all characteristics of a person; includes self-understanding, self-regulation, self-esteem and self-concept
who am i? what is my place? Where do I fit in? what do I believe in? what is my direction in life?
· enduring personal characteristics of individuals; unique& consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving
· a person’s cognitive representation of the self/ who they are based on roles and membership categories (the substance of self-conceptions)
infancy self understanding
visual self-recognition positive toward own image in mirror at 3 months, but doesn’t recognize own physical characteristics in mirror until 2nd year
early childhood self understanding
five main characteristics of self-understanding in young children
confusion, concrete, physical, active, unrealistic.
. Confusion of self, mind and body
think self is part of the body
describe themselves with concrete terms “I can count” “I live in a big house”, instead of psychological traits
use physical descriptions to describe their self and notice how they’re different than others
describe themselves in terms of activities, ex play
Unrealistic positive overestimations
say they can do more/ know more than they actually do
middle and late childhood self understanding
five key changes in self-understanding; define perspective-taking
· the ability to assume other people’s perspectives and understand their thoughts and feelings
Psychological characteristics and traits
use more psychological traits (popular, nice, helpful, mean, smart) than younger children who use more concrete self-descriptions
social groups as self-description
self-understanding about what they can do in comparison with others
differential between what they're actually capable of and what they aspire to have/do
self evaluations become more realistic because of increased perspective taking and social comparison.
describe six ways the adolescent's self-understanding differs from that of a child including the concept of possible selves
abstract, self conscious, contradictions, fluctuating self, real and ideal selves, self integration
what adolescents hope to be as well as what they dread they will become
abstract and idealistic thinking
describe themselves in a more abstract way “I am a human being. I am indecisive. I don’t know who I am.”
contradictions with the self
describe self with contradictory characteristics “caring and uncaring” “ugly and attractive”
self-understanding changes over time. Doesn’t construct an unified theory until late adolescence or early adulthood
the real and ideal selves
includes imagined, possible self. Future positive selves can direct future positive states. Future negative selves identify what is to be avoided.
older adolescents are more likely to detect inconsistencies in their earlier self-descriptions as they attempt to construct a general theory of self
how much a young adult is aware of his or her psychological makeup, including strengths and weaknesses. Many people do not have very good self-awareness but could benefit greatly if they recognized and improved some of their weaknesses.
More possible selves when younger (in 20s), fewer possible selves as individuals get older (because they’re more realistic). Middle age, described by what they have already performed or hoped-for selves. Continue to be revised through adult years.
looking back at one’s life experiences, evaluating them, interpreting them, and often reinterpreting them. Prominent in Erikson’s final stage: integrity vs. despair.
· global evaluations/ overall image of the self, self-worth and self-image
domain-specific evaluations of the self (ex: academic, athletic, appearance)
· self-centered and self-concerned approach toward others. Unaware of their actual self and how others perceive them.
high in childhood, dropped in adolescence, increased through early and middle adulthood, dropped in 70s and 80s
strategies for increasing self-esteem
1. Identify cause of low self-esteem and the domains important to the self
2. Provide emotional support and opportunities for social approval
3. Take responsibility for one’s own self esteem
4. Achieve goals
5. Develop effective coping strategies
the ability to control one’s behavior without having to rely on others’ help
selective optimization with compensation theory
successful aging is linked with three main factors
selection, optimization, compensation
· reduction in performance in most life domains because functioning, memory & physical skills decrease
possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and use of new technologies (crossword puzzles/ exercising)
life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the older adults’ performance potential
personal life investments
25-34: work, friends, family, independence
35-54: family, work, friends, cognitive fitness
55-65: family, health, friends, cognitive fitness
70-84: family, health, cognitive fitness, friends
85-105: health, family, thinking about life, cognitive fitness
Primary control strategies
· individuals efforts to change external world to meet their needs and desires, ex: attaining personal goals, overcoming obstacles. Increases during child, adolescent and early adulthood years. Level off in middle adulthood and decline in late adulthood.
Secondary control strategies
targets individual’s inner worlds and their own motivation, emotion, and mental representation, ex: when expectations aren’t being met I lower them. Increases in beginning like primary control but continues to increase through adulthood instead of decreasing.
trust vs mistrust, shame/doubt vs autonomy, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, integrity vs despair
Strengths or Eriksons stages
· stimulated more work on socioemotional development, moved theory beyond Freud’s psychosexual emphasis, first lifespan theory
weaknesses of eriksons stages
research base of entire theory not established because a lot was taken from Freud, concepts general and vague
gap between security of childhood and independence of adulthood, searching/ experimentation of diff roles
identity formation involves experiencing a crisis and making a commitment
Identity diffusion (garcia)
no crisis and no commitment/ process hasn’t begun (haven’t really thought about things/ don’t have opinions/ don’t really know what they believe)
Identity moratorium (garcia)
1. active crisis and no commitment, still exploring (haven’t made up mind yet, evaluating positives and negatives of beliefs)
identitiy foreclosure (garcia)
no crisis and commitment has been made, premature identification supplied by others and not self-chosen (acquire other people’s beliefs, ex: parents)
Identity achievement (garcia)
crisis experienced and commitment made, self-chosen identifications (you search and find out what you believe)
1. Identity diffusion: high at age 12, declines steadily through early adulthood
2. Identity moratorium: increased after age 18
3. Identity foreclosure: declined with age
4. Identity achievement: nonexistent at age 12, increased steadily through early adulthood
asserting one’s own point of view, how one is different than others
sensitivity to, respect for, and openness to other’s views
· Families that encourage both individuality and connectedness help lead to ....
personality consists of broad dispositions called traits that tend to produce characteristic responses. People can be described by the basic ways in which they behave
· Big five factors of personality: OCEAN
1. Openness: variety vs. routine, independent vs. conforming, imaginative vs. practical
2. Conscientiousness: organized vs. disorganized, careful vs. carelessness, disciplined vs. impulsive
3. Extraversion: sociable vs. retiring, fun-loving vs. somber, affectionate vs. reserved
4. Agreeableness: softhearted vs. ruthless, trusting vs. suspicious, helpful vs. uncooperative
5. Neuroticism: calm vs. anxious, secure vs. insecure, self-satisfied vs. self-pitying
Trait-situation interaction
both traits and situational factors must be considered to understand personality
17-22 Early Adult Transition
leave the family, establish independence, explore possibilities of adult identity, form the dream- vision of life goals
22-28 Entering the Adult World
build first adult life structure; initial self-definition as a man; career, marriage, hard work; reliance on spouse, mentor
question goals and direction: make adjustments or keep plugging away
33-40 Culmination of Early Adult Life Structure
earlier: settling down- peak of early adulthood; making it, realize the dream. Later: become one’s own man, feels independent; seek more autonomy, drop mentor, go for promotion
40-45 Mid-life Transition
major turning point, reassess dream, soul-searching; “transitional partner” affair; decide to reaffirm or change direction
45-50 Entering Middle Adulthood
estabilization, follow decisions of mid-life transition; new life structure emerges
· Levinson= midlife is a crisis= reassesses the truth about adolescent and adulthood years. Vaillant= only a majority of adults experience a midlife crisis & they are greatly exaggerated: in study emotional stability of over 2,000 people involved in research did not significantly increase during their middle-aged years… opposite actually occurred. Greater sense of control and power
· do not adequately address individual variations in adult development, some people will experience a midlife crisis while others wont
strengths of levinsons theory
fits many professional men, dominant themes at diff ages, framework for analyzing adult development and first to look at this
weaknesses of levinsons theory
1. little scientific research on stages, too much emphasis on crisis, midlife crisis idea has been exaggerated and has little support, under-emphasizes individual variation, transitions more related to events and not age
how specific events influence adult development, ex: marriage, widowhood, job change, birth of child
Takes in account:
1. Mediating factors
2. How individual adapts to event
3. Life stage context (timing of events in relation to age norms, ex: widowhood)
4. Sociohistorical context (historical and generational norms)
allows for individual variation, interplay between levels of influence
over emphasizes change, under-emphasizes stability, major events are not the only things that can be stressful, ordinary daily hassles can be as, or even more influential