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Chapter 4: Middle
Childhood
Module 4.3
Social and Personality
Development in Middle Childhood
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
THE DEVELOPING SELF
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Who Am I?
• During middle childhood, children begin to
view themselves:
– Less in terms of external physical attributes
– More in terms of psychological traits
237
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Psychosocial Development in
Middle Childhood
Industry Versus Inferiority
• Industry = feelings of mastery and
proficiency and a growing sense of
competence
• Inferiority = feelings of failure and
inadequacy
237
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Erik Erikson’s middle childhood
• Encompasses the INDUSTRY-VERSUSINFERIORITY STAGE
• Period from ages 6 to 12 years of age
• Characterized by a focus on efforts to attain
competence in meeting the challenges related
to:
– Parents
– Peers
– School
– Other complexities of the modern world
237
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
How do school-agers change?
• Children realize they are good at some
things and not so good at others
• Self-concept and self-esteem continue to
develop
238
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Children look to others
who are similar to
themselves
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
SELF-ESTEEM
Develops in important ways during middle
childhood
• Children increasingly compare themselves to
others
• Children are developing their own standards
238
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
For most children…
• Self-esteem increases during middle
childhood
238
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Breaking the Cycle of Failure
• Promoting development of self-esteem
• Using authoritative child-rearing style
Why do you think this style is
recommended?
239
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Race and Self-Esteem
• Early research found that African
Americans had lower self-esteem than
whites
• More recent research shows these early
assumptions to be overstated
– African Americans
– Hispanic Americans
– Asian Americans
239
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Why does this occur?
Social Identity Theory
• Members of a minority group accept negative
views held by majority group only if they
perceive little realistic possibility of changing
power and status differences between groups
239
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Developmental Diversity
Are Children of Immigrant Families
Well Adjusted?
•
•
•
•
Tend to have equal or better grades than
children with US born parents
Often more highly motivated to succeed
and place greater value on education than
do children in nonimmigrant families
Show similar levels of self-esteem to
nonimmigrant children
Report feeling less popular and less in
control of their lives
240
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Moral Development: Kohlberg
• Proposes series of fixed stages in
development of moral reasoning
• Uses moral dilemmas to assess moral
reasoning
• Provides good account of moral judgment
but not adequate at predicting moral
behavior
241
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Kohlberg Stages
• Preconventional Morality (stages 1 & 2): people
follow unvarying rules based on rewards and
punishments
• Conventional Morality (stages 3 & 4) is where
people approach problems in terms of their own
position as good, responsible members of society
• Postconventional Morality (stages 5 & 6) is where
universal moral principles are invoked and
considered broader than a particular society
241
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Moral Development—
Kohlberg’s Levels and Stages
PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 1: punishment-obedience orientation
Stage 2: instrumental-exchange orientation
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 3: good child orientation
Stage 4: law-and-order orientation
POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 5: social-contract orientation
Stage 6: universal ethics orientation
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
16
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
17
Moral Development
• Lawrence Kohlberg contended that moral thinking
likewise proceeds through a series of stages
– from a preconventional morality of self-interest
(gains rewards, avoids punishment)
– to a conventional morality that cares for others
and upholds laws and rules (gains approval, does
duty; obeys because rules exist)
– to (in some people) a postconventional morality of
agreed-upon rights or basic ethical principles.
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
18
Preconventional (birth to
adolescence)
• Stage 1- punishment and obedience
orientation
– Self-centered
– Rewards, punishment
– Will not admit intentionality
• Stage 2- instrumental-exchange
orientation
– Aware of perspective of others
– Reciprocal-exchange of favors
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
19
•
Conventional (adolescence to
young adulthood)- other
focussed
Stage 3- good child orientation
– Being nice to gain approval
– People judged by intentions of their behavior
• Stage 4- law-and-order orientation
– Takes into account larger perspective- society
– One’s duty to respect law and order
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
20
Postconventional (adulthood)develop own standards of right
and
wrong/abstract
• Stage 5- social-contract orientation
– Appreciate underlying purposes of laws
– Interests in majority versus individual
– OK to steal drug to save a life
• Stage 6- universal ethics orientation
– “right” is determined by universal ethics
– Human dignity, nonviolence, freedom,
equality
– Regardless of whether agree, will 21
conform
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Kohlberg Criticisms
• Based solely on observations of members
of Western cultures
• Theory initially based largely on data from
males
241
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN
GIRLS
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Carol Gilligan
• Way boys and girls raised leads to
differences in moral reasoning
• Suggests Kohlberg’s theory inadequate
and places girls’ moral reasoning at lower
level than boys’
243
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Gilligan’s Stages of Morality in
Girls
243
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Review and Apply
REVIEW
• According to Erikson, children at this time are in
the industry-versus-inferiority stage.
• In the middle childhood years, children begin to
use social comparison and self-concepts based
on psychological rather than physical
characteristics.
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
244
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• According to Kohlberg, moral development
proceeds from a concern with rewards and
punishments, through a focus on social
conventions and rules, toward a sense of
universal moral principles. Gilligan has
suggested, however, that girls may follow a
somewhat different progression of moral
development.
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
244
Review and Apply
APPLY
• Kohlberg and Gilligan each suggest there
are three major levels of moral
development. Are any of their levels
comparable? In which level of either
theory do you think that the largest
discrepancy between males and females
would be observed?
244
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
RELATIONSHIPS: BUILDING
FRIENDSHIP IN MIDDLE
CHILDHOOD
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Friends in Middle Childhood
• Provide emotional support and help kids
to handle stress
• Teach children how to manage and
control their emotions
• Teach about communication with others
• Foster intellectual growth
• Allow children to practice relationship
skills
244
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Damon’s Stages of Friendship
Stage 1 (ages 4-7 years)
• Children see friends as like themselves
• Children see friends as people to share toys and
activities with
• Children do not take into account personal traits
245
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Damon’s Stages of Friendship
Stage 2 (ages 8-10 years)
• Children now begin to take other’s personal
qualities and traits into consideration
• Friends are viewed in terms of kinds of rewards
they provide
• Friendships are based on mutual trust
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
245
Damon’s Stages of Friendship
Stage 3 (ages 11-15 years)
• Friendships become based on intimacy and
loyalty
• Friendships involve mutual disclosure and
exclusivity
245
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
CHILDREN’S FRIENDSHIP
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
King or Queen of the
Hill…Status Hierarchies
• Children’s friendships show clear
hierarchies in terms of STATUS
• STATUS is the evaluation of a role or
person by other relevant members of a
group
246
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
High Status Children
• Form friendships with high status children
• More likely to form exclusive and desirable
cliques
• Tend to play with a greater number of children
• Have greater access to resources such as
games, toys, books, and information
246
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Low Status Children
• Form friendships with other lower status children
• Tend to play with a lower number of children
than higher status children
• Are more likely to play with younger or less
popular children
• Tend to follow the lead of higher status children
246
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
What Personal Characteristics
Lead to Popularity?
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Popular Children
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Helpful and cooperative
Good sense of humor
Good emotional understanding
Ask for help when necessary
Not overly reliant on others
Adaptive to social situations
Social problem-solving skill
competence
246
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Unpopular Children
•
•
•
•
•
Lack social competence
Immature or inappropriately silly
Overly aggressive and overbearing
Withdrawn or shy
Unattractive, handicapped, obese, or slow
academically
246
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Unpopular Children
Lack of popularity may take two forms:
NEGLECTED CHILDREN receive relatively little
attention from their peers in the form of either
positive or negative interaction
REJECTED CHILDREN are actively disliked
and their peers may react to them in an
obviously negative manner
246
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Teaching Social Competence
• Several programs teach children set of
social skills that underlie general social
competence
247
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Bullying
SCHOOL- THE BULLY
• 160,000 U.S. schoolchildren stay home from
school each day because they are afraid of
being bullied
• About 10 to 15 percent of students bully others
at one time or another.
• About half of all bullies come from abusive
homes.
247
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Bully
SCHOOL – BULLIED
• Some 90 percent of middle-school students
report being bullied at some point in their time at
school, beginning as early as the preschool
years
• Characteristics
– Loners who are fairly passive
– Often cry easily
– Lack the social skills that might otherwise defuse a
bullying situation
248
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
When the Pink Princess
Becomes a Bully!
Relational Aggression Among Girls
• Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write about Bullies, Cliques,
Popularity, and Jealousy
Rachel Simmons
• Mean Chicks, Cliques, and Dirty Tricks: A Real Girl's
Guide to Getting Through the Day With Smarts and Style
Erika V Shearin Karres
• GirlWise: How to Be Confident, Capable, Cool, and in
Control
Julia Devillers
• The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From
Preschool to High School--How Parents and Teachers
Can Help Break the Cycle of Violence
Barbara Coloroso
248
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Do bystanders contribute to
bullying?
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Sex Segregation of Middle
Childhood
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Boyfriend, girlfriend…any
friend?
• Avoidance of opposite sex becomes very
pronounced during middle childhood
• Children’s friendships are almost entirely
sex-segregated
• When sexes interact it is called “border
work”, is often romantic, and helps
emphasize clear boundaries between
sexes
248
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Boys and Friendship
• Larger networks of friends than girls do
• Strict DOMINANCE HIERARCHY
• Attempt to maintain and improve status in
hierarchy
– Restrictive play
248
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Girls and Friendships
• Focus on one or two “best friends” of relatively
equal status
• Conflicts solved by compromise, ignoring
situation, or giving in
• Can be confrontational with other girls not their
friends
• Language is less confrontational and direct than
boys’
248
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Are friendships color-blind?
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Cross-Race Friendships:
Integration In and Out of the
Classroom
• Closest friendships largely with others of
same race
• Decline with age in number and depth of
friendships outside own racial group
249
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Reducing Prejudice through
Contact Between Groups
CONTACT
• Must occur in equal status settings
• Enhanced through cooperative activities that are
important to children
• Must promote equality and disconfirm negative
stereotypes
249
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Becoming an Informed Consumer
of Development
Increasing Children’s Social Competence
• Encourage social interaction
• Teach listening skills to children
• Make children aware that people display
emotions and moods nonverbally
• Teach conversational skills, including the
importance of asking questions and selfdisclosure
• Don’t ask children to choose teams or
groups publicly
250
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Children’s understanding of friendship changes from the
sharing of enjoyable activities, through the consideration
of personal traits that can meet their needs, to a focus on
intimacy and loyalty.
• Friendships in childhood display status hierarchies.
Improvements in social problem-solving and social
information processing can lead to better interpersonal
skills and greater popularity.
• Boys and girls engage increasingly in same-sex
friendships, with boys’ friendships involving group
relationships and girls’ friendships characterized by
pairings of girls with equal status.
250
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Review and Apply
APPLY
•
Do you think the stages of friendship are
a childhood phenomenon, or do adults’
friendships display similar stages?
250
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FAMILY LIFE IN
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Middle Childhood in the 21st
Century
In addition to other changes, children
experience:
• Increasing independence
• Coregulation with parents
• Sibling relationships and rivalry
251
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
What happens when sibs don’t
want to be alike?
De-identification
– Enhances desire to be different from older
sibling
– Influences gender-role behavior
– improves cross-gender relations later in life
251
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
What about children who have no
siblings?
• Only children are well-adjusted as children
with brothers and sisters
• In some ways, only children are betteradjusted, often having higher self-esteem
and stronger motivation to achieve
251
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
When Both Parents Work Outside
the Home: How Do Children Fare?
• In most cases, children fare quite well
• When parents
– Are loving
– Are sensitive to their children’s needs
– Provide appropriate substitute care
• Good adjustment of children relates to
psychological adjustment of parents,
especially mothers
251
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Self-Care Children
Youngsters who let themselves into their
homes after school and wait alone until
their parents return from work
251
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Good or bad?
• Consequences of being a latchkey child are not
all harmful
• Some children report being lonely
• Some children develop a sense of
independence and competence
• Some research shows latchkey children have
higher self-esteem because they are helping
family
252
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Consequences of Divorce
• Only half of children in the U.S. will pass through
childhood living with both parents each of whom
has been married only once
• School-age children tend to blame themselves
for the breakup
252
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After the break…
• Both children and parents may show
several types of psychological
maladjustments for 6 months to 2 years
– Anxiety
– Depression
– Sleep disturbances
– Phobias
252
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Rediscovering the Status Quo
• After 18 months to 2 years, most children return to their
predivorce psychological adjustment
• Twice as many children of divorced parents require
psychological counseling as do children from intact
families
• For some children, living in a home with unhappy
marriage and which is high in conflict has stronger
negative consequences than divorce
252
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Single Parent Families
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Single Parents
• Almost one-quarter of all children under 18 in
the U.S. live with only one parent
• Numbers are higher for minority children
• 60% of African-American children live in single parent
homes
• 35% of Hispanic children live in single parent homes
253
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Single Parents
• In majority of cases, single parent is
mother
• Consequences of living in single parent
home depend on:
• Whether other parent ever lived at home
• Economic status
253
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Multigenerational Families
• Opportunity for rich experiences and
conflicts
• Greater among African Americans than
among Caucasians
• In some families, cultural norms tend to be
highly supportive of grandparents taking
an active role
253
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Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren
• In 1980, 2.3 million (4%) children under 18
were living in a grandparent(s)' home
• Now around 4 million (6%) living with
grandparents
• Age:
– 48% of grandparent caregivers range
between 50 and 64 years
– 33% under the age of 50 and 19% over the
age of 65
253
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Yours, mine…ours
• BLENDED FAMILIES include remarried couple
that has at least one stepchild living with them
• Experts predict that by 2000, over 50 percent of
children born in the last decade will be
stepchildren
• Living in blended family involves role ambiguity,
in which roles and expectations are unclear
253
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Not all the news is bad!!
• School-age children often adjust relatively
smoothly to a blended family
• Financial status of family improves
• More people to share household chore
• More social interaction and attention
• But…not all children adjust well, especially if
the new relationship is threatening
253
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Families with Gay and Lesbian
Parents
• Between one and five million US families
headed by two lesbians or two gay parents
• Most studies find children:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Develop similarly to children of heterosexual families
Have sexual orientation unrelated to their parents
Have no more or less gender-typed behavior
Seem equally well adjusted
Have similar relationships with their peers and adults
Have romantic relationships and sexual behavior that
are no different from those of adolescents living with
opposite-sex parents
254
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Race and Family Life
What do you know about…?
– African-American families
– Hispanic families
– Asian-American families
254
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Poverty and Family Life
• Poor families
– Fewer basic everyday resources
– More disruptions in children’s lives
– Higher likelihood of stress
254
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Group Homes…
• Term “orphanage” replaced by group
home or residential treatment center
– Group homes used for youngsters whose
parents are no longer able to care for
them adequately
255
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Anybody home?
• The number of children in group care has growth
over 50 percent
• About three-quarters of children in group homes
are victims of abuse and neglect
• Most will eventually return home, however, onefourth will be in group care throughout childhood
255
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Good or Bad?
• Experts disagree on advantages and
disadvantages of group care
• Some see them as solution to unwed mothers
who become dependent on welfare
• Many who work in these homes say they cannot
provide adequate love and support as family
could
• Group homes cost ten times as much as foster
care or welfare
255
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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Self-care children may develop independence and
enhanced self-esteem from their experience.
• How divorce affects children depends on such factors as
financial circumstances and the comparative levels of
tension in the family before and after the divorce.
• The effects of being raised in a single-parent household
depend on financial circumstances, the amount of
parent–child interaction, and the level of tension in the
family.
255
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Review and Apply
APPLY
• Politicians often speak of “family values.”
How does this term relate to the diverse
family situations covered in this chapter,
including divorced parents, single parents,
blended families, working parents, selfcare children, abusive families, and group
care?
Discovering the Lifespan - Robert S. Feldman
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