In the primary-school years, a childs self-concept typically expands to include the childs:

Abstract

The years between 6 and 14--middle childhood and early adolescence--are a time of important developmental advances that establish children's sense of identity. During these years, children make strides toward adulthood by becoming competent, independent, self-aware, and involved in the world beyond their families. Biological and cognitive changes transform children's bodies and minds. Social relationships and roles change dramatically as children enter school, join programs, and become involved with peers and adults outside their families. During middle childhood, children develop a sense of self-esteem and individuality, comparing themselves with their peers. They come to expect they will succeed or fail at different tasks. They may develop an orientation toward achievement that will color their response to school and other challenges for many years. In early adolescence, the tumultuous physical and social changes that accompany puberty, the desire for autonomy and distance from the family, and the transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high can all cause problems for young people. When adolescents are in settings (in school, at home, or in community programs) that are not attuned to their needs and emerging independence, they can lose confidence in themselves and slip into negative behavior patterns such as truancy and school dropout. This article examines the developmental changes that characterize the years from 6 to 14, and it highlights ways in which the organization of programs, schools, and family life can better support positive outcomes for youths.

Journal Information

The Future of Children journal offers comprehensive, cross-disciplinary articles focusing on issues related to children. Published twice per year, it seeks to promote effective policies and programs for children by providing policymakers, service providers, the media, and others interested in children's issues with timely, objective information based on the best available research. Each journal issue examines a single topic of importance to children from a multidisciplinary perspective. The first issue was released in 1991 by the Packard Foundation. Since 2004, Princeton University and the Brookings Institution have been publishing The Future of Children. All journal articles are available on the The Future of Children website at http://www.futureofchildren.org.

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Abstract

A new, individual administration procedure for assessing multiple dimensions of self-concept for young children 5-8 years of age (Marsh, Craven, & Debus) was the basis of this study. We expanded this application in a multicohort-multioccasion (MCMO) study that provides simultaneous multicohort comparisons (cross-sectional comparisons of different age cohorts) and longitudinal comparisons of the same children on multiple occasions. There was reasonable support for predictions that reliability, stability, factor structure, and the distinctiveness of the SDQ factors would improve with age (a between-group age cohort comparison) and from 1 year to the next (a longitudinal comparison), and that small gender differences were reasonably stable over age. Consistent with the proposal that children's self-perceptions become more realistic with age, Time 1 (T1) teacher ratings were more highly correlated with student self-ratings at T2 than T1 and contributed to the prediction of T2 self-concept beyond effects mediated by T1 self-concepts. The results support and expand the surprisingly good support for the multidimensionality of self-concept responses for very young children using this procedure.

Journal Information

As the flagship journal of the Society for Research in Child Development, Child Development has published articles, essays, reviews, and tutorials on various topics in the field of child development since 1930. Spanning many disciplines, the journal provides the latest research, not only for researchers and theoreticians, but also for child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, specialists in early childhood education, educational psychologists, special education teachers, and other researchers.

Publisher Information

Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley has published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley has partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies and publishes over 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols in STMS subjects. With a growing open access offering, Wiley is committed to the widest possible dissemination of and access to the content we publish and supports all sustainable models of access. Our online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) is one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.

What age does a child develop a personal identity?

By the time a child is around eight-years-old, they will have a relatively stable idea of their own personality traits and dispositions, and whether they feel like a valuable and competent person.

During which age range do children first include personality traits in their self descriptions?

Although young children mainly describe themselves in terms of concrete, observable features and action tendencies, at about 4 to 5 years of age, as they hear others use psychological trait and emotion terms, they begin to include these in their own self-descriptions (Thompson, 2006).

When a child sense of initiative is emerging the child will be most likely to demonstrate?

When a child's sense of initiative is emerging, the child will be most likely to demonstrate: - a desire to self-govern.

What is vital in managing emotion in early childhood?

Language greatly helps children regulate their emotions and effortful control is vital in managing emotions. At this age, children more often experience self-conscious emotions, which are feelings that involve injury to or enhancement of their sense of self.