Chapter 8
Socioemotional Development in
Middle and Late Childhood
PowerPoints developed by Nicholas Greco IV,
College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
(c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The Development of SelfUnderstanding
 Children increasingly describe themselves
with psychological characteristics and
traits
 They become more likely to recognize
social aspects of the self
 More likely to distinguish themselves from
others in comparative rather than in
absolute terms
(Harter, 2006)
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Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
 Self-esteem -- global evaluations of the
self; self-worth or self-image
Self-esteem reflects perceptions that do not
always match reality
 Self-concept -- domain-specific
evaluations of the self
Children self-evaluate in many domains of
their lives -- academic, athletic, appearance
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Increasing Children’s SelfEsteem
 Identify the causes of low self-esteem
 Provide emotional support and social
approval
 Help children achieve
 Help children cope
(Bednar, Wells, & Peterson, 1995; Harter, 2006)
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Self-Efficacy
 Self-efficacy -- belief that one can master
a situation and produce favorable
outcomes
 Self-efficacy influences a student’s choice
of activities
students with low self-efficacy for learning
may avoid many learning tasks, especially
those that are challenging
high-self-efficacy counterparts eagerly work at
learning tasks
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Self-Regulation
 Self-regulation -- deliberate efforts to
manage one’s behavior, emotions,
and thoughts that lead to increased
social competence and achievement
 Capacity in self-regulation is linked to
developmental advances in the
brain’s prefrontal cortex
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Erikson’s 4th Stage:
Industry Versus Inferiority
 Industry -- becoming interested in how
things are made and how they work
 When children are encouraged in their
efforts, their sense of industry increases
 Parents who see their children’s efforts at
making things as “mischief” or “making a
mess” foster a sense of inferiority in their
children
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Developmental Changes in Emotion
 Improved emotional understanding
 Increased understanding that more than one
emotion can be experienced in a particular
situation
 Increased awareness of the events leading to
emotional reactions
 Ability to suppress or conceal negative
emotional reactions
 The use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting
feelings
 A capacity for genuine empathy
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Recommendations for Parents and
Teachers to Promote Coping Strategies
 Repeatedly reassure children of their safety and
security
 Allow children to retell events and be patient in
listening to them
 Encourage children to talk about any disturbing
or confusing feelings; confirm normality of the
feelings
 Protect children from re-exposure to frightening
situations and reminders of the trauma
 Help children make sense of what happened
(Gurwitch & others, 2001)
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Moral Development
 According to Piaget, older children:
consider the intentions of the individual
believe that rules are subject to change
are aware that punishment does not always
follow wrongdoing
 Based on Piaget, Kohlberg proposed six
stages of moral development which he
believed are universal
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The Kohlberg Stages
 Based on Piaget, Kohlberg proposed six
stages of moral development which he
believed were universal
 Preconventional reasoning -- children interpret good
and bad in terms of external rewards and
punishments
 Conventional reasoning -- individuals apply certain
standards, but they are the standards set by others,
such as parents or the government
 Postconventional reasoning -- individuals recognize
alternative moral courses, explore the options, and
then decide on a personal moral code
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Kohlberg’s Substages
 Preconventional reasoning
Stage 1. Heteronomous morality
Stage 2. Individualism, instrumental purpose,
and exchange
 Conventional reasoning
Stage 3. Mutual interpersonal expectations,
relationships, and interpersonal conformity
Stage 4. Social systems morality
 Postconventional reasoning
Stage 5. Social contract or utility and
individual rights
Stage 6. Universal ethical principles
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Kohlberg’s Critics
 Key criticisms involve
link between moral thought and moral
behavior
roles of culture and the family in moral
development
significance of concern for others
 Kohlberg’s theory misses or misconstrues
some moral concepts in particular cultures
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Gender and the Care
Perspective
 The most publicized criticism of Kohlberg’s
theory has come from Carol Gilligan
 She argues that Kohlberg’s theory reflects
a gender bias
Kohlberg’s theory is based on a male norm
that puts abstract principles above
relationships and concern for others
In contrast to Kohlberg’s justice perspective,
Gilligan argues for a care perspective
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Prosocial Behavior
 Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s theories have
focused on moral reasoning
 Study of prosocial moral behavior
emphasizes behavioral aspects of moral
development
sharing is one aspect of prosocial behavior
by the elementary school years, children
express objective ideas about fairness
(Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006)
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Gender Stereotypes and Gender
Similarities and Differences
 Gender stereotypes -- broad categories
that reflect general impressions and
beliefs about females and males
 Similarities and differences between boys
and girls -- bear in mind…
the differences are averages
even when differences are reported, there is
considerable gender overlap
the differences may be due primarily to
biological and/or sociocultural factors
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Physical Development
 Males grow to be 10 percent taller
 Females have a longer life expectancy
 Females are less likely to develop physical
or mental disorders
 Males have twice the risk of coronary
disease
 Researchers have found some differences
in the brains of males and females
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Cognitive Development
 Males have better math and
visuospatial skills, whereas females
have better verbal abilities
 Gender difference in visuospatial
skills may be small
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Socioemotional Development
 Boys are more physically aggressive than girls
 girls tend to be more verbally aggressive
 there are no definitive findings on relational
aggression -- behaviors such as spreading malicious
rumors or ignoring someone when angry
 Girls are more likely to express their emotions
openly and intensely than boys
 Girls are better at reading others’ emotions and
more likely to show empathy
 Males usually show less self-regulation of
emotion than females
 May lead to behavioral problems
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Gender Differences in
Prosocial Behavior
 Females view themselves as more
prosocial and empathic
 Across childhood and adolescence,
females engage in more prosocial
behavior
 The biggest gender difference occurs for
kind and considerate behavior with a
smaller difference in sharing
(Eisenberg & Morris, 2004; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006)
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Gender-Role Classification;
Gender in Context
 Androgyny -- the presence of positive
masculine and feminine characteristics in
the same person
androgynous individuals are more flexible,
competent, and mentally healthy
 The importance of considering gender in
context is very apparent when examining
what is culturally prescribed behavior for
females and males in different countries
around the world
(Bem, 1977; Spence & Helmreich, 1978)
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Developmental Changes in
Parent-Child Relationships
 In middle and late childhood years,
parents spend considerably less time with
children
 Parents continue to be important
 Parents support and stimulate academic
achievement
 Children receive less physical discipline
than they did as preschoolers
 Children in grade school use more selfregulation
(Huston & Ripke, 2006)
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Parents as Managers
 Parents can play important roles
managers of children’s opportunities
monitors of children’s behavior
social initiators and arrangers
 Family management practices are
positively related to students’ grades
and self-responsibility, and negatively
to school-related problems
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Stepfamilies
 About half of all children whose parents divorce
will have a stepparent within four years of the
separation
 Complex histories and multiple relationships make adjustment
difficult in a stepfamily
 Three common types of stepfamily structure
 Stepfather; stepmother; or blended/complex
 Children often have better relationships with
their custodial parents
 Simple families show better adjustment than
complex (blended) families
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Types of Stepfamilies
 Three common types of stepfamily
structure are:
stepfather
mother typically had custody of the children and
remarried
stepmother
father usually had custody and remarried
blended or complex
In a blended or complex stepfamily, both parents
bring children from previous marriages to live in
the newly formed stepfamily
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Developmental Changes
 Reciprocity becomes especially important in
peer interchanges
 As children move through middle and late
childhood, the amount of time spent in social
interaction with peers increases
 Size of their peer group increases
 Peer interaction is less closely supervised by
adults
 Until age 12, same-sex peer groups are
preferred
(Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006)
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Peer Status
 Sociometric status -- describes the
extent to which children are liked or
disliked by their peer group
 5 peer statuses
Popular children
Average children
Neglected children
Rejected children
Controversial children
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Being Popular
 Popular children
give out reinforcements
listen carefully
maintain open lines of communication with
peers
are happy and control their negative emotions
show enthusiasm and concern for others
are self-confident without being conceited
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Social Cognition
 Social cognition -- thinking about social
matters
important for understanding peer relationships
 5 steps in processing information about
the social world
decode social cues
interpret
search for a response
select an optimal response
enact
(Dodge, 1983)
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Bullying
 Bullying has been defined as
verbal or physical behavior
intended to disturb someone less
powerful
 Boys are more likely than girls to
be bullies
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Bullying
 Bullied children reported more
loneliness and difficulty in making
friends
 Anxious and socially withdrawn
children may be victimized because
they are non-threatening and unlikely
to retaliate
 Aggressive children may be the
targets because their behavior is
irritating to bullies
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Bullying
 Those who did the bullying were more
likely to have a poor academic record
and to smoke and drink alcohol
 Victims of bullies had
Suicidal ideation and depression
Higher incidence of headaches
Dizziness
Sleeping problems
Anxiety
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Bullying
 INSERT FIGURE 8.4 HERE
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Functions of Friendships
 Children’s friendships can serve six
functions
 companionship
 stimulation
 physical support
 ego support
 social comparison
 affection and intimacy
 Intimacy in friendships -- characterized by
self-disclosure and sharing private
thoughts
Gottman & Parker, 1987; Berndt & Perry, 1990)
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Constructivist and Direct
Instruction Approaches
 Constructivist approach -- learnercentered approach that emphasizes the
importance of individuals actively
constructing their knowledge and
understanding with guidance from the
teacher
children should be encouraged to explore
their world, discover knowledge, reflect, and
think critically with careful monitoring and
meaningful guidance from the teacher
(Eby, Herrell, & Jordan, 2011)
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Direct Instruction Approach
 Direct instruction approach -- structured,
teacher-centered approach characterized
by teacher direction and control, high
expectations for students’ progress,
maximum time spent by students on
academic tasks, and efforts by the teacher
to keep negative affect to a minimum
 Important goal: maximizing student
learning
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Constructivist Versus Direct
Instruction Approach
 Constructivists argue that direct instruction
turns children into passive learners and
does not challenge them to think critically
or creatively
 Direct instructions say that constructivists
do not give enough attention to the content
of a discipline and instruction is too
relativistic and vague
(Duffy & Kirkley, 2004)
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Accountability
 Demands for accountability include
 State-mandated tests to measure just what students
have or have not learned
 High expectations and high standards for students
 Became national policy in 2002 when the No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was signed into law
Criticisms of NCLB
– Single tests
– Teaching to the test
– Tests are too narrow -- don’t focus on other aspects such as
creativity, motivation, and social skills
– Standards vary per state
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Socioeconomic Status,
Ethnicity, and Culture
 Schools in low-income areas are more
likely to:
have more students with low achievement test
scores
have low graduation rates
have small percentages of students going to
college
have young teachers with less experience
encourage rote learning
have buildings and classrooms that are old
and crumbling
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Ethnicity in Schools
 Many inner-city schools are still
segregated, grossly underfunded, and do
not provide adequate opportunities for
children to learn effectively
 School segregation remains a factor in
U.S. education
 The school experiences of students from
different ethnic groups vary considerably
(Banks, 2010; Bennett, 2011)
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Ethnicity in Schools
 African American and Latino students are
much less likely to be enrolled in
academic, college preparatory programs
 Much more likely to be enrolled in
remedial or special education programs
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Ethnicity in Schools
 Strategies for improving relationships
among ethnically diverse students:
Turn the class into a jigsaw classroom
Encourage students to have positive personal
contact with diverse other students
Reduce bias
View the school and community as a team
Be a competent cultural mediator
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Cross-Cultural Comparisons
 Asian students do better in math than U.S.
students
 Greater time spent on math instruction in Asian
schools
 Asian parents have higher expectations for their
children’s education and achievements
 Asian parents believe that their children’s math
achievement was the consequence of effort and
training
 Asian students more likely to do math homework
 Asian parents more likely to help children with math
homework
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Cross-Cultural Comparisons
 Mind-set is the cognitive view
individuals develop for themselves
Fixed mind-set
Growth mind-set
 Dweck argues that individuals’ mindsets influence whether they will be
optimistic or pessimistic
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