MA (PSYCHOLOGY) LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY MA (Psychology) MAP609 LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY MAP 609 www.cuchd. in
MASTER OF PSYCHOLOGY SEMESTER-II LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY MAP609 1 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY Institute of Distance and Online Learning Course Development Committee Prof. (Dr.) R.S.Bawa Pro Chancellor, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Punjab Advisors Prof. (Dr.) Bharat Bhushan, Director – IGNOU Prof. (Dr.) Majulika Srivastava, Director – CIQA, IGNOU Programme Coordinators & Editing Team Master of Business Administration (MBA) Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Coordinator – Dr. Rupali Arora Coordinator – Dr. Simran Jewandah Master of Computer Applications (MCA) Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) Coordinator – Dr. Raju Kumar Coordinator – Dr. Manisha Malhotra Master of Commerce (M.Com.) Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) Coordinator – Dr. Aman Jindal Coordinator – Dr. Minakshi Garg Master of Arts (Psychology) Bachelor of Science (Travel &Tourism Management) Coordinator – Dr. Samerjeet Kaur Coordinator – Dr. Shikha Sharma Master of Arts (English) Bachelor of Arts (General) Coordinator – Dr. Ashita Chadha Coordinator – Ms. Neeraj Gohlan Academic and Administrative Management Prof. (Dr.) R. M. Bhagat Prof. (Dr.) S.S. Sehgal Executive Director – Sciences Registrar Prof. (Dr.) Manaswini Acharya Prof. (Dr.) Gurpreet Singh Executive Director – Liberal Arts Director – IDOL © No part of this publication should be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without the prior written permission of the authors and the publisher. SLM SPECIALLY PREPARED FOR CU IDOL STUDENTS Printed and Published by: TeamLease Edtech Limited www.teamleaseedtech.com CONTACT NO:- 01133002345 For: CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY 2 Institute of Distance and Online Learning CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
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CONTENT Unit 1 Introduction To Life-Span........................................................................................... 5 Unit 2 Characterisitcs And Developmental Issues.............................................................. 16 Unit 3 Development Of Self................................................................................................... 27 Unit 4 Psychoanalytic Theories Of Development................................................................ 40 Unit 5 Cognitive Theories Of Development......................................................................... 56 Unit 6 Ecological Theories Of Development........................................................................ 70 Unit 7 Methods In Developmental Psychology.................................................................... 82 Unit 8 Conception .................................................................................................................. 95 Unit 9 Emotional Development........................................................................................... 108 Unit 10 Social Development ................................................................................................ 123 Unit 11 Aging........................................................................................................................ 135 4 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO LIFE-SPAN Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Meaning and Definition of Life-Span Development Psychology Scope of Life-Span Development Psychology Physical Development Cognitive Development Personality and social development Life Span Perspective on Development Characteristics of Life Span Development Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) 1.10.Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the meaning of human development • Explore the lifespan perspective on human development • Define the scope of life span development • Analyse the characteristics of life span development INTRODUCTION By definition, living involves being in constant development. Developmental psychology is interested in the scientific study of ontogenetic development, that is, all stages of development from the prenatal until old age and death. It probes the fundamental theories of growth and development as well as the psychological functions involved in the process of development. In the past, researchers were primarily interested in the developmental stages of childhood and adolescence. This particular field of developmental psychology has typically been termed “child psychology.” In essence, developmental psychology as we know it today emerged from child psychology. Today, child psychology is considered only one of many aspects of developmental psychology. 5 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Development describes the growth of humans throughout the lifespan, from conception to death. It refers to development as patterns of change over time. It does not just involve the biological and physical aspects of growth, but also the cognitive and social aspects associated with development. Life span development includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures versus learning through experience. As for issues in development, a number of major issues have emerged in the study of human development. These issues include whether development is influenced more by nature or nurture, whether development occur slowly and smoothly, and whether changes happen in stages. MEANING AND DEFINITION OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including: motor skills, cognitive development, executive functions, moral understanding, language acquisition, social change, personality, emotional development, self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology is a branch of modern psychology that studies the ontogenetic development of individual human beings, which includes all stages of development from the prenatal until old age and death. There have been two major discussions in the theoretical issues of human development: 1) The interplay between biological inheritance and social environment, and 2) Whether psychological development is continuous (quantitative) or discontinuous (qualitative). The longitudinal and cross-sectional methods are two preferred designs in the study of human development, but, combining the advantages of both, a cross-design paradigm has been proposed. The study of human development started with John Locke in England and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France. Other influential contributors to the field were Charles Darwin, Wilhelm Preyer, G. Stanley Hall, Louis W. Stern, Karl and Charlotte Buhler, Alfred Binet, Lewis Terman, Sigmund Freud, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, Arnold Gesell, Jean Jean Piaget, Eric Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky. 6 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The major theories that have shaped developmental psychology are psychoanalysis (Freud), behaviourism (Watson), genetic epistemology (Jean Piaget), and the theory of the historical- cultural developmental process of the mind (Vygotsky). Life span development is an important field of Developmental Psychology which is concerned with various developmental changes occurring in an individual from conception till death. It is a diversified and a growing field concerned with application. It studies various aspects of human development including physical, intellectual and social. Life span development is a field of study that takes a scientific approach and examines patterns of growth, change and stability in behaviour that occur throughout the lifespan. Life span development focuses on human development. • It seeks to understand universal principles of development. • To know how cultural, racial and ethnic differences affect development. • To understand the traits and characteristics that differentiates one person from another. It should be remembered that human development is a continuous process which lasts throughout one‘s life. Developmental Psychologists are not only interested in changes that take place as we develop, but they are also interested in stability. They are interested in knowing when and how human behaviour reveals consistency and continuity with prior behaviour. SCOPE OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY Life span development covers several diverse areas. Some topical areas in lifespan development are as follows: Physical Development: Physical development includes how our brain, nervous system, muscles and sense organs influence our development. Our biological needs such as the need for food, hunger, drink, sleep, etc., influence and shape our behaviour. It also studies how malnutrition influence human growth, how one‘s physical performance declines as one ages, etc. Cognitive Development: It studies how growth and changes influence intellectual capabilities. Cognitive developmentalists examine how learning, memory, problem solving and intelligence influence our development. They also study how problem solving and intelligence influence our development. They also study how problem –solving skills change over the course of one‘s life. 7 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Personality and social development: Personality development is the study of stability and change in the characteristics that differentiate one person from another over the life span. Social development is concerned with the ways in which individuals interactions and relationships with others grow, change and remain stable over the course of life. Developmental psychologists are interested in personality development and are interested in studying stable, enduring personality traits throughout the life span. Social developmental psychologists are interested in examining how racism or poverty or divorce influences our development. LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPMENT The study of development according to the Life-Span Perspective (LSP) includes the following assumptions: 1. Development is life-long, i.e. it takes place across all age groups starting from conception to old age. It includes both gains and losses, which interact in dynamic (change in one aspect goes with changes in others) ways throughout the life-span. 2. The various processes of human development, i.e. biological, cognitive, and socio- emotional are interwoven in the development of a person throughout the life-span. 3. Development is multi-directional. Some dimensions or components of a given dimension of development may increase, while others show decrement. For example, the experiences of adults may make them wiser and guide their decisions. However, with an increase in age, one’s performance is likely to decrease on tasks requiring speed, such as running. 4. Development is highly plastic, i.e. within person, modifiability is found in psychological development, though plasticity varies among individuals. This means skills and abilities can be improved or developed throughout the life-span. 5. Development is influenced by historical conditions. For example, the experiences of 20-year olds who lived through the freedom struggle in India would be very different from the experiences of 20 year olds of today. The career orientation of school students today is very different from those students who were in schools 50 years ago. 6. Development is the concern of a number of disciplines. Different disciplines like psychology, anthropology, sociology, and neuro-sciences study human development, each trying to provide answers to development throughout the life-span. 7. An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was inherited, the physical environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts. For example, the life events in everyone’s life are not the same, such as, death of a parent, accident, earthquake, etc., affect the course of one’s life as also the positive. 8 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT The life span perspective argues that significant modifications take place throughout development. It consists of development of humans in multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual factors. The development involves growth, maintenance and regulation. Changes that occur are interpreted in terms of the requirements of the culture and context of the occurrences. According to Paul Baltes, humans have the capacity, plasticity and the ability for positive change to the environmental demands that are being made on the individual constantly. Throughout life the individual learns ways and means to compensate and overcome difficulties. According to Baltes positive characteristics of growing old such as learning ways to compensate and overcome (Boyd and Bee, 2006) as an important characteristic of old age. These characteristics form a family of beliefs which specify a coherent view of the nature of development. It is the application of these beliefs as a coordinated whole which characterises the life-span approach. The important characteristics beliefs of the life span approach are given below: 1) Development is Lifelong: This belief has two separate aspects. First, the potential for development extends across the entire life span: there is no assumption that the life course must reach a plateau or decline during adulthood and old age. Second, development may involve processes which are not present at birth but emerge throughout the life span. No age period dominates during development. Researchers increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of adults at different points in their development. Gains and losses in development occur throughout the life cycle. 2) Development is Multidimensional: Multidimensionality refers to the fact that development cannot be described by a single criterion such as increases or decreases in a behaviour. It occurs in the biological, cognitive and social emotional domains. 3) Development is Multidirectional: The principle of multidirectional maintains that there is no single, normal path that development must or should take. In other words, healthy developmental outcomes are achieved in a wide variety of ways. Development is often comprised of multiple abilities which take different directions, showing different types of change or constancy. Some dimensions or aspects of development may be increasing while others are declining or not changing. 9 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4) Development is Plastic: Plasticity refers to the within-person variability which is possible for a particular behaviour or development. For example, infants who have a hemisphere of the brain removed shortly after birth (as a treatment for epilepsy) can recover the functions associated with that hemisphere as the brain reorganises itself and the remaining hemisphere takes over those functions. A key part of the research agendas in developmental psychology is to understand the nature and the limits of plasticity in various domains of functioning. Development can be modified by life circumstances to some extent. Plasticity involves the degree to which characteristics change or remain stable. 5) Development is Contextual: Development varies across the different contexts in which we live our lives. For example, social and rural environments are associated with different sets of factors which have the potential to impact on development; understanding how development differs for individuals within these two settings requires an understanding of the differing contexts. It occurs in the context of a person’s biological make-up, physical environment and social, historical and cultural contexts. 6) Development is Multidisciplinary: The study of developmental psychology is multidisciplinary. That is, the sources of age- related changes do not lie within the province of any one discipline. For example, psychological methodologies may not be appropriate for understanding factors that are sociological in nature. Rather, an understanding of human development will be achieved only by research conducted from the perspective of disciplines such as sociology, linguistics, anthropology, computer science, neuroscience and medicine. 7) Development involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation: The mastery of life involves conflict and competition among three goals of human development: growth, maintenance and regulation 8) Development is Embedded in History: Development is also historically situated and is always influenced by historical conditions. The historical time period in which we grow up affects our development. 9) Normative Age Graded Influences: Biological and environmental influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group (example: Childhood, Puberty) also influences development. 10 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
10) Normative History Graded Influences: Biological and environmental influences that are associated with history that are common to people of a particular generation (example: Depression, The AIDS epidemic) also influences. 11) Non-normative Events: Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an individual’s life; the occurrence, the pattern, and sequence of these events are not applicable to most individuals (e.g. Death of a parent at young age, getting a serious illness, winning a lottery). SUMMARY 1. Developmental psychology is interested in the scientific study of sensory and motor development as well as in cognitive, linguistic, emotional, and social development. 2. Throughout their lives, humans go through various stages of development. Developmental psychologists study how people grow, develop and adapt at different life stages. 3. Developmental psychologists study human growth and development over the lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth. 4. A major proportion of theories in this discipline focus on development during childhood. 5. The three goals of developmental psychology are to describe, explain, and to optimize development 6. Developmental psychologists focus both on typical patterns of change and individual variations in patterns of change 7. Developmental psychologists must also seek to explain the changes they have observed in relation to normative processes and individual differences. 8. Finally, developmental psychologists hope to optimize development, and apply their theories to help people in practical situations KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Developmental milestone- Any particular act or ability in physical or mental development that is obvious and predictable so that children all over the world develop it at about the same time and it can be used for comparison purposes to measure development. 11 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Developmental psychology- A subfield of psychology that draws upon the knowledge base and expertise of many different disciplines to help explain how and why people stay the same and how and why people change as they develop throughout the life span. • Life-span development- 1. The predictable, multidimensional changes an individual goes through over the course of growth from an infant, through childhood, adolescence, and across the adult years to senescence and death. 2. The study of psychological development across the whole life span with an emphasis on adult change. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Write a note on human development across lifetime. 2. What are the characteristics of life-span development? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQs AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1) Do you agree that human development is a lifetime process? Explain how development takes place in humans over lifetime? 2) Although physical development is something that is most visible, human beings develop in other areas as well. What are some of the aspects in which you can see human development? 3) Human development is comprehensive and encompasses many areas. Do you think the areas of human development are interlinked or they are discrete? Validate your answers with examples 4) Development is not a smooth process. What are some of the issues or challenges a person has to face in the process of development? 5) You must have seen people around you being born, grow up and die. There is a lot of stuff that happens between birth and death. What is the one thing that you find about this journey most fascinating? 12 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. A major part of developmental psychology is devoted to the understanding of behaviour of . [a] Children [b] Adolescents [c] Women [d] Old people 2. The perspective which is concerned with characteristic changes that occur in people as they mature is known as . [a] Developmental Perspective [b] Biological Perspective [c] Humanistic Perspective [d] Psychoanalytic Perspective 3 Which of the following is not an enduring theme of developmental psychology? [a] Nature and nurture. [b] Mechanisms for change. [c] Cognitive development. [d] Universality & context specificity. 13 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. includes how our brain, nervous system, muscles and sense organs influence our development. [a] Physical Development [b] Cognitive Development [c] Social Development [d] Personality Development 5. studies the growth and changes influence intellectual capabilities. [a] Physical Development [b] Cognitive Development [c] Social Development [d] Personality Development Answer 1. [a] 2 [a] 3 [d] 4 [a] 5 [b] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. 14 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press 15 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 2 CHARACTERISITCS AND DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Influences on Development Genetics Environment Socialization and its Agents Interaction between Nature, Nurture and Society Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Get an understanding on the factors impacting human development • Analyse the role of genetics, environment and socialization on human development • Critically evaluate the interaction between nature and nurture in human lifespan and human development • Study human development in a holistic and balanced manner INTRODUCTION Have you observed in your class that some of you have dark skin, others have light coloured skins, colour of your hair and eyes are different, some of you are tall, others short, some are quiet or sad while others are talkative or cheerful. People also differ with respect to intelligence, learning abilities, memory, and other psychological characteristics besides physical characteristics. Despite these variations, no one can be mistaken for any other species: we all are homo sapiens. What causes us to be different from each other but at the same time more like each other? The answer lies in the interaction of heredity and environment. 16 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The nature versus nurture debate is about the relative influence of an individual's innate attributes as opposed to the experiences from the environment one is brought up in, in determining individual differences in physical and behavioural traits. The philosophy that humans acquire all or most of their behavioural traits from \"nurture\" is known as tabula rasa (\"blank slate\"). The nature-nurture debate goes by several names that are often used interchangeably in different sub-disciplines of psychology. These are nativism-empiricism (perception); maturation versus learning (developmental psychology); heredity versus environment (individual differences). Francis Galton (1869) began the nature-nurture debate when he referred to genes and environment as the two sources of individual differences in his study of giftedness. In recent years, both types of factors have come to be recognized as playing interacting roles in development. So, several modern psychologists consider the question naive and representing an outdated state of knowledge. The famous psychologist, Donald Hebb, is said to have once answered a journalist's question of \"Which, nature or nurture, contributes more to personality?\" by asking in response, \"Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?\" INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT Genetic transmission is very complex. Most characteristics that we observe in humans are combinations of larger number of genes. You can imagine the combinations produced by 80,000 or more genes – accounting for a variety of characteristics and behaviours. It is also not possible to possess all the characteristics made available to us by our genetic structure. The actual genetic material or a person’s genetic heritage is known as genotype. However, not all of this genetic material is apparent or distinctly identifiable in our observable characteristics. Phenotype is the way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable and measurable characteristics. Phenotypes include physical traits, such as height, weight, eye and skin colour, and many of the psychological characteristics such as intelligence, creativity, and personality. These observable characteristics of an individual are the result of the interaction between the person’s inherited traits and the environment. You know it is the genetic code which predisposes a child to develop in a particular way. Genes provide a distinct blueprint and timetable for the development of an individual. But genes do not exist in isolation and development occurs within the context of an individual’s environment. This is what makes each one of us a unique person. What are the environmental influences? How does the environment affect development? Imagine a child, with genotype that predisposes her/him to be introverted, in an environment that promotes social interaction and extroversion. 17 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The influence of such an environment may make the child a little extroverted. Let us take another example. An individual with “short” height genes, even if s/he is in a very good nutritional environment, will never be able to be taller than average. This shows that genes set the limit and within that limit the environment influences development. You know by now that parents provide the genes for the child’s development. Do you know that they also play an important role in determining the type of environment their children will encounter? Sandra Scarr (1992) believes that the environment parents provide for their children depends to some extent on their own genetic predisposition. For example, if parents are intelligent and are good readers they would provide their children with books to read, with the likely outcome that their children would become good readers who enjoy reading. A child’s own genotype (what s/he has inherited) such as being cooperative, and attentive is likely to result in teachers and parents giving more pleasant response as compared to children who are not cooperative or not attentive. Besides these, children themselves choose certain environments based on their genotype. For example, because of their genotype, children may perform well in music or sports and they will seek and spend more time in environments, which will enable them to perform their musical skills; similarly an athlete would seek sports-related environment. These interactions with environment keep changing from infancy through adolescence. Environmental influences are as complex as the genes we inherit. If your class monitor is selected on the basis of being academically bright and a popular student, do you think it is because of her/his genes or the influence of the environment? If a child from a rural area who is very intelligent, is not able to get a job because of her/his inability to express herself/ himself fluently or handle computers, do you think - it is because of genes or environment? GENETICS The small particles in the nucleus of the cell which contain the genes are responsible for traits or characteristics we inherit (such as eye colour, hair colour etc.). These are called chromosomes. Chromosomes exist in pairs in all the cells of the body. The human cell has 46 chromosomes arranged in 23 pairs. One member from each pair comes from the mother and the other one from the father. The genes, which are the actual trait carriers, are found in very large numbers in each chromosome. The two most important chemicals which are involved in genetic transmission are “DNA” or deoxyribonucleic acid and “RNA” or ribonucleic acid. These two complex chemical acids work together. The DNA determines physical characteristics, such as eye colour, brain character eristics, baldness, and many other things. Basically, the DNA molecules are found 18 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
in the fertilized ovum. They remember what the parents were like and pass the message for making of the child. The RNA acts as an assistant to DNA. The DNA remains in the cell’s nucleus and guides the cell’s activities by producing RNA. The RNA then moves out and controls cellular functions. The fertilized zygote brings together various combinations of chromosomes. In this way, different genes are transferred from each child of the same set of parents. For this reason each child bears more similarity to his on her blood relatives than to anyone else. At the same time there are also many differences amongst blood relatives. Only identical twins (monozygotic) have identical chromosomes and genes as they are formed by duplication of a single zygote. Twins who are not similar to one another (fraternal twins), develop from two separate zygotes (dizygotic). These fraternal twins may resemble each other, like any brother and sister, but they will also be different from one another in many ways. Phenotype and Genotype It is common knowledge that there is more colour blindness or lack of sensitivity to certain colours among males than females. A grandmother and mother can transmit this condition to the male child without being colour blind themselves. This is because in the male this disorder is dominant, whereas in female it is recessive. The genes form pairs. If both genes in a pair are dominant, the individual will display the specific trait (e.g. colour blindness). If one gene is dominant and the other recessive, the dominant will still prevail. The recessive gene will be passed on and may show up in a later generation. The dominant gene, therefore, is the one responsible for a particular trait to show up in a person. The characteristics which show up are displayed (eye, colour, etc.) are called phenotypes. The recessive gene does not show up as a trait, unless paired with another gene just like it. The characteristics that are carried genetically (as recessive genes) but are not displayed are called genotypes. ENVIRONMENT Nature refers to what a child has inherited genetically, from the parents (e.g. eye colour, appearance, etc.). The influence of environment on the development of the child (e.g. liking for a type of music) is referred to as nurture. The earlier view of child development focused either entirely on nature or nurture. Many favoured heredity, and believed that we are born with certain talents and personalities. These determine who we are and what we become. In the other view, the focus was on the role of environment. We learn to do things for which we get rewards (or praises) and do not do things for which we are punished (including disapproval from elders). Both views contained some truth but neither is complete. To 19 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
understand the development of a person, we have to study the complex interaction between nature and nurture (or heredity and environment) Let us consider an example. A child is born with a talent for music. In the child’s family, this talent for music is expressed by the child at an early age, through his activities of singing and listening to music. The parents notice the child’s interest in music and expose the child to more music and give him a toy musical instrument (e.g. ek tara or flute). The child’s interest in music grows further and his talent develops and this make the parents offer even more musical experiences (e.g. playing music on stage, attending music concerts etc.). This has a further positive effect on the child’s talent and his desire to play music. It is thus clear that both the child’s inherited talent and environment shaped his/her development. The child had the talent for music, but this led to a change in the environment by making her parents provide more musical experiences at home. Now these experiences in the environment further developed the child’s talent and motivation and made the parents introduce more musical experiences to the child. The process goes on and on like this in a form of transaction. This approach to understanding development is called a transactional model (TA). The TA model is able to explain why brothers and sisters, though physically in the same environment, always grow up in “different” ways. This simply means that the environment of family life is always changing in the process of adjusting to the personalities of its members. A first born child grows up with very different experiences than a middle born or youngest child. A child who displays temper tantrums (getting angry easily, without sufficient cause) has a very different experience with her parents as compared to her easy going brother. Let us take another example to make the point more clear. Suppose you as a parent (if not today, then in the future) are facing difficulty with your argumentative 12-year old. The T.A. model reminds you that you must first think about the factor which has brought your child to this point. Is it a personality trait that is troubling you? Is she stubborn (does not listen to others) all the time and is thus part of her nature? Does she resist any change in her usual routine? Does she lack the ability to talk to you about what’s troubling her, and could that be upsetting her? The child represents one part of the puzzle or problem which has to be solved. The next questions you have to ask are: What is my role in all this? Am I somehow rewarding the very behaviours? Am I trying to stop by paying too much attention to them? Am I having too much expectation from a 12-year old? Am I reminded of my younger sister with whom I had faced a similar problem, and could be causing irritation in me now? The environment which includes you forms the other-part of the picture. Finally, you need to put the two together to obtain a full picture of what is going on and how to bring about a 20 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
positive change. In which way my behaviour is affecting my child? And most importantly, what do I need to change to break this pattern of behaviour (argumentation in the child) located in its transactions with nurture? How can I better understand the forces behind my child’s behaviour so as to improve my response to it? This may sound very theoretical to some of you but it’s exactly the questions which many parents are always asking themselves, even if they are not aware of it. By understanding the TA-model you will be in a better position to understand the interaction between nature and nurture which is responsible for your child’s behaviour and development. This will help you in deciding which role you can play for effective development and improve the child’s behaviour. In summary according to the transactional model of development, the child changes the environment which in turn changes the child. The child’s development is like a complex dance in which nature and nurture both lead, and are led. SOCIALISATION AND ITS AGENTS As a child grows up, there is a deliberate and conscious effort made through active training to make the child learn the values and expectations of the society he or she lives in. The child has to learn to adjust and accommodate her behaviour according to the rules for appropriate behaviour in the society. Parents, teachers, elders as well as the peers (same age group children) all influence and control the behaviour of a child. According to the Indian view, a child comes to this world with certain behavioural tendencies which carry over from previous births. The role of the family is to bring up the child in such a way (palan) that her positive capacities are developed fully and negative tendencies are controlled. Apart from the family, there are also other influences on the child from the outside environment. The important agents of socialization include media, day-care centres, peer group, school and religion. Parents have the most direct effect on the development of the child. They are role models for children. Their responses to child behaviour, giving approval or disapproval etc. mould the personality of child and plays a very important role in acquiring rules. In addition, parents arrange the environment of a children in different ways. They take the child outside in specific settings like museum, church, temple, mosque, hill station, sea-beach. The grandparents and aunts and uncles of the child also contribute in the socialization process. Children learn manners and skills by observing parents. During the life span of a person, at different ages, specific rituals are performed. These rituals or samskaras represent the changes in the child from one stage to another. They contribute in forming the identity of the child. Nowadays, children search and know the world through TV, 21 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
magazines, books, comics, radio and films. This media influences the socialization of the child in significant ways. A positive influence can be learning the importance of family values by watching good and informative programmes. Watching aggressive and programmes based on violence can influence the child negatively. In the present way of life, when both parents are doing jobs, very young children have to be left at day-care centres. These centres, therefore, play an important role in the socialization of the child because the child will learn many things about appropriate behaviour in the society. For children from poor background, the Aganwadis under the programme of Integrated Child Development (ICDS) help children to learn about appropriate social behaviour and the importance of community life. INTERACTION BETWEEN NATURE, NURTURE AND SOCIETY Two types of environmental conditions are important to note. Some maternal characteristics and external harmful agents can cause considerable risk for the developing embryo or fetus. Very young mothers, particularly those under 17, and mothers over 35 years of age have greater risk of prenatal and birth complications and death of the fetus or the new born (neonate). Inadequate diet and nutritional deficiency of the mother increases the risk of congenital defects, still birth and infant mortality during the first year. Prolonged and severe emotional stress of the pregnant mothers increases the chances of miscarriage, premature delivery and temperamental state of the babies. Besides the maternal characteristics, a number of environmental agents such as diseases, viruses, drugs, chemicals and radiation can adversely affect the prenatal development and produce birth defects. Such external harmful agents are known as teratogens. Maternal diseases such as rubella (German measles), syphilis, genital herpes, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), chicken pox, cholera, diabetes, hepatitis, mumps, tuberculosis and influenza etc., several drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, cocaine, heroin, LSD, some antibiotics and medicines in excess doses and X-ray and other exposure to radiation and several other chemicals and environmental pollutions are known teratogens which cause birth defects increasing the risk in the development of the embryo, the fetus or the new born. The influence of the peer group of the child, particularly during middle childhood is very important. In the interactions with the children of the same age group, a child learns the importance of team work, sharing, and trust. One of the significant effects of this is that the child learns to adjust and accommodate to the view point of the others. The school which the child attends is another very important socializing agent. The child learns different types of social, intellectual, and physical skills in school. The school provides the child with a miniature society where he or she has to learn the right values and rules and 22 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
follow them. Teachers act as role models whose behaviour the children learn by imitation. Values such as honesty, democracy and fairness etc. are learnt in the school setting. Finally religion also plays an important role in socialization. In India there is freedom to follow any religion of one’s choice. Religion informs our beliefs about God, the purpose of our existence, the importance of family, social and spiritual life. Through the different festivals and rituals which are part of religion. We learn values of helping, sharing and sacrifice for others. SUMMARY 1. Development does not take place in a vacuum. It is always embedded in a particular sociocultural context. 2. Nature is the aspect that we consider of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. 3. Behavioural genetics has enabled psychology to understand and quantify the relative contribution of nature and nurture with regard to specific psychological traits. 4. Nurture is generally accepted as the influence of external factors after conception, which includes the product of exposure, life experiences and learning on an individual. 5. Transition during one’s lifetime such as entering school, becoming an adolescent, finding jobs, marrying, having children, retirement, etc. all are joint functions of the biological changes and changes in one’s environment. 6. The environment can change or alter during any time of the individual’s lifespan. 7. The nature versus nurture debate involves the extent to which particular aspects of behaviour are a product of either inherited (i.e., genetic) or acquired (i.e., learned) influences. 8. The nature vs. nurture debate attempts to understand whether our personalities and traits are develop by our genetic makeup and biological factors, or they are somehow shaped by our environment, including our parents, peers, and culture. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Genome- An organism's complete set of DNA is called its genome. • Phoneme - A phoneme is the set of all phenotypes expressed by a cell, tissue, organ, organism, or species. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What would your life be if you lived in a rural area or a small town, devoid of all amenities, which you are used to in a city (or vice-versa)? Discuss in small groups keeping in mind factors like poverty, illiteracy, pollution, population, etc 23 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
2. What are the various genetic components that affect human development? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQs AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Our body is a complex machine that has collected data from the time it has being conceived. This data is stored in the form of DNA in genes. Explain the significance of genes and genetic structure? 2. A person born in a well to do family is likely to succeed than a person born to an impoverished family. Do you agree to the statement? Give reasons for the same. 3. Even twins have distinct personalities. Elaborate the contribution of genetic and social influences on their overall development. 4. Your cousin has returned from hostel after 6 months. You notice many changes in his behaviour (positive or negative). What are these changes? What do think has influenced your cousin? 5. We are much more than what were born with. Are you a nativist of believe in empiricism? Give reasons for your choice. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQS) 1. Which of the following is not an enduring theme of developmental psychology? [a] Nature and nurture. [b] Mechanisms for change. [c] Cognitive development. [d] Universality & context specificity. 2. The purpose of heritability is. [a] To use simple equations to explore difficult concepts [b] To indicate how much variability in a population is due to genetic variation. 24 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
[c] To indicate how much variability in a population is due to environmental variation. [d] To indicate how much variability in a population is due to genetic determination. 3. Which of the following is not an example of the relationship between genes and environment? [a] Child’s genotype influencing child’s phenotype. [b] Child’s genotype influencing parent’s phenotype. [c] Child’s phenotype influencing the environment. [d] Parent’s genotype influencing child’s genotype. 4. There are _ pair of genes. [a] 23 [b] 21 [c] 22 [d] 20 5. is the hereditary material present in humans [a] Bone marrow [b] DNA [c] Neurons [d] Cell structure Answer 1 [b] 2 [d] 3 [c] 4 [a] 5 [b] 25 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. • Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press • Galton, F. (1869): Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences 26 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 3 DEVELOPMENT OF SELF Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Definition of Self The Development of Self-Concept Overview of Self (body image) Ideal Self Self Esteem Role Identity The Types of Self-Concept Carl Rogers and the Self-Concept Theory of Personality Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) 3.10.Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to; • Outline the meaning and definition of self • Chart out the process of development of self-concept • Describe the types of self-concept • Explain Carl Rogers and his theory on development of self-concept INTRODUCTION Who are you? What makes you “you?” You might answer with “I’m a mother,” or, “I’m a therapist,” or maybe, “I’m a believer,” “I’m a good friend,” “I’m a brother. “ Maybe you answer with, “I am excellent at my job,” “I’m an accomplished musician,” or “I’m a successful athlete.” Other responses might fall into the category of traits: “I’m a kind-hearted person,” “I’m intelligent and hard-working,” or “I’m laid-back and easy-going.” 27 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
These responses come from your internal sense of who you are. This sense is developed early in life, but it goes through constant evaluation and adjustment throughout the lifespan. In psychology, this sense of self has a specific term: self-concept. DEFINITION OF SELF Self-concept is an essential part in the development of personality. Self in term of psychology has two meanings that is attitude and feelings of a person’s towards himself, and something the whole psychological process that controls behaviour and self-adjustment According to Burns (1993) The Self-concept is self-esteem, self-worth or self-acceptance that includes all beliefs and judgments about ourselves, it will define who we are in our own mind, what we can do in our minds and what we become in our minds. According to Hurlock (1979) self-concept is the composition of the picture of self-perception, that perception it is belief, feelings, and attitudes about the values that are recognized by the individual as his traits. Hurlock explain that the composition of self-concept is formed from a variety of experiences in stages, the meaning that the composition is formed from experience since the children as a basic element. From that basic elements of the arrangement formed subsequent experience. Every element of self-concept of the new composed with arrangement to self-concept has been established before, and the arrangement will affect the shape of the arrangement that next ensues. Hurlock use the term self-concept as a makeup primer base, it composed from all social experience gained from family life that have influenced it. Form of involvement in the family affects the quality and intensity of self-concept person next. Sartain as cited by Purangol in his book argues that the concept of self as the views, feelings about ourselves which includes an appreciation, attitudes and feelings either perceived or not. Patterson describes the 'self', self-concept, self-structure is the perception of the relationship of \"I as the subject\" and \"me as an object\". In other words, the various aspects of life together with the values associated with these developments were organized into a strong unity. The self-concept is to do the imagery oneself as someone else, which he calls the looking- glass self (self-glass) as if we put glass in front of our own. The process begins by imagining how we look at others, we catch a glimpse of ourselves as in a mirror. For example, we feel our face attractive, or unattractive. The second process, we imagine how others judge our appearance, whether others judge us attractive, intelligent, or interesting. The third process, we then experience a feeling of pride or disappointed by engaging ourselves assessment and judgment of others. If the assessment is positive you feel about yourself, then later develop a 28 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
positive self-concept. On the contrary, the judgment of others towards us negatively, and we judge ourselves too negative, then we develop a negative self-concept. According to Carl Rogers the self is the aspect of phenomenological experience. Phenomenological experience is one aspect of our experience of the world is the one that meets our conscious experience is the experience of ourselves, or self THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT The self-concept plays an important role in determining behaviour of someone in order to know ourselves completely to resolve conflicts there is in him, and to interpret the experiences they gained. Therefore, the self-concept is necessary for someone to use it as reference of life. The self-concept of a person is not an innateness but are formed through the learning process from someone growth period from childhood to adulthood. Besides the self-concept generated from the process of individual interactions with the environment continuously. Burns mentioned some factors that influence the formations of self-concept which is quoted by Agus Priyanto, Factors that affect self-concept are: Overview of Self (body image) Self-image is a person's attitude toward his body consciously and unconsciously. This attitude includes perceptions and feelings about the size, shape, appearance function, and the potential of the body. Self- image associated with personality. The worldview of the individual against himself has an important impact on the psychological aspects of the individual. A realistic view of the self by receiving and measuring parts of the body itself can give rise to a sense of security, relieve anxiety, and can also improve self-esteem. Ideal Self Ideal self is the individual's perception of how one should behave based on standard of aspirations, objectives or specific personal votes. Ideal themselves began to grow in childhood are influenced by people who are important to her that provide benefits and expectations in adolescence, while the ideal self is to be formed through a process of identification of the parents, teachers, and other people close. Self-esteem Self-esteem is a personal assessment of the results achieved by analyzing how far behaviour can fulfil the ideal self. Self-esteem is very vulnerable interrupted during adolescence and old age. High self-esteem associated with the effectiveness of the group and acceptance by others. Meanwhile low self-esteem associated with poor interpersonal relationships and it is the risk of depression. 29 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Role: Roles are attitudes, behaviour values and goals expected of a person based on their position in the community. Roles are defined is the role in which a person has no other choice, whereas the acceptable role is the role of elected or selected individuals. Identity Identity is an awareness of self that comes from observation and assessment of individuals as well as a synthesis of all aspects of self-concept as a whole. Identity cards continued to grow since childhood coincided with the growth of self-concept. The self-concept essentially includes four basic aspects that consists of: 1. How do people observe themselves 2. How do people think about themselves 3. How do people rate themselves 4. How do people tried in various ways to enhance and sustain themselves Hurlock explain that the composition of self-concept is formed from a variety of experiences in stages, the meaning that the composition is formed from experience since the children as a basic element. From that basic elements of the arrangement formed subsequent experience. Every element of self-concept of the new composed with arrangement to self-concept has been established before, and the arrangement will affect the shape of the arrangement that next ensues. The composition of the primary self-concept help someone to establish secondary self- concept, it means that basic composition also determine of formation of subsequent experience, this is the beginning of the ideal-self developments will be prepared in the onward development. One’s ideal self-concept differs from self-concept that has been previously owned, because the ideal self-concept is more superior to the basic self-concept, and it is different from the self-image that may not be preferred. Ideal self-concept in formation is also influenced by self-concept has been established previously and it is also associated with a variety of special self-concept, until forming a hierarchical self-concept. In one’s life, desires and expectations are not always realized. Therefore, someone can establish a realistic ideal self- concept grew out of dissatisfaction with one’s self is associated with self-image and basic of self-concept has owned. This will affect the behaviour and the adjustment itself. Because the composition of self-concept of the hierarchical nature is the self-concept has been established, so it will not be easy to change. During its development, the ideal self-concept is formed from a realistic of self-concept can help in directing positive. Self-concept may be incentive for someone to achieve something 30 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
higher than what has been obtained. Ideal self-concept can also be composed of dreams and fantasies, as a form of disappointment and escape someone. Thus the Ideal self-concept is negative, can be a barrier in adjustment. In the formation of self-concept, the ideas owned or coveted by someone, sometimes different from the reality, including very high aspirations and expectations that are difficult to be realized. If there is a match between what is desired and reality, it will create self-acceptance. According to Rogers the individual perceive the experience as well as external object and attribute meaning to it. Total system of perception and meaning creates the individual phenomenological field. The core of the phenomenal field is to recognize what is called by the individual as me or I that is self. Self or self-concept symbolizes the pattern of perception that regular and consistent. Although self is change, it always maintaining, integrating, and organizing the quality of this pattern. THE TYPES OF SELF-CONCEPT According to Calhoun, the development of self-concept is divided into two, namely a positive self-concept and negative self-concept: • Positive Self-concept Positive self-concept shows their self-acceptance where people with positive self-concept knows himself very well. Positive self-concept is stable and varied. Individuals who have a positive self-concept can understand and accept the fact that a number of very large assortment of himself so an evaluation of himself to be positive and be able to accept what he was. • Negative Self-concept Calhoun negative self-concepts divide into two types, namely: a. Individual views of himself totally disorganized, do not have feelings, stability and wholeness. The people really do not know who he is, his strengths and weaknesses or appreciated in his life. b. `View of himself too stable and orderly. This could occur because individuals are educated in a way that is very hard, thus creating a self-image that does not allow any deviation from set of laws which in his mind is a proper way of life. William D brooks and Philip Emmert divided of self-concept into two kinds that are: 1. Positive Self-concept that is characterized by such things as the following: a. Have confidence that he was able to overcome the problem 31 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
b. Feel equal with others c. Receiving a compliment without feeling shame or guilt d. Recognizing that every human being has desires, feelings and behaviours that are not necessarily fully approved by society e. Knowing and realizing the deficiencies that exist within him and tried to fix it. 2. Negative Self-concept which characterized as follow: a. Sensitive to criticism. Almost always cannot stand the criticism of receipt. He saw it as the efforts of others to drop his price, so sometimes he looks stubborn and trying to maintain his opinion using a variety of justifications and false logic. b. The response to the praise, though he seemed not to care and avoid the compliment but still seemed enthusiastic. c. Responds to praise, though he seemed not to care and avoid the compliment but enthusiasm will still appear. d. Have a tendency to feel unwelcome others. His reaction to see each other as enemies, not least because he was not considered. Even so he will feel that he is the victim of a social system that is not right. Meanwhile Fitts states that there are five aspects of the general category in the self-concept that are physical self-concept, personal self-concept, social self-concept, moral self-concept, and family self-concept • Physical self-concept. This concept means the views, thoughts, and assessment of adolescents to its own. Individuals known to have a physical self-concept when he looked positively his appearance, health, skin, good looks, as well as the ideal body size. Individuals considered to have a negative self-concept when looking at those things negatively. • b. Personal self-concept. This concept means the views, thoughts, and feelings of adolescents to own person. Someone classified as having a positive self-concept when looking at himself as a happy, optimistic, and able to control themselves, and have a variety of abilities. Conversely considered to have a negative self-concept when looking at themselves as unhappy, pessimistic, and unable to control themselves, and have a wide variety of shortage. • Social self-concept. 32 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
This concept means the views, thoughts, judgments, feelings of adolescents to the existing social tendencies on himself. Social self-concept relates to the ability of touch with the world outside himself, feeling capable and valuable within the scope of social interaction. Someone classified as having a positive social self-concept if it sees itself as the people who are interested in others, understand others, find it easy along with other people, to feel cared for, keeping the feelings of others, and is active in the social activities. Instead, someone is said to have a negative social self-concept if sees himself as a person who is indifferent to others, it is difficult along with other people, do not pay attention to others, and not active in social activities. • d. Moral self-concept. This concept means the views, thoughts, feelings, and judgments about the morality of adolescents themselves. This concept relates to the values and principles that mean giving meaning and direction of one's life. Someone classified as having a positive self-concept of moral ethics if sees himself as a person who cling to the values of moral ethics. Instead classified as having negative self-concept of moral ethics when someone sees himself as the one who deviates from the standard of moral value that should be followed. • The family self-concept. This concept means the views, thoughts, judgments, and adolescent mind on her own family. The family self-concept related to the presence of a person in the family. Someone classified as having a positive family self-concept when looking at himself loved and beloved the family, happy with family, proud family got a lot of help and encouragement of family. Conversely, if classified as having a negative family self-concept if a person sees himself as someone who is not comfortable in the situation of the family, hates his own family and never get impulse of his own family CARL ROGERS AND THE SELF-CONCEPT THEORY OF PERSONALITY Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self- actualize - i.e., to fulfil one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-beingness' we can.Like a flower that will grow to its full potential if the conditions are right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their potential if their environment is good enough. However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are meant to develop in different ways according to our personality. Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative. They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing process. Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence. 33 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e., who they would like to be) is congruent with their actual behaviour (self-image). Rogers describes an individual who is actualizing as a fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether we will become self-actualized is childhood experience. 3.6.1 The Fully Functioning Person Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goal. This means that the person is in touch with the here and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings, continually growing and changing. In many ways, Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as an ideal and one that people do not ultimately achieve. It is wrong to think of this as an end or completion of life’s journey; rather it is a process of always becoming and changing. Rogers identified five characteristics of the fully functioning person: 1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resorting to ego defense mechanisms). 2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment). 3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. People’s own decisions are the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices. 4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk-taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences. 5. Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and experiences. For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to know. Often such people are high achievers in society. Critics claim that the fully functioning person is a product of Western culture. In other cultures, such as Eastern cultures, the achievement of the group is valued more highly than the achievement of any one person. 3.6.2. Personality Development Central to Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept. This is defined as \"the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself.\" 34 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is our inner personality, and can be likened to the soul, or Freud's psyche. The self is influenced by the experiences a person has in their life, and out interpretations of those experiences. Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation by others. According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self. The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image. The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves. The self-concept includes three components: Self-worth Self-worth (or self-esteem) comprises what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father. Self-image How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. At a simple level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves in the world. Ideal-self This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing. The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc. SUMMARY 1. Since the self-concept begins to form, someone will behave in accordance with the self- concept they have. 2. If a person's behaviour is inconsistent with the concept itself, it would appear uncomfortable feeling in him. 3. This is the most important of the concept of self. One's view of himself will determine the action to be done. 35 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. If a person has a positive self-concept, it will form a high appreciation also to themselves, or to say that he has a high self-esteem. 5. Respect for self is the self-evaluation will determine the extent to which a person sure of her abilities and her success. If he has positive self-concept, it is demonstrated by the high self-esteem. 6. Everything behaviour will always be focused on success. He will try and strive to always realize the concept itself. For example, if one feels that he can then he will study hard and work hard to prove that he is really good at such beliefs. 7. He also will not easily discourage because they have confidence that he would succeed because of their versatility. 8. Developing self-concept can be done in various ways, for example to learn to like yourself, develop positive thoughts about yourself and others, improve the quality of interpersonal relationships, being proactive, maintaining the balance of life and change the way we communicate. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Self-worth- Self-worth (or self-esteem) comprises what we think about ourselves. • Self-image- How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. • Ideal-self- This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What are the different ways in which psychologists have classified self and its types? 2. Explain Carl Roger’s concept of personality development? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. We perceive ourselves quiet differently from what others perceive us. What are these images? Can you elaborate the types of images people have? 36 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
2. Some of your friends think positively about themselves. Other constantly criticise themselves. Explain with examples what are the different ways in which people perceive themselves? 3. Carl Rogers has explained how we develop a sense of self. Elaborate on the self-concept as developed by Carl Rogers. 4. How is self-concept and personality related? 5. What are the characteristics of a fully functioning individual? B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. is the composition of the picture of self-perception, belief, feelings, and attitudes. [a] Self Esteem [b] Ideal Self [c] Self Concept [d] Identity 2. is an awareness of self that comes from observation and assessment of individuals as well as a synthesis of all aspects of self-concept as a whole. [a] Self Esteem [b] Ideal Self [c] Self Concept [d] Identity 3. is the individual's perception of how one should behave based on standard of aspirations, objectives or specific personal votes. [a] Self Esteem [b] Ideal Self [c] Self Concept [d] Identity 37 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. is a personal assessment of the results achieved by analysing how far behaviour can fulfil the ideal self [a] Self Esteem [b] Ideal Self [c] Self Concept [d] Identity 5. is a person's attitude toward his body consciously and unconsciously. [a] Self Image [b] Ideal Self [c] Self Concept [d] Identity Answer 1 [c] 2 [d] 3 [b] 4 [a] 5 [a] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. 38 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press. • Burns, R. B., Konsep Diri Teori, (1993). Pengukuran, Perkembangan, dan Perilaku. • Hurlock, E.B., (1979). Personality Development. New York: Megraw-Hill Kogakusha, 39 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 4 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Sigmund Freud Development According To Freud Theory of Psychosexual Development Stages of Psycho-sexual development and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Perspective Theory of Psychosocial Stages of Development Stages of Psycho- social development Strengths and weaknesses of Erikson’s theory Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able, • Describe Sigmund Freud’s contribution to development of human personality • Describe the psycho sexual stages of development as given by Sigmund Freud • Describe Erik Erikson’s contribution to development of human personality Describe the psycho social stages of development as given by Erik Erikson • Analyse and compare the two approached to human development INTRODUCTION Originating in the work of Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic perspective emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we’re not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality. The psychodynamic perspective has evolved considerably since Freud’s time, and now includes innovative new approaches such as object relations theory and neuropsychoanalysis. Some psychodynamic concepts have held up well to empirical scrutiny while others have not, and aspects of the theory remain controversial, but the psychodynamic perspective continues to influence many different areas of contemporary psychology. 40 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
SIGMUND FREUD SIGMUND FREUD (1856–1939) was the first born in a Viennese family of three boys and five girls. His father, like many others of his time and place, was very authoritarian. Freud’s family background is a factor to consider in understanding the development of his theory. Even though Freud’s family had limited finances and was forced to live in a crowded apartment, his parents made every effort to foster his obvious intellectual capacities. Freud had many interests, but his career choices were restricted because of his Jewish heritage. He finally settled on medicine. Only 4 years after earning his medical degree from the University of Vienna at the age of 26, he attained a prestigious position there as a lecturer. Freud devoted most of his life to formulating and extending his theory of psychoanalysis. Interestingly, the most creative phase of his life corresponded to a period when he was experiencing severe emotional problems of his own. During his early 40s, Freud had numerous psychosomatic disorders, as well as exaggerated fears of dying and other phobias, and was involved in the difficult task of self-analysis. By exploring the meaning of his own dreams, he gained insights into the dynamics of personality development. He first examined his childhood memories and came to realize the intense hostility he had felt for his father. He also recalled his childhood sexual feelings for his mother, who was attractive, loving, and protective. He then clinically formulated his theory as he observed his patients work through their own problems in analysis. Freud had very little tolerance for colleagues who diverged from his psychoanalytic doctrines. He attempted to keep control over the movement by expelling those who dared to disagree. Carl Jung and Alfred Adler, for example, worked closely with Freud, but each founded his own therapeutic school after repeated disagreements with Freud on theoretical and clinical issues. Freud was highly creative and productive, frequently putting in 18-hour days. His collected works fill 24 volumes. Freud’s productivity remained at this prolific level until late in his life when he contracted cancer of the jaw. During his last two decades, he underwent 33 operations and was in almost constant pain. He died in London in 1939. As the originator of psychoanalysis, Freud distinguished himself as an intellectual giant. He pioneered new techniques for understanding human behaviour, and his efforts resulted in the most comprehensive theory of personality and psychotherapy ever developed. DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO FREUD In Freud’s view, each stage focuses on sexual activity of a particular organ of the body and the pleasure received from the same makes the child indulge in the same again and again. For instance, in the oral phase, children are focused on the pleasures that they receive from 41 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
sucking and biting with their mouth. In the Anal phase, this focus shifts to the anus as they begin toilet training and attempt to control their bowels. In the Phallic stage, the focus moves to genital stimulation and the sexual identification that comes with having or not having a penis. During this phase, Freud thought that children turn their interest and love toward their parent of the opposite sex and begin to strongly resent the parent of the same sex. He called this phenomenon as the Oedipus Complex as it closely mirrored the events of an ancient Greek tragic play in which a king named Oedipus manages to marry his mother and kill his father, as he considered the father as rival to his mother’s love and affection. The Phallic/Oedipus stage was thought to be followed by a period of Latency during which sexual urges and interest were temporarily lessened while children develop in all other areas. This is followed by adolescent stage when sexual urges and interest are at their peak. Finally, children were thought to enter and remain in a final Genital stage in which adult sexual interests and activities come to dominate. Another part of Freud’s theory focused on identifying the parts of consciousness. Freud thought that all babies are initially dominated by unconscious, instinctual and selfish urges for immediate gratification which he labelled the Id. As babies attempt and fail to get all their needs and desires met, they develop a more realistic appreciation of what is realistic and possible, which Freud called the “Ego”. Over time, babies also learn about and come to internalise and represent their parents’ values and rules. These internalised rules, which he called the “Super-Ego”, are the basis for the developing of the child’s conscience that deals with the concepts of right and wrong and works with the Ego to control the immediate gratification and urges of the Id. THEORY OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT Freud believed that personality develops during early childhood and that childhood experiences shape our personalities as well as our behavior as adults. He asserted that we develop via a series of stages during childhood. Each of us must pass through these childhood stages, and if we do not have the proper nurturing and parenting during a stage, we will be stuck, or fixated, in that stage even as adults. Stages of Psycho-sexual development In each psychosexual stage of development, the child’s pleasure-seeking urges, coming from the id, are focused on a different area of the body, called an erogenous zone. The stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital 1. Oral Stage 42 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
For about the first year of life, the infant is in the oral stage of psychosexual development. The infant meets needs primarily through oral gratification. A baby wishes to suck or chew on any object that comes close to the mouth. Babies explore the world through the mouth and find comfort and stimulation as well. Psychologically, the infant is all id. The infant seeks immediate gratification of needs such as comfort, warmth, food, and stimulation. If the caregiver meets oral needs consistently, the child will move away from this stage and progress further. However, if the caregiver is inconsistent or neglectful, the person may stay stuck in the oral stage. As an adult, the person might not feel good unless involved in some oral activity such as eating, drinking, smoking, nail-biting, or compulsive talking. These actions bring comfort and security when the person feels insecure, afraid, or bored. 2. Anal Stage During the anal stage, which coincides with toddlerhood and potty-training, the child is taught that some urges must be contained and some actions postponed. There are rules about certain functions and when and where they are to be carried out. The child is learning a sense of self-control. The ego is being developed. If the caregiver is extremely controlling about potty training (stands over the child waiting for the smallest indication that the child might need to go to the potty and immediately scoops the child up and places him on the potty chair, for example), the child may grow up fearing losing control. He may become fixated in this stage or “anally retentive”—fearful of letting go. Such a person might be extremely neat and clean, organized, reliable, and controlling of others. If the caregiver neglects to teach the child to control urges, he may grow up to be “anal expulsive” or an adult who is messy, irresponsible, and disorganized. 3. Phallic Stage The phallic stage occurs during the preschool years (ages 3-5) when the child has a new biological challenge to face. The child will experience the Oedipus complex which refers to a child’s unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and hatred for the same-sex parent. For example, boys experiencing the Oedipus complex will unconsciously want to replace their father as a companion to their mother but then realize that the father is much more powerful. For a while, the boy fears that if he pursues his mother, his father may castrate him (castration anxiety). So rather than risk losing his penis, he gives up his affections for his mother and instead learns to become more like his father, imitating his actions and mannerisms, thereby learning the role of males in his society. From this experience, the boy learns a sense of masculinity. 43 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
He also learns what society thinks he should do and experiences guilt if he does not comply. In this way, the superego develops. If he does not resolve this successfully, he may become a “phallic male” or a man who constantly tries to prove his masculinity (about which he is insecure), by seducing women and beating up men. Girls experience a comparable conflict in the phallic stage—the Electra complex. The Electra complex, while often attributed to Freud, was actually proposed by Freud’s contemporary, Carl Jung (Jung & Kerenyi, 1963). A little girl experiences the Electra complex in which she develops an attraction for her father but realizes that she cannot compete with her mother and so gives up that affection and learns to become more like her mother. This is not without some regret, however. Freud believed that the girl feels inferior because she does not have a penis (experiences “penis envy”). But she must resign herself to the fact that she is female and will just have to learn her inferior role in society as a female. However, if she does not resolve this conflict successfully, she may have a weak sense of femininity and grow up to be a “castrating female” who tries to compete with men in the workplace or in other areas of life. The formation of the superego takes place during the dissolution of the Oedipus and Electra complex. 4. Latency Stage During middle childhood (6-11), the child enters the latency stage, focusing their attention outside the family and toward friendships. The biological drives are temporarily quieted (latent) and the child can direct attention to a larger world of friends. If the child is able to make friends, they will gain a sense of confidence. If not, the child may continue to be a loner or shy away from others, even as an adult. 5. Genital Stage The final stage of psychosexual development is referred to as the genital stage. From adolescence throughout adulthood, a person is preoccupied with sex and reproduction. The adolescent experiences rising hormone levels and the sex drive and hunger drives become very strong. Ideally, the adolescent will rely on the ego to help think logically through these urges without taking actions that might be damaging. An adolescent might learn to redirect their sexual urges into a safer activity such as running, for example. Quieting the id with the superego can lead to feeling overly self-conscious and guilty about these urges. Hopefully, it is the ego that is strengthened during this stage and the adolescent uses reason to manage urges. Table: Sigmund Freud’s Psycho-sexual stages 44 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Period of Life Stage Characteristics First year of life Oral Stage Sucking at mother’s breasts satisfies need for food and Ages 1 to 3 years Anal Stage pleasure. Infant needs to get basic nurturing, or later Phallic Stage feelings of greediness and acquisitiveness may develop. Ages 3 to 6 years Latency Stage Oral fixations result from deprivation of oral gratification in infancy. Later personality problems can Ages 6 to 12 include mistrust of others, rejecting others; love, and years fear of or inability to form intimate relationships. Anal zone becomes of major significance in formation of personality. Main developmental tasks include learning independence, accepting personal power, and learning to express negative feelings such as rage and aggression. Parental discipline patterns and attitudes have significant consequences for child’s later personality development. Basic conflict centres on unconscious incestuous desire that child develops for parent of opposite sex and that, because of their threatening nature, are repressed. Male phallic stage, known as Oedipus complex, involves mother as love object for boy. Female phallic stage, known as Electra complex, involves girl’s striving for father’s love and approval. How parents respond, verbally and nonverbally, to child’s emerging sexuality has an impact on sexual attitudes and feelings that child develops. After the torment of sexual impulses of preceding years, this period is relatively quiescent. Sexual interests are replaced by interests in school, playmates, sports, and a range of new activities. This is a time of socialization as child turns outward and forms relationships with others. 45 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Ages 12 to 18 Genital Stage Old themes of phallic stage are revived. years This stage begins with puberty and lasts until senility sets in. Even though there are societal restrictions and Ages 18 to 35 taboos, adolescents can deal with sexual energy by years investing it in various socially acceptable activities such as forming friendships, engaging in art or in sports, and preparing for a career. Genital Stage Core characteristic of mature adult is the freedom “to continues love and to work.” This move toward adulthood involves freedom from parental influence and capacity to care for others. Strengths and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Perspective Originating in the work of Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic perspective emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we’re not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality. When reading Freud’s theories, it is important to remember that he was a medical doctor, not a psychologist. There was no such thing as a degree in psychology at the time that he received his education, which can help us understand some of the controversies over his theories today. However, Freud was the first to systematically study and theorize the workings of the unconscious mind in the manner that we associate with modern psychology. The psychodynamic perspective has evolved considerably since Freud’s time, encompassing all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of conscious and unconscious drives and forces within the person, and between the different structures of the personality (id, ego, superego). Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very difficult to test scientifically. How can parenting in infancy be traced to personality in adulthood? Are there other variables that might better explain development? Because psychodynamic theories are difficult to prove wrong, evaluating those theories, in general, is difficult in that we cannot make definite predictions about a given individual’s behaviour using the theories. The theory is also considered to be sexist in suggesting that women who do not accept an inferior position in society are somehow psychologically flawed. Freud focused on the darker side of human nature and suggested that much of what determines our actions is unknown to us. Others make the criticism that the psychodynamic approach is too deterministic, relating to the idea that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will, thereby leaving little room for the idea of free will. 46 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
SOCIAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Erikson believed that we are aware of what motivates us throughout life and that the ego has greater importance in guiding our actions than does the id. We make conscious choices in life, and these choices focus on meeting certain social and cultural needs rather than purely biological ones. Humans are motivated, for instance, by the need to feel that the world is a trustworthy place, that we are capable individuals, that we can make a contribution to society, and that we have lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems. Erikson’s theory is based on what he calls the epigenetic principle, encompassing the notion that we develop through an unfolding of our personality in predetermined stages, and that our environment and surrounding culture influence how we progress through these stages. This biological unfolding in relation to our socio-cultural settings is done in stages of psychosocial development, where “progress through each stage is in part determined by our success, or lack of success, in all the previous stages.” Stages of Psycho-social development Erikson described eight stages, each with a major psychosocial task to accomplish or crisis to overcome. Erikson believed that our personality continues to take shape throughout our life span as we face these challenges. We will discuss each of these stages in greater detail when we discuss each of these life stages throughout the course. Here is an overview of each stage: 1. Trust vs. Mistrust (Hope)—From birth to 12 months of age, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. This occurs when adults meet a child’s basic needs for survival. Infants are dependent upon their caregivers, so caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their infant’s needs help their baby to develop a sense of trust; their baby will see the world as a safe, predictable place. Unresponsive caregivers who do not meet their baby’s needs can engender feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust; their baby may see the world as unpredictable. If infants are treated cruelly or their needs are not met appropriately, they will likely grow up with a sense of mistrust for people in the world. 2. Autonomy vs. Shame (Will)—As toddlers (ages 1–3 years) begin to explore their world, they learn that they can control their actions and act on their environment to get results. They begin to show clear preferences for certain elements of the environment, such as food, toys, and clothing. A toddler’s main task is to resolve the issue of autonomy vs. shame and doubt by working to establish independence. This is the “me do it” stage. For example, we might observe a budding sense of autonomy in a 2-year- old child who wants to choose her clothes and dress herself. Although her outfits might not be appropriate for the situation, her input in such basic decisions has an effect on her sense of independence. If denied the opportunity to act on her environment, she may begin to doubt her abilities, which could lead to low self-esteem and feelings of shame. 47 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
3. Initiative vs. Guilt (Purpose)—Once children reach the preschool stage (ages 3–6 years), they are capable of initiating activities and asserting control over their world through social interactions and play. According to Erikson, preschool children must resolve the task of initiative vs. guilt. By learning to plan and achieve goals while interacting with others, preschool children can master this task. Initiative, a sense of ambition and responsibility, occurs when parents allow a child to explore within limits and then support the child’s choice. These children will develop self-confidence and feel a sense of purpose. Those who are unsuccessful at this stage—with their initiative misfiring or stifled by over-controlling parents—may develop feelings of guilt. 4. Industry vs. Inferiority (Competence)—During the elementary school stage (ages 7– 12), children face the task of industry vs. inferiority. Children begin to compare themselves with their peers to see how they measure up. They either develop a sense of pride and accomplishment in their schoolwork, sports, social activities, and family life, or they feel inferior and inadequate because they feel that they don’t measure up. If children do not learn to get along with others or have negative experiences at home or with peers, an inferiority complex might develop into adolescence and adulthood. 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion (Fidelity)—In adolescence (ages 12–18), children face the task of identity vs. role confusion. According to Erikson, an adolescent’s main task is developing a sense of self. Adolescents struggle with questions such as “Who am I?” and “What do I want to do with my life?” Along the way, most adolescents try on many different selves to see which ones fit; they explore various roles and ideas, set goals, and attempt to discover their adult selves. Adolescents who are successful at this stage have a strong sense of identity and are able to remain true to their beliefs and values in the face of problems and other people’s perspectives. When adolescents are apathetic, do not make a conscious search for identity, or are pressured to conform to their parents’ ideas for the future, they may develop a weak sense of self and experience role confusion. They will be unsure of their identity and confused about the future. Teenagers who struggle to adopt a positive role will likely struggle to find themselves as adults. 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (Love)—People in early adulthood (20s through early 40s) are concerned with intimacy vs. isolation. After we have developed a sense of self in adolescence, we are ready to share our life with others. However, if other stages have not been successfully resolved, young adults may have trouble developing and maintaining successful relationships with others. Erikson said that we must have a strong sense of self before we can develop successful intimate relationships. Adults who do not develop a positive self-concept in adolescence may experience feelings of loneliness and emotional isolation. 48 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (Care)—When people reach their 40s, they enter the time known as middle adulthood, which extends to the mid-60s. The social task of middle adulthood is generativity vs. stagnation. Generativity involves finding your life’s work and contributing to the development of others through activities such as volunteering, mentoring, and raising children. During this stage, middle-aged adults begin contributing to the next generation, often through caring for others; they also engage in meaningful and productive work which contributes positively to society. Those who do not master this task may experience stagnation and feel as though they are not leaving a mark on the world in a meaningful way; they may have little connection with others and little interest in productivity and self-improvement. 8. Integrity vs. Despair (Wisdom)—From the mid-60s to the end of life, we are in the period of development known as late adulthood. Erikson’s task at this stage is called integrity vs. despair. He said that people in late adulthood reflect on their lives and feel either a sense of satisfaction or a sense of failure. People who feel proud of their accomplishments feel a sense of integrity, and they can look back on their lives with few regrets. However, people who are not successful at this stage may feel as if their life has been wasted. They focus on what “would have,” “should have,” and “could have” been. They may face the end of their lives with feelings of bitterness, depression, and despair. Table: Erik Erikson’s Psycho-social Stages of Development Period of Stage Skill Characteristics Life developed If significant others provide for basic First year of Infancy: Trust Hope physical and emotional needs, infant life versus mistrust develops a sense of trust. If basic needs are Will not met, an attitude of mistrust toward the Ages 1 to 3 Early childhood: world, especially toward inter-personal years Autonomy relationships, is the result. versus shame A time for developing autonomy. Basic and doubt struggle is between a sense of self-reliance and a sense of self-doubt. Child needs to explore and experiment, to make mistakes, and to test limits. If parents promote dependency, child’s autonomy is inhibited and capacity to deal with world successfully is hampered. 49 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
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