Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood


Psychosocial (Erikson) Development in Middle Childhood

Industry vs. Inferiority stage – period from ages 6 to 12 characterized by a focus on efforts to attain competence in meeting the challenges presented by parents, peers, school, and the complexities

of the world


Industry vs. Inferiority• Children really begin to learn and play by rules• Concern for how things work, how things are

made, and what things actually do• Children who are encouraged to make things, do

things or build things will develop a sense of industry


Erikson cont’dParents who see their child as mischievous or

as messy will help the child develop a sense of inferiority

School plays a critical role during this period-friends and teachers play an integral role in development

It is in this stage that lifelong academic failure can begin


Social Comparison

• When children begin to

compare themselves to

others their age

sports

academics

physical attributes


– Downward social comparison – makes child feel better to compare themselves to those who are less able (although children with a negative cognition about the world may set impossible standards)


Social comparison and self-esteem

• Which student do you think will have higher self-esteem – higher achieving students or lower achieving students?


Understanding the Self

• As children become older, they view themselves in terms of psychological attributes in addition to their physical attributes

• Children’s self-concept becomes divided into personal and academic spheres


Looking Inward: Development of the Self


• Self-Esteem – an individual’s overall and specific positive and negative self-evaluation

• Self-esteem drops around 12 and picks up again in late teens (puberty? Hypothetical thinking? High school transition?)

• If self-esteem is low in middle childhood, the result can be a cycle of failure


A Cycle of Low Self-Esteem


Success Cycle


Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development

• Latent Stage –– At this point in time, Freud

believed that sexual desires would be sublimated and would reemerge in the teenage years

– Child is identifying with same sex parent

– Love for opposite sex parent is repressed


Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

• Level 1 – Preconventional Stage – child’s moral reasoning is based on external authority – Stage 1 – Punishment

orientation – based on being or not being punished (ages 1 to 5)

– Stage 2 – Naïve Reward Orientation – based on receiving or not receiving a reward (age 5 to 10)


• Level 2 – Conventional Level – child sees rules as necessary for maintaining order.

– Stage 3 – Good boy/good girl-seeks approval and avoids disapproval from others (8 to 12 years old)

– Stage 4 – Authority Orientation – morals based on society’s rules which should be obeyed. Rules are very rigid (around 10 to 14 years old)


Gilligan – Moral Development• Looked at

moral development of girls-

• Felt that

Kohlberg

viewed

the same ways as boys

Does things thatshe likes

Realizes that all should have funDoes things that others like


Friendship in Middle Childhood• Stage 1 – Basing friendship on others’ behavior

– 4 to 7 years old

• Stage 2 – Basing friendship on trust – 8 to 10 years old

• Stage 3 – Basing friendship on psychological closeness – 11 to 15 years old


What Makes A Child Popular?

• Status- the relative position of a person ascribed by other members of a group

• Social competence – the social skills that allow children to understand others’ cues and emotions

• Social problem solving – the use of strategies for solving social conflicts that appease everyone in the group


Bullying

• Bullying victims are often passive, cry easily, and lack social skills.

• Bullies often come from abusive homes, watch more violent TV, misbehave more at home and school, and they often lie their way out of things.


Psychology of the bully• They have a strong need to dominate and subdue

other students and to get their own way • Are impulsive and are easily angered • Are often defiant and aggressive toward adults,

including parents and teachers • Show little empathy toward students who are

victimized


Psychology of victims• The typical passive or submissive victims,

generally have some of the following characteristics:

• Are cautious, sensitive, quiet, withdrawn and shy

• Are often anxious, insecure, unhappy and have low self-esteem

• Are depressed and engage in suicidal ideation much more often than their peers

• Often do not have a single good friend and relate better to adults than to peers

• If they are boys, they may be physically weaker than their peers


Family Life During Childhood• Co-regulation – joint control of children’s

behavior exercised by the parents and the children themselves-beginning of a ‘mind of their own’

• Children spend significantly less time with their parents during middle childhood.

• Children with both parents working fare quite well. As long as parents are loving and sensitive to their children’s needs, the children can be well adjusted.


How Children Spend Time


DivorceBoth children and parents may show psychological

maladjustment for 6 months to a few years following divorce. Children may experience anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, or phobias. By the age of 10, children feel the pressure to choose sides and experience some divided loyalty. In some cases, the divorce produces a more positive effect since the children are no longer subject to the high conflict that existed in the intact relationship.


Single Mothers

Documents

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Social and Personality Development in Middle Childhood