Identity and Self-esteem

 

•         The developmental task of adolescence is to resolve the crisis of identity versus identity confusion.

 

–        Identity: The choice of personal, occupational, sexual, and ideological commitments.

–        Identity confusion: An incomplete and incoherent sense of self.

 

•         Identify foreclosure: The premature commitment to an identity with adequately considering the choices involved.

 

•         Negative identity: Represents the opposite of what is valued by people around the adolescent;

•         a minister’s daughter who is promiscuous

 

•         Some adolescents choose a negative identity to gain parents’ notice.

 

•         Psychosocial moratorium:

 

 

Self-Esteem

 

Self-esteem (SE) judgments are

 

Why important?

 

Children’s self evaluations affect emotional experiences and LT psychological adjustment.

 

Begins as soon as categorical self contain + and - features.

 

LAWSEQ Self-Esteem Questionnaire - Primary School Version

 

 

 

Yes

No

Don’t know

1

Do you think that you parents usually like to hear about your ideas?

 

 

 

2

Do you often feel lonely at school?

 

 

 

3

Do other children often break friends or or fall out with you?

 

 

 

4

Do you like team games?

 

 

 

5

Do you think that other children often Say nasty things about you?

 

 

 

6

When you have to say things in front of teachers, do you usually feel shy?

 

 

 

7

Do you like writing stories or doing creative writing?

 

 

 

8

Do you often feel sad because you have nobody to play with at school?

 

 

 

 

Marking

 

The higher the score, the higher the child’s self-esteem:

No answers score 2 pts (except for questions 4, 7, 9 & 12, which do not count).

 

Don’t know answers score 1 pt.

 

Average/Mean score for “primary version” is 19 pts.

 

The standard deviation (S.D.) on both scales is 4 pts.

 

Multiple aspects of self-esteem?

 

Children develop many self-esteems, then integrate them.

 

Factor analysis used to determine nature of self-esteem:

 

Before 7:

 

From 7 onward:                        academic (                      )

                                                physical (                                    )

                                                social    (                       )

 

Adolescence: + close friendship,

 

Hereditary Factors Related to Self-Esteem

 

•         Physical appearance

•         Athletic ability

•         Intellectual abilities

•         Aspects of personality

 

            Self-esteem is more similar in siblings who are closer genetically (identical twins versus fraternal twins or nontwins).

 

Social Contributions to Self-Esteem

 

•         Approval and support of others

•         If children feel loved, they believe they are worthy of others’ love and vice versa.

•         Children begin to become concerned about parents’ love and approval at about 2 years.

•         Parents need to condemn and reject the behavior, not the child.

•         Peer acceptance is important to self-esteem.

•         Children develop an internalized standard by which to judge themselves.

 

Appearance and Competence and
Self-Esteem

 

•         Attractive individuals are

 

•         Attractive people behave in more socially competent ways.

 

•         Attractive people behave in ways that draw others to them and that are appealing to others.

 

•         The association between self-esteem and attractiveness is stronger for girls than for boys, especially in late childhood and adolescence.

 

•         Why?

 

•         Academic success affects self-esteem more than self-esteem affects academic achievement.

 

 

 

School and Neighborhood as Contributors to Self-Esteem

 

•         Living in poverty is associated with lower self-esteem


Why?                    

•        


•          Minority children are more likely to live in poverty, with consequent effects on self-esteem.

 

•         Self-esteem is higher for Euro-American children than for African-American children until age 10, when the pattern reverses.

 

–        Why?

 

 

•         Children in other minority groups show different patterns of self-esteem.

 

–        Asian-American children have higher self-esteem than do Euro- or African-Americans during elementary school but lower self-esteem than those groups in middle school and high school.

 

•         Family, neighborhood, and friends all contribute to self-esteem in minority children (as they do in all children).

 

Is self-esteem stable or unstable?

 

Self-esteem is high in early childhood

 

            Once school starts it drops - social comparisons

 

•        But, from 4th grade it starts to rise again:

•        But

•        But

 

 

These effects have important effects:

 

  1. High academic S-E predicts school achievement

 

  1. High social S-E children are better liked by peers.

 

What affects self-esteem?

 

Culture: Social comparison

 

Early maturing girls, late maturing boys have low S-E.

 

Japanese children score lower on S-E than US children:

despite higher academic achievement. Why?

 

Child-rearing practices

 

Warm and responsive parents lead to high S-E:

makes children feel competent and worthwhile.

 

But, overly tolerant/indulgent parents create false sense of self-esteem.

 

 

Self-regulation and self-control

 

•        Self-regulation – capacity to monitor one’s activities to meet goal or demands

 

•        Self-control – ability to comply with expectations – even in absence of others

 

Developmental changes

 

Young infants – behavior is corregulated

 

•        Restraining devices used

•        Verbal warnings

 

After 18 months:

 

•        demands for appropriate behavior

•        demands for competent action

 

•        At 5 years: “do” demands work better than “don’t” demands

 

Children unable to delay gratification until 2-3 years

 

Why important to delay?

 

Impact on later life

 

  1. 12 years:

 

  1. Self-regulating preschoolers: judged to be more academically and socially competent by parents

 

Why differences at all?

 

•        Some genetic

•        Mostly socialization – caregivers should encourage autonomy with control