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Chapter 10: Problem 2

Summarize ways in which children's views of themselves change during middle childhood. Children in the middle childhood years begin to view themselves in terms of psychological characteristics and to differentiate their self-concepts into separate areas. They use social comparison to evaluate their behavior, abilities, expertise, and opinions.

Short Answer

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In middle childhood, children become aware of their psychological traits, develop separate self-concepts, utilize social comparisons, and evaluate their abilities and opinions. They begin to understand their unique personality and compare their skills and abilities with peers, giving them a better understanding of their individual character and helps in shaping their self-concept.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Psychological Characteristics

During middle childhood, children begin to identify and understand their psychological traits, such as their strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and motivations. These traits play a significant role in shaping their overall personality.
02

Development of Separate Self-Concepts

Middle childhood also marks the stage where children differentiate their self-concepts into separate areas, such as academic, social and physical self-concepts. They start to recognize their uniqueness and separate their attributes into various domains.
03

Utilizing Social Comparison

Children at this age start to use social comparison as a tool to evaluate their abilities and behavior. They compare themselves to peers to understand where they stand in terms of skills, talents, and abilities.
04

Evaluating Abilities and Opinions through Social Comparison

Children gain insight about their abilities, preferences, and expertise by comparing with others. They discover their place in the social environment, assess their competencies, and develop opinions based on their comparisons with others. They also begin to tackle their weaknesses and build on their strengths based on these evaluations.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Describe what makes a child popular and why it is important in middle childhood. Popularity in children is related to traits that underlie social competence. Because of the importance of social interactions and friendships, developmental researchers have engaged in efforts to improve social problem- solving skills and the processing of social information.

Describe how friendships between the races change during the school years. Cross-race friendships diminish in frequency as children age. Equal-status interactions among members of different racial groups can lead to improved understanding, mutual respect and acceptance, and a decreased tendency to stereotype.

Describe the major developmental challenge of middle childhood. According to Erikson, children in the middle childhood years are in the industry-versus-inferiority stage, focusing on achieving competence and responding to a wide range of personal challenges.

Summarize how today's diverse family and care arrangements affect children in middle childhood. Children in families in which both parents work outside the home generally fare well. Self-care children who fend for themselves after school may develop independence and a sense of competence and contribution. Immediately after a divorce, the effects on children in the middle childhood years can be serious, depending on the financial condition of the family and the hostility level between spouses before the divorce. The consequences of living in a single- parent family depend on the financial condition of the family and, if there had been two parents, the level of hostility that existed between them. Blended families present challenges to the child but can also offer opportunities for increased social interaction. Children in group care tend to have been victims of neglect and abuse. Many can be helped and placed with their own or other families, but about 25 percent of them will spend their childhood years in group care.

Explain why self-esteem is important during middle childhood. Children in these years are developing self-esteem; those with chronically low self-esteem can become trapped in a cycle of failure in which low self-esteem feeds on itself by producing low expectations and poor performance.
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