Post on 13-Apr-2017
Chapter 13
Psychosocial Development in Middle and Late
Childhood
Prosocial Behavior
Occurs when children help others without obvious benefit to themselves
Characteristics of prosocial behavior: Consistency: Children who show prosocial behavior in childhood do so in
the future. Sociability and adjustment: Prosocial children tend to be well adjusted
and cope well with stress. Cognition: As thinking becomes more logical and less egocentric,
children tend to become more prosocial.
Changes in Self-Evaluation
Social comparisons increase and influence self-evaluations, which trend toward either the favorable or unfavorable, competent or the incompetent, popular or the unpopular.
Self-Esteem and Competence
Domain-specific attributes: particular areas of competence identified by Susan Harter as important in middle childhood: Physical appearanceScholastic competenceSocial acceptanceBehavioral conductAthletic competence
Self-Esteem Across the Lifespan
Rejected
Frequently nominated as someone’s best friend and as being dislikedControversial
Average
Popular
Infrequently nominated as a best friend; actively disliked by peers
Receive average number of positive and negative nominations from peers
Frequently nominated as a best friend; rarely disliked by peers
Neglected Infrequently nominated as a best friend but not disliked by peers
Peer Statuses
Interacting at School
Bullying: acts of verbal or physical aggression that are chronic and directed toward particular victimsRacial bullying: bullying in which children are
targeted because of their race or ethnicityCyberbullying: bullying through use of e-mail,
social networks, or other technology to attack their victims
Types of Bullies
Aggressive bully: usually initiates the aggressive action by taking overt physical or verbal actions
Follower: less common than the aggressive bully, follows the aggressive bully’s lead. Followers often use this behavior to improve their self-esteem.
Relational bully: uses less direct forms of aggression, such as isolating or excluding another student
Myths about Bullying
You can’t do anything about bullying because it has gone on forever.
Kids are just mean to each other. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It was just a bad joke. It was a one-time thing. Kids will be kids. Bullying is wrong, but it isn’t a school issue.
Moral Development
Piaget’s Theory:Autonomous Orientation: Children understand that individuals
participate in making the rules of society. Kohlber’s Stage Theory:
Conventional level: Kohlberg’s second stage of moral development. Children at this stage conform to social rules in order to maintain social order.Substage 3: aim for interpersonal cooperationSubstage 4: work to maintain social order