©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 9: Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 9:

Socioemotional Development in

Early Childhood


Emotional and Personality

Development


• During early childhood, children must discover who they are and:– They discover that conscience must govern

exploration and self-observation, self-guidance, self-punishment.

– Disappointment turns to guilt that lowers self-esteem.

– Their parents can encourage motor play and fantasy.

– Guilt exists in later life if motor activity is considered bad, questions are seen only as nuisances, and play is stupid.


• Self-understanding: substance and content of one’s self-conceptions, beginning with self-recognition.

• In early childhood, self-conception is usually in physical and material terms.

• As children age, there is increased:– Use of emotional language.

– Learning about causes and consequences of feelings.

– Ability to reflect on emotions.

– Need to control and manage emotions to meet social standards.


• Self-conscious emotions are pride, guilt,

shame, and embarrassment.

• Girls may show more shame, pride, anxiety,

depression, and self-criticism.

• Moral development are feelings, thoughts,

and behaviors about what should be

done in interactions.


• Stages of Piaget’s moral development in children:

– At ages 4-7, they see justice and rules as unchangeable.

– Between ages 7 and 10 years, there is transition.

– After 10 years of age: awareness that laws and rules are

created by humans, judgment of behavior should be

based on intentions and consequences.

• Views of moral theory:

– Reinforcement, punishment, and imitation used to

explain moral behavior by children.

– Use of self-control overcomes prohibited impulses;

patience and ability to delay gratification are learned.


– Psychoanalytic view:

• Oedipus complex forces same-sex identity.

• Parents’ standards internalized.

• Self-punitive guilt and other emotions force child to conform to social standards.

• Sex is a biological classification.

• Gender identity is a sense of being male or female.

• Gender role: expectations of being masculine and feminine; how one acts, feels, or thinks.


• Biological influences on behavior:

– Chromosomes: XY are males, XX are females.

– Sex hormones influence physical development.

– Some research suggests genetics help determine

play patterns, levels of aggression, career goals,

and attitudes about gender roles.

– Evolutionary biologists: differing sex roles in

reproduction and urge for reproduction lead to

natural selection behaviors.


2 to 3 years

Rapid increase in emotional vocabularyLabel simple emotions in self and others correctly; can talk about past, present, and future emotionsTalk about causes and consequences of some emotions; identify emotions associated with certain situationsUse emotion language in pretend play

4 to 5 years

Increased ability to reflect verbally on emotions and consider more complex relations between emotions and situationsUnderstand that same event may create different feelings in different people and that feelings may last long after the events that caused themShow growing awareness and ability to control and manage emotions in accordance with social standards

Fig. 9.1

Some Characteristics of Young Children’s Emotion Language and Understanding


• Three theories about origins of gender roles:

– Social role theory: gender differences

due to culture.

– Psychoanalytic theory: child becomes masculine

or feminine even in absence of same-sex parent.

– Cognitive theory: gender roles learned through

observation, imitation, rewards, punishments.

• Ages 4 to 12 spend most free time exclusively in same-sex groups.


Theory Processes OutcomesFreud’s theory

Sexual attraction to opposite-sex parent at 3–5 years of age; anxiety about this leads to identification with same-sex parent at 5–6 years of age

Gender behavior like that of same-sex parent

Social cognitive theory

Rewards and punishment of desired/undesired gender behavior by adults and peers; observation and initiation of models’ behavior in children

Gender behavior

Fig. 9.2

A Comparison of the Psychoanalytic and Social Cognitive Views of Gender Development


• Parents influence and encourage gender

behaviors and roles affecting peer relations.

• After 5, boys tend to associate in large

groups, girls prefer groups of two or three.

• In same-sex play groups:

– Boys tend to play rough-and-tough and

competitively, and show conflict, ego displays,

risk taking, and dominance.

– Girls tend to be collaborative and engage in

reciprocity behaviors.


Mixed-sex group

Same-sex group

50

6.5 years old4.5 years old

Fig. 9.3

Developmental Changes in Percentage of Time Spent in Same-Sex and Mixed-Group Settings

A tendency to play in same-sex groups increases between 4 and 6 years of age

25

75

Percentage of social playtime


• Cognitive theories of gender development:

– Cognitive development theory: gender typing

occurs after children achieve gender constancy

(as Kohlberg developed this: gender development

depends on cognition).

– Gender schema theory: gender gradually develops

as child perceives what is gender-appropriate or

inappropriate in their culture.


Theory Processes OutcomeCognitive develop-mental theory

Development of gender constancy, especially around age 6 to 7, when conservation skills develop; after ability to consistently conceive of themselves as female or male, children often organize their world on the basis of gender.

Cognitive readiness facilitates gender identity

Gender schema theory

Sociocultural emphasis on gender-based standards and stereotypes; children’s attention and behavior are guided by an internal motivation to conform to these, allowing children to interpret the world through gender-organized thoughts.

Gender schemas reinforce gender behavior

Fig. 9.4

The Development of Gender Behavior According to the Cognitive Developmental and Gender

Schema Theories of Gender Development


Families


• Parenting styles really affect development:– Interactions include punishment, child abuse,

co-parenting, time and effort, and nurturing.

• Four parenting styles:– Authoritarian: highly controlling, little

discussion (“My way, or else”).

– Authoritative: limits placed, but also warm, nurturing, encouraging independence within those limits (“Let’s talk about it”).

– Neglectful: uninvolved in child’s life.

– Indulgent: involved, but with few demands or restraints.


Authoritative Authoritarian

Indulgent Neglectful

Rejecting of and unresponsive to

the child

Accepting of and responsive

to the child

Undemanding, uncontrolling of child

Demanding, controlling of child

Fig. 9.6

Classification of Parenting Styles


• Authoritative parenting: – May be most effective type for variety of

reasons.

– It appears to transcend boundaries of ethnicity, SES, and family structure.

• Asian parents tend to “train” child.• Latino parents tend to encourage family

identity and self-development.• African American parents tend to use

physical punishment more than Whites.• Corporal punishment was considered

necessary for disciplining children—legal in all states.


• Some research shows use of corporal punishment is:– Associated with higher levels of immediate

compliance and aggression in children.

– Should be avoided in its intense forms.

• 1979 Swedish law forbids any type of physical punishment by parents.

• Cross-culturally, U.S. and Canada among those most favoring corporal punishment.

• Alternatives include use of time-outs, reasoning with child, positive reinforcement, loss of privileges.


Corporate Punishment in Different Countries


• Child abuse or maltreatment refers to abuse and neglect.

• Four main types of child maltreatment (can overlap):– Physical abuse: physical injury.

– Child neglect: physical/emotional/educational neglect or abandonment.

– Sexual abuse: fondling, rape, incest, intercourse, sodomy, exploitation.

– Emotional abuse: psychological abuse, verbal abuse, mental injury.


• Culture affects incidence of child abuse.

• Examine family interactions to understand abuse.

Developmental consequences of abuse:

– Poor emotional regulation.

– Attachment problems.

– Difficulty in school and peer relations.

– Other psychological problems.

– Child victims show increased violence in adult

relationships.


• In co-parenting, parental cooperation and

warmth are linked to prosocial behaviors

in children:

– Good parenting is key factor.

– Sibling relationships have a strong effect.

• Birth order:

– Parents have higher expectations for firstborn.

– Only child: often achievement-oriented, displays

desirable personality traits.

– By itself, is not a good predictor of behavior.


• Consider age spacing and sex between children, heredity, temperament, and parenting styles for predicting behavior.

• Children’s families more diverse today:– More mothers work outside home, more

children in child care.

– More children under 17 grow up in single-parent homes.

– Both parents work outside home.

– Divorced families.

• Some research finds negative effects if mother works during child’s 1st year.

©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Fig. 9.7

5

0

15

20

25

30

10

Japan

USA Sweden

Canada

Germ

any

UK

Australia

France

1715

14 1311

6

23

11

Single-Parent Families in Different Countries

Percentage of those families

with children under 18


• Child from divorced family tends to show poorer adjustment, with greatest risk occurring in multiple divorces.

• Deciding divorce: weighing emotional stress on children versus loss of resources.

• The relationship between parents after divorce appears more negative for girls.

• Custodial- and noncustodial-father families may have greater impact on the sons’ lives.

• Joint custody may be better for all.


Divorce and Children’s Emotional Problems

Of children from divorced families, 25% show serious emotional problems (75% did not), compared with only 10% of children from intact, never-divorced families

Type of family

20

DivorcedIntact, never

divorced

10

0

30

Percentage of children showing serious emotional problems


• Gay Male and Lesbian Parents:– 20% of lesbians and 10% of gay men are

parents.– Their children may have born to their

natural parents, now divorced (and with a gay partner), some through donor insemination and surrogates; some are adopted.

– Though controversial, no evidence that children growing up with lesbian mothers or gay fathers are any different from those living with heterosexual parents.


• There are cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic variations in parenting:– Authoritarian parenting is widespread in some

cultures, including Chinese and Arab.

– Most parents in the world are controlling, but warm.

– Families are getting smaller in many countries.

– Large and extended families are more common among minority groups than among Whites.

– Single-parent families more common among Blacks and Latinos than among Whites.


Peer Relations, Play, and Television


• Peers assist a child by:

– Filling unique role in the culture.

– Providing information.

– Giving feedback and evaluation.

• Good peer relations necessary for social development.

• Extensive peer interaction during childhood in play.

• Piaget: play advances cognitive development.

• Vygotsky: play is excellent for cognitive development.


• Parten identifies 6 types of play: – Solitary, unoccupied, onlooker, parallel, associative,

and cooperative play.

• Other types of play:– Sensorimotor play (early infancy).

– Practice play (primarily in infancy).

– Pretense/symbolic play (9–30 months).

– Social play (peer interactions).

• Constructive play increases in preschool years.

• Games reinforce rules and competition; effects of TV can be very harmful.


0 5 10 15 20 25

Percentage

Italy

Ireland

Netherlands

Canada

United States

Switzerland

Norway

Germany

Sweden

France

Denmark

Finland

Spain

Percentage of 9-Year-Old Children Who Report Watching More Than 5 Hours of TV per Weekday


Amount and patterns of preschool TV viewing have an impact later on boys’ high school GPAs

Educational TV Viewing and High School Grade Point Average for Boys

Quartiles of child informative viewing at age 5

2.82

2.37

2.482.53

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

2.0

Mean high school overall GPA

Fig. 9.11

Documents

©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 9: Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood