Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Chapter 10

Social and Personality Development in the Preschool Years

Child Development, 3/e by Robert Feldman

Created by Barbara H. Bratsch

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

• How do preschool-age children develop a concept of themselves?

• How do children develop their sense of racial identity and gender?

• In what sorts of social relationships do preschool-age children engage?

• What sorts of disciplinary styles do parents employ, and what effects do they have?

• How do children develop a moral sense?• How does aggression develop in preschool-age children?

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Erik Erikson

• Psychosocial development - according to Erikson, development that encompasses changes both in the understandings individuals have of themselves as members of society and in their comprehension of the meaning of others’ behavior

• Initiative – vs – guilt stage – the period during which children aged 3 to 6 years experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of that action

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Self-Concept in the Preschool Years

• Self-Concept – a person’s identity or set of beliefs about what one is like as an individual

• Collectivistic Orientation – a philosophy that promotes the notion of interdependence

• Individualistic Orientation – a philosophy that emphasizes personal identity and the uniqueness of the individual

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Gender Identity• Gender Identity – the perception of oneself as male or female• Identification – the process in which children attempt to be similar to

their parent of the same sex, incorporating the parent’s attitudes and values.

• Gender Schema – a cognitive framework that organizes information relevant to gender

• Gender Constancy – the fact that people are permanently males or females, depending on fixed, unchangeable biological factors

• Androgynous – encompassing characteristics thought typical of both sexes

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Preschoolers’ Social Lives• Functional play – play that involves simple, repetitive activities typical

of 3-year-olds• Constructive play- play in which children manipulate objects to

produce or build something• Parallel play – action in which children play with similar toys, in a

similar manner, but do not interact with one another• Onlooker play – action in which children simply watch others at play

but do not actually participate themselves• Associative play – play in which two or more children interact by

sharing or borrowing toys or materials, although they do not do the same thing

• Cooperative play – play in which children genuinely interact with one another, taking turns, playing games, or devising contests

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Preschoolers’ Social Lives

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Parental Discipline Styles• Authoritarian – parents who are controlling, punitive, rigid and cold

and whose word is law; they value strict, unquestioning obedience from their children and do not tolerate expressions of disagreement

• Permissive – parents who provide lax and inconsistent feedback and require little of their children

• Authoritative parents – parents who are firm, setting clear and consistent limits, but try to reason with their children, explaining why they should behave in a particular way

• Uninvolved parents – parents who show virtually no interest in their children, displaying indifferent, rejecting behavior

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Moral Development

• Moral development refers to the maturation of people’s sense of justice, of what is right and wrong, and their behavior in connection with such issues

• Heteronomous morality – the stage of moral development in which rules are seen as invariant and unchangeable

• Immanent justice – the notion that rules that are broken earn immediate punishment

• Prosocial behavior – helping behavior that benefits others

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

• Abstract modeling – the process in which modeling paves the way for the development of more general rules and principles

• Empathy – the understanding of what another individual feels. Empathy continues to grow through the preschool years

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Aggression and Violence in Preschoolers

• Aggression is intentional harm or injury to another person

• Emotional self-regulation is the capability to adjust one’s emotions to a desired state and level of intensity

• Relational aggression – nonphysical aggression that is intended to hurt another person’s psychological well- being

Feldman Child Development, 3/e©2004 Prentice Hall

Televised Acts of Violence