Chapter 6 Social and Personality Development in Infancy PDF

for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: email [email protected] Chapter 6 wong sze yuen/Shutterstock Social and Personality Development in Infancy Learning Objectives LO 6.1 LO 6.2 LO 6.3 LO 6.4 LO 6.5 LO 6.6 Discuss how children express and experience emotions in the first 2 years of life. Differentiate stranger anxiety from separation anxiety. LO 6.7 Describe the roles that caregivers play in infants’ social development. LO 6.8 Discuss the development of relationships in infancy. LO 6.9 Describe individual differences that distinguish an infant’s personality. Discuss the development of social referencing and nonverbal decoding abilities. LO 6.10 Define temperament, and describe how it Describe the sense of self that children possess in the first 2 years of life. LO 6.11 Discuss how the gender of a child affects Summarize the theory of mind and evidence of infants’ growing sense of mental activity by age 2. LO 6.12 Describe 21st-century families and their Explain attachment in infancy and how it affects a person’s future social competence. affects a child in the first 2 years of life. their development in the first 2 years of life. consequences for children. LO 6.13 Summarize how nonparental childcare affects infants. 185 186 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Chapter Overview Developing the Roots of Sociability Producing Attachment: The Roles of the Parents Emotions in Infancy: Do Infants Experience Emotional Highs and Lows? Infant Interactions: Developing a Working Relationship Differences Among Infants Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety: It’s Only Natural Social Referencing: Feeling What Others Feel Personality Development: The Characteristics that Make Infants Unique The Development of Self: Do Infants Know Who They Are? Temperament: Stabilities in Infant Behavior Theory of Mind: Infants’ Perspectives on the Mental Lives of Others—and Themselves Gender: Boys in Blue, Girls in Pink Family Life in the 21st Century Forming Relationships How Does Infant Child Care Affect Later Development? Attachment: Forming Social Bonds Prologue: Emotional Rollercoaster Chantelle Evans has always been a happy baby. That’s why her mother, Michelle, was so surprised to find her 10-month-old daughter in tears when she returned to pick her up from a neighbor after having lunch with friends. “Chantelle knows Janine,” Michelle says. “She sees her regularly out in the yard. I don’t understand why she was so unhappy. I was only away for 2 hours.” Janine told Michelle she had tried everything—rocking Chantelle, singing to her—but nothing helped. It wasn’t until Chantelle, red-faced, tears streaming, saw her mother again that the baby smiled. Looking Ahead Christina Kennedy/Alamy Stock Photo Michelle Evans will someday be able to have lunch with friends without worrying that her daughter is miserable, but Chantelle’s reaction is perfectly normal for a 10-monthold baby. In this chapter, we consider social and personality development in infancy. We begin by examining the emotional lives of infants, considering which emotions they feel and how well they can read others’ emotions. We also look at how others’ responses shape infants’ reactions, and how babies view their own and others’ mental lives. We then turn to infants’ social relationships. We look at how they forge bonds of attachment and the ways they interact with family members and peers. Finally, we cover the characteristics that differentiate one infant from another and discuss differences in the way children are treated depending on their gender. We’ll consider the nature of family life and discuss how it differs from family life in earlier eras. The chapter closes with a look at the advantages and disadvantages of infant childcare outside the home, a childcare option that today’s families increasingly employ. Developing the Roots of Sociability Germaine smiles when he catches a glimpse of his mother. Tawanda looks angry when her mother takes away the spoon that she is playing with. Sydney scowls when a loud plane flies overhead. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 187 A smile. A look of anger. A scowl. The emotions of infancy are written all over a baby’s face. Yet do infants experience emotions in the same way that adults do? When do they become capable of understanding what others are experiencing emotionally? And how do they use others’ emotional states to make sense of their environment? We consider some of these questions as we seek to understand how infants develop emotionally and socially. Emotions in Infancy: Do Infants Experience Emotional Highs and Lows? Discuss how children express and experience emotions in the first 2 years of life. Anyone who spends any time at all around infants knows they display facial expressions that seem indicative of their emotional states. In situations in which we expect them to be happy, they seem to smile; when we might assume they are frustrated, they show anger; and when we might expect them to be unhappy, they look sad. These basic facial expressions are remarkably similar across the most diverse cultures. Whether we look at babies in India, the United States, or the jungles of New Guinea, the expression of basic emotions is the same. Furthermore, the nonverbal expression of emotion, called nonverbal encoding, is fairly consistent among people of all ages. These consistencies have led researchers to conclude that we are born with the capacity to display basic emotions (Ackerman & Izard, 2004; Bornstein et al., 2012; Rajhans et al., 2016). Infants display a fairly wide range of emotional expressions. According to research on what mothers see in their children’s nonverbal behavior, almost all think that by the age of 1 month, their babies have expressed interest and joy. In addition, 84 percent of mothers think their infants have expressed anger, 75 percent think their infants have expressed surprise, 58 percent think their infants have shown fear, and 34 percent think their infants have expressed sadness. Research also finds that interest, distress, and disgust are present at birth, and that other emotions emerge over the next few months (see Figure 6-1). Such findings are consistent with the work of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin, whose 1872 book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, argued that humans and primates have an inborn, universal set of emotional expressions—a view consistent with today’s evolutionary approach to development (Benson, 2003; MacLean et al., 2014; Smith & Weiss, 2017; Bader & Fouts, 2019). Although infants display similar kinds of emotions, the degree of emotional expressivity varies. Children in different cultures show reliable differences in emotional expressiveness, even during infancy. For example, by the age of 11 months, Chinese infants are generally less expressive than European, American, and Japanese infants (Camras et al., 2007; Easterbrooks et al., 2013; Farkas et al., 2020). EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS. Does the capability of infants to express emotions nonverbally in a consistent, reliable manner mean that they actually experience emotions, and—if they do—is the experience similar to that of adults? To answer these questions, we need to consider just what emotions are. Developmentalists believe a true emotion has three components: a biological arousal component (such as increased breathing rate or heartbeat), a cognitive component (awareness of feeling anger or fear), and a behavioral component (e.g., displaying that one feels unhappy by crying). Across every culture, infants show similar facial expressions relating to basic emotions, such as this smile of joy. Do you think such expressions are similar in nonhuman animals? Blend Images - JR Carvey/Streetfly Studio/Getty Images LO 6.1 188 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Figure 6-1 Emergence of Emotional Expressions Emotional expressions emerge at roughly the times shown in the figure. Keep in mind that expressions in the first few weeks after birth do not necessarily reflect particular inner feelings. Why do you think contempt and guilt show up relatively late compared with other emotions? Interest, Distress, Disgust Social smile Anger, Surprise, Sadness Fear Shame, Shyness Contempt, Guilt Birth 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 Age (months) Consequently, the fact that children display nonverbal expressions in a manner similar to that of adults does not necessarily mean that their actual experience is identical. If the nature of such displays is innate, or inborn, it is possible that facial expressions can occur without any accompanying awareness of their emotional experience (the cognitive component). Nonverbal expressions, then, might be emotionless in young infants, in much the same way that your knee reflexively jerks forward when a physician taps it, without the involvement of emotions (Soussignan et al., 1997). Most developmental researchers, however, do not think this is the case: They argue that the nonverbal expressions of infants represent actual emotional experiences. Emotional expressions may not only reflect emotional experiences but may also help regulate the emotion itself. Developmental psychologist Carroll Izard suggests that infants are born with an innate repertoire of emotional expressions, reflecting basic emotional states, such as happiness and sadness. As infants and children grow older, they expand and modify these basic expressions and become more adept at controlling their nonverbal behavioral expressions. For example, they eventually may learn that by smiling at the right time, they can increase the chances of getting their own way. Emotional expressions thus have an adaptive function, permitting infants to express their needs nonverbally to caretakers before they have developed linguistic skills. In sum, infants do appear to experience emotions, although the range of emotions at birth is fairly restricted. However, as they get older, infants both display and experience a wider range of increasingly complex emotions. Furthermore, in addition to expressing a wider variety of emotions, as children develop they also experience a wider array of emotions (Killeen & Teti, 2012; Soderstrom et al., 2017). The advances in infants’ emotional life are made possible by the increasing sophistication of their brains. Initially, the differentiation of emotions occurs as the cerebral cortex becomes operative in the first 3 months of life. By the age of 9 or 10 months, the structures that make up the limbic system (the site of emotional reactions) begin to grow. The limbic system starts to work in tandem with the frontal lobes, allowing for an increased range of emotions (Swain et al., 2007; Missana et al., 2017; Safar & Moulson, 2020). As Luz lay sleeping in her crib, her mother and father caught a glimpse of the most beautiful smile crossing her face. Her parents were sure that Luz was having a pleasant dream. Were they right? Probably not. The earliest smiles expressed during sleep probably have little meaning, although no one can be absolutely sure. By 6 to 9 weeks, babies begin to smile reliably at the sight of stimuli that please them, including toys, mobiles, and—to the delight SMILING. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 189 of parents—people. The first smiles tend to be relatively indiscriminate because infants first begin to smile at the sight of almost anything they find amusing. However, as they get older, they become more selective in their smiles. A baby’s smile in response to another person, rather than to nonhuman stimuli, is considered a social smile. As babies get older, their social smiles become directed toward particular individuals, not just anyone. By the age of 18 months, social smiling, directed more toward caregivers, becomes more frequent than smiling directed toward nonhuman objects. Moreover, if an adult is unresponsive to a child, the amount of smiling decreases. In short, by the end of the second year, children are quite purposefully using smiling to communicate their positive emotions, and they are sensitive to the emotional expressions of others (Reissland & Cohen, 2012; Wörmann et al., 2014; Planalp et al., 2016). social smile smiling in response to other individuals Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety: It’s Only Natural Differentiate stranger anxiety from separation anxiety. “She used to be such a friendly baby,” thought Erika’s mother. “No matter whom she encountered, she had a big smile. But almost the day she turned 7 months old, she began to react to strangers as if she were seeing a ghost. Her face crinkles up with a frown, and she either turns away or stares at them with suspicion. And she doesn’t want to be left with anyone she doesn’t already know. It’s as if she has undergone a personality transplant.” What happened to Erika is, in fact, quite typical. By the end of the first year, infants often develop both stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. Stranger anxiety is the cau- stranger anxiety tion and wariness displayed by infants when encountering an unfamiliar person. Such the caution and wariness anxiety typically appears in the second half of the first year. displayed by infants when What brings on stranger anxiety? Here, too, brain development and the increased encountering an unfamiliar person cognitive abilities of infants play a role. As infants’ memory develops, they are able to separate the people they know from the people they don’t. The same cognitive advances separation anxiety that allow them to respond so positively to those people with whom they are familiar the distress displayed by infants also give them the ability to recognize people who are unfamiliar. Furthermore, between when a customary care provider 6 and 9 months, infants begin trying to make sense of their world, endeavoring to antici- departs pate and predict events. When something happens that they don’t expect—such as when an unknown person appears—they experience fear. It’s as if an infant has a question but is unable to answer it (Mash et al., 2013; Jones et al., 2021). Although stranger anxiety is common after the age of 6 months, significant differences exist between children. Some infants, particularly those who have a lot of experience with strangers, tend to show less anxiety than those whose experience with strangers is limited. Furthermore, not all strangers evoke the same reaction. For instance, infants tend to show less anxiety with female strangers than with male strangers. In addition, they react more positively to strangers who are children than to strangers who are adults, perhaps because their size is less intimidating (Murray et al., 2008; Brand et al., 2020). Separation anxiety is the distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs. Separation anxi- Typically, infants begin to display stranger anxiety near the end of the first ety, which is also universal across cultures, usually begins year of life. Szefei/Shutterstock LO 6.2 190 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Figure 6-2 Separation Anxiety Separation anxiety, the distress displayed by infants when their usual care provider leaves their presence, is a universal phenomenon beginning at around the age of 7 or 8 months. It peaks at around the age of 14 months and then begins to decline. Does separation anxiety have survival value for humans? (Source: Kagan et al., 1978.) Percentage of Children Who Cried Following Departure of Mother 100 80 60 40 20 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Age in Months African Bushman Antigua, Guatemala Israeli Kibbutz at about 7 or 8 months (see Figure 6-2). It peaks around 14 months and then decreases. Separation anxiety is largely attributable to the same factors as stranger anxiety. Infants’ growing cognitive skills allow them to ask reasonable questions, but they may be questions whose answers they are too young to understand: “Why is my mother leaving?” “Where is she going?” and “Will she come back?” Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety represent important social progress. They reflect both cognitive advances and the growing emotional and social bonds between infants and their caregivers—bonds that we’ll consider later in the chapter when we discuss infants’ social relationships. Social Referencing: Feeling What Others Feel LO 6.3 Discuss the development of social referencing and nonverbal decoding abilities. Twenty-three-month-old Stephania watches as her older brother Eric and his friend Chen argue loudly with each other and begin to wrestle. Uncertain of what is happening, Stephania glances at her mother. Her mother, though, wears a smile, knowing that Eric and Chen are just playing. On seeing her mother’s reaction, Stephania smiles too, mimicking her mother’s facial expression. social referencing the intentional search for information about others’ feelings to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events Like Stephania, most of us have been in situations in which we feel uncertain. In such cases, we sometimes turn to others to see how they are reacting. This reliance on others, known as social referencing, helps us decide what an appropriate response ought to be. Social referencing is the intentional search for information about others’ feelings to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events. Like Stephania, we use social referencing to clarify the meaning of a situation and thus reduce our uncertainty about what is occurring. From a Social Worker’s Perspective In what situations do adults rely on social referencing to work out appropriate responses? How might social referencing be used to influence parents’ behavior toward their children? for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 191 Social referencing first occurs around the age of 8 or 9 months. It is a fairly sophisticated social ability: Infants need it to understand not only the significance of others’ behavior, by using such cues as their facial expressions, but also the meaning of those behaviors within the context of a specific situation (Mireault et al., 2014; Walle et al., 2017; Lubomirska et al., 2021). Infants make particular use of facial expressions in their social referencing, the way Stephania did when she noticed her mother’s smile. For instance, in one study infants were given an unusual toy to play with. The amount of time they played with it depended on their mothers’ facial expressions. When their mothers displayed disgust, they played with it significantly less than when their mothers appeared pleased. Furthermore, when given the opportunity to play with the same toy later, the infants remained reluctant to play with it, despite the mothers’ now neutral-appearing facial reactions, suggesting that parental attitudes may have lasting consequences (Hertenstein & Campos, 2004; Pelaez et al., 2012). Although it is clear that social referencing begins fairly early in life, researchers are still not certain how it operates. It may be that observing someone else’s facial expression brings about the emotion the expression represents. That is, an infant who views someone looking sad may come to feel sad themselves, and their behavior may be affected. It might also be the case that viewing another’s facial expression may simply provide information. In this case, the infant does not experience the particular emotion represented by another’s facial expression; they simply use the display as data to guide their own behavior. Both explanations for social referencing have received some support in research studies, and so we still don’t know which is correct. What we do know is that social referencing is most likely to occur when a situation breeds uncertainty and ambiguity. Furthermore, infants who reach the age when they are able to use social referencing become quite upset if they receive conflicting nonverbal messages from their caregivers. For example, if a mother shows with her facial expressions that she is annoyed with her son for knocking over a carton of milk, while his grandmother sees it as cute and smiles, the child receives two contradictory messages. Such mixed messages can be a real source of stress for an infant (Schmitow & Stenberg, 2013). TWO EXPLANATIONS OF SOCIAL REFERENCING. DECODING OTHERS’ FACIAL AND VOCAL EXPRESSIONS. The ability to employ social referencing is dependent on nonverbal decoding abilities to understand others’ nonverbal behavior—skills that begin to emerge fairly soon after birth. Using these abilities, infants can interpret others’ facial and vocal expressions that carry emotional meaning. For example, they can tell when a caregiver is happy to see them, and they pick up on worry or fear in the faces of others (Striano & Vaish, 2006; Hoehl et al., 2012). Infants seem to be able to discriminate vocal expressions of emotion at a slightly earlier age than they discriminate facial expressions. Although relatively little attention has been given to infants’ perception of vocal expressions, it does appear that they are able to discriminate happy and sad vocal expressions at the age of 5 months (Montague & Walker-Andrews, 2002; Dahl et al., 2014). Scientists know more about the sequence in which nonverbal facial decoding ability progresses. In the first 6 to 8 weeks, infants’ visual precision is sufficiently limited that they cannot pay much attention to others’ facial expressions. But they soon begin to discriminate among different facial expressions of emotion and even seem to be able to respond to differences in emotional intensity conveyed by facial expressions. They also respond to unusual facial expressions. For instance, they show distress when their mothers pose bland, unresponsive, or neutral facial expressions (Safar & Moulson, 2017; Safyer et al., 2020). By the time they are midway through their first year, infants already have begun to understand the emotions that lie behind the facial and vocal expressions of others. How do we know this? One important clue comes from a study in which 7-month-old infants 192 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life were shown a pair of facial expressions relating to joy and sadness and simultaneously heard a vocalization representing either joy (a rising tone of voice) or sadness (a falling tone of voice). When the facial expression matched the tone, infants paid more attention, suggesting that they had at least a rudimentary understanding of the emotional meaning of facial expressions and voice tones (Kim & Johnson, 2013; Biro et al., 2014; Santamaria et al., 2020). In sum, infants learn early both to produce and to decode emotions, and they begin to learn the effect of their own emotions on others. Such abilities play an important role not only in helping them experience their own emotions but also—as we see next—in using others’ emotions to understand the meaning of ambiguous social situations (Buss & Kiel, 2004; Messinger et al., 2012). The Development of Self: Do Infants Know Who They Are? LO 6.4 Describe the sense of self that children possess in the first 2 years of life. antoniodiaz/Shutterstock Elysa, 8 months old, crawls past the full-length mirror that hangs on a door in her parents’ bedroom. She barely pays any attention to her reflection as she moves by. In contrast, her cousin Brianna, who is almost 2 years old, stares at herself in the mirror as she passes and laughs as she notices, and then rubs off, a smear of jelly on her forehead. Perhaps you have had the experience of catching a glimpse of yourself in a mirror and noticing a hair out of place. You probably reacted by attempting to push the unruly hair back into place. Your reaction shows more than that you care about how you look. It implies that you have a sense of yourself, the awareness and knowledge that you are an independent social entity to which others react, and which you attempt to present to the world in ways that reflect favorably upon you. However, we are not born with the knowledge that we exist independently from others and the larger world. Very young infants do not have a sense of themselves as individuals; they do not recognize themselves in photos or mirrors. However, the roots of self-awareness, knowledge of oneself, begin to grow at around the age of 12 months. self-awareness We know this from a simple but ingenious experimental technique. An infant’s nose is knowledge of oneself secretly colored with a dab of red powder, and the infant is seated in front of a mirror. If infants touch their noses or attempt to wipe off the rouge, we have evidence that they have at least some knowledge of their physical characteristics. For them, this awareness is one step in developing an understanding of themselves as independent objects. For instance, Brianna, in the example at the beginning of this section, showed her awareness of herself when she tried to rub the jam off her forehead (Rochat, 2004; Rochat et al., 2012; Nikiforidou & Demetriou, 2021). Although some infants as young as 12 months seem startled on seeing the rouge spot, for most a reaction does not occur until between 17 and 24 months of age. It is also around this age that children begin to show awareness of their own capabilities. For instance, infants who participate in experiments when they are between the ages of 23 and 25 months sometimes begin to cry if the experimenter asks them to imitate a complicated sequence of behaviors involving toys, although they readily accomplish simpler sequences. Their reaction suggests that they are conscious that they lack the ability to carry out difficult tasks and are unhappy about it—a reaction that provides a clear indication of self-awareness (Legerstee Research suggests that this 18-month-old is exhibiting a clearly developed et al., 1998; Asendorpf, 2002). sense of self. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 193 Children’s cultural upbringing also impacts the development of self-recognition. For instance, Greek children—who experience parenting practices that emphasize autonomy and separation—show self-recognition at an earlier age than children from Cameroon. In the Cameroonian culture, parenting practices emphasize body contact and warmth, leading to more interdependence between infants and parents, and ultimately to later development of self-recognition (Keller et al., 2004; Keller et al., 2005; Ross et al., 2017). In general, by the age of 18 to 24 months, infants in Western cultures have developed at least an awareness of their own physical characteristics and capabilities, and they understand that their appearance is stable over time. Although it is not clear how far this awareness extends, it is becoming increasingly evident that, as we discuss next, infants have not only a basic understanding of themselves but also the beginnings of an understanding of how the mind operates—what has come to be called a “theory of mind” (Lewis & Carmody, 2008; Langfur, 2013; Bulgarelli et al., 2019). Theory of Mind: Infants’ Perspectives on the Mental Lives of Others—and Themselves LO 6.5 Summarize the theory of mind and evidence of infants’ growing sense of mental activity by age 2. What are infants’ thoughts about thinking? According to a growing body of research, infants begin to understand certain things about their own and others’ mental processes at quite an early age. Investigators have examined children’s theory of mind, their knowledge and beliefs about how the mind works and how it influences behavior. Theories of mind are the explanations that children use to explain how others think. For instance, the cognitive advances during infancy that we discussed in Chapter 5 permit older infants to see people in a very different way from other objects. They learn to see other people as compliant agents, beings similar to themselves who behave under their own power and who have the capacity to respond to infants’ requests. Eighteen-monthold Chris, for example, has come to realize that he can ask his father to get him more juice (Rochat, 2004; Slaughter & Peterson, 2012). In addition, children’s capacity to understand intentionality and causality grows during infancy. For example, 10- and 13-month-olds are able to mentally represent social dominance, believing that larger size is related to the ability to dominate other, smallersized individuals and objects. Furthermore, infants have a kind of innate morality, in which they show a preference for helpfulness (Sloane et al., 2012; Ruffman, 2014; Yott & Poulin-Dubois, 2016). Furthermore, as early as 18 months, they begin to understand that others’ behaviors have meaning and that the behaviors they see people enacting are designed to accomplish particular goals, in contrast to the “behaviors” of inanimate objects. For example, a child comes to understand that his father has a specific goal when he is in the kitchen making sandwiches. In contrast, his father’s car is simply parked in the driveway, having no mental life or goal (Ahn et al., 2000; Wellman et al., 2008; Senju et al., 2011). Another piece of evidence for infants’ growing sense of mental activity is that by age 2, infants begin to demonstrate the rudiments of empathy. Empathy is an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person. At 24 months of age, infants sometimes comfort others or show concern for them. To do this, they need to be aware of the emotional states of others. For example, 1-year-olds are able to pick up emotional cues by observing the behavior of an actress on television (Legerstee et al., 2013; Xu et al., 2016; Noten et al., 2019). Furthermore, during their second year, infants begin to use deception, both in games of “pretend” and in outright attempts to fool others. A child who plays “pretend” and who uses falsehoods must be aware that others hold beliefs about the world—beliefs that can be manipulated. In short, by the end of infancy children have developed the rudiments of their own personal theory of mind. It helps them understand the actions of others, and it affects their own behavior (Caron, 2009; also see From Research to Practice). theory of mind knowledge and beliefs about how the mind works and how it affects behavior empathy an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person 194 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life From Research to Practice Do Infants Understand Morality? You might think that infants don’t have much of a social life beyond crying and smiling and sometimes laughing. But research shows that they understand far more than was commonly thought about social interaction, and that they even possess a rudimentary sense of morality—right or wrong, fair or unfair—that was once thought to develop years later. In one study, infants at 3 months watched a puppet climb a hill. In some cases, another puppet helped the climbing one up the hill, and in other cases, another puppet knocked the climbing one back down to the bottom. The infants later showed a preference for the helpful puppet over the mean puppet—and the social interaction is what made the difference because the infants showed no such preference when the puppets moved inanimate objects up or down the hill (Hamlin et al., 2011; Tan et al., 2018). In another study, 21-month-olds observed an adult in the same room who either teased them with a toy that they ultimately refused to give them or tried to give them a toy but were unable to do so because their path was blocked. When the children had a later opportunity to be helpful, they were more likely to help the adult who tried to be nice to them than the one who teased them. It seems that even infants recognize who does and does not deserve their kindness (Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2010; Sloane et al., 2012; Sommerville, 2018). On the other hand, infants have a soft heart: Although they certainly display possessiveness toward things that they view as their own (the word “mine” is part of their vocabulary at a young age), they will share valued objects with a stranger who seems to be begging for their assistance (Barragan & Meltzoff, 2021). Whether these principles of fairness are inborn or learned is still an open question. But either way, infants understand more about fairness than they might seem to. Furthermore, morality-related behaviors they show during infancy is related to their post-infancy moral behavior (Abramson et al., 2019; Lewis, 2020; Noten et al., 2020). Shared Writing Prompt Where might infants be learning these principles of fairness? What might be an advantage to helping only those who help you? Module 6.1 Review LO 6.1 Discuss how children express and experience emotions in the first 2 years of life. LO 6.4 Describe the sense of self that children possess in the first 2 years of life. Infants appear to express and to experience emotions, and their emotions broaden in range to reflect increasingly complex emotional states. Infants develop self-awareness, the knowledge that they exist separately from the rest of the world, after about 12 months of age. LO 6.2 LO 6.5 Differentiate stranger anxiety from separation anxiety. As they develop cognitively and begin to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people, infants begin to experience stranger anxiety at about 6 months and separation anxiety at around 8 months of age. LO 6.3 Discuss the development of social referencing and nonverbal decoding abilities. The ability to decode the nonverbal facial and vocal expressions of others develops early in infants. The use of nonverbal decoding to clarify situations of uncertainty and determine appropriate responses is called social referencing. Summarize the theory of mind and evidence of infants’ growing sense of mental activity by age 2. By age 2, children have developed the rudiments of a theory of mind, their knowledge and beliefs about how the mind works and how it influences behavior. Their theory of mind helps them understand the actions of others and affects their own behavior. Journal Prompt Applying Lifespan Development: Why would the sad or flat emotional expressiveness of a depressed parent be hard on an infant? How might it be counteracted? Forming Relationships Luis Camacho, now 38, clearly remembers the feelings that haunted him on the way to the hospital to meet his new sister Katy. Though he was only 4 at the time, that day of infamy is still vivid to him today. Luis would no longer be the only kid in the house; he would have to share his life with a baby sister. She would play with his toys, read his books, be with him in the back seat of the car. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 195 What really bothered him, of course, was that he would have to share his parents’ love and attention with a new person. And not just any new person—a girl, who would automatically have a lot of advantages. Katy would be cuter, more needy, more demanding, more interesting—more everything—than he. He would be underfoot at best, neglected at worst. Luis also knew that he was expected to be cheerful and welcoming. So he put on a brave face at the hospital and walked without hesitation to the room where his mother and Katy were waiting. The arrival of a newborn brings a dramatic change to a family’s dynamics. No matter how welcome a baby’s birth, it causes a fundamental shift in the roles that people play within the family. Parents must start to build a relationship with their infant, and older children must adjust to the presence of a new member of the family and build their own alliance with their infant brother or sister. Although the process of social development during infancy is neither simple nor automatic, it is crucial: The bonds that grow between infants and their parents, siblings, family, and others provide the foundation for a lifetime’s worth of social relationships. Attachment: Forming Social Bonds Explain attachment in infancy and how it affects a person’s future social competence. The most important aspect of social development that takes place during infancy is the for- attachment mation of attachment. Attachment is the positive emotional bond that develops between the positive emotional bond that a child and a particular, special individual. When children experience attachment to a develops between a child and a given person, they feel pleasure when they are with that person and feel comforted by particular individual their presence in times of distress. As we’ll see when we consider social development in early adulthood (Chapter 14), the nature of our attachment during infancy affects how we relate to others throughout the rest of our lives Bergman et al., 2015; Kim, Chow, et al., 2017). Figure 6-3 Monkey Mothers Matter To understand attachment, the earliest researchers turned Harlow’s research showed that monkeys preferred the warm, soft to the bonds that form between parents and children in the “mother” to the wire “monkey” that provided food. nonhuman animal kingdom. For instance, ethologist Konrad Lorenz (1965) observed newborn goslings, which have an innate tendency to follow their mother, the first moving object to which they typically are exposed after birth. Lorenz found that goslings whose eggs were raised in an incubator and who viewed him just after hatching would follow his every movement, as if he were their mother. As discussed in Chapter 3, he labeled this process imprinting: behavior that takes place during a critical period and involves attachment to the first moving object that is observed. Lorenz’s findings suggested that attachment was based on biologically determined factors, and other theorists agreed. For instance, Freud suggested that attachment grew out of a mother’s ability to satisfy a child’s oral needs. It turns out, however, that the ability to provide food and other physiological needs may not be as crucial as Freud and other theorists first thought. In a classic study, psychologist Harry Harlow gave infant monkeys the choice of cuddling a wire “monkey” that provided food or a soft terry cloth monkey that was warm but did not provide food (see Figure 6-3). Their preference was clear: Baby monkeys spent most of their time clinging to the cloth monkey, although HARLOW’S MONKEYS. Photo Researchers/Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo LO 6.6 196 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Figure 6-4 The Ainsworth Strange Situation In this illustration of the Ainsworth Strange Situation, the infant first explores the playroom on his own, as long as his mother is present. But when she leaves, he begins to cry. On her return, however, he is immediately comforted and stops crying. The conclusion: he is securely attached. they made occasional expeditions to the wire monkey to nurse. Harlow suggested that the preference for the warm cloth monkey provided contact comfort (Harlow & Zimmerman, 1959; Blum, 2002; Van Rosmalen et al., 2020). Harlow’s work illustrates that food alone is not the basis for attachment. Given that the monkeys’ preference for the soft cloth “mothers” developed some time after birth, these findings are consistent with the research discussed in Chapter 3, showing little support for the existence of a critical period for bonding between human mothers and infants immediately following birth. BOWLBY’S CONTRIBUTIONS STANDING OF ATTACHMENT. TO OUR UNDER- The earliest work on human attachment, which is still highly influential, was carried out by British psychiatrist John Bowlby (1951, 2007). In Bowlby’s view, attachment is based primarily on infants’ needs for safety and security—their genetically determined motivation to avoid predators. As they develop, infants come to learn that their safety is best provided by a particular individual. This realization ultimately leads to the development of a special relationship with that individual, who is typically the mother. Bowlby suggested that this single relationship with the primary caregiver is qualitatively different from the bonds formed with others, including the father—a suggestion that, as we’ll see later, has been a source of some disagreement. According to Bowlby, attachment provides a type of home base. As children become more independent, they can progressively roam further away from their secure base. THE AINSWORTH STRANGE SITUATION AND PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT. Developmental psycholo- Ainsworth Strange Situation a sequence of staged episodes that illustrates the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) their mother secure attachment pattern a style of attachment in which children use the mother as a kind of home base and are at ease when she is present; when she leaves, they become upset and go to her as soon as she returns gist Mary Ainsworth built on Bowlby’s theorizing to develop a widely used experimental technique to measure attachment (Ainsworth et al., 1978). The Ainsworth Strange Situation consists of a sequence of staged episodes that illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) their mother (see Figure 6-4). The “strange situation” follows this general eight-step pattern: (1) The mother and baby enter an unfamiliar room; (2) the mother sits down, leaving the baby free to explore; (3) an adult stranger enters the room and converses first with the mother and then with the baby; (4) the mother exits the room, leaving the baby alone with the stranger; (5) the mother returns, greeting and comforting the baby, and the stranger leaves; (6) the mother departs again, leaving the baby alone; (7) the stranger returns; and (8) the mother returns and the stranger leaves (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Pederson et al., 2014). Infants’ reactions to the various aspects of the Strange Situation vary considerably, depending on the nature of their attachment to their mothers. One-year-olds typically show one of four major patterns—secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized-disoriented (summarized in Table 6-1). Children who have a secure attachment pattern use the mother as the type of home base that Bowlby described. These children seem at ease in the Strange Situation as long as their mothers are present. They explore independently, returning to her occasionally. Although they may or may not appear upset when she leaves, securely attached children immediately go to her when she returns and seek contact. Most North American children—about two-thirds—fall into the securely attached category. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 197 Table 6-1 Classifications of Infant Attachment Classification Criteria Label Seeking Proximity with Caregiver Maintaining Contact with Caregiver Avoiding Proximity with Caregiver Resisting Contact with Caregiver Avoidant Low Low High Low Secure High High (if distressed) Low Low Ambivalent High High (often before separation) Low High Disorganized-disoriented Inconsistent Inconsistent Inconsistent Inconsistent In contrast, children with an avoidant attachment pattern do not seek proximity to the mother, and after she has left, they typically do not seem distressed. Furthermore, they seem to avoid her when she returns. It is as if they are indifferent to her behavior. Some 20 percent of 1-year-old children are in the avoidant category. Children with an ambivalent attachment pattern display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers. Initially, ambivalent children are in such close contact with the mother that they hardly explore their environment. They appear anxious even before the mother leaves, and when she does leave, they show great distress. But upon her return, they show ambivalent reactions, seeking to be close to her but also hitting and kicking, apparently in anger. About 10 to 15 percent of 1-year-olds fall into the ambivalent classification (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994). Although Ainsworth identified only three categories, a more recent expansion of her work finds that there is a fourth category: disorganized-disoriented. Children who have a disorganized-disoriented attachment pattern show inconsistent, contradictory, and confused behavior. They may run to the mother when she returns but not look at her or seem initially calm and then suddenly break into angry weeping. Their confusion suggests that they may be the least securely attached children of all. About 5 to 10 percent of all children fall into this category (Bernier & Meins, 2008; Haltigan et al., 2021). A child’s attachment style would be of only minor consequence were it not for the fact that the quality of attachment between infants and their caregivers has significant consequences for relationships at later stages of life. For example, boys who are securely attached at the age of 1 year show fewer psychological difficulties at older ages than do avoidant or ambivalent children. Similarly, children who are securely attached as infants tend to be more socially and emotionally competent later, and others view them more positively. Adult romantic relationships are associated with the kind of attachment style developed during infancy (Bergman et al., 2012; Young et al., 2019). At the same time, we cannot say that children who do not have a secure attachment style during infancy invariably experience difficulties later in life, nor can we say that those with a secure attachment at age 1 always have good adjustment later on. In fact, some evidence suggests that children with avoidant and ambivalent attachment—as measured by the Strange Situation—do quite well (Alhusen et al., 2013; Smith-Nielsen, Tharner, Steele, et al., 2016). In cases in which the development of attachment has been severely disrupted, children may suffer from reactive attachment disorder, a psychological problem characterized by extreme problems in forming attachments to others. In young children, it can be displayed in feeding difficulties, unresponsiveness to social overtures from others, and a general failure to thrive. Reactive attachment disorder is rare and typically the result of abuse or neglect (Hornor, 2008; Schechter & Willheim, 2009; Puckering, et al., 2011; Atkinson, 2019). avoidant attachment pattern a style of attachment in which children do not seek proximity to the mother; after the mother has left, they seem to avoid her when she returns as if they are angered by her behavior ambivalent attachment pattern a style of attachment in which children display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers; they show great distress when the mother leaves, but upon her return they may simultaneously seek close contact but also hit and kick her disorganized-disoriented attachment pattern a style of attachment in which children show inconsistent, often contradictory behavior, such as approaching the mother when she returns but not looking at her; they may be the least securely attached children of all 198 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Producing Attachment: The Roles of the Parents LO 6.7 Describe the roles that caregivers play in infants’ social development. As 5-month-old Annie cries passionately, her mother comes into the room and gently lifts her from her crib. After just a few moments, as her mother rocks Annie and speaks softly, Annie’s cries cease, and she cuddles in her mother’s arms. But the moment her mother places her back in the crib, Annie begins to wail again, leading her mother to pick her up once again. The pattern is familiar to most parents. The infant cries, the parent reacts, and the child responds in turn. Such seemingly insignificant sequences as these, repeatedly occurring in the lives of infants and parents, help pave the way for the development of relationships between children, their parents, and the rest of the social world. We’ll consider how each of the major caregivers and the infant play a role in the development of attachment. Sensitivity to their infants’ needs and desires is the hallmark of mothers of securely attached infants. Such a mother tends to be aware of her child’s moods, and she takes into account her child’s feelings as they interact. She is also responsive during face-to-face interactions, provides feeding “on demand,” and is warm and affectionate to her infant (McElwain & Booth-LaForce, 2006; Priddis & Howieson, 2009; Evans et al., 2012). MOTHERS AND ATTACHMENT. From a Social Worker’s Perspective iofoto/Shutterstock What might a social worker seeking to find a good home for a foster child look for when evaluating potential foster parents? It is not only a matter of responding in any fashion to their infants’ signals that separates mothers of securely attached and insecurely attached children. Mothers of secure infants tend to provide the appropriate level of response. Research has shown that overly responsive mothers are just as likely to have insecurely attached children as underresponsive mothers. In contrast, mothers whose communication involves interactional synchrony, in which caregivers respond to infants appropriately and both caregiver and child match emotional states, are more likely to produce secure attachment (Kochanska, 1998; Hane et al., 2003; Hoehl et al., 2021). The research showing the correspondence between mothers’ sensitivity to their infants and the security of the infants’ attachment is consistent with Ainsworth’s arguments that attachment depends on how mothers react to their infants’ emotional cues. Ainsworth suggests that mothers of securely attached infants respond rapidly and positively to their infants. For example, Annie’s mother responds quickly to her cries by cuddling and comforting her. In contrast, mothers produce insecurely attached infants, according to Ainsworth, by ignoring their behavioral cues, behaving inconsistently with them, and ignoring and rejecting their social efforts. For example, picture a child who repeatedly and unsuccessfully tries to gain her mother’s attention by calling or turning and gesturing from her stroller while her mother, engaged in conversation, ignores her. This baby is likely to be less securely attached than a child whose mother acknowledges her child more quickly and consistently (Higley & Dozier, 2009). But how do mothers learn how to respond to their infants? One way is from their own mothers. Mothers typically respond to their infants based on their own attachment styles. As a result, there is substantial similarity A growing body of research highlights the importance in attachment patterns from one generation to the next (Peck, 2003). of a father’s demonstration of love for his children. It is important to realize that a mother’s (and others’) behavior toward In fact, certain disorders, such as depression and subinfants is at least in part a reaction to the child’s ability to provide effective stance abuse, have been found to be more related to cues. A mother may not be able to respond effectively to a child whose own fathers’ than to mothers’ behavior. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 199 behavior is unrevealing, misleading, or ambiguous. For instance, children who clearly display their anger or fear or unhappiness will be easier to read—and respond to effectively—than children whose behavior is ambiguous. Consequently, the kind of signals an infant sends may in part determine how successful the mother will be in responding. Up to now, we’ve barely touched on one of the key players involved in the upbringing of a child: the father. In fact, if you looked at the early theorizing and research on attachment, you’d find little mention of the father and his potential contributions to the life of the infant. There are at least two reasons for this absence. First, John Bowlby, who provided the initial theory of attachment, suggested that there was something unique about the mother– child relationship. He believed the mother was uniquely equipped, biologically, to provide sustenance for the child, and he concluded that this capability led to the development of a special relationship between mothers and children. Second, the early work on attachment was influenced by the traditional social views of the time, which considered it “natural” for the mother to be the primary caregiver, while the father’s role was to work outside the home to provide a living for his family. Several factors led to the demise of this view. One was that societal norms changed, and fathers began to take a more active role in childrearing activities. Furthermore, some families are composed of single parents or same-sex couples. It also became increasingly clear from research findings that—despite societal norms that often relegated fathers to secondary childrearing roles—infants are fully capable of forming their primary initial relationship with their fathers (McFarland-Piazza et al., 2012; Posada & Trumbell, 2017; McConnachie et al., 2020). In addition, a growing body of research has shown that fathers’ expressions of nurturance, warmth, affection, support, and concern are extremely important to their children’s emotional and social well-being. Certain kinds of psychological disorders, such as substance abuse and depression, have been found to be related more to fathers’ than mothers’ behavior (Braungart-Rieker et al., 2015; Reisz et al., 2019; Teufl et al., 2019). Infants’ social bonds extend beyond their parents, especially as they grow older. For example, one study found that although most infants formed their first primary relationship with one person, around one third had multiple relationships, and it was difficult to determine which attachment was primary. Furthermore, by the time the infants were 18 months old, most had formed multiple relationships. In sum, infants may develop attachments not only to their mothers but also to a variety of others (Booth et al., 2003; Seibert & Kerns, 2009). FATHERS AND ATTACHMENT. a variety of caretakers, whether mother, father, or other adults in their environment. And children can be strongly attached to parents in heterosexual, gay, and lesbian families to equal degrees (McConnachie et al., 2020). Still, although infants are fully capable of forming attachments to both mother and father—as well as to other individuals—the nature of attachment between infants and mothers, on the one hand, and infants and fathers, on the other hand, is not identical. For example, when they are in unusually stressful circumstances, most infants prefer to be soothed by their mother rather than by their father (SchoppeSullivan et al., 2006; Yu et al., 2012; Dumont & Paquette, 2013). One reason for qualitative differences in attachment involves the differences in what fathers and mothers do with their children. Mothers spend a greater proportion of their time feeding and directly nurturing their children. In contrast, fathers spend more time, Lumi Images/Alamy Stock Photo ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN ATTACHMENT TO MOTHERS AND FATHERS? It seems clear that infants can form strong attachment to One reason for differences in attachment involves what fathers and mothers do with their children. Mothers tend to spend more time feeding and directly nurturing their children, whereas fathers often spend more time playing with infants. 200 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life proportionally, playing with infants. Almost all fathers contribute to childcare: Surveys show that 95 percent say they do some childcare chores every day. But on average they still do less than mothers. For instance, 30 percent of fathers with wives who work do 3 or more hours of daily childcare. In comparison, 74 percent of employed married mothers spend that amount of time every day in childcare activities (Tooten et al., 2014; Luz et al., 2017; Gaunt, 2019). Furthermore, fathers’ play with their babies is often quite different from that of mothers. Fathers engage in more physical, rough-and-tumble activities with their children. In contrast, mothers play traditional games, such as peek-a-boo and games with more verbal elements (Paquette et al., 2003; Olsavsky et al., 2020). These differences in the ways that fathers and mothers play with their children occur even in the minority of families in the United States in which the father is the primary caregiver. Moreover, the differences occur in very diverse cultures: Fathers in Australia, Israel, India, Japan, Mexico, and even in the Aka Pygmy tribe in Central Africa all engage more in play than in caregiving, although the amount of time they spend with their infants varies widely. For instance, Aka fathers spend more time caring for their infants than members of any other known culture, holding and cuddling their babies at a rate some 5 times higher than anywhere else in the world (Roopnarine, 1992; Hewlett & Lamb, 2002; Booth-LaForce & Groh, 2018). These similarities and differences in childrearing practices across different societies raise an important question: How does culture affect attachment? This issue is discussed in Developmental Diversity and Your Life. Developmental Diversity and Your Life Does Attachment Differ Across Cultures? John Bowlby’s observations of the biologically motivated efforts of the young of other species to seek safety and security were the basis for his views on attachment and his reason for suggesting that seeking attachment was biologically universal, a trait that we should find not only in other species but also among humans of all cultures. Research has shown, however, that human attachment is not as culturally universal as Bowlby predicted. Certain attachment patterns seem more likely among infants of particular cultures. AmanaimagesRF/Getty Images For example, one study of German infants showed that most fell into the avoidant category. Other studies, conducted in Israel and Japan, have found a smaller proportion of infants who were securely attached than in the United States. Finally, comparisons of Chinese and Canadian children show that Chinese children are more inhibited than Canadians in the Ainsworth Strange Situation (Grossmann et al., 1982; Takahashi, 1986; Chen et al., 1998; Rothbaum et al., 2000; Kieffer, 2012; Granqvist, 2021). Do such findings suggest that we should abandon the notion that attachment is a universal biological tendency? Not necessarily. Though it is possible that Bowlby’s claim that the desire for attachment is universal was too strongly Japanese parents seek to avoid separation and stress during infancy and do not foster independence. As a result, Japanese children often have the appearance of being less securely attached according to the Ainsworth Strange Situation, but using other measurement techniques, they may well score higher in attachment. stated, most of the data on attachment have been obtained be the most appropriate measure in non-Western cultures by using the Ainsworth Strange Situation, which may not (Dennis et al., 2002; Mesman et al., 2016). for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 201 Attachment is now viewed as susceptible to cultural norms and expectations. Crosscultural and intracultural differences in attachment reflect the nature of the measure employed and the expectations of various cultures. Some developmental specialists suggest that attachment should be viewed as a general tendency but one that varies in the way it is expressed according to how actively caregivers in a society seek to instill independence in their children. Secure attachment, as defined by the Western-oriented Strange Situation, may be seen earliest in cultures that promote independence but may be delayed in societies in which independence is a less important cultural value (Rothbaum et al., 2000; Rothbaum et al., 2002). Infant Interactions: Developing a Working Relationship LO 6.8 Discuss the development of relationships in infancy. Research on attachment is clear in showing that infants may develop multiple attachment relationships, and that over the course of time, the specific individuals with whom the infant is primarily attached may change. These variations in attachment emphasize that the development of relationships is an ongoing process, not only during infancy but also throughout the life span. Which processes underlie the development of relationships during infancy? For one thing, parents—and in fact all adults—appear to be genetically programmed to be sensitive to infants. For instance, brain-scanning techniques have found that the facial features of infants (but not adults) activate a specialized structure in the brain called the fusiform gyrus within a seventh of a second. Such reactions may help elicit nurturing behavior and trigger social interaction (Kringelbach, et al., 2008; Zebrowitz et al., 2009; Goold & Meng, 2017). In addition, studies have found that, across almost all cultures, mothers behave in typical ways with their infants. They tend to exaggerate their facial and vocal expressions—the nonverbal equivalent of the infant-directed speech that they use when they speak to infants (as discussed in Chapter 5). Similarly, they often imitate their infants’ behavior, responding to distinctive sounds and movements by repeating them. There are even types of games, such as peek-a-boo, itsy-bitsy spider, and pat-a-cake, that are nearly universal (Harrist & Waugh, 2002; Kochanska, 2002). Furthermore, according to the mutual regulation model, it is through these sorts of interactions that infants and parents learn to communicate emotional states to one another and to respond appropriately. For instance, in pat-a-cake, both infant and parent act jointly to regulate turn-taking behavior, with one individual waiting until the other completes a behavioral act before starting another. Consequently, at the age of 3 months, infants and their mothers have about the same influence on each other’s behavior. Interestingly, by the age of 6 months, infants have more control over turn-taking, although by the age of 9 months, both partners once again become roughly equivalent in terms of mutual influence (Tronick, 2003; Salley et al., 2016). Siblings also build relationships with infants. The arrival of a new infant in a household often thrusts older siblings into new roles and greater responsibility, and older siblings may play an important role in the development of the infant. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many older siblings, living at home 24/7 when schools closed, began to play enhanced caretaking roles (Chapman et al., 2018; Dempsey, 2020). One of the ways infants and parents signal each other when they interact is through facial expressions. As we saw previously in this chapter, even quite young infants are able to read, or decode, the facial expressions of their caregivers, and they react to those expressions. For example, an infant whose mother, during an experiment, displays a stony, immobile facial expression reacts by making a variety of sounds, gestures, and facial expressions of her own in response to such a puzzling situation—and possibly to elicit some new response from her mother. Infants also show more happiness themselves when their mothers appear happy, and they look at their mothers longer. By contrast, infants are apt PROCESSES UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT. mutual regulation model the model in which infants and parents learn to communicate emotional states to one another and to respond appropriately 202 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Figure 6-5 Sequence of Infant–Caregiver Interaction The actions and reactions of caregivers and infants influence each other in complex ways. Do you think a similar pattern shows up in adult–adult interactions? (Source: Adapted from Bell & Ainsworth, 1972; Tomlinson-Keasey, 1985.) INFANT SIGNALS crying, smiling, reaching, clinging bicycling with legs looking at caregiver CAREGIVER RESPONDS picks up cuddles rocks baby soothes talks to INFANT SIGNALS smiles looks at caregiver CAREGIVER BEGINS PLAYFUL INTERACTIONS talks to baby, tickles baby uses very expressive face, touches baby INFANT LEARNS TO RECOGNIZE CAREGIVER recognizes voice, face, smell as cognitive skills mature, recognizes the caregiver CAREGIVER TAKES CARE OF CHILD feeds infant changes diapers INFANT STOPS SIGNALING crying stops reaching stops reciprocal socialization a process in which infants’ behaviors invite further responses from parents and other caregivers, which in turn bring about further responses from the infants CAREGIVER BECOMES MORE ATTACHED TO INFANT feels competent as a caregiver learns to “read” the infant INFANT BECOMES MORE ATTACHED TO CAREGIVER smiles more at caregiver looks warily at strangers goes to caregiver when frightened or upset to respond with sad looks and to turn away when their mothers display unhappy expressions (Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2003; Reissland & Shepherd, 2006; Yato et al., 2008). In short, the development of attachment in infants does not merely represent a reaction to the behavior of the people around them. Instead, there is a process of reciprocal socialization, in which infants’ behaviors invite further responses from parents and other caregivers. In turn, the caregivers’ behaviors bring about a reaction from the child, continuing the cycle. Recall, for instance, Annie, the baby who kept crying to be picked up when her mother put her in her crib. Ultimately, the actions and reactions of parents and child lead to an increase in attachment, forging and strengthening bonds between infants and caregivers as babies and caregivers communicate their needs and responses to each other. Figure 6-5 summarizes the sequence of infant–caregiver interaction (Kochanska & Aksan, 2004; Spinrad & Stifler, 2006). (Also see Developmental Diversity and Your Life.) INFANTS’ SOCIABILITY WITH THEIR PEERS: INFANT–INFANT INTERACTION. How sociable are infants with other children? Although they do not form “friendships” in the traditional sense, babies do react positively to the presence of peers from early in life, and they engage in rudimentary forms of social interaction. Infants’ sociability is expressed in several ways. From the earliest months of life, they smile, laugh, and vocalize while looking at their peers. They show more interest in peers than in inanimate objects, and they pay greater attention to other infants than they do to a mirror image of themselves. They also begin to show preferences for peers with whom they are familiar compared with those they do not know. For example, studies of identical twins show that twins exhibit a higher level of social behavior toward each other than toward an unfamiliar infant (Eid et al., 2003; Legerstee, 2013; Kawakami, 2014). Infants’ level of sociability generally rises with age. Nine- to 12-month-olds mutually present and accept toys, particularly if they know each other. They also play social games, for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 203 Developmental Diversity and Your Life Are Infants Racist? Some parents believe the best way to raise their children to to sort them out on their own. And when they do, they start be nonracit is by not making an issue of race at all. Promoting categorizing people according to race. By age 3, children who egalitarian values—“everyone is equal”—is assumed to be sufficient, are asked to choose potential friends from a set of photographs and calling special attention to racial differences is inappropriate, the favor their own race. By 6, children who are asked to sort thinking goes. But does pretending that racial differences don’t exist out a stack of photographs of faces in any way they choose really encourage children to become colorblind? overwhelmingly choose to sort by race rather than gender. It No, it doesn’t, according to a growing body of research. For appears that race is a central way in which to categorize the example, the results of one study found that 6- to 9-month-old world and to differentiate individuals (Johnson & Aboud, 2017; infants begin to associate faces of people from their own race Jackson, 2020; Weir, 2021). to happy music, and they associate faces from other races with In short, ignoring racial differences and correcting children sad music. In addition, infants as young as 6 months of age when they make race-based observations may simply teach are more likely to seek out information when they are uncertain children that race is a taboo topic. A more useful approach from same-race adults compared with adults of a different race is to discuss race explicitly in terms children can understand (Xiao, Quinn, et al., 2018; Xiao, Wu, et al., 2018). and to expose them to stories about children and adults Other research shows that infants as young as 6 months who are racially diverse. Even children develop implicit and notice racial differences: They stare significantly longer at unconscious biases about those who are different from photographs of people whose race is different from their them, and understanding these underlying biases can help parents’ race. By 9 months, infants are better at distinguishing to overcome them. Furthermore, interaction with those who within-race faces than other-race faces (Liu et al., 2018; Singh are different from themselves and living in a environment with et al., 2019; Quinn et al., 2020). social diversity breaks down biases and can help contribute to When children aren’t given an explicit framework for understanding these differences they’re noticing, they will try a more equitable society (Liu et al., 2018; Steele et al., 2018; Burnett et al., 2020). such as peek-a-boo or crawl-and-chase. Such behavior is important because it serves as a foundation for future social exchanges in which children will try to elicit responses from others and then offer reactions to those responses. These kinds of exchanges are important to learn because they continue even into adulthood. For example, someone who says, “Hi, what’s up?” may be trying to elicit a response to which they can then reply (Endo, 1992; Eckerman & Peterman, 2001). Finally, as infants age, they begin to imitate one another. For instance, 14-month-old infants who are familiar with one another sometimes reproduce each other’s behavior. Such imitation serves a social function and can also be a powerful teaching tool (Ray & Heyes, 2011; Brownell, 2016). According to developmental psychologist Andrew Meltzoff, a child’s ability to impart this information is only one example of how so-called “expert” babies are able to teach skills and information to other infants. According to the research of Meltzoff and his colleagues, the abilities learned from the “experts” are retained and later used to a remarkable degree. Learning by exposure starts early in life. Recent evidence shows that even 7-week-old infants can perform delayed imitation of a novel stimulus to which they have previously been exposed, such as an adult sticking the tongue out of the side of the mouth (Meltzoff, 2002; Meltzoff et al., 2012; Waismeyer & Meltzoff, 2017). To some developmentalists, the capacity of young children to engage in imitation suggests that imitation may be inborn. In support of this view, research has identified a class of neurons in the brain that seems to be related to an innate ability to imitate. Mirror neurons are neurons that fire not only when an individual enacts a particular behavior but also when the individual simply observes another organism carrying out the same behavior (Paulus, 2014; Heyes & Catmur, 2021). 204 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life For example, research on brain functioning shows activation of the inferior frontal gyrus both when an individual carries out a particular task and when observing another individual carrying out the same task. Mirror neurons may help infants to understand others’ actions, to develop a theory of mind, and to show goal-directed behavior from the time of birth. Dysfunction of mirror neurons may be related to the development of disorders involving children’s theory of mind, as well as autism, a psychological disorder involving significant emotional and linguistic problems (von Hofsten & Rosander, 2015; Farina et al., 2020). The idea that through exposure to other children infants learn new behaviors, skills, and abilities has several implications. For one thing, it suggests that interactions between infants provide more than social benefits; they may have an impact on children’s future cognitive development as well. Even more important, these findings illustrate that infants may benefit from participation in childcare centers (which we consider later in this chapter). Although we don’t know for sure, the opportunity to learn from their peers may prove to be a lasting advantage for infants in group childcare settings. Module 6.2 Review LO 6.6 Explain attachment in infancy and how it affects a person’s future social competence. Attachment, the positive emotional bond between an infant and a significant individual, affects a person’s later social competence as an adult. LO 6.7 Describe the roles that caregivers play in infants’ social development. Secure attachment can occur between infants and their mothers, between infants and their fathers, and between infants and other caregivers. LO 6.8 Discuss the development of relationships in infancy. Infants and the persons with whom they interact engage in reciprocal socialization as they mutually adjust to one another’s interactions. Infants react differently to other children than to inanimate objects, and gradually they engage in increasing amounts of peer social interaction. Journal Prompt Applying Lifespan Development: In what sort of society might an avoidant attachment style be encouraged by cultural attitudes toward child-rearing? In such a society, would characterizing the infant’s consistent avoidance of its mother as anger be an accurate interpretation? Differences Among Infants Lincoln was a difficult baby, his parents both agreed. For one thing, it seemed like they could never get him to sleep at night. He cried at the slightest noise, a problem because his crib was near the windows facing a busy street. Worse yet, once he started crying, it seemed to take forever to calm him down again. One day his mother, Aisha, was telling her mother-in-law, Mary, about the challenges of being Lincoln’s mom. Mary recalled that her own son, Lincoln’s father Malcom, had been much the same way. “He was my first child, and I thought this was how all babies acted. So, we just kept trying different ways until we found out how he worked. I remember, we put his crib all over the apartment until we finally found out where he could sleep, and it ended up being in the hallway for a long time. Then his sister, Maleah, came along, and she was so quiet and easy, I didn’t know what to do with my extra time!” personality the sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one individual from another As the story of Lincoln’s family shows, babies are not all alike, and neither are their families. As we’ll see, some of the differences among people seem to be present from the moment we are born. The differences among infants include overall personality and temperament and differences in the lives they lead—differences based on their gender, the nature of their families, and the ways in which they are cared for. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 205 Personality Development: The Characteristics that Make Infants Unique LO 6.9 The origins of personality, the sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one individual from another, stem from infancy. From birth onward, infants begin to show unique, stable traits and behaviors that ultimately lead to their development as distinct, special individuals (LaBounty et al., 2018; Devine et al., 2019). According to psychologist Erik Erikson, whose approach to personality development we first discussed in Chapter 1, infants’ early experiences are responsible for shaping one of the key aspects of their personality: whether they will be basically trusting or mistrustful. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development considers how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others’—and their own—behavior (Erikson, 1963). The theory suggests that developmental change occurs throughout people’s lives in eight distinct stages, the first of which occurs in infancy. According to Erikson, during the first 18 months of life, we pass through the trust-versus-mistrust stage. During this period, infants develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely depending on how well According to Erikson, children develop independence their needs are met by their caregivers. In the previous example, Mary’s and autonomy if their parents encourage exploraattention to Malcom’s needs probably helped him develop a basic sense tion and freedom, within safe boundaries. What does Erikson theorize happens if children are restricted and of trust in the world. Erikson suggests that if infants are able to develop overly protected at this stage? trust, they experience a sense of hope, which permits them to feel as if they can fulfill their needs successfully. By contrast, feelings of mistrust lead infants to see the world as harsh and unfriendly, and they may have later difficulties in forming close Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development bonds with others. During the end of infancy, children enter the autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt the theory that considers how stage, which lasts from around 18 months to 3 years. During this period, children develop individuals come to understand independence and autonomy if their parents encourage exploration and freedom within themselves and the meaning of safe boundaries. However, if children are restricted and overly protected, they feel shame, others’—and their own—behavior self-doubt, and unhappiness. trust-versus-mistrust stage Erikson argues that personality is primarily shaped by infants’ experiences. However, according to Erik Erikson, the as we discuss next, other developmentalists concentrate on consistencies of behavior that period during which infants are present at birth, even before the experiences of infancy. These consistencies are viewed develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely as genetically determined and as providing the raw material of personality. Temperament: Stabilities in Infant Behavior LO 6.10 Define temperament, and describe how it affects a child in the first 2 years of life. Sarah’s parents thought there must be something wrong. Unlike her older brother Josh, who had been so active as an infant that he seemed never to be still, Sarah was much more placid. She took long naps and was easily soothed on those relatively rare occasions when she became agitated. What could be producing her extreme calmness? The most likely answer: The difference between Sarah and Josh reflected differences in temperament. As we first discussed in Chapter 2, temperament encompasses patterns of arousal and emotionality that are consistent and enduring characteristics of an individual (Kochanska & Aksan, 2004; Rothbart, 2007; Gartstein et al., 2017). Temperament refers to how children behave, as opposed to what they do or why they do it. Infants show temperamental differences in general disposition from the time of birth, largely due at first to genetic factors, and temperament tends to be fairly stable well Sarah Her/EyeEm/Alamy Stock Photo Describe individual differences that distinguish an infant’s personality. depending largely on how well their caregivers meet their needs autonomy-versus-shame-anddoubt stage the period during which, according to Erik Erikson, toddlers (age 18 months to 3 years) develop independence and autonomy if they are allowed the freedom to explore or shame and self-doubt if they are restricted and overprotected temperament patterns of arousal and emotionality that are consistent and enduring characteristics of an individual 206 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life Table 6-2 Some Dimensions of Temperament in Infants, with Behavioral Indicators Dimension Behavioral Indicators Activity level High: wriggles while diaper is changed Low: lies still while being dressed Approach-withdrawal Approach orientation: accepts novel foods and toys easily Withdrawal orientation: cries when a stranger comes near Rhythmicity Regular: has consistent feeding schedule Irregular: has varying sleep and waking schedule Distractibility Low: continues crying even when diaper is changed High: stops fussing when held and rocked Quality of mood Negative: cries when carriage is rocked Positive: smiles or smacks lips when tasting new food Threshold of responsiveness High: not startled by sudden noises or bright lights Low: pauses sucking on bottle at approach of parent or slight noise (Source: Based on Thomas et al., 1968.) into adolescence. However, temperament is not fixed and unchangeable: Child-rearing practices can modify temperament significantly. In fact, some children show little consistency in temperament from one age to the next (Werner et al., 2007; de Lauzon-Guillain et al., 2012; Kusangi et al., 2014; Takegata et al., 2021). Temperament is reflected in several dimensions of behavior. One central dimension is activity level, which reflects the degree of overall movement. Some babies (like Sarah) are relatively placid, and their movements are slow and almost leisurely. In contrast, the activity level of other infants (like Josh) is quite high, with strong, restless movements of the arms and legs. Another important dimension of temperament is the nature and quality of an infant’s mood and, in particular, a child’s irritability. Like Lincoln, who was described in the example at the beginning of this section, some infants are easily disturbed and cry easily, whereas others are relatively easygoing. Irritable infants fuss a great deal, and they are easily upset. They are also difficult to soothe when they do begin to cry. Such irritability is relatively stable: Infants who are irritable at birth remain irritable at age 1, and even at age 2 they are still more easily upset than infants who were not irritable just after birth (Stupica et al., 2011). (Other aspects of temperament are listed in Table 6-2.) CATEGORIZING TEMPERAMENT: EASY, DIFFICULT, AND SLOW-TO-WARM BABIES. Because temperament can be viewed along so many dimensions, some researcheasy babies babies who have a positive disposition; their body functions operate regularly, and they are adaptable difficult babies babies who have negative moods and are slow to adapt to new situations; when confronted with a new situation, they tend to withdraw slow-to-warm babies babies who are inactive, showing relatively calm reactions to their environment; their moods are generally negative, and they withdraw from new situations, adapting slowly ers have asked whether broader categories can be used to describe children’s overall behavior. According to Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess, who carried out a large-scale study of a group of infants that has come to be known as the New York Longitudinal Study (Thomas & Chess, 1980), babies can be described according to one of several profiles: Easy babies. Easy babies have a positive disposition. Their body functions operate regularly, and they are adaptable. They are generally positive, showing curiosity about new situations, and their emotions are moderate or low in intensity. This category applies to about 40 percent (the largest number) of infants. Difficult babies. Difficult babies have more negative moods and are slow to adapt to new situations. When confronted with a new situation, they tend to withdraw. About 10 percent of infants belong in this category. Slow-to-warm babies. Slow-to-warm babies are inactive, showing relatively calm reactions to their environment. Their moods are generally negative, and they withdraw from new situations, adapting slowly. Approximately 15 percent of infants are slow-to-warm. As for the remaining 35 percent, they cannot be consistently categorized. These children show a variety of combinations of characteristics. For instance, one infant may have relatively sunny moods but react negatively to new situations, and another may show little stability of any sort in terms of general temperament. for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 207 THE CONSEQUENCES OF TEMPERAMENT: DOES TEMPERAMENT MATTER? One obvious question to emerge from the findings of the relative stability of temperament is whether a particular kind of temperament is beneficial. The answer seems to be that no single type of temperament is invariably good or bad. Instead, children’s long-term adjustment depends on the goodness-of-fit of their particular temperament and the nature and demands of the environment in which they find themselves. For instance, children with a low activity level and low irritability may do particularly well in an environment in which they are left to explore on their own and are allowed largely to direct their own behavior. In contrast, high-activity-level, highly irritable children may do best with greater direction, which permits them to channel their energy in particular directions (Thomas & Chess, 1980; Strelau, 1998; Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2007). Mary, the grandmother in the earlier example, found ways to adjust the environment for her son, Malcom. Malcom and Aisha may need to do the same for their own son, Lincoln. Some research suggests that certain temperaments are, in general, more adaptive than others. For instance, difficult children, in general, are more likely to show behavior problems by school age than those classified in infancy as easy children. But not all difficult children experience problems. The key determinant seems to be the way parents react to their infants’ difficult behavior. If they react by showing anger and inconsistency—responses that their child’s difficult, demanding behavior readily evokes—then the child is ultimately more likely to experience behavior problems. In contrast, parents who display more warmth and consistency in their responses are more likely to have children who avoid later problems (Thomas et al., 1968; Salley et al., 2013; Sayal et al., 2014; Gouge et al., 2020). Furthermore, temperament is related to infants’ attachment to their adult caregivers. For example, infants vary considerably in how much emotion they display nonverbally. Some are “poker-faced,” showing little expressivity, whereas others’ reactions tend to be much more easily decoded. More expressive infants may provide more easily discernible cues to others, thereby easing the way for caregivers to be more successful in responding to their needs and facilitating attachment (Laible et al., 2008; Sayal et al., 2014; Handley et al., 2017). Cultural differences also have a major influence on the consequences of a particular temperament. For instance, children who would be described as “difficult” in Western cultures actually seem to have an advantage in the East African Maasai culture. The reason? Mothers offer their breast to their infants only when they fuss and cry; therefore, the irritable, more difficult infants are apt to receive more nourishment than the more placid, easy infants. Particularly when environmental conditions are bad, such as during a drought, difficult babies may have an advantage (Gaias et al., 2012; Farkas & Vallotton, 2016). Recent approaches to temperament grow out of the framework of behavioral genetics discussed in Chapter 2. From this perspective, temperamental characteristics are seen as inherited traits that are fairly stable during childhood and across the entire life span. These traits are viewed as making up the core of personality and playing a substantial role in future development (Sheese et al., 2009; Goodnight et al., 2016). Consider, for example, the trait of physiological reactivity, characterized by a high degree of motor and muscle activity in response to novel stimuli. This high reactivity, which has been termed inhibition to the unfamiliar, is exhibited as shyness. A clear biological basis underlies inhibition to the unfamiliar, in which any novel stimulus produces a rapid increase in heartbeat, blood pressure, and pupil dilation, as well as excitability of the brain’s limbic system. For example, people categorized as inhibited at age 2 show high reactivity in their brain’s amygdala in adulthood when viewing unfamiliar faces. The shyness associated with this physiological pattern seems to continue through childhood and even into adulthood (Propper & Moore, 2006; Kagan et al., 2007; Anzman-Frasca et al., 2013). High reactivity to unfamiliar situations in infants has also been linked to greater susceptibility to depression and anxiety disorders in adulthood. Furthermore, infants who THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF TEMPERAMENT. goodness-of-fit the notion that development is dependent on the degree of match between children’s temperament and the nature and demands of the environment in which they are being raised 208 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life are highly reactive develop anterior prefrontal cortexes that are thicker than those in less reactive children when they reach adulthood. Because the prefrontal cortex is closely linked to the amygdala (which controls emotional responses) and the hippocampus (which controls fear responses), the difference in the prefrontal cortex may help explain the higher rates of depression and anxiety disorders (Schwartz & Rauch, 2004; Schwartz, Maynard, Uzelac, 2008; Waters et al., 2017). Gender: Boys in Blue, Girls in Pink LO 6.11 gender societal expectations of masculinity and femininity Discuss how the gender of a child affects their development in the first 2 years of life. “It’s a boy.” “It’s a girl.” One of these two statements is the centerpiece of increasingly popular gender-reveal parties, in which parents reveal the sex of their baby to friends and family, often quite elaborately, after prenatal tests allow them to learn the sex of their soon-to-be-born child (Bologna, 2019). From the moment of birth, girls and boys are treated differently. Their parents send out different kinds of birth announcements. They are dressed in different clothes and wrapped in different-colored blankets. They are given different toys. In fact, there’s some evidence that knowing the sex of a baby prenatally can lead to differences in prenatal care (Serbin et al., 2001; Al-Akour, 2008; Davis & Hines, 2020). As they grow older, infants are played with differently by their parents according to their sex. Fathers tend to interact more with sons than daughters, and mothers interact more with daughters. Because, as noted previously in the chapter, mothers and fathers play in different ways (with fathers typically engaging in more physical, rough-and-tumble activities and mothers in traditional games, such as peek-a-boo), male and female infants are clearly exposed to different styles of activity and interaction from their parents (Clearfield & Nelson, 2006; Parke, 2007; Zosuls et al., 2014). The behavior exhibited by girls and boys is interpreted in very different ways by adults. For instance, when researchers showed adults a video of an infant whose name was given as either “John” or “Mary,” adults perceived “John” as adventurous and inquisitive, whereas “Mary” was considered fearful and anxious, although it was the same baby performing a single set of behaviors (Condry & Condry, 1976). Clearly, adults view the behavior of children through the lens of gender. Gender refers to societal expectations of masculinity and femininity. The term gender is often used interchangeably with “sex,” but they are not actually the same. Sex typically refers to sexual anatomy and sexual behavior, whereas gender refers to the social perceptions of maleness or femaleness. All cultures prescribe gender roles for males and females, but these roles differ greatly from one culture to another. GENDER DIFFERENCES. There is a considerable amount of disagreement over both the extent and causes of such gender differences, even though most people agree that boys and girls do experience at least partially different worlds based on gender. Some gender differences are fairly clear from the time of birth. For example, male infants tend to be more active and fussier than female infants. Boys’ sleep tends to be more disturbed than that of girls. Boys grimace more, although no gender difference exists in the overall amount of crying. There is also some evidence that male newborns are more irritable than female newborns, although the findings are inconsistent (Guinsburg et al., 2000; Losonczy-Marshall, 2008). Differences between male and female infants, however, are generally minor. In most ways, infants seem so similar that usually adults cannot discern whether a baby is a boy or girl, as the “John” and “Mary” video research shows. Furthermore, it is important to remember that there are much greater differences among individual boys and among individual girls than there are, on average, between boys and girls (Crawford & Unger, 2004). for more ebook/ testbank/ solution manuals requests: emailand [email protected] Chapter 6 Social Personality Development in Infancy 209 ROLES. Gender differences emerge more clearly as children age—and become increasingly influenced by the gender roles that society sets out for them. For instance, by age 1, infants are able to distinguish between males and females. Girls at this age often prefer to play with dolls or stuffed animals, whereas boys often seek out blocks and trucks. Often, of course, these are frequently the only options available to them, owing to the choices their parents and other adults have made in the toys they provide (Cherney et al., 2003; Alexander et al., 2009; Stacey, 2021). Children’s preferences for certain kinds of toys are reinforced by their parents. In general, however, parents of boys are more apt to be concerned about their child’s choices than are parents of girls. Boys receive more reinforcement for playing with toys Parents of girls who play with toys related to activities associated with boys are apt to be less concerned than parents of boys who play with toys associated with girls. that society deems appropriate for boys, and this reinforcement increases with age. By contrast, a girl playing with a truck is viewed with considerably less concern than a boy playing with a doll might be. Girls who play with toys seen by society as “masculine” are less discouraged for their behavior than are boys who play with toys seen as “feminine” (Schmalz & Kerstetter, 2006; Hill & Flom, 2007; Dinella et al., 2017; Eisen et al., 2021). By the time they reach age 2, boys behave more independently and less compliantly than girls. Much of this behavior can be traced to parental reactions to previous behavior. For instance, when a child takes their first steps, parents tend to react differently, depending on the child’s gender: Boys are encouraged to go off and explore the world, whereas girls are hugged and kept close. It is hardly surprising, then, that by age 2, girls tend to show less independence and greater compliance (Laemmle, 2013; Suh & Kang, 2020). Societal encouragement and reinforcement do not, however, completely explain differences in behavior between boys and girls. For example, as we discussed in Chapter 2, researchers have found that exposure to androgens prenatally is associated with an interest in gendered activities, such as girls playing with toys typically preferred by boys (e.g., cars and trucks) and less with “girls’” toys (such as dolls) (McCarthy, 20120; Berenbaum & Beltz, 2021). In sum, differences in behavior between boys and girls begin in infancy, and—as we will see in future chapters—continue throughout childhood (and beyond). Although gender differences have complex causes, representing some combination of innate, biologically related, and environmental factors, they play a profound role in the social and emotional development of infants. Family Life in the 21st Century LO 6.12 Describe 21st-century families and their consequences for children. A look back at television shows from 50 years ago finds a world of families portrayed in a way that today seems oddly old-fashioned and quaint: Mothers and fathers, married for years, and their good-looking children making their way in a world that seems to have few, if any, serious problems. Tatiana Pronina/123RF GENDER 210 PART 2 Infancy: Forming the Foundations of Life From a Social Worker’s Perspective Imagine you are a social worker visiting a foster home. It is 11:00 a.m. You find the breakfast dishes in the sink and books and toys all over the floor. The infant you have placed in the home is happily pounding on pots and pans as his foster mother claps time. The kitchen floor is gooey under the baby’s high chair. What is your assessment? Even 50 years ago, such a view of family life was overly romantic and unrealistic. Today, however, it is broadly inaccurate, representing only a minority of families in the United States. A quick review tells the story: The number of single-parent families has increased significantly in the last 3 decades, as the number of two-parent households has declined. Currently, around two-thirds of children ages 0–17 are living with two married parents, a drop from 77 percent in 1980. Nearly a quarter of children live with only their mothers, 4 percent live with only their fathers, and 4 percent live with neither of their parents. Slightly less than three quarters of white-alone, non-Latinx children lived with two married parents in 2018, compared with 61 percent of Latinx and only 36 percent of Black-alone children (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2019). The average size of families is shrinking. Today, on average, there are 2.53 persons per household, compared to 3.1 in 1970. The number of people living in nonfamily households (without any relatives) is more than 44 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020a, 2020b). Although the number of adolescents giving birth has declined substantially over the last decade, 6.7 of every 1,000 births are to adolescent women age 15 to 17, the vast majority of whom are unmarried. This figure represents a new low (Martin et al., 2021). A total of 60.3 percent of mothers with a child younger than 1 year old participate in the labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor St

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