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Nuri Cho
Professor Haley
How do parents influence development of children’s identity through communication?
Gamble, Stephanie A., and John E. Roberts. “Adolescents' Perceptions of Primary Caregivers
and Cognitive Style: The Roles of Attachment Security and Gender." Cognitive Therapy
and Research 29.2 (2005): 123. Humanities Module. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
In this article, Gamble and Roberts argue that attachment security may play a key
mediating role in establishing a link between children’s perceptions of their primary caregivers
and negative cognitive styles such as low self-esteem and dysfunctional attitudes. Children’s
early life experiences, particularly parenting style, contribute to development of different
cognitive styles. Cognitive styles construct one’s understanding of the world and evaluation of
interactions. Children who have negative perception of parent-child relationships tend to think
negative about self-concept and self-worthlessness. Moreover, Gamble and Roberts argue that
children whose caregivers are unavailable and nonresponsive during childhood are likely to grow
up with an expectation that they are not worthy of care and others cannot be relied upon. On the
other hand, children who perceive their primary caregivers as responsive and available during
early development are likely to internalize a sense of self-worthiness and others will attend to
their needs. The authors provide a clinical study in which they examined attribution styles of
parents, children’s perceptions of their caregivers, and negative cognitive styles. In conclusion,
the study clarifies the authors’ argument that the relationship between perceptions of adverse
parenting and cognitive style is mediated by attachment insecurity.
This article will help me answer my question by providing evidence through clinical
study on how parenting and attribution styles affect cognitive development of children. Different
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attachment styles parents as primary caregivers provide to children affect development of selfesteem and sense of interaction with others in society. This article is unique in a sense that the
study was done to provide children’s perspective and perception on their caregiver’s style and its
relationship with their personality. Through this article, I will be able to provide different aspects
of my research topic on how parents influence development of children’s identity.
Smith, Anne B. “How Do Infants and Toddlers Learn the Rules? Family Discipline and Young
Children.” International Journal of Early Childhood 36.2 (2004): 27-41. Children’s
Module. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
The author of this article, Smith, discusses effective methods of parental discipline on
children. She provides guidelines on how to teach children about behaviors that are acceptable in
social environment through dialogue and language use rather than physical punishment. She
argues that discipline should not be used as punishment, but rather as guidance that enhances
children’s moral, emotional, and physical development. Parents’ actions and language use are
considered as external influences that are internalized by developing children. Children are likely
to reflect the same modes of interaction later in their relationship with others in society.
Smith also discusses about attachment, the tie between the parent and the child that binds
them together, and how it is central to learning and development of children’s identity. When
children are provided with secure attachment styles through warm and responsive
communication, they are likely to develop a positive sense of self-concept and ability to trust and
relate to others. On the other hand, children who are raised with negative attachment styles and
parent-child interaction, through physical punishment for example, fail to develop their own
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internal standards for themselves. In conclusion, Smith argues that parents’ disciplinary actions
and communication with their children and their attachment styles play a key role in developing
children’s standards of rules and moral values.
This article is relevant to answering my research question, because it provides
information about how physical punishment as a nonverbal communication affects children in
their development of self-worth and behavioral standards when interacting with others in society.
How parents use communication as a method of disciplining their children have a significant
influence on children’s moral values and collective identity as a member of a society. This article
presents different childhood theories such as social-learning theory and sociocultural theory
which I could be using as a reference to explain the process of development of children and
parents’ role in shaping children’s behavior in social environment.
Wachtel, Elle F. “The Language of Becoming: Helping Children Change How They Think
About Themselves.” Family Process 40.4 (2001): 369-84. Research Library Core.
ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
In this article, Wachtel discusses the language of becoming in order to enable children to
learn that their identity and personality are constantly changing and evolving over time. Use of
meta-message and language of becoming helps both children and parents to see children’s
personality as a trait that continually flows rather than something that cannot be changed. The
author argues that, often, parents’ perception of their children’s personality traits is projected to
the children through parents’ personalized lenses and direct labels. Then, the children begin to
internalize how parents view them and therefore behave in ways parents label them. Parents’
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expectation of children is projected onto the children forming their own expectation of
themselves which have both positive and negative impact.
Wachtel argues that in order for both parents and children to break from self-fulfilling
prophecies and rigid definitions about children and their behavior, parents need to use language
of becoming to avoid confining children to parents’ direct labels of who they are. The language
of becoming works by parents noticing changes in their children’s traits and behavior and
reflecting back to them the changes parents see. This way, parents are sending a message to the
children that their personality is not something he or she is stuck with, but something that
evolves and changes with new actions and experiences. In conclusion, the author states that when
parents see children as growing and changing, children’s image of their self and identity changes
as well.
This article will be helpful in answering my research question, because it provides strong
evidence of how parents are powerful influences in shaping children’s identity and self-worth.
The article describes exact technical jargons I wish to use in my research paper such as selffulfilling prophecies, attribution, and direct definitions and incorporates them into real-life
clinical illustrations. It will help me to understand the process of identity formation in children
through parents’ verbal communication with them. During parent-child interactions, parents
communicate their perception of children’s personality traits by assigning labels. When children
internalize parents’ idea of who they are, whether it be positive or negative, children tend to
behave in their parents’ expectations. I will be using this article to explain how parents influence
children in constructing sense of self and how parents’ communication can change children’s
self-image and personality
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Works Cited
Gamble, Stephanie A., and John E. Roberts. “Adolescents' Perceptions of Primary Caregivers
and Cognitive Style: The Roles of Attachment Security and Gender." Cognitive Therapy
and Research 29.2 (2005): 123. Humanities Module. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
Smith, Anne B. “How Do Infants and Toddlers Learn the Rules? Family Discipline and Young
Children.” International Journal of Early Childhood 36.2 (2004): 27-41. Children’s
Module. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
Wachtel, Elle F. “The Language of Becoming: Helping Children Change How They Think
About Themselves.” Family Process 40.4 (2001): 369-84. Research Library Core.
ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.