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