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Developmental Trends: Sense of Self at Different Age Levels

By T. M McDevitt|J. E. Ormrod
Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall

Infancy (Birth–2)

What You Might Observe:

  • Increasing awareness that one is separate from one’s caregivers (in the first year)
  • Increasing recognition of self in mirror (in the second year)
  • Appearance of first-person pronouns, such as I, me, mine (late in the second year)

Diversity:

  • The quality of child-caregiver relationships influences infants’ beliefs that they are worthy of love.
  • Infants’ temperaments (e.g., whether they are irritable or easily comforted) affect some caregivers’ ability and desire to give affection and care.

Implications:

  • Communicate affection by cuddling and talking to infants and by attending to their physical needs in a timely and consistent manner.
  • Talk with infants and toddlers about their bodily features and possessions (“Where’s your nose?” “Here’s your teddy bear!”).

Early Childhood (2–6)

What You Might Observe:

  • Frequent use of I, me, and mine, especially at ages 2 and 3
  • Emergence of an autobiographical self (beginning at age 3 or 4)
  • Concrete self-descriptions (e.g., “I’m a boy,” “I’m pretty”)
  • Overconfidence about what tasks can be accomplished

Diversity:

  • Children whom others treat affectionately tend to develop a positive sense of self. Those who are rejected, ridiculed, or ignored have a harder time seeing themselves in positive terms.
  • Some children gain an emerging awareness that they belong to a particular racial or ethnic group (by age 5).

Implications:

  • Acknowledge children’s possessions, but encourage sharing.
  • Engage children in joint retellings of recent events.
  • Don’t disparage children’s lofty ambitions (“I’m going to be President!”), but focus their efforts on accomplishable short-term goals.

Middle Childhood (6–10)

What You Might Observe:

  • Increasing discrimination among various aspects of oneself (e.g., among academic performance, athletic ability, and likability)
  • Increasing tendency to base sense of self on how one’s own performance compares with that of peers
  • Increasing internalization of others’ standards for performance (continues into adolescence)
  • Generally good self-esteem in most children
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