values * Children develop their own moral values, which do not necessarily match adult’s ones. * Especially in middle childhood, the peer group becomes very influential and the following moral imperatives are present: 1. Protect your friends. 2. Do not tell adults what is happening. 3. Conform to peer standards of dress, talk, behavior. Image: https://sites.google.com/site/humandevelopment4and9project/peers