PSY 230 Main Page

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  

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 

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 

•         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 

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 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  

•         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

•         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 

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