Identity, self, personality development (powerpoint version
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Transcript Identity, self, personality development (powerpoint version
Identity and
Personality Development
Models of Adult Personality
Stability or Change?
Organismic
Stage
• Universal sequence of development
• Individuals show predictable change
Erikson: psychodynamic
Levinson: stages of life
• Life transitions
Mechanistic
Trait
• Focus on attributes, temperament
• Reduce personality to basic elements
• Individual shows stability
McCrea & Costa: “Big Five” personality traits
Contextual
Timing of Events
• Change not age-related
Depends on circumstances and events in the
individual’s life
Bronfenbrenner: Ecological Systems
theory
Stage Models
Normative personality change
• Common to everyone
• Recognize individual variation, but
Successive periods
• Marked by “crises,” “transitions,” or “life
tasks”
• Occur at about the same age for all
• Psychodynamic theories: Freud, Jung
Erikson
Development through the life span
Balance positive (“syntonic”) and
negative (“dystonic”) tendencies
Eight critical stages (crises)
Successful resolution results in
emergence of a “virtue”
Four stages in adolescence to
adulthood (identity, intimacy,
generativity, integrity)
Identity/Identity Confusion (stage 5)
Adolescence
develop concept of self (“fidelity”)
integrate past with future direction
Intimacy vs Isolation (stage 6)
20’s – 30’s
tolerant acceptance of others
develop cooperative, affiliative
relationships (“love”)
“Who are the most important people
in your life?”
Generativity vs. Stagnation (stage 7)
40 – 65
personal concern about others
outward focus, mentoring
productivity, contributing (“care”)
“What advice would you give?”
Integrity vs. Despair (stage 8)
65 +
reflect positive qualities from earlier
stages (trust, autonomy, industry,
identity), self-acceptance
integrate past experience with
current realities, produce “wisdom”
“What have been the most significant
events of your life?”
Criticisms of Stage Theories
Overemphasis on chronological age
• Masks individual variability
No clear markers to denote start or
finish of a stage
Deviations from norm may
mistakenly be seen as
maladjustment
Downplay sociohistorical context
Criticisms
Meaning of time and age confused
• Multiple meanings of age
• Functional
• Biological
• Psychological
• Social
• Increased desynchrony between time
and aspects of age over life span
Chronological age poorer predictor later in
life
Western orientation
• Distinctions between “individualist” and
“collectivist” ignored
Validity of “final” stage
• May not reflect realities of terminal
period
• E.g., Joan Erikson’s revision
Trait Theories (mechanistic)
Consistent differences (not
similarities) between people
“constellations” of attributes
• Patterns of thoughts, feelings, actions
that define the individual
Assume little change after age 30
Personality traits identified using
factor analysis
• analyze correlations among attributes
(e.g., shyness, openness)
• Identify groups of variables (e.g.,
responses to questions “related” to
shyness) highly correlated with one
another (seem to go together)
Look for basic dimensions (factors or
“source” traits) along which people
differ
McRae/Costa Five Factor Model
Five traits help shape life course
Each trait a continuum
Uniqueness comes from combination
of traits that we possess
traits:
• Neuroticism (calm … worrying)
• Extraversion (quiet … talkative)
• Openness to experience (routine …
variety)
• Agreeableness (ruthless … softhearted)
• Conscientiousness (negligent …
conscientious)
Baltimore Longitudinal Study
Began in 1958 (ages 17 to 96)
• Testing every 2 years
Stability on all five dimensions
Later cross-sectional study
• 10,000 people
• Ages 32-88
Found:
• Stability on neuroticism, extroversion,
openness across lifespan (including midlife)
Timing of Events Model
Contextual
Time and age have different
meanings (chronological, biological,
psychological, social)
Bernice Neugarten
• Major life events determined by “social
age clock”
Learned from culture
Normative life events
• When to finish education, marry, have children,
retire
“Normative”
• Depends on social clock
• “on time” events become non-normative
if occur “off time” (too early, too late)
• Examples?
Crisis caused by unexpected
occurrence, timing of life events
Stress if “off-time”
• Lose job, slow career start
• Late parenthood, marriage
Cultural/historical variation
• Timing of first child (1970 v. 1987)
• Emphasis on individual life course
• Challenge to idea of universal, agerelated change
However…
Rapid social change undermines
predictability of model
• Late parenthood no longer a stressor
• Predictions specific to socio-historical
period (with stable norms)
Development of Self-Concept and
Adult Identity
Erikson: psychosocial
development
• Focus on 5th stage: the
“identity crisis”
Marcia’s extension of
Erikson’s work
Adult identity
• Damon & Hart: factors
affecting our views of
ourselves
Erikson
Adolescence (stage 5):
Identity/Identity Confusion
develop concept of self
• Transition from childhood to adulthood
integrate past with future direction
Positive resolution:
• Strong sense of self-identity
Negative resolution:
• Weak sense of self
Positive: likelihood of positive
resolution of adulthood stages
• Capacity to develop deep and
meaningful relationships and care for
others
• Consideration of future generations,
personal sense of worth and satisfaction
Negative:
• Isolation, unhappiness, selfishness,
stagnancy, sense of failure and regret
James Marcia
Developing personal identity in
adolescence involves:
• Experiencing crises
• Forming a commitment
Occupational
Ideological
Adolescents experience different
degrees of crisis and commitment
• Some don’t experience an “identity
crisis” at all
Marcia’s Four Identity Statuses
Have you engaged in a period of active search
for identity? (crisis)
Yes
Do you
make
commitments,
e.g., to a
career,
mate,
values?
No
Identity Achieved
(self-confident,
Yes high level of moral
development)
Foreclosure
(typically identify
strongly with
parents; don’t
consider other
identities; can be
dogmatic)
Moratorium
(currently having
No an identity crisis;
actively trying to
reach a commitment)
Identity Diffusion
(immature and
impulsive, with a
sense of hopelessness)
Limited generalization: most
research on university students
• Need replication with representative
samples
“Type” model may be unrealistic:
• Often two or more statuses operating at
once
• Stability of status can change
• Identity change possible (not endpoint)
Four Aspects of “The Self”
William Damon & Daniel Hart
The “physical self” (our name, body, and
material possessions): dominates in the
first 2- 3 years
The “active self” (how we behave and are
capable of behaving): dominates during
early elementary school years
The “social self” (the relationships we
have with other people): dominates during
early adolescence
The “psychological self” (our feelings,
thought, beliefs, and personality
characteristics): dominates in late
adolescence
Evidence suggesting that getting to
“know yourself” depends on gauging
other people’s reactions to you:
other people’s expectations of us affect
how we view ourselves
e.g., children who believe that respected
adults take a dim view of their abilities:
• are reluctant to sustain effort in difficult tasks
• are more anxious about being evaluated
• come to have low expectations of themselves
the social role that we’ve currently
adopted shapes how we think about
ourselves
social comparisons shape how we
view ourselves
Age and identity
Subjective age
Selective Optimization with
Compensation (Baltes, 1990)
• Adaptation
• Maximization of gains
• Minimization of losses
• Select goals, behaviour on
compensating for functional loss:
maintain acceptable levels of functioning
Personality - Identity
Models
• Stage
• Trait
• Timing of events
Identity formation
Self concept
11 DOMAINS OF COMPETENCY
THOUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED IN
ADULT EVALUATIONS OF SELF-WORTH
(Harter):
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
intelligence
(7) sociability
sense of humour
(8) intimacy
job competence
(9) nurturance
morality
(10) adequacy as a
athletic ability
provider
physical appearance (11) household
management