Deck 11: C: Understanding Self and Others

Question 1

Suzanne and Devon love their children and want them to feel good about themselves and to be successful. They make a point of telling their children that they are smart and that they are great at every opportunity they get. What advice would you give Suzanne and Devon?

Answer 1

General praise for ability can lead the child to view intelligence as "fixed" and to choose easy tasks so that they do not fail. In contrast, changing the praise to refer to the effort the child put into the task "I like how much time you worked on that problem. Good job for trying so hard" leads children to view intelligence as "malleable." This leads to an increase in children's persistence after an apparent setback and also to increased grades.

Question 2

Briefly describe some outcomes associated with low self-esteem.

Answer 2

A good answer will include the following key points:
·Peer problems
·Greater risk for psychological disorders such as depression
·More likely to be involved in bullying and aggressive behaviour
·More likely to do poorly in school

Question 3

Your friends are the parents of a 13-year-old son. They have told you that they are dreading the teen years because adolescence is a time of storm and stress and they aren't sure that they can handle all of the storm and stress that their son will be going through in the next few years. What can you tell them about the facts behind the idea of adolescence as a time of storm and stress?

Answer 3

A good answer will be similar to the following:
The idea of adolescence as a time of storm and stress has been vastly overstated. Most adolescents report that they love and admire their parents, rely upon their parents for advice, embrace many of their parents' values, feel loved by their parents, are usually happy, and do not try to avoid their homes. However, during the teen years parents must adjust to their children's growing sense of autonomy. This increased autonomy may lead to arguments about styles of dress, personal tastes, and freedom from parental rules. Adolescence is a challenging time but, in most cases, it is not a time of great storm and stress.

Question 4

Your friends Frank and Kathie have a young son, Jessie. Frank and Kathie hope that Jessie will grow up feeling good about himself. They are wondering if there is anything that they can do that will increase the chances that Jessie will have high levels of self-esteem. What can you tell Frank and Kathie about the factors that influence self-esteem?

Question 5

Bigler and Liben (2007) conducted an interesting study on bias and prejudice using T-shirts in a preschool. Briefly describe the study and the results.

Question 6

Describe the three phases that individuals typically go through in attaining ethnic identity.

Question 7

Briefly describe how preschoolers, school-aged children, and adolescents are likely to describe themselves.

Question 8

How do children's descriptions of other people change from childhood to adolescence?

Question 9

Recently your friends' eight-year-old daughter has made prejudiced comments about members of other racial groups. Your friends don't find this behaviour acceptable and they want to reduce their daughter's prejudice. What advice can you give your friends?

Question 10

Name and briefly describe Selman's five stages of perspective taking.

Question 11

Describe the developmental changes in self-esteem that occur over the preschool, elementary, junior high, and high school years.

Question 12

Describe Marcia's four identity statuses.

Question 13

Name and describe four of the five domains of self-worth measured in Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC). How is global self-worth related to self-worth in the individual domains?

Question 14

Explain what is meant by the imaginary audience, the personal fable, and the illusion of invulnerability. Give an example of each.

Question 15

Your friends think there is something wrong with their 16-year-old son. One week he says that he wants to be a rock star and the next he says that he wants to be a pediatrician. Your friends don't think that a normal adolescent can change identities so rapidly. Based on what you know about achieving an identity in adolescence, what can you tell your friends to make them feel better?