This article is for use only of students enrolled in GPS 520: Advanced Social Psychology for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.
Excerpts taken from Brown, J. D. (1998). The self (pp. 96-103). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill
The Developmental Course of the ME
To this point we have been concerned with the development
of the 1, with the infant's awareness that it is a distinct and continuous
entity. We have yet to consider the development of the ME. A focus on the ME
would lead us to ask: How do people's thoughts about themselves change with age?
For example, do 6-year-olds think of themselves differently than do
16-year-olds? Research in this area (for reviews, see Damon & Hart, 1988;
Harter, 1983; Lewis & Brooks-Gunn, 1979) suggests the following
developmental trends.
Early Childhood (Ages 2-6)
Gender and age appear to be the first characteristics
applied to the self. By age two, most children correctly identify themselves as
a boy or a girl, although they may not be fully aware that gender is constant
until several years later (Harter, 1983). At this age, children also tend to
describe themselves in terms of concrete, observable characteristics (e.g., I
have brown hair; I have an older brother) and typical behaviors and activities
(e.g., I play games; I like soccer). In short, young children tend to think of
themselves in terms of their observable, verifiable characteristics.
Middle Childhood (Ages 7-11)
Several changes in self-descriptions occur during middle
childhood. First, self-descriptions become more general. For example, instead of
thinking of themselves in terms of specific activities (I like soccer; I like
skating), children start applying broader labels to themselves (I like sports).
Children at this age also begin defining themselves (and others) in
psychological terms that emphasize perceived traits. Many of these qualities
refer to important social characteristics (e.g., nice, likable, or friendly).
Cognitive maturity accounts for many of these changes.
Middle childhood encompasses the concrete operational phase in Piaget's model.
During this stage, children acquire the ability to think logically and to
organize their thinking through the use of inductive reasoning. These abilities
enable them to construct a more general view of themselves than was possible
during early childhood.
Children at this age also acquire the capacity to take the
perspective of others (in the manner specified by Mead) and to see themselves
from another person's point of view. Social comparison processes also become
more influential at this stage of life. Children compare themselves with others
and draw inferences about themselves on the basis of what these comparisons show
("Jimmy has more trouble solving problems than I do, so I must be
smart"). Before the age of six, social comparison is not thought to
strongly influence the way children evaluate themselves (Ruble, 1983).
(p.97)
Adolescence (Ages 12-18)
Adolescence brings another shift in self-understanding.
Adolescents define themselves in abstract qualities that emphasize their
perceived inner emotions and psychological characteristics. For example, an
adolescent might be inclined to say he is moody or insecure. These assessments
reflect a more sophisticated, analytical approach to self-definition, one that
emphasizes private qualities not necessarily known to others.
Table 4.2 summarizes these developmental trends in
self-description. The table also shows the parallels between these stages and
the three components of the empirical self discussed by William James (1890)
(see Chapter 2). In early childhood, children emphasize the material self
(physical attributes, possessions); in middle childhood, children focus on the
social self (they use social comparison information and emphasize their
interpersonal qualities); in adolescence, the focus is on the spiritual self
(one's perceived inner psychological qualities).
SELF-DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN
Self-development is most rapid during infancy and early childhood, but people's ideas about themselves change (at least somewhat) throughout their lives. In the final section of this chapter, we will broaden our scope and look more closely at self-development across the life span.
The Developmental Course of Self-Evaluation
We will begin by considering age-related changes in the way
people evaluate themselves. In Chapter 3 we noted that most people evaluate
themselves in very favorable terms. Several investigators have examined whether
this "positivity bias" is equally apparent at all stages of life.
(p.98)
An investigation by Ruble, Eisenberg, and Higgins (1994)
sheds light on this issue. These investigators tested children at three age
levels: 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10. Approximately half of the children succeeded or
failed at an experimental task; the other half observed another child (of the
same age and sex) succeed or fail at the task. The children then rated their own
(or the other child's) ability.
At all three age levels, the children rated their own
ability more favorably than they rated the other child's ability. Moreover, this
tendency was especially pronounced given failure, leading Ruble and her
colleagues to conclude that children's highly positive self-evaluations are
driven by a desire to maximize feelings of self-worth.
Ruble et al. also found that self-evaluations were most favorable among the youngest children (5-6-year-olds) and least favorable among the oldest children (9-10-year-olds). This is a common pattern. Figure 4.1, which is based on the results of a number of studies (for reviews, see Demo, 1992; Eccles, Wigfield, Harold, & Blumenfeld, 1993; Marsh, 1989; Stipek, 1984), presents a schematic representation of findings in this area. The figure shows that young children (3-8-year-olds) evaluate themselves in very positive terms. Sometime around age 9 or 10, these evaluations become less positive. They are still favorable in an absolute sense (and compared to children's evaluations of others), but they are not as favorable as they were a few years ago. This downward trend continues into early adolescence, as children make the transition from elementary school to junior high (or middle school), but begins to reverse itself around age 15. From that point on, self-evaluations become increasingly positive until they level off in early adulthood.
(p.99)
Adolescence
The fact that self-evaluations become more negative at the
start of adolescence is consistent with the notion that adolescence is a
difficult stage of life. These difficulties are thought to arise from the many
changes adolescence brings. These include physical changes (brought about by the
onset of puberty), cognitive changes (brought about by the emergence of formal
operational thinking), and social changes (brought about by shifting societal
expectations and changing friendship patterns).
The Adolescent Identity Crisis
Erik Erikson (1963, 1968) introduced the term
"identity crisis" to describe the manner in which these changes can
affect the way adolescents think and feel about themselves. He noted that many
of the changes that accompany adolescence are abrupt and discontinuous, rather
than smooth and gradual. This disjunction can create confusion and instability
in the self-concept. Adolescents can become "unsure of who they are."
To resolve this crisis, adolescents must find a way to establish continuity
between their prepubertal self and the way they look, think, and feel about
themselves now. They must also integrate the various ideas they have about
themselves (including those involving new social roles and obligations) into a
unified self-concept. In other words, as they first did in infancy, adolescents
must fashion a stable and integrated self-view.
The young person, in order to experience wholeness, must
feel a progressive continuity between that which he has come to be during the
long years of childhood and that which he promises to become in the anticipated
future; between that which he conceives himself to be and that which he
perceives others to see in him and to expect of him. (Erikson, 1968, p. 87) The
sense of [identity], then, is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and
continuity prepared in the past are matched by the sameness and continuity of
[the present]. (Erikson, 1963, p. 261)
Erikson believed that these issues are resolved when
adolescents make commitments in three broad areas: (1) occupation (i.e., choose
a profession); (2) ideology (i.e., establish a religious preference, political
affiliation, and general world view); and (3) sexual orientation (i.e., define
their sexual orientation and adopt age-appropriate sex-role behavior).
Historically, these commitments were not difficult to make
(Baumeister & Tice, 1986). Before the industrial revolution, adolescents
worked on the family farm or served an apprenticeship that prepared them to
assume the family business. They also tended to adopt their parents' religious
and political beliefs, and very often allowed their parents to determine whom
and when they married. This is much less true today. At least in contemporary
Western societies, adolescents are free to choose their occupation, ideology,
and marriage partners. This freedom has obvious advantages, but it is not
without costs. Today, adolescents must decide who they are and what they will
be, leading to the type of identity crisis Erikson depicted (Baumeister &
Tice, 1986).
(p.100)
Having the freedom (and responsibility) to forge an identity suggests that adolescents will differ with respect to how far along they are in making their identity commitments. Marcia (1966) considered this issue and distinguished four levels of identity commitment in college students. As shown in Table 4.3, individuals who have successfully weathered an identity crisis and have made the occupational, ideological, and sexual commitments Erikson described are said to be in the
identity achieved stage. In effect, these individuals have
"found themselves" after a period of searching. Those who are actively
working toward resolving their crisis but have yet to do so successfully are
said to be in the moratorium stage. Individuals who are mired in an identity
crisis and are not making any discernible progress toward resolving it are said
to be in the identity diffused stage. Finally, individuals who have made
commitments in the absence of any crisis are said to be in the foreclosure
stage. Typically, these individuals have accepted the commitments of their
parents without attempting to define these commitments for themselves. As one
might expect, there is a developmental shift across the college years, with
identity achievers being more common among college seniors than among college
freshmen (Waterman, 1982).
Self-Awareness in Adolescence
In addition to being a time of identity confusion,
adolescence is also a time of increased self-consciousness. This heightened
self-awareness takes two forms. The first is a private preoccupation with
oneself, epitomized by the soul-searching Erikson emphasized. The second is an
excessive (some would say obsessive) concern with how one appears to others.
Adolescents are renown for believing that others are scrutinizing them, talking
about them, and evaluating them (Elkind, 1967). These feelings appear to be
particularly acute during early adolescence (Rosenberg, 1979) and decline as
adolescents begin to make their identity commitments (Adams, Abraham, &
Markstrom, 1987; Ryan & Kuczkowski, 1994).
(p.101)
Sex Differences in Self-Evaluation during Adolescence
Another issue that has received attention is whether there
are sex differences in the way adolescents think and feel about themselves. One
widely cited study by Simmons and her associates found a sharp decline in the
self-esteem of white females entering junior high school (Simmons, Blyth, Van
Cleave, & Bush, 1979). Subsequent research has failed to replicate this
finding (see, for example, Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987). Thus, although there is a
general decline in self-related feelings at the start of adolescence (see Figure
4.1), this decline does not vary as a function of sex (or race).
There are, however, sex differences when it comes to the
way adolescents evaluate their specific qualities (Marsh, 1989). For some
attributes (e.g., perceived ability in math), boys evaluate themselves more
positively than do girls; for other attributes (e.g., perceived verbal ability),
girls evaluate themselves more positively than do boys. These differences
generally follow cultural stereotypes and may be specific to Western societies.
Pubertal development also differentially affects the way boys and girls evaluate themselves. Among boys, early pubertal development is associated with a more positive view of one's body; among girls, early development is associated with a more negative view of one's body (for a review, see Buchanan, Eccles, & Becker, 1992). Again, these differences may well be specific to particular cultures, rather than universal.
Is Adolescence Invariably Stressful?
Adolescence is clearly a psychologically rich period of
life. The dramatic physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur can have
many negative consequences, as evidenced by the disproportionately high rates of
unwanted teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse, accidents related to
high-risk behavior, and suicide rates Quadrel, Fischhoff, & Davis, 1993).
Unfortunately, these problems seem only to be increasing as we enter the
twenty-first century (Garland & Zigler, 1993).
But is adolescence invariably stressful? The answer appears
to be "no." Although many adolescents confront the sorts of issues
Erikson and others have spoken of, and may experience temporary disturbances in
the self-concept, these changes are rarely extreme or long-lasting. Moreover,
many positive changes occur during adolescence as well, including strong ties to
peer groups and a new sense of freedom and control. For these reasons, the
majority of adolescents do not experience the kind of anguish and turmoil that
the term "identity crisis" implies.
The majority of adolescents of both
genders successfully negotiate this developmental period without any major
psychological or emotional disorder, develop a positive sense of personal
identity, and manage to forge adaptive peer relationships at the same time they
maintain close relationships with their families. (Petersen et al., 1993)
(p.102)
Self-Conceptions in Adulthood
And the years are rolling by me,
they are rocking evenly, I am older than I once was, and younger than I'll be,
that's not unusual. No it isn't strange, after changes upon changes we are more
or less the same. After changes we are more or less the same.
-P. SIMON, "The Boxer"
Although relatively serene in comparison to the many
changes that characterize adolescence, adulthood is also marked by a number of
important transitions. People get married, begin careers, have children,
relocate to new cities, and so forth. Despite these many changes, the adult
personality is remarkably stable (McCrae & Costa, 1994). Whether we look at
mean levels (are the elderly more conscientious than the middle-aged?), or the
rank-ordering of individuals (do people who score high on conscientious in
middle age score high on conscientious later in life?), the story is the same:
Personality changes little after the age of 30. This stability also
characterizes people's ideas about themselves. Self-ratings obtained in early
adulthood are highly similar to self-ratings obtained many years later
(Mortimer, Finch, & Kumka, 1982). Identities are added and lost, of course,
but our ideas about ourselves remain consistent.
Several theorists (e.g., Cohler, 1982; Filipp & Klauer,
1986; Gergen & Gergen, 1983) believe this stability arises from a
constructive process in which individuals create stability by generating a
coherent narrative of their life's story. This approach emphasizes that
individuals are not passive witnesses to their life; they are active historians.
They interpret their past in ways that allow them to maintain a strong sense of
continuity (McAdams, 1996). Viewing experiences in this manner allows people to
perceive the continuity that James (1890) noted was so critical to the
preservation of identity.
These interpretive processes extend into late adulthood.
Although advancing age often brings many changes, including impairment in
visual, auditory, and motor functioning, there is little consistent evidence
that people's views of themselves change appreciably in their later years (Brandtstddter
& Greve, 1994). Nor does research support the claim that elderly people are
lonely, depressed, and filled with despair. Absent any serious health problems,
people's feelings toward themselves and the perceived quality of their lives do
not decline with age. Again, this is because people do not passively register
the circumstances of their lives, they actively transform them. Among other
things, they adjust their goals and adopt different targets for purposes of
social comparison. Age also brings positive changes as well (Carstensen &
Freund, 1994; Cross & Markus, 1991). As was true with adolescence, then,
most people are not filled with angst at this stage of life.
The processes of aging involve a multitude of changes and discontinuities that challenge the person's construction of self.... It seems plausible to assume, as many researchers in the field of adult development and aging have done, that such experiences should translate into problems of self-esteem, reduced well-being, and in increased vulnerability to depression. Despite their seeming theoretical consistency, these assumptions have received little empirical support. On the contrary, the picture that begins to emerge from recent research gives testimony to a remarkable stability, resilience, and resourcefulness of the aging self. (Brandtstadter & Greve, 1994, p. 71)