LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT

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LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
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A Topical Approach to
The Self, Identity, and Personality
John W. Santrock
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The Self, Identity, and Personality

• The Self
• Identity
• Personality

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Self-Understanding
The Self

• Self All characteristics of a person
• Self-understanding, self-esteem, self-concept
• Identity who a person is, representing a
  synthesis of self-understanding
• Personality enduring personal characteristics
  of individuals

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Self-Understanding
The Self

• Cognitive representation of the self, substance
  of self conceptions
• Visual self-recognition tests infants
• Young children perceive self as external
  characteristics
• Older children recognize difference between inner
  and outer states

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Development of Self-Understanding in Children
The Self
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Self-Recognition in Infancy
Fig. 11.1
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The Role of Perspective-Taking
The Self

• Perspective-taking ability to assume anothers
  perspective and understand his or her thoughts
  and feelings
• Selman 5 stages age 3 to adolescence
• Affects peer status and quality of friendships

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Selmans Stages of Perspective-Taking
Fig. 11.2
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Self-Understanding in Adolescence
The Self

• Abstract and idealistic
• Self-conscious preoccupied with self
• Fluctuating across situations
• Compare real and ideal selves
• Possible selves what persons may be, would like
  to be, and are afraid of becoming
• Self-integration in sense of identity

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Changes in Self-Understanding in Adulthood
The Self

• Self-Awareness
• Awareness of strengths and weaknesses
• Improves in young and middle adulthood
• Possible Selves
• Get fewer and more concrete with age
• Some revise throughout adulthood
• Life Review
• Some in middle age, common in older adults
• Evaluations of successes and failures

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Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
The Self

• Self-esteem
• Global evaluative dimension of the self
• Same as self-worth or image
• Self-concept
• Domain-specific evaluations of the self

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Issues with Self-Esteem
The Self

• Modest correlations link self-esteem and school
  performance links vary between adult job
  performance and self-esteem
• Self-esteem related to perceived physical
  appearance across life-span
• Depression lowers high self-esteem

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Issues with Self-Esteem
The Self

• Persons with high self-esteem
• Increased happiness
• Have greater initiative
• Prone to both prosocial and antisocial actions
• Undeserved high self-esteem
• Narcissism self-centered, self-concerned
• Conceited
• Lack of awareness linked to adjustment problems

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Self-Esteem in Childhood and Adolescence
The Self

• Accuracy of self-evaluations increases across the
  elementary school years
• Majority of adolescents have positive self-image
  cross-culturally
• Girls self-esteem is significantly lower than
  boys by middle school years

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Self-Esteem in Adulthood
The Self

• Some researchers find drops in self-esteem in
  late adulthood others dont
• Older adults with positive self-esteem
• May not see losses as negatively
• Decrease in knowledge-related goals
• Increase in emotion-related goals
• Compare themselves to other older adults

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Self-Esteem Across the Lifespan
Prenatal Development
Fig. 11.4
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Increasing Self-Esteem
The Self

• Identify causes of low self-esteem
• Provide/seek emotional support and social
  approval
• Develop self-confidence and initiative
• Achieve
• Develop coping skills

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Self-Regulation
The Self

• Ability to control ones behavior without having
  to rely on others for help
• Includes self-generation and cognitive monitoring
  of thoughts
• Self-regulation linked to higher achievement and
  satisfaction over the lifespan

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Self-Regulation in Infancy and Early Childhood
The Self
12-18 months
Depend on caregivers for reminder signals about
acceptable behaviors
Begin to comply with the caregivers expectations
in the absence of monitoring
2-3 years
Learn to resist temptation and give themselves
instructions that keep them focused
Preschool
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Self-Regulation in Middle/Late Childhood and
Adolescence
The Self

• Self-regulation increases from about 5 or 6
  years up to 7 or 8 years of age
• Across elementary school years, children increase
  beliefs that behavior is result of own effort and
  not luck
• From 8 to 14 years of age, children increase
  perception of self-responsibility for failure

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Selective Optimization with Compensation
The Self

• Successful self-regulation in aging linked to
• Selection reduction in performance
• Optimization continue practice, use of
  technology
• Compensation concealment offsetting or
  counterbalancing a deficiency

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Personal Control
The Self

• Primary control striving
• Ones efforts to change external world to fit
  needs and desires
• Attain personal goals, overcome obstacles
• Secondary control striving
• Targets ones inner worlds motivation, emotion,
  and mental representation

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Changes In Primary and Secondary Control
Strategies Across the Life Span
The Self
Fig. 11.6
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Eriksons Ideas on Identity
Identity

• Identity versus identity confusion
• Adolescents examine who they are, what they are
  about, and where they are going in life
• Psychosocial moratorium
• Gap between childhood security and adult
  autonomy, part of adolescent identity exploration

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Identitys Components
Identity

• Achievement/intellectual identity
• Vocational/career identity
• Cultural/ethnic identity
• Relationship identity
• Religious identity
• Physical identity

• Interest
• Personality
• Sexual identity
• Political identity

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Contemporary Views of Identity
Identity

• Gradual, lengthy process
• Identity formation neither begins nor ends with
  adolescence
• Appearance of attachment
• Development of a sense of self
• Emergence of independence in infancy
• Resolution does not mean lifetime stability

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Identity Statuses
Identity

• According to Marcia Individuals go through
  periods of
• Crisis exploring alternatives during identity
  development
• Commitment individuals show personal investment
  in what they are going to do

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Marcias Identity Statuses
Identity
Fig. 11.9
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Developmental Changes in Identity Status
Identity

• Young adolescents primarily in statuses of
  diffusion, foreclosure, or moratorium
• Important for achieving positive identity
• Confidence in parental support
• Established sense of industry
• Able to adopt self-reflective stance of future

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Developmental Changes in Identity Status
Identity

• Most important changes occur ages 18 to 25
• MAMA cycle pattern for positive identity
• moratorium achievement moratorium
  achievement
• Family influences on identity development
• Individuality has two dimensions
• Connectedness has two dimensions

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Family Influences
Identity
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Culture and Ethnicity
Identity

• Erikson very sensitive to role of culture
• Ethnic minority groups struggle to blend into
  dominant culture and keep cultural identities
• Aware of
• Negative appraisals and stereotyping
• Restricted opportunities
• Conflicting values influencing life choices
• Two existing value systems

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Trait Theories and the Big Five Factors of
Personality
Personality

• Trait Theories
• Personality is broad dispositions or traits that
  tend to produce characteristic responses
• Big Five Factors of Personality theory
• Led to advancements in assessing personality
• Most believe personality is result of
  trait-situation interaction

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Big Five Factors of Personality
Personality
Fig. 11.10
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Views On Adult Development
Personality

• Stage-Crisis View
• Levinsons Seasons of a Mans Life
• Stage and transitions occur in life span
• Tasks or crisis in each stage shape personality
• Levinsons midlife crisis in 40s try to cope
  with gap between past and future
• Vaillants Grant Study

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Levinsons Seasons of Life
Personality
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Emotional Instability and Age
Personality
Fig. 11.12
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Age and Well-Being
Personality
Fig. 11.13
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The Life-Events Approach
Personality

• Now contemporary life-events approach
  alternative to the stage approach
• How a life event influences individuals
  development depends on
• The life event
• Individuals adaptation to the life event
• Life-stage context
• Sociohistorical context

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Life Events Framework
Personality
Fig. 11.14
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Generativity versus Stagnation
Personality

• Seventh stage in Eriksons life-span theory
• Generativity
• Encompasses adults desire to leave legacy to
  next generation
• Middle-aged adults develop in number of ways
• Stagnation
• Also self-absorption, develops when one senses
  s/he has done nothing for next generation

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Changes In Generativity from the Thirties to the
Fifties
Personality
Fig. 11.15
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Stability and Change
Personality

• Many longitudinal studies have found evidence for
  both change and stability in personality in
  adulthood
• Neugartens Kansas City Study
• Costa and McCraes Baltimore Study
• Berkley Longitudinal Studies
• Helsons Mills College Study
• Vaillants studies

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Stability and Change
Personality

• Cumulative Personality Model
• With time and age, people become more adept at
  interacting with environment in ways that promote
  stability
• Overall, personality is affected by
• Social contexts
• New experiences
• Sociohistorical changes

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Openness to Experience, Age, and Culture
Personality
Fig. 11.17
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Links Between Characteristics at Age 50 and
Health and Happiness at Ages 75-80
Fig. 11.18
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The End
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