Classificatory Systems
For various organic and psychological reasons some people will behave markedly differently from the majority of others.
It wasn’t until the mid nineteenth century that scientists, notably Jean Martin Charcot in Paris and Sigmund Freud in Vienna began to note how some symptoms in patients with abnormal behaviour frequently occurred together.
Freud’s earliest classification system distinguished between three groups of disorders. They were:
· Neuroses – Phobias which were mild and didn’t require medical attention;
· Psychoses, e.g. Dementia Praecox (Schizophrenia) which were severe and could be life threatening;
· Personality Disorders e.g. excessive timidity, excessive aggressiveness etc which were permanent.
“Signs” are the manifestations of a condition that can be observed and measured.
Changes in your temperature, blood pressure, cholesterol level, weight and how frequently you use the toilet etc.
A cluster of signs and symptoms that generally occur together is called a “syndrome” which indicates the existence of a particular disorder.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has published four editions of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) which lists the syndromes of disorders. This is used by American psychiatrists and psychologists for basis of diagnosis.
The WHO (World Health Organisation) has developed another classification of disorders called the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) now in its tenth edition (ICD-10). However, this is not used specifically for diagnosis.
Describing Mental Disorders:
DSM-IV defines a mental disorder as a syndrome that is associated with the individuals condition at the present time or with the increasing likelihood that they might suffer from it in the near future. It leads to them behaving dysfunctionally. We need to distinguish between classification and diagnosis.
Classification:
This is deciding what something is e.g. schizophrenia as opposed to depression and what the characteristics of the different types are.
Diagnosis:
What happens when we look at one particular example. In mental health diagnosis is the clinical judgement that a particular person is suffering e.g. schizophrenia.
The classification of mental disorders:
Main purpose of classification systems is being able to generate agreement between psychiatrists and mental health care professionals as to:
The recognition of symptoms (Subjective experience of the patient or client);
Signs (Objective or measurable, such as high temperatures);
and Syndromes (Clusters or signs and symptoms that occur together.)
Some psychologists are sceptical about the categorisation of clusters of signs and symptoms into syndromes and the classification of syndromes as the bases for diagnosis.
Since every individual is a unique fusion of all their biological and social experiences, classifying behaviours into syndromes is unhelpful to understanding their unique perceptions, and misleading if used to imply a course of ‘treatment.’
· The ICD classification system dates back to 1893,
· ICD-10, published in 1992 by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a large work consisting of three volumes and over 2,000 pages.
· The primary function of the ICD is to make it easier to collect and report general health statistics.
o Mental disorders were not included until the sixth revision in 1952 (ICD-6).
Main purpose = to gain agreement on a universal definition for specific disorders or syndromes. This helps to ensure that whenever research is carried out on a disorder with a particular set of symptoms, the disorder can be universally recognized. Without agreed definitions and labels, it would be difficult for researchers and clinicians to communicate effectively. ICD-10 identifies 11 general categories of mental disorders, listed below:
· While the primary purpose of ICD is the classification of disorders, the DSM classification system has an additional purpose of assisting clinicians to diagnose a person’s problem as a particular disorder. Clinicians can also use the available information on a given disorder to decide on the most appropriate course of treatment. The American Psychiatric Association first published the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental, Disorders (DSM-I,)
· DSM-l and DSM-II (published in 1968)
· DSM-III (published in 1980) included many more disorders than its predecessors.
· DSM-IV, (Current version) was developed in 1994 and a text revision’ — DSM-IV-TR — was published in June 2000.
· DSM-IV-TR lists around 400 disorders covering clinical disorders , personality disorders and mental retardation.
· DSM-III saw the first use of multi-axial classification, which is used to rate an individual on five separate dimensions (Or axes) that may affect functioning.
A mental disorder may be defined as “…a clinically significant behavioural or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress (E.g. a one or more important arreas of functioning) or with a significant increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability or an important loss of freedom.” (DSM-IV)
State University of New York at Buffalo, Lecture 2 (1999) criteria for a useful classification system:
· Provide an Exhaustive system that includes all types of abnormal behaviour;
· Classificatory categories should be mutually exclusive;
· Must be valid;
o Content validity;
o Criterion validity;
o Construct validity;
· Must be reliable.
Critical Issues in classification:
Are the categories of mental illness real and meaningful?
Each disorder is a distinct entity
Must not consider them merely to be ‘figments of scientists’ imaginations’ (SUNYB2 1999)
When description becomes diagnosis:
It is important to appreciate that terms used in psychology, including those used in clinical psychology have a variety of meanings and can refer to different things.
The description becomes the explanation – a circular and thus meaningless explanation is set up. The description is used to explain itself! (SUNYB2 1999, pp. 7-8)
Over inclusion and ‘pathologizing’ problems:
Comer (2004) suggests that as high as 48% of the adult population of the USA might qualify for a diagnosis on the DSM.
Improved specificity:
When using DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10 clinicians have found that previous editions did not spell out the criterion for inclusion clearly enough, leading to misdiagnosis (Oltmanns & Emery, 2004)
DSM-IV-TR contains exclusion criteria, which means that some specific diagnosis may be ruled out under certain conditions.
Some things in the world are real and you can touch them.
Is a condition however real or a socially created concept must be asked at frequent occasions.
If you believe that schizophrenia is an organic disorder, with certain parts or functions of the sufferers brain not working properly, and that drugs or surgery or other physical treatment will be able to fix that you may say that schizophrenia is ‘real’.
If you believe that humans are capable of a vast range of alternative cognitions and behaviours it is only because society has evolved to accept that some are right and acceptable because they conform to socially generated norms while those that do not are considered deviant and disordered then you may think that schizophrenia is a socially created concept.
Labelling is a process by which people are defined in a way that makes others treat them according to their label
Professional bodies such as APA and BPS insist that present classification systems should be used to enable diagnoses to be made, not to attach labels.
Even terms used in clinical psychology can refer to different things and that those terms can be quite closely related to others.
Sometimes in clinical psychology peoples behaviour is attributed to their condition.
Research into the reliability and validity of classification and diagnosis:
Reliability simply means consistency. It is reliable if we lead to the same diagnosis when given the same signs and symptoms in the future.
Validity refers to accuracy of description. It concerns the concepts used describing the same set of signs and symptoms in different people. It is the accuracy of describing real signs and symptoms that enable real syndromes to be accurately labelled.
Sadly the record for accuracy and agreement amongst psychiatrists on these matters has been very poor indeed. Several studies have found disturbing errors and inconsistencies.
Studies have shown that even very inexperienced psychiatrists may only agree about 50 per cent of the time (Spitzer and Williams 1985)
Aaron Beck (1976) had 153 patients diagnosed separately by two experienced psychiatrists on admission to hospital. For only 83 patients (54%) did they make the same diagnosis.
Key research: Classification and diagnosis – on being sane in insane places. (Rosenhan 1973)
· Nine healthy people presented themselves at different psychiatric hospitals and said they were hearing voices saying things like ‘empty’ and ‘thud’;
· All were admitted, and all except one, diagnosed with schizophrenia;
· Changed names and jobs, but all other info given to hospital was true;
· On admission all eight stopped simulating symptoms of abnormality;
· Never detected
· Eventually discharged with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in remission.
· Hospitalization was from 7 to 52 days – averaged 19.
· Other patients detected their sanity
· Rosenhan suggested that psychiatrists are unable to determine who is sane and who is insane.
· Is it fair to accuse psychiatrists of t6his on basis of this study?
o Hearing voices is the most common diagnosis of schizophrenia
(Davidson et al. 2004)
Rosenhans (1973) study raises questions about validity of the DSM, i.e. how well a measuring instrument really measures what it is designed to measure.
Validity for mental illness is less than physical illness;
Construct validity is determined for schizophrenia by observing the extent to which a person when given this diagnosis then behaves in a way that can be predicted;
Criterion validity may be verified if a sufferer has similar associated problems to others with the same diagnosis and as generally the case they may have difficulty forming relationships.
With each new edition of the DSM, attempts are made to improve both the reliability and validity of the diagnostic criteria. The current version is considered to have reliability and validity for most of its anxiety disorder and mood categories (Brown et al. 2001).
In contrast, its validity for some of the other classes such as personality disorders has been questioned, as has the validity of axis 5 (GAF scale) (Moos et al. 2000).
Use of a computer programme, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) developed by Andrews and Peters (1997) in Australia, claimed to improve reliability and validity, although it wont be apt. for those suffering the more intense consequences of schizophrenia or depression, who may be unable or unwilling to use the machine.
If certain symptoms are endorsed and they occur in certain patterns or clusters, a clinical diagnosis is made. All of this is carried out automatically by the computer programme.
Bias in the diagnosis of mental disorders:
Social class:
Diagnoses were more likely to be as the more serious conditions and;
Treatments more likely to be harsher, inc. drugs and ECT
And were more likely to take longer and be disabling rather than empowering.
People from poorer backgrounds may have a poorer educational experience and be less able to express themselves clearly when describing their symptoms.
Umbenhauer & DeWite (1978) found that upper class people were treated more favourably and were more likely to experience psychotherapy than working class.
Pilgrim & Rogers (1993) suggest that a lack of self esteem results from vulnerability related to employment and is an important predictive factor in the development of mental illness.
Self knowledge of ones position in society and the possible consequences of this may make real mental illness more likely.
Sociogenic theory suggest that poorer people in society are placed under the greatest stress and that this, in turn, makes mental illness more likely (Susser et al. 1996)
Social selection theory proposes that people who suffer from schizophrenia become or remain poor because they are unable to function correctly / effectively (Munk & Mortensen 1992) i.e. they exhibit a drift downwards in society (Davison et al. 2004)
Ethnicity:
Institutional racism is used to convey the idea that an entire organisation has some principles and practices built into its structure and functions.
Three possible explanations exist for differential rates of diagnosis based on race:
· Western bias on diagnosis of non western people;
· Genetic predisposition of disorders by people from non western and western backgrounds;
· Differences between people from different backgrounds.
People from different backgrounds may simply be more prone to some disorders than others.
Cochrane and Sashidharan (1995) point out that there is a common assumption that the behaviours of the White population are normative and any deviation from this by another ethnic group reveals some racial or cultural pathology.
Sue & Sue (1999) states that African Americans may be suspicious of white clinicians based on previous prejudices experienced. This may be mislabelled paranoia.
Gender:
There are genetic differences between the sexes that pre-dispose each to suffer from some disorders more than others. Another reason being that socially prescribed gender roles over the last few centuries have led each sex to have different expectations about their roles, and when these expectations are not met, behaviour and cognitions may become distorted in different roles.
Broverman et al. (1981):
· Found that clinicians have different concepts of health for men and women and that these differences do tend to be parallel the common gender role stereotypes in our society.
· Asked 46 and 33 female mental health professionals to rate the characteristics of the healthy man, woman, and adult.
· The healthy woman was regarded as more submissive dependant and emotional than the healthy man.
· Certain behavioural characteristics thought to be pathological in members of one gender, but not in the other gender.
Worell & Remer (1992) claim that sexism can occur in assessment and diagnosis of patients in four ways:
Disregarding the environmental context
· Such as poverty patriarchy and powerlessness.
Differential diagnosis based on gender
Therapist misjudgements
Theoretical orientation gender bias.
· One of the dangers of mental health professionals adopting the adjustment view of health is that they then actively reinforce and perpetuate gender role stereotypes (Nolen-Hoeksema 2002)
Diagnosing the person or the situation:
· Western culture predisposes women to depression. Cochrane (1995) links this to long term child abuse which links to increased female vulnerability.
· Also she believes that unemployed men have a higher rate of breakdown and by labelling the problem as a disorder stigma is attached.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· The American Psychiatric Association;
· (CIDI) (Composite International Diagnostic Interview);
· Diagnosis;
· Dissociative disorders;
· (DSM) (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual);
· (lCD) (International Classification of Diseases);
· Labelling;
· Organic Disorder;
· Reliability;
· Sign;
· Socially Created Concept;
· Somatoform disorders;
· Symptoms;
· Syndrome;
· Validity;
· WHO (World Health Organisation)
What did they do or say?
· Beck
· Broverman
· Cochrane and Sashidharan
· Hamilton
· Howell
· Johnstone
· Rack
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Developmental Psychology - Late Adulthood
Late Adulthood
Explanations of Adjustment to Old Age
Social Disengagement Theory
Activity Theory
Let us now turn to each in turn and consider their merits:
Social Disengagement Theory:
Cumming and Henry’s Theory (1961) rests on the claim that as people they have less energy and enthusiasm for activities in which they were keenly involved earlier
Becoming more isolated and separated from previous social roles, less concerned with family and friends and more self sufficient. Evidence for this gradual disengagement can be found amongst some people in the west, in other cultures old age is treated as a sign of maturity.
They described three phases in the process of disengagement as people move towards the end of their lives:
There is shrinkage of life space brought about by fewer interactions with others and the relinquishing of some of our roles.
There is increased individuality as the individual becomes more flexible in the way in which the remaining roles are expressed.
There is acceptance of these life changes. This is not meant to imply that the individual is resigned to disengagement. Instead, acceptance leads to the person becoming more inward and self reliant as though preparing for death.
Evaluation of social disengagement theory:
· Culturally specific view in which society is seen as withdrawing itself from the person.
· Disengages and reorganisers:
· People who disengage may simply be embracing a life style that they prefer but were prevented from adopting before.
· Cumming & Henry (1961) and Havinghurst et al. (1968) identified different personality types there were some called disengaged who’s activity but not contentment levels had fallen. By contrast there were reorganisers who’s activity levels had not dropped, they had simply changed.
· It’s a case of Quality not Quantity.
· Cohort effects:
· Latter generations of elderly people may be healthier, more financially secure, generally better catered for socially and have a greater choice. If this proves to be the case then ‘disengagement’ may disappear. Bromley (1988)
Activity Theory:
Havinghurst’s Activity Theory (1968) is a direct reversal of disengagement theory. It portrays elderly people as striving to remain socially involved, despite society offering them fewer opportunities to engage socially.
· The benefits that a child, teenager, young married or middle aged person, derives from parents will be different, as will those from various friends and acquaintances.
· Field and Minkler (1988) identify the benefits that certain social relationships provide for elderly people.
· There is an obvious need for companionship. Teenagers, who have their whole life before them can afford not to be too selective and keep a wide circle of friends.
· Older people can afford to be more selective in their remaining years and choose to spend time only with those who provide them with pleasure and satisfaction.
· Even people from within one culture have widely different physical and mental abilities and considerably different health, social circumstances and support systems. Its hardly surprising, therefore, that no-one theory can explain all reactions to aging.
Evaluation of Activity Theory:
Cultural Differences
Occupational Re-engagement
Bond et al. (1993) observed that activity theory might underestimate the importance of western culture. Places emphasis on being economically productive. However, anxieties about the adequacy of pensions and the need to retain older workers in employment has led some companies to recruit actively from older age groups.
Selectivity theory – e.g. Field & Minkler (1988) Lang & Carstensen (1994):
Focuses on the way in which social relationships and the needs they fulfil change with age. In our younger years we select relationships not just for companionship but for guidance information and affirmation. Older people appear to disengage from unrewarding relationships and engage or reengage with those that are primarily emotionally supportive and pleasant. This theory suggests that at least in an ideal world, individuals can find a balance that works for them.
Effects of retirement:
In previous centuries many working class people worked until they were physically unable to do so. They could only stop then if other people such as family supported them.
Atchley (1982, 1988) identified five periods of adjustment to retirement. It is not suggested that all people will pass through them all, or that any of them will last for a given period.
Honeymoon period:
Period of relative enjoyment and euphoria.
Extensive travel and house moves are possible.
Rest and Relaxation Period:
Time to take stock after the initial activity of the honeymoon phase.
Disenchantment period
Affects only a small portion of retirees.
Reorientation period
Take stock and adjust expectations in line with the more clearly understood reality of the situation.
Routine period.
A stable and satisfying routine is established giving structure and meaning to retirement.
Evaluation : Studies of retirement:
Individual differences & problems of adjustment:
Schaie & Willis (1991) – problems are least likely among those who retired voluntarily and who enjoy financial security and good health. People with high personal involvement in their jobs or who’s leisure time is unsatisfactory, feel the greatest disruption to their lives following retirement. Some of these will cope by retaining a foothold in their occupation for as long as possible.
Research Suppport:
Australian study by Sharpley & Layton (1998)
Questioned 349 males and 385 females between 44 and 90 years old the first five years after retirement from full time work.
Key finding was that voluntary retirement results in less anxiety than those who retired for ill health grounds.
Easing the effects
Sharpley & Layton’s findings suggested that pre-retirement education which addressed social health, personal, relationship and of course financial aspects of the retirement could help to reduce some of the psychological distress which is sometimes part of this phase of life.
Cognitive processing changes in late adulthood
· There is no automatic link between age and changes in cognitive functioning.
· A common sense intuition suggests that as we get older we get slower, both mentally and physically. Berk (1998) suggests that the neural networks that are involved in mental processing become disrupted and die with age. Cognitive processing takes longer as different cell assemblies have to become involved to access memories, thought and speech centres.
· A more optimistic conclusion is that what appears to be slower mental processing is, in fact a consequence of taking more factors into account, and considering the increased number of possibilities that age and experience have provided.
People with particular experiences have brains that excel in particular kinds of processing.
Intellectual ability is also difficult to define. Most researchers have identified several; types of intelligence. A distinction is often made between the type of intelligence that allows us to use stored information gleaned from past experiences (Crystallised intelligence) and the more abstract kind of reasoning needed for puzzle solving (Fluid intelligence) The first may continue to increase with experience while the other may decline with age.
The same cautions need to be expressed here as when claiming that memory loss occurs with age. There are different kinds of memory functioning and some (Such as recall) decline with age. Others, such as recognition, do not.
Laurenson (1997) involved 711 participants in a study:
1. Four cohorts born in 1922, 1932, 1942, 1952;
o Followed up every 11 years between 1982 and 1994.
2. Found a decline in:
o Non verbal; learning and memory
o Retention of verbal memory;
o Concentration and reaction time, which could underpin performance on other tests.
3. Problems inc. the fact that he started with over 1000 participants and lost 300.
o This could account for the apparent increase in participants’ loss of ability.
Evaluation: Research into cognitive changes in late adulthood:
1. Compensating for age related changes:
Stuart-Hamilton (2000) argues that elderly may be able to consider more complex strategies for problem solving and arrive at a better solution albeit more slowly.
2. Corhort effects.
3. The ‘Terminal Drop’:
Bee (1998) points out that there is little decline in intellectual functioning until about the last five years of life (A phenomenon referred to as the ‘terminal drop’. Because each cohort contains more and more people within this range, it looks as though the whole cohort is declining intellectually.
4. Cultural attitudes to ageing:
Levy & Langer (1994) found that persons own attitudes towards aging can affect specific cognitive tasks.
Coping with Bereavement:
For many people advancing age, and the death of loved ones, increases concern about their own mortality
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969) Identified over 30 years five stages that many though not all terminally ill pass through.
People should be allowed to pass through these stages in their known time and with as much dignity as can be given them
Fulton (1970) outlines four stages that a person goes through when anticipating bereavement:
Murray Parke’s (1972) four stages of coping with loss following the bereavement:
Mourning rituals and support:
Performs the following important functions: (AKA a healing process)
Allowing the re-affirmation of social networks of friends and family;
Permitting the sharing of feelings about the dead person
Encouraging the expression of emotions;
Allowing all concerned to come to terms with the loss;
Allowing others to recognise the status of the bereaved person.
Individual differences:
For those who cherished the individual who has died the loss will be most keenly felt, mitigated by their own beliefs about death and possible afterlife.
Lindstrom’s Norwegian research (1999) that found that women who adopted more modern , feminist roles coped better with the deaths of their husbands than women who followed those of a traditional caring and supportive female nature.
Factors in supporting the bereaved:
· Close communities also provide a sense of solidarity, which can assist in providing support.
· Time is said to be a great healer both in the mourning process after the bereavement and the sudden ending of a relationship.
· Just about all religious faiths have ceremonies associated with death.
· Many people who proclaim no religious faith at all still seek and say they benefit from a religious ceremony.
· Littlewood (1992) – 1966 in Abberfan:
o 116 children & 28 adults died when a coal waste tip engulfed a school and neighbouring buildings.
o Close community and family ties lead to ability top cope being high with relatively little outside help.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
Activity theory
Convoy
Selectivity theory
Social disengagement theory
Crystallised Intelligence
Fluid Intelligence
Terminal Drop
What did they do or say?
Atchley
Bee
Cumming and Henry
Durkin
Field and Minkler
Fulton
Havighurst
Kübler-Ross
Laursen
Levy and Langer
Murray-Parkes
Explanations of Adjustment to Old Age
Social Disengagement Theory
Activity Theory
Let us now turn to each in turn and consider their merits:
Social Disengagement Theory:
Cumming and Henry’s Theory (1961) rests on the claim that as people they have less energy and enthusiasm for activities in which they were keenly involved earlier
Becoming more isolated and separated from previous social roles, less concerned with family and friends and more self sufficient. Evidence for this gradual disengagement can be found amongst some people in the west, in other cultures old age is treated as a sign of maturity.
They described three phases in the process of disengagement as people move towards the end of their lives:
There is shrinkage of life space brought about by fewer interactions with others and the relinquishing of some of our roles.
There is increased individuality as the individual becomes more flexible in the way in which the remaining roles are expressed.
There is acceptance of these life changes. This is not meant to imply that the individual is resigned to disengagement. Instead, acceptance leads to the person becoming more inward and self reliant as though preparing for death.
Evaluation of social disengagement theory:
· Culturally specific view in which society is seen as withdrawing itself from the person.
· Disengages and reorganisers:
· People who disengage may simply be embracing a life style that they prefer but were prevented from adopting before.
· Cumming & Henry (1961) and Havinghurst et al. (1968) identified different personality types there were some called disengaged who’s activity but not contentment levels had fallen. By contrast there were reorganisers who’s activity levels had not dropped, they had simply changed.
· It’s a case of Quality not Quantity.
· Cohort effects:
· Latter generations of elderly people may be healthier, more financially secure, generally better catered for socially and have a greater choice. If this proves to be the case then ‘disengagement’ may disappear. Bromley (1988)
Activity Theory:
Havinghurst’s Activity Theory (1968) is a direct reversal of disengagement theory. It portrays elderly people as striving to remain socially involved, despite society offering them fewer opportunities to engage socially.
· The benefits that a child, teenager, young married or middle aged person, derives from parents will be different, as will those from various friends and acquaintances.
· Field and Minkler (1988) identify the benefits that certain social relationships provide for elderly people.
· There is an obvious need for companionship. Teenagers, who have their whole life before them can afford not to be too selective and keep a wide circle of friends.
· Older people can afford to be more selective in their remaining years and choose to spend time only with those who provide them with pleasure and satisfaction.
· Even people from within one culture have widely different physical and mental abilities and considerably different health, social circumstances and support systems. Its hardly surprising, therefore, that no-one theory can explain all reactions to aging.
Evaluation of Activity Theory:
Cultural Differences
Occupational Re-engagement
Bond et al. (1993) observed that activity theory might underestimate the importance of western culture. Places emphasis on being economically productive. However, anxieties about the adequacy of pensions and the need to retain older workers in employment has led some companies to recruit actively from older age groups.
Selectivity theory – e.g. Field & Minkler (1988) Lang & Carstensen (1994):
Focuses on the way in which social relationships and the needs they fulfil change with age. In our younger years we select relationships not just for companionship but for guidance information and affirmation. Older people appear to disengage from unrewarding relationships and engage or reengage with those that are primarily emotionally supportive and pleasant. This theory suggests that at least in an ideal world, individuals can find a balance that works for them.
Effects of retirement:
In previous centuries many working class people worked until they were physically unable to do so. They could only stop then if other people such as family supported them.
Atchley (1982, 1988) identified five periods of adjustment to retirement. It is not suggested that all people will pass through them all, or that any of them will last for a given period.
Honeymoon period:
Period of relative enjoyment and euphoria.
Extensive travel and house moves are possible.
Rest and Relaxation Period:
Time to take stock after the initial activity of the honeymoon phase.
Disenchantment period
Affects only a small portion of retirees.
Reorientation period
Take stock and adjust expectations in line with the more clearly understood reality of the situation.
Routine period.
A stable and satisfying routine is established giving structure and meaning to retirement.
Evaluation : Studies of retirement:
Individual differences & problems of adjustment:
Schaie & Willis (1991) – problems are least likely among those who retired voluntarily and who enjoy financial security and good health. People with high personal involvement in their jobs or who’s leisure time is unsatisfactory, feel the greatest disruption to their lives following retirement. Some of these will cope by retaining a foothold in their occupation for as long as possible.
Research Suppport:
Australian study by Sharpley & Layton (1998)
Questioned 349 males and 385 females between 44 and 90 years old the first five years after retirement from full time work.
Key finding was that voluntary retirement results in less anxiety than those who retired for ill health grounds.
Easing the effects
Sharpley & Layton’s findings suggested that pre-retirement education which addressed social health, personal, relationship and of course financial aspects of the retirement could help to reduce some of the psychological distress which is sometimes part of this phase of life.
Cognitive processing changes in late adulthood
· There is no automatic link between age and changes in cognitive functioning.
· A common sense intuition suggests that as we get older we get slower, both mentally and physically. Berk (1998) suggests that the neural networks that are involved in mental processing become disrupted and die with age. Cognitive processing takes longer as different cell assemblies have to become involved to access memories, thought and speech centres.
· A more optimistic conclusion is that what appears to be slower mental processing is, in fact a consequence of taking more factors into account, and considering the increased number of possibilities that age and experience have provided.
People with particular experiences have brains that excel in particular kinds of processing.
Intellectual ability is also difficult to define. Most researchers have identified several; types of intelligence. A distinction is often made between the type of intelligence that allows us to use stored information gleaned from past experiences (Crystallised intelligence) and the more abstract kind of reasoning needed for puzzle solving (Fluid intelligence) The first may continue to increase with experience while the other may decline with age.
The same cautions need to be expressed here as when claiming that memory loss occurs with age. There are different kinds of memory functioning and some (Such as recall) decline with age. Others, such as recognition, do not.
Laurenson (1997) involved 711 participants in a study:
1. Four cohorts born in 1922, 1932, 1942, 1952;
o Followed up every 11 years between 1982 and 1994.
2. Found a decline in:
o Non verbal; learning and memory
o Retention of verbal memory;
o Concentration and reaction time, which could underpin performance on other tests.
3. Problems inc. the fact that he started with over 1000 participants and lost 300.
o This could account for the apparent increase in participants’ loss of ability.
Evaluation: Research into cognitive changes in late adulthood:
1. Compensating for age related changes:
Stuart-Hamilton (2000) argues that elderly may be able to consider more complex strategies for problem solving and arrive at a better solution albeit more slowly.
2. Corhort effects.
3. The ‘Terminal Drop’:
Bee (1998) points out that there is little decline in intellectual functioning until about the last five years of life (A phenomenon referred to as the ‘terminal drop’. Because each cohort contains more and more people within this range, it looks as though the whole cohort is declining intellectually.
4. Cultural attitudes to ageing:
Levy & Langer (1994) found that persons own attitudes towards aging can affect specific cognitive tasks.
Coping with Bereavement:
For many people advancing age, and the death of loved ones, increases concern about their own mortality
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969) Identified over 30 years five stages that many though not all terminally ill pass through.
People should be allowed to pass through these stages in their known time and with as much dignity as can be given them
Fulton (1970) outlines four stages that a person goes through when anticipating bereavement:
Murray Parke’s (1972) four stages of coping with loss following the bereavement:
Mourning rituals and support:
Performs the following important functions: (AKA a healing process)
Allowing the re-affirmation of social networks of friends and family;
Permitting the sharing of feelings about the dead person
Encouraging the expression of emotions;
Allowing all concerned to come to terms with the loss;
Allowing others to recognise the status of the bereaved person.
Individual differences:
For those who cherished the individual who has died the loss will be most keenly felt, mitigated by their own beliefs about death and possible afterlife.
Lindstrom’s Norwegian research (1999) that found that women who adopted more modern , feminist roles coped better with the deaths of their husbands than women who followed those of a traditional caring and supportive female nature.
Factors in supporting the bereaved:
· Close communities also provide a sense of solidarity, which can assist in providing support.
· Time is said to be a great healer both in the mourning process after the bereavement and the sudden ending of a relationship.
· Just about all religious faiths have ceremonies associated with death.
· Many people who proclaim no religious faith at all still seek and say they benefit from a religious ceremony.
· Littlewood (1992) – 1966 in Abberfan:
o 116 children & 28 adults died when a coal waste tip engulfed a school and neighbouring buildings.
o Close community and family ties lead to ability top cope being high with relatively little outside help.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
Activity theory
Convoy
Selectivity theory
Social disengagement theory
Crystallised Intelligence
Fluid Intelligence
Terminal Drop
What did they do or say?
Atchley
Bee
Cumming and Henry
Durkin
Field and Minkler
Fulton
Havighurst
Kübler-Ross
Laursen
Levy and Langer
Murray-Parkes
Developmental Psychology: Family and relationships into adulthood
Family and Relationships in Adulthood
Revolves around sex.
Reproduction is the central concern for any species.
Many human societies have marriage of one form or another as the institution within which reproduction is located. Religious rituals and social laws govern who can marry whom and who can have sexual contact with whom.
We now look at some similarities and differences in the systems and expectations of marriage, as well as what happens when marriage fails.
Marriage or Partnering
Towards the end of the twentieth century marriage has become less popular, with an increasing number of people choosing to co-habit instead.
About ¾ of people who divorce subsequently remarry – suggesting it is not the institution of marriage they dislike, but the person to whom they were married.
The U-Shaped Curve. – Helen Bee (1998)
Helen Bee (1998) suggests the u shaped curve to represent high levels of relationship satisfaction in the early years dropping to lower levels during the ‘children at school’ stage, and rising again later in retirement.
Psychometrics refers to attempts to measure psychological aspects of human functioning.
These are all problematic because humans have all kinds of ‘hidden agendas’ therefore how do we accurately measure marriage satisfaction.
Retrospective case studies of individual partnerships or a larger survey with many respondents. The case study approach would provide high quality and detailed insights into relationships but not lend itself to testing and measuring or to generalising findings. Surveys however, are a very blunt instrument.
Apart from the obvious difficulties of finding a sample to test there are also difficulties with:
Devising questions
Deciding how to record and measure the answers;
Ethical Issues raised.
· In addition psychological studies of long term memory have shown that the process of recollection causes a mental reconstruction of the meanings the event had for us at the time – interpreted by the state of knowledge one has at the time of recall. The result is that what we recall isn’t exactly what happened.
· Forgotten details are invented and added, those that are inconsistent with the version we are recalling are forgotten and the significance of our own and other people’s contributions are altered. So people do not necessarily remember accurately.
· Research that employs the retrospective approach will have to be interpreted very cautiously indeed.
Marriage or Partnering:
Marital Trends
· 1996 had lowest rate of marriage since 1917.
· Corresponding increase in cohabitation, but most common reason for cohabitation ending is still marriage
Why marry:
· Practicalities:
o Companionship & Security
· Erikson (1980) cites marriage as a way to solve psychological crisis of intimacy versus isolation.
Marital Satisfaction:
· Bee (1998) cites the U shaped curve of marital satisfaction which occurs because of satisfaction being at its highest before children are born declines after marriage reaches a low when children are at school and rises to peak in retirement.
Cohabitation
· Bee (1994) – Cohabiters that go on to marry are more likely to be dissatisfied with their marriage and go on to divorce later. She suggests that co habitués are more likely to challenge the norms and status quo and therefore more likely to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage.
Cross cultural comparisons of marriage
· Levine et al’s cross cultural research (1995) noted for example that individualist cultures use love as an essential requirement for marriage.
o People living in more collectivist cultures see companionship and sharing as more important.
· Schumm et al. (1998) – Comparisons of marital satisfaction in men and women persistently show that western women are less satisfied with their marriages then man.
· Kamo (1993) discovered the quality of marital interactions was regarded as important in both cultures of American and Japanese spouses. However, he also found that age and satisfaction were negatively related in USA but not in Japan. Similarly husband’s income mattered more in Japan than in USA to wives.
· Levine et al. (1995) - Individualistic cultures attach more importance to marriage than collectivist. Also love mattered in cultures with higher standards of living, higher marriage and divorce rates and lower fertility rates.
Marital status, gender differences and mental health
The benefits of marriage
· Regards marital status and health, Bee (1998) showed that compared with married individuals they enjoy better physical health and markedly better mental health.
Single men are worst off in these respects and married men fare best with married and
single women falling between these two extremes.
· Argyle & Henderson (1985) argue that it is the quality of the relationship that seems to contribute most to this effect a close confiding relationship matters more than simply living in the same house or having a sexual relationship. The arrival of children requires relatively greater adjustment for women than it does for men.
· Berk (1998) and Bee (1994) summarize a number of factors that correlate with marital quality and stability including length of courtship, similar family background, higher social class, approval from friends and family, stable marital patterns in extended family, effective communication and secure financial and employment status. These are co relational, however, so offer no guarantee of marital success.
Parenthood.
· Once the function of marriage.
· In the west the major responsibility for childcare has been left to the mother, and whilst babies can be a source of great joy often lead to exhaustion, consequently people often express less satisfaction with their marriage than they do their partners.
· Sadly for some the strains of parenthood will be sufficient to break up the partnership.
Stages of parenthood:
· Wide variations in the ages at which parents typically have their children, and in the support they receive from other family members, that it is almost meaningless to talk about the ‘stages of parenthood.’
· Bringing up a child can be very expensive.
· For most couples parenthood seems to improve their relationship and enjoyment of life, despite the exhaustion caused by demanding young children.
· Bee (1994) reported that the happiest couples were young parents with few financial pressures. In spite of this 80 to 90 percent are happy and say that parenthood had improved their relationship.
Cultural differences in parenthood:
Nickel et al. (1995) showed a general decrease in marital satisfaction after the birth of children in Germany, USA, Austria and Korea.
Berk (1998) states that in non western cultures, where parenthood is highly valued and the extended family is supportive, the decline in satisfaction levels are less marked.
Turner & helms (1983) suggest a number of reasons why adults choose parenthood:
Ego expansion – sense of importance and purpose;
Creativity – sense of achievement;
Status and conformity satisfaction – fulfilling the expectations of your culture;
Control and authority – over your dependants;
Love and affection – both given and received;
Happiness and security – through the creation of a stable family unit.
These remain remarkably stable across cultures. Barnes (1995) adds that in some cultures the child’s ability to work and / or contribute to the families’ income is critical
Parenthood and Gender Roles:
Different cultures have different expectations of mothers and fathers.
Terry et al. (1991) found that mothers express greater satisfaction in their marriages when they perceive that their partner is contributing equally to household and childcare routines
Olsson et al. (1998) found that new parents agreed the metaphor of the spider’s web described the tension in their changed relationship – the mother spider carrying the baby on her back and the father only enters the web on her terms.
Levine (1976) suggests that the roles nee to be redefined and revitalised so that the more of the satisfactions of parenthood are open to men and women (as well as more of the strains.)
Divorce:
One of the most traumatic life crises we are likely to meet. This is almost always true for one partner than the other.
Steven Duck (1981) suggested that divorce is more likely where:
The couple married too young;
They have low socio economic status;
Where they came from different backgrounds;
Where one partners parents were divorced.
In addition:
If either / both of them felt unable to express or achieve their needs within the relationship;
Deception;
Boredom;
Moving house / location to one where they felt uncomfortable.
Marital status is correlated with mental health:
Argyle & Henderson (1985) found that divorced or separated people were the most likely to become ‘mentally ill’
Cochrane (1983) argues that divorced are most often admitted to mental hospitals, with married people the least in each case (Although there are gender differences.)
Stages in the divorce process:
Bohannon (1970) suggests six stages in the divorce process:
Emotional – Marriage collapses, there is conflict and antagonism;
Legal – Marriage contract is dissolved;
Economic – decisions are made over money and property;
Co-parental – custody of access to children is decided;
Community – Relationships with friends and family are adjusted.
Psychic – There is adjustment to single hood and autonomy is regained.
Parents and children in divorce:
Many things will determine the precise effects that divorce will have on a child:
How close was the child to either parent?
How old is the child and how much can it understand?
What is the relationship between the parents following the divorce?
Mavis Heatherington et al. (1993) identified the ‘crisis phase’ and the ‘adjustment phase’.
The crisis stage:
Can be made better or worse by the actions of the other parent and the behaviour of relatives.
M A Fine and colleagues found that it depended on the relationships the child had with each of its parents in the year before their divorce. If a boy was closer to his father, he will feel the loss more intensely.
The adjustment stage:
Children become accustomed to their new circumstances. May continue to blame one parent or the other and wish the two back together again. Anxieties reduce with the passage of time.
Judith Wallerstein and Joan Kelly (1980) also claim that ‘an unhappy couple may divorce for the good of the children’ and that ‘an unhappy marriage is also unhappy for the children.’
Michael Rutter (1979) showed conflict between parents may lead to emotional disturbance in children.
Cultural differences and similarities in divorce:
Religion plays a dominant role in determining people’s behaviour in some cultures.
For adults, divorce related disorganization tends to decline after two years depending on the degree of financial pressure, number and age of children, and the emotional support available
Kaffman (1993) found that in Israeli Kibbutzim, because of their collectivist, non materialistic and simple life style, the legal parenting and economic obstacles that usually exacerbate stress in divorce in more individualistic and materialistic cultures were relatively minor considerations.
References:
Helen Bee (1998) - Suggests the u shaped curve to
represent high levels of relationship satisfaction in the early years dropping to lower levels during the ‘children at school’ stage, and rising again later in retirement.
Erikson (1980) - Cites marriage as a way to solve
psychological crisis of intimacy versus isolation.
Bee (1994) - Cohabiters that go on to marry are
more likely to be dissatisfied with their marriage and go on to divorce later. She suggests that co habitués are more likely to challenge the norms and status quo and therefore more likely to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage.
Levine et al’s cross cultural research (1995) - Noted for example that individualist
cultures use love as an essential requirement for marriage.
People living in more collectivist cultures see companionship and sharing as more important.
Schumm et al. (1998) – Comparisons of marital satisfaction
in men and women persistently show that western women are less satisfied with their marriages then man.
Kamo (1993) - Discovered the quality of marital
interactions was regarded as important in both cultures of American and Japanese spouses. However, he also found that age and satisfaction were negatively related in USA but not in Japan. Similarly husband’s income mattered more in Japan than in USA to wives.
Levine et al. (1995) - Individualistic cultures attach more
importance to marriage than collectivist. Also love mattered in cultures with higher standards of living, higher marriage and divorce rates and lower fertility rates.
Bee (1998) - Regards marital status and
health showed that compared with married individuals they enjoy better physical health and markedly better mental health.
Single men are worst off in these respects and married men fare best with married and
single women falling between these two extremes.
Argyle & Henderson (1985) - Argue that it is the quality of the
relationship that seems to contribute most to this effect a close confiding relationship matters more than simply living in the same house or having a sexual relationship.
Bee (1994) - Reported that the happiest couples
were young parents with few financial pressures. In spite of this 80 to 90 percent are happy and say that parenthood had improved their relationship.
Nickel et al. (1995) - Showed a general decrease in marital
satisfaction after the birth of children in Germany, USA, Austria and Korea.
Berk (1998) - States that in non western cultures,
where parenthood is highly valued and the extended family is supportive, the decline in satisfaction levels are less marked.
Turner & helms (1983) - Suggest a number of reasons why
adults choose parenthood:
Ego expansion – sense of importance and purpose;
Creativity – sense of achievement;
Status and conformity satisfaction – fulfilling the expectations of your culture;
Control and authority – over your dependants;
Love and affection – both given and received;
Happiness and security – through the creation of a stable family unit.
Barnes (1995) - Adds that in some cultures the
child’s ability to work and / or contribute to the families income is critical
Terry et al. (1991) - Found that mothers express greater
satisfaction in their marriages when they perceive that their partner is contributing equally to household and childcare routines.
Olsson et al. (1998) - Found that new parents agreed the
metaphor of the spider’s web described the tension in their changed relationship – the mother spider carrying the baby on her back and the father only enters the web on her terms.
Levine (1976) - Suggests that the roles nee to be
redefined and revitalised so that the more of the satisfactions of parenthood are open to men and women (as well as more of the strains.)
Steven Duck (1981) - Suggested that divorce is more likely
where, the couple married too young; they have low socio economic status; Where they came from different backgrounds; Where one partners parents were divorced.
In addition if either / both of them felt unable to express or achieve their needs within the relationship; Deception; Boredom; Moving house / location to one where they felt uncomfortable.
Marital status is correlated with mental health:
Argyle & Henderson (1985) - Found that divorced or separated
people were the most likely to become ‘mentally ill’
Cochrane (1983) - Argues that divorced are most often
admitted to mental hospitals, with married people the least in each case (Although there are gender differences.)
Bohannon (1970) - Stages in the divorce process
suggests six stages in the divorce process:
1. Emotional – Marriage collapses, there is conflict and antagonism;
2. Legal – Marriage contract is dissolved;
3. Economic – decisions are made over money and property;
4. Co-parental – custody of access to children is decided;
5. Community – Relationships with friends and family are adjusted.
6. Psychic – There is adjustment to single hood and autonomy is regained.
Mavis Heatherington et al. (1993) - Identified the ‘crisis phase’ and the
‘adjustment phase’.
The crisis stage:
Can be made better or worse by the actions of the other parent and the behaviour of relatives.
M A Fine and colleagues found that it depended on the relationships the child had with each of its parents in the year before their divorce. If a boy was closer to his father, he will feel the loss more intensely.
The adjustment stage:
Children become accustomed to their new circumstances. May continue to blame one parent or the other and wish the two back together again. Anxieties reduce with the passage of time.
Judith Wallerstein and Joan Kelly (1980) - Also claim that ‘an unhappy couple
may divorce for the good of the children’ and that ‘an unhappy marriage is also unhappy for the children.’
Michael Rutter (1979) - Showed conflict between parents
may lead to emotional disturbance in children.
Kaffman (1993) - Found that in Israeli Kibbutzim,
because of their collectivist, non materialistic and simple life style, the legal parenting and economic obstacles that usually exacerbate stress in divorce in more individualistic and materialistic cultures were relatively minor considerations.
References of note:
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Adjustment Stage In Divorce
· Case Study
· Crisis Stage In Divorce
· Cross-Cultural Research
· Empty-Nest stage of parenting
· Psychometrics
· Retrospective Research
· Survey
· U Shaped Curve
What do they say or do?
· Argyle and Henderson
· Bee
· Berk
· Bohannon
· Cochrane
· Hetherington
· Levine et al.
· Mead
· Terry et el.
· Valliant and Valliant
Revolves around sex.
Reproduction is the central concern for any species.
Many human societies have marriage of one form or another as the institution within which reproduction is located. Religious rituals and social laws govern who can marry whom and who can have sexual contact with whom.
We now look at some similarities and differences in the systems and expectations of marriage, as well as what happens when marriage fails.
Marriage or Partnering
Towards the end of the twentieth century marriage has become less popular, with an increasing number of people choosing to co-habit instead.
About ¾ of people who divorce subsequently remarry – suggesting it is not the institution of marriage they dislike, but the person to whom they were married.
The U-Shaped Curve. – Helen Bee (1998)
Helen Bee (1998) suggests the u shaped curve to represent high levels of relationship satisfaction in the early years dropping to lower levels during the ‘children at school’ stage, and rising again later in retirement.
Psychometrics refers to attempts to measure psychological aspects of human functioning.
These are all problematic because humans have all kinds of ‘hidden agendas’ therefore how do we accurately measure marriage satisfaction.
Retrospective case studies of individual partnerships or a larger survey with many respondents. The case study approach would provide high quality and detailed insights into relationships but not lend itself to testing and measuring or to generalising findings. Surveys however, are a very blunt instrument.
Apart from the obvious difficulties of finding a sample to test there are also difficulties with:
Devising questions
Deciding how to record and measure the answers;
Ethical Issues raised.
· In addition psychological studies of long term memory have shown that the process of recollection causes a mental reconstruction of the meanings the event had for us at the time – interpreted by the state of knowledge one has at the time of recall. The result is that what we recall isn’t exactly what happened.
· Forgotten details are invented and added, those that are inconsistent with the version we are recalling are forgotten and the significance of our own and other people’s contributions are altered. So people do not necessarily remember accurately.
· Research that employs the retrospective approach will have to be interpreted very cautiously indeed.
Marriage or Partnering:
Marital Trends
· 1996 had lowest rate of marriage since 1917.
· Corresponding increase in cohabitation, but most common reason for cohabitation ending is still marriage
Why marry:
· Practicalities:
o Companionship & Security
· Erikson (1980) cites marriage as a way to solve psychological crisis of intimacy versus isolation.
Marital Satisfaction:
· Bee (1998) cites the U shaped curve of marital satisfaction which occurs because of satisfaction being at its highest before children are born declines after marriage reaches a low when children are at school and rises to peak in retirement.
Cohabitation
· Bee (1994) – Cohabiters that go on to marry are more likely to be dissatisfied with their marriage and go on to divorce later. She suggests that co habitués are more likely to challenge the norms and status quo and therefore more likely to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage.
Cross cultural comparisons of marriage
· Levine et al’s cross cultural research (1995) noted for example that individualist cultures use love as an essential requirement for marriage.
o People living in more collectivist cultures see companionship and sharing as more important.
· Schumm et al. (1998) – Comparisons of marital satisfaction in men and women persistently show that western women are less satisfied with their marriages then man.
· Kamo (1993) discovered the quality of marital interactions was regarded as important in both cultures of American and Japanese spouses. However, he also found that age and satisfaction were negatively related in USA but not in Japan. Similarly husband’s income mattered more in Japan than in USA to wives.
· Levine et al. (1995) - Individualistic cultures attach more importance to marriage than collectivist. Also love mattered in cultures with higher standards of living, higher marriage and divorce rates and lower fertility rates.
Marital status, gender differences and mental health
The benefits of marriage
· Regards marital status and health, Bee (1998) showed that compared with married individuals they enjoy better physical health and markedly better mental health.
Single men are worst off in these respects and married men fare best with married and
single women falling between these two extremes.
· Argyle & Henderson (1985) argue that it is the quality of the relationship that seems to contribute most to this effect a close confiding relationship matters more than simply living in the same house or having a sexual relationship. The arrival of children requires relatively greater adjustment for women than it does for men.
· Berk (1998) and Bee (1994) summarize a number of factors that correlate with marital quality and stability including length of courtship, similar family background, higher social class, approval from friends and family, stable marital patterns in extended family, effective communication and secure financial and employment status. These are co relational, however, so offer no guarantee of marital success.
Parenthood.
· Once the function of marriage.
· In the west the major responsibility for childcare has been left to the mother, and whilst babies can be a source of great joy often lead to exhaustion, consequently people often express less satisfaction with their marriage than they do their partners.
· Sadly for some the strains of parenthood will be sufficient to break up the partnership.
Stages of parenthood:
· Wide variations in the ages at which parents typically have their children, and in the support they receive from other family members, that it is almost meaningless to talk about the ‘stages of parenthood.’
· Bringing up a child can be very expensive.
· For most couples parenthood seems to improve their relationship and enjoyment of life, despite the exhaustion caused by demanding young children.
· Bee (1994) reported that the happiest couples were young parents with few financial pressures. In spite of this 80 to 90 percent are happy and say that parenthood had improved their relationship.
Cultural differences in parenthood:
Nickel et al. (1995) showed a general decrease in marital satisfaction after the birth of children in Germany, USA, Austria and Korea.
Berk (1998) states that in non western cultures, where parenthood is highly valued and the extended family is supportive, the decline in satisfaction levels are less marked.
Turner & helms (1983) suggest a number of reasons why adults choose parenthood:
Ego expansion – sense of importance and purpose;
Creativity – sense of achievement;
Status and conformity satisfaction – fulfilling the expectations of your culture;
Control and authority – over your dependants;
Love and affection – both given and received;
Happiness and security – through the creation of a stable family unit.
These remain remarkably stable across cultures. Barnes (1995) adds that in some cultures the child’s ability to work and / or contribute to the families’ income is critical
Parenthood and Gender Roles:
Different cultures have different expectations of mothers and fathers.
Terry et al. (1991) found that mothers express greater satisfaction in their marriages when they perceive that their partner is contributing equally to household and childcare routines
Olsson et al. (1998) found that new parents agreed the metaphor of the spider’s web described the tension in their changed relationship – the mother spider carrying the baby on her back and the father only enters the web on her terms.
Levine (1976) suggests that the roles nee to be redefined and revitalised so that the more of the satisfactions of parenthood are open to men and women (as well as more of the strains.)
Divorce:
One of the most traumatic life crises we are likely to meet. This is almost always true for one partner than the other.
Steven Duck (1981) suggested that divorce is more likely where:
The couple married too young;
They have low socio economic status;
Where they came from different backgrounds;
Where one partners parents were divorced.
In addition:
If either / both of them felt unable to express or achieve their needs within the relationship;
Deception;
Boredom;
Moving house / location to one where they felt uncomfortable.
Marital status is correlated with mental health:
Argyle & Henderson (1985) found that divorced or separated people were the most likely to become ‘mentally ill’
Cochrane (1983) argues that divorced are most often admitted to mental hospitals, with married people the least in each case (Although there are gender differences.)
Stages in the divorce process:
Bohannon (1970) suggests six stages in the divorce process:
Emotional – Marriage collapses, there is conflict and antagonism;
Legal – Marriage contract is dissolved;
Economic – decisions are made over money and property;
Co-parental – custody of access to children is decided;
Community – Relationships with friends and family are adjusted.
Psychic – There is adjustment to single hood and autonomy is regained.
Parents and children in divorce:
Many things will determine the precise effects that divorce will have on a child:
How close was the child to either parent?
How old is the child and how much can it understand?
What is the relationship between the parents following the divorce?
Mavis Heatherington et al. (1993) identified the ‘crisis phase’ and the ‘adjustment phase’.
The crisis stage:
Can be made better or worse by the actions of the other parent and the behaviour of relatives.
M A Fine and colleagues found that it depended on the relationships the child had with each of its parents in the year before their divorce. If a boy was closer to his father, he will feel the loss more intensely.
The adjustment stage:
Children become accustomed to their new circumstances. May continue to blame one parent or the other and wish the two back together again. Anxieties reduce with the passage of time.
Judith Wallerstein and Joan Kelly (1980) also claim that ‘an unhappy couple may divorce for the good of the children’ and that ‘an unhappy marriage is also unhappy for the children.’
Michael Rutter (1979) showed conflict between parents may lead to emotional disturbance in children.
Cultural differences and similarities in divorce:
Religion plays a dominant role in determining people’s behaviour in some cultures.
For adults, divorce related disorganization tends to decline after two years depending on the degree of financial pressure, number and age of children, and the emotional support available
Kaffman (1993) found that in Israeli Kibbutzim, because of their collectivist, non materialistic and simple life style, the legal parenting and economic obstacles that usually exacerbate stress in divorce in more individualistic and materialistic cultures were relatively minor considerations.
References:
Helen Bee (1998) - Suggests the u shaped curve to
represent high levels of relationship satisfaction in the early years dropping to lower levels during the ‘children at school’ stage, and rising again later in retirement.
Erikson (1980) - Cites marriage as a way to solve
psychological crisis of intimacy versus isolation.
Bee (1994) - Cohabiters that go on to marry are
more likely to be dissatisfied with their marriage and go on to divorce later. She suggests that co habitués are more likely to challenge the norms and status quo and therefore more likely to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage.
Levine et al’s cross cultural research (1995) - Noted for example that individualist
cultures use love as an essential requirement for marriage.
People living in more collectivist cultures see companionship and sharing as more important.
Schumm et al. (1998) – Comparisons of marital satisfaction
in men and women persistently show that western women are less satisfied with their marriages then man.
Kamo (1993) - Discovered the quality of marital
interactions was regarded as important in both cultures of American and Japanese spouses. However, he also found that age and satisfaction were negatively related in USA but not in Japan. Similarly husband’s income mattered more in Japan than in USA to wives.
Levine et al. (1995) - Individualistic cultures attach more
importance to marriage than collectivist. Also love mattered in cultures with higher standards of living, higher marriage and divorce rates and lower fertility rates.
Bee (1998) - Regards marital status and
health showed that compared with married individuals they enjoy better physical health and markedly better mental health.
Single men are worst off in these respects and married men fare best with married and
single women falling between these two extremes.
Argyle & Henderson (1985) - Argue that it is the quality of the
relationship that seems to contribute most to this effect a close confiding relationship matters more than simply living in the same house or having a sexual relationship.
Bee (1994) - Reported that the happiest couples
were young parents with few financial pressures. In spite of this 80 to 90 percent are happy and say that parenthood had improved their relationship.
Nickel et al. (1995) - Showed a general decrease in marital
satisfaction after the birth of children in Germany, USA, Austria and Korea.
Berk (1998) - States that in non western cultures,
where parenthood is highly valued and the extended family is supportive, the decline in satisfaction levels are less marked.
Turner & helms (1983) - Suggest a number of reasons why
adults choose parenthood:
Ego expansion – sense of importance and purpose;
Creativity – sense of achievement;
Status and conformity satisfaction – fulfilling the expectations of your culture;
Control and authority – over your dependants;
Love and affection – both given and received;
Happiness and security – through the creation of a stable family unit.
Barnes (1995) - Adds that in some cultures the
child’s ability to work and / or contribute to the families income is critical
Terry et al. (1991) - Found that mothers express greater
satisfaction in their marriages when they perceive that their partner is contributing equally to household and childcare routines.
Olsson et al. (1998) - Found that new parents agreed the
metaphor of the spider’s web described the tension in their changed relationship – the mother spider carrying the baby on her back and the father only enters the web on her terms.
Levine (1976) - Suggests that the roles nee to be
redefined and revitalised so that the more of the satisfactions of parenthood are open to men and women (as well as more of the strains.)
Steven Duck (1981) - Suggested that divorce is more likely
where, the couple married too young; they have low socio economic status; Where they came from different backgrounds; Where one partners parents were divorced.
In addition if either / both of them felt unable to express or achieve their needs within the relationship; Deception; Boredom; Moving house / location to one where they felt uncomfortable.
Marital status is correlated with mental health:
Argyle & Henderson (1985) - Found that divorced or separated
people were the most likely to become ‘mentally ill’
Cochrane (1983) - Argues that divorced are most often
admitted to mental hospitals, with married people the least in each case (Although there are gender differences.)
Bohannon (1970) - Stages in the divorce process
suggests six stages in the divorce process:
1. Emotional – Marriage collapses, there is conflict and antagonism;
2. Legal – Marriage contract is dissolved;
3. Economic – decisions are made over money and property;
4. Co-parental – custody of access to children is decided;
5. Community – Relationships with friends and family are adjusted.
6. Psychic – There is adjustment to single hood and autonomy is regained.
Mavis Heatherington et al. (1993) - Identified the ‘crisis phase’ and the
‘adjustment phase’.
The crisis stage:
Can be made better or worse by the actions of the other parent and the behaviour of relatives.
M A Fine and colleagues found that it depended on the relationships the child had with each of its parents in the year before their divorce. If a boy was closer to his father, he will feel the loss more intensely.
The adjustment stage:
Children become accustomed to their new circumstances. May continue to blame one parent or the other and wish the two back together again. Anxieties reduce with the passage of time.
Judith Wallerstein and Joan Kelly (1980) - Also claim that ‘an unhappy couple
may divorce for the good of the children’ and that ‘an unhappy marriage is also unhappy for the children.’
Michael Rutter (1979) - Showed conflict between parents
may lead to emotional disturbance in children.
Kaffman (1993) - Found that in Israeli Kibbutzim,
because of their collectivist, non materialistic and simple life style, the legal parenting and economic obstacles that usually exacerbate stress in divorce in more individualistic and materialistic cultures were relatively minor considerations.
References of note:
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Adjustment Stage In Divorce
· Case Study
· Crisis Stage In Divorce
· Cross-Cultural Research
· Empty-Nest stage of parenting
· Psychometrics
· Retrospective Research
· Survey
· U Shaped Curve
What do they say or do?
· Argyle and Henderson
· Bee
· Berk
· Bohannon
· Cochrane
· Hetherington
· Levine et al.
· Mead
· Terry et el.
· Valliant and Valliant
Early and Middle Adulthood
Early and Middle Adulthood
· Freud described personality as being almost fixed by about the age of five at the end of the phallic stage.
o The genital stage of personality development marked the beginning of adulthood after puberty.
· Few people accept this view now.
o Piaget claimed that adult cognitive maturity was reached when people reached formal Operational Cognitive Processing during the teenage years.
We will now note the methodological problems encountered when studying ageing and describe and evaluate three of the major theoretical explanations’ for changes during early and middle adulthood
Adulthood, ageing and methodological issues
Other than Chronological Age (CA) there are other possibly more useful definitions of age. These include:
Biological Age – internal organs and tissues;
Psychological Age – changes in perceptions of oneself and others;
Social Age – which is our changing relationship to society e.g. promotion, retirement etc.
Two research designs are used to study adulthood and ageing.
A “Longitudinal” design studies a group of people over a period of time to see the effects of aging and new experiences on psychological development, behaviour change and so on.
· Here participants do not need to be ‘matched’ with another group;
· Here participants can be lost through death, emigration, moving home and becoming generally untraceable, or not wanting to take part etc.;
A “Cross sectional” design takes several groups of people and studies them all at a particular time.
· Time changes and influences on our lives change with them. Each generation (Called a Cohort) will be different. A Cohort occupies a specific / unique historical niche.
· Cohort-sequential design, time sequential design and cross-sequential design are three other research designs that are particularly useful in studying age-related changes. Each allows comparisons to be made that help to identify particular effects such as the effect of age or of being in a particular cohort.
Example of cohort = someone sharing the effects of the impact of advances in communication and information technology.
Theories about early and middle adulthood.
We will now examine three theories of development about this period of life.
Erikson’s “Eight ages of man” – Erikson (1980)
· Developed over several decades;
· Developed from general psychiatric observations;
· Not derived from specific research methods from within a particular research design.
· Essential difference to Freud’s approach is that Erikson saw personality as a development throughout life, rather than being fixed from childhood.
· He identified five stages that occurred during childhood, he saw three more as occurring after the age of about twenty.
· Each stage is characterised by a challenge to be faced e.g. adolescence is the challenge of which role we are to play throughout life, and reach an understanding of ones own identity.
· He also saw development due to social forces shaping ones personality rather than sexual ones. Hence his theory is known as a psychosexual one.
· Erikson’ theory is more flexible than Feud’s in that he saw greater possibility for change.
Stages of development:
· Saw by Erikson as eight invariable stages;
· Rather like sensitive periods, in that certain aspects of personality development are best dealt with at particular stages in life.
· Each stage which is age related represents the individual with a specific psychosocial ‘crisis’ to be worked through. This means that the individual faces and must resolve a series of psychological conflicts relating to their interactions with others in increasingly wider social settings.
Erikson’s (1980) Psychosocial stages of personality development.
Approximate age
Quality to be developed
Social Focus
Virtue
0 to 1 years
(Infancy)
Basic Trust Vs. Mistrust
Maternal Person
Hope
(An Optimistic trust that the world will meet ones needs)
2 to 3 years
(Early Childhood)
Autonomy Vs. Shame and doubt
Parental Persons
Will (The ability to exercise self-restraint and choice)
4 to 5 years
(Play Age)
Initiative Vs. Guilt
Basic Family
Purpose (A sense of goal-directedness)
6 to 12 years
(School Age)
Industry Vs. Inferiority
Neighbourhood, School
Competence
(Sense of confidence in ones own ability)
13 to 18 years
Identity Vs. Role Confusion
Peer Groups
Fidelity
(The Ability freely to pledge loyalty to others)
19 to 25 years
Intimacy Vs. Isolation
Friendships
Love
(Romantic & Erotic and including the ability to commit oneself to others and maintain the commitment through degrees of compromise and self denial)
26 to 40 years
Generativity Vs. Stagnation
The Household
Care
( A sense of certain things in life have meaning and importance leading to one to be productive in life)
41 years +
Ego integrity Vs. Despair
Humankind
Wisdom
(A Sense that life has been worthwhile, arrived at by integrating the outcomes of previous stages)
Evaluation or Erikson’s theory:
Development as a lifelong process:
Erikson was very influential in establishing the lifespan approach to human development.
Theory emphasised how development is a lifelong process rather than something that largely terminates in adolescence (Freud).
High face validity:
On the face of it, allows for shared experiences at common ages to shape and establish personality development. Therefore this appeals to Western and Capitalist etc countries.
The importance of social influences:
Shows the importance of social influences in personality development.
Difficulty of testing the theory:
There are some problems with the testing of a theory such as Erikson’s.
We would have to depend of extensive self report, clinical interviews and questionnaires with all associated problems.
In addition many of Erikson’s ideas are difficult to put into a testable form. These problems may mean that there is a lack of sound empirical evidence for the theory.
Relevance to contemporary life styles:
Three adult life goals exist:
Intimacy;
Generativity;
Ego integrity.
These three may not be achieved at the same time.
Many people may occupy a historical niche at a time.
Daniel Levinson’s “Seasons of a man’s life”
· Developed from survey research amongst a small number of largely white, middle class, professional males.
o Therefore, be cautious when considering generalizing findings.
· Levinson (1978) saw relationships and work as central to the adult life structure, by which he means the alternating pattern of stability and change that many lives pass through.
o Levinson divided (Male) adult life into ‘seasons’, when different kinds of stability and change are occurring.
o Following changes associated with the transition into adulthood , the period from early 20s to about 40 is described as a ‘season’.
o Between 40 and 45 is the transition into late adulthood, the supposed ‘mid life crisis’.
o The final season occurs after the transition to late adulthood – after 65 approx.
· Levinson claimed the period between 40 and 45 was often characterised by a ‘mid life crisis’ and this theme has been used in popular media to explain why men of this age may dress to appear younger than they are or use words that are used by younger people (Often to the embarrassment of the younger people concerned).
· “…It is not possible to get through middle adulthood without having at least a moderate crisis either in mid life or age 50 transition.” They even regard this crisis as desirable.
N.B. Note the ages at which the transitions occur for the exam.
Evaluation: Levinson’s work:
Lack of quantitative data:
Few data to support the ideas of Levinson because the information collected was in the form of clinical interview reports. Some would see this as a strength because of the richness of the qualitative data. Others regard this as a weakness.
Limited Sample Size:
Most interviews had not reached age 45, only 15 participants after age 45.
A Narrow Sample:
The original sample studied by Levinson was limited in age and occupational background as well as being all male.
Importance of the socio-cultural and historical setting when describing adult development:
This was largely ignored by earlier theorists.
Roger Gould’s “Evolution of Adult Consciousness.”
· Gould’s Psychiatric background led him to organise a cross-sectional survey of ‘524 white, middle class 16-50 year olds.
· Gould (1978) proposed a stage theory that reflects a concern with mental health. It follows a Freudian idea that adults must break away from the concerns of childhood and parental control, and then recover from a sense of separation anxiety.
· He claimed that holding, and eventually discarding, several false assumptions about our role influence our adulthood personality. One false assumption is the illusion that our parents will keep us absolutely safe.
· Holding false assumptions gives us a false sense of security. Rejecting them cause’s anxiety.
We should have evolved a realistic view of our own consciousness during adulthood, abandoning any false assumptions by the time we are in our fifties.
We should have realised that we are in charge of our own destiny and that other people are not responsible for us and our actions.
Evaluation: Gould’s Theory:
Restricted sample:
· Theory is based on taped patient interviews from only eight medical students.
· These were used as the basis for a questionnaire – validity concerns exist.
· 524 questionnaire respondents were white, middle class adults, which tells us little about other adult groups.
· Cannot be considered a universal theory of adult development.
Lack of reliability:
· No attempts more to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.
· Reliability is a fundamental requirement in psychological questionnaires as it demonstrates that a particular measure will measure something consistently. A lack of reliability means that such consistency can only be assumed.
Life after 60:
· Detail about life after 60 is sketchy; this is hardly surprising given the age range of Gould’s questionnaire respondents’ (Medical students and 16 to 50 year old respondents.)
Contributions
· The three theories broadly agree that there are identifiable themes that occur in adulthood — including establishing one’s own identity, forming fulfilling relationships, finding intimacy, reproducing, and finding a meaning for life.
· They agree that adulthood can be divided into phases or stages where particular influences or activities are occurring that are notably different from the influences and activities in other stages.
· They also agree that adulthood is characterised by crises or challenges that have to be resolved for healthy personality development to continue. In this they reflect Freudian ideas from over half a century earlier.
Criticisms
· The methods that each theorist employed to gather the data from which the theories were developed were unsound and unlikely to yield scientifically acceptable, or testable explanations.
· The emphasis on crisis and challenge ignored the fact that, for many people, adulthood is a time of pleasure and enjoyment, whilst others are simply too busy getting on with life to reflect on the crises and challenges others say they are facing.
· Very small samples were used from which to generate such all-encompassing explanations for adulthood.
· The theories can’t account for wide individual variation between adult
· experiences. One person’s daily routine is another person’s major challenge.
· They can also be criticised for ethnocentricity (reflecting only one culture’s experiences) and androcentricity (concerned with only male experiences).
· One further problem is that these theories have no ‘predictive validity’. They don’t state what happens if someone doesn’t deal with a challenge or is overcome by a crisis. Freud talked about adult neuroses, psychoses and personality disorders resulting from repression of traumatic experiences. These theories explain what is happening to form adult personality, and how important it is that challenges and crises must be resolved, but don’t indicate how we can know whether someone has resolved their supposed crises or not.
Evaluation: Stage Theories of adult development:
· Research methods:
In each case there are some doubts about the soundness of the research on which the ideas are based, particularly with regard to the number and type of participants used and the methods of data collection.
· Emphasis on crisis:
Some critics think there is a rather negative overemphasis on crisis, particularly in midlife and that this could be because of the nature of the cohorts used.
· Generalizability:
We cannot be sure how well the three approaches apply to different individuals, societies and cohorts.
Possible variation within these is well worth further investigation. Future research needs to take into account the impact of sociocultural, socioeconomic and gender differences on the development and life experiences of adults.
· Other age-related changes:
We must also remember that the changes described in these theories go on against a background of many other age related changes (E.g. physiological and cognitive / intellectual) that individuals have to cope with at the same time.
· Life stages or life events?:
Some researchers think that there is little convincing evidence for stages in adult development and prefer instead to focus on specific life events that affect many adults and which could be considered critical.
References of note:
Erikson (1980) - “Eight ages of man” Psychosocial
stages of personality development.
Gould (1978) - Proposed a stage theory that reflects
a concern with mental health. It follows a Freudian idea that adults must break away from the concerns of childhood and parental control, and then recover from a sense of separation anxiety.
Levinson (1978) - Saw relationships and work as
central to the adult life structure, by which he means the alternating pattern of stability and change that many lives pass through.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Age:
o Chronological Age;
o Biological Age;
o Psychological Age;
o Social Age.
· Cross sectional Design
· Longitudinal Design
· Cohort
· Cohort –Sequential Design
· Cross-sequential design
· Time Sequential Design
What do they say or do?
· Erikson
· Gould
· Levinson
· Freud described personality as being almost fixed by about the age of five at the end of the phallic stage.
o The genital stage of personality development marked the beginning of adulthood after puberty.
· Few people accept this view now.
o Piaget claimed that adult cognitive maturity was reached when people reached formal Operational Cognitive Processing during the teenage years.
We will now note the methodological problems encountered when studying ageing and describe and evaluate three of the major theoretical explanations’ for changes during early and middle adulthood
Adulthood, ageing and methodological issues
Other than Chronological Age (CA) there are other possibly more useful definitions of age. These include:
Biological Age – internal organs and tissues;
Psychological Age – changes in perceptions of oneself and others;
Social Age – which is our changing relationship to society e.g. promotion, retirement etc.
Two research designs are used to study adulthood and ageing.
A “Longitudinal” design studies a group of people over a period of time to see the effects of aging and new experiences on psychological development, behaviour change and so on.
· Here participants do not need to be ‘matched’ with another group;
· Here participants can be lost through death, emigration, moving home and becoming generally untraceable, or not wanting to take part etc.;
A “Cross sectional” design takes several groups of people and studies them all at a particular time.
· Time changes and influences on our lives change with them. Each generation (Called a Cohort) will be different. A Cohort occupies a specific / unique historical niche.
· Cohort-sequential design, time sequential design and cross-sequential design are three other research designs that are particularly useful in studying age-related changes. Each allows comparisons to be made that help to identify particular effects such as the effect of age or of being in a particular cohort.
Example of cohort = someone sharing the effects of the impact of advances in communication and information technology.
Theories about early and middle adulthood.
We will now examine three theories of development about this period of life.
Erikson’s “Eight ages of man” – Erikson (1980)
· Developed over several decades;
· Developed from general psychiatric observations;
· Not derived from specific research methods from within a particular research design.
· Essential difference to Freud’s approach is that Erikson saw personality as a development throughout life, rather than being fixed from childhood.
· He identified five stages that occurred during childhood, he saw three more as occurring after the age of about twenty.
· Each stage is characterised by a challenge to be faced e.g. adolescence is the challenge of which role we are to play throughout life, and reach an understanding of ones own identity.
· He also saw development due to social forces shaping ones personality rather than sexual ones. Hence his theory is known as a psychosexual one.
· Erikson’ theory is more flexible than Feud’s in that he saw greater possibility for change.
Stages of development:
· Saw by Erikson as eight invariable stages;
· Rather like sensitive periods, in that certain aspects of personality development are best dealt with at particular stages in life.
· Each stage which is age related represents the individual with a specific psychosocial ‘crisis’ to be worked through. This means that the individual faces and must resolve a series of psychological conflicts relating to their interactions with others in increasingly wider social settings.
Erikson’s (1980) Psychosocial stages of personality development.
Approximate age
Quality to be developed
Social Focus
Virtue
0 to 1 years
(Infancy)
Basic Trust Vs. Mistrust
Maternal Person
Hope
(An Optimistic trust that the world will meet ones needs)
2 to 3 years
(Early Childhood)
Autonomy Vs. Shame and doubt
Parental Persons
Will (The ability to exercise self-restraint and choice)
4 to 5 years
(Play Age)
Initiative Vs. Guilt
Basic Family
Purpose (A sense of goal-directedness)
6 to 12 years
(School Age)
Industry Vs. Inferiority
Neighbourhood, School
Competence
(Sense of confidence in ones own ability)
13 to 18 years
Identity Vs. Role Confusion
Peer Groups
Fidelity
(The Ability freely to pledge loyalty to others)
19 to 25 years
Intimacy Vs. Isolation
Friendships
Love
(Romantic & Erotic and including the ability to commit oneself to others and maintain the commitment through degrees of compromise and self denial)
26 to 40 years
Generativity Vs. Stagnation
The Household
Care
( A sense of certain things in life have meaning and importance leading to one to be productive in life)
41 years +
Ego integrity Vs. Despair
Humankind
Wisdom
(A Sense that life has been worthwhile, arrived at by integrating the outcomes of previous stages)
Evaluation or Erikson’s theory:
Development as a lifelong process:
Erikson was very influential in establishing the lifespan approach to human development.
Theory emphasised how development is a lifelong process rather than something that largely terminates in adolescence (Freud).
High face validity:
On the face of it, allows for shared experiences at common ages to shape and establish personality development. Therefore this appeals to Western and Capitalist etc countries.
The importance of social influences:
Shows the importance of social influences in personality development.
Difficulty of testing the theory:
There are some problems with the testing of a theory such as Erikson’s.
We would have to depend of extensive self report, clinical interviews and questionnaires with all associated problems.
In addition many of Erikson’s ideas are difficult to put into a testable form. These problems may mean that there is a lack of sound empirical evidence for the theory.
Relevance to contemporary life styles:
Three adult life goals exist:
Intimacy;
Generativity;
Ego integrity.
These three may not be achieved at the same time.
Many people may occupy a historical niche at a time.
Daniel Levinson’s “Seasons of a man’s life”
· Developed from survey research amongst a small number of largely white, middle class, professional males.
o Therefore, be cautious when considering generalizing findings.
· Levinson (1978) saw relationships and work as central to the adult life structure, by which he means the alternating pattern of stability and change that many lives pass through.
o Levinson divided (Male) adult life into ‘seasons’, when different kinds of stability and change are occurring.
o Following changes associated with the transition into adulthood , the period from early 20s to about 40 is described as a ‘season’.
o Between 40 and 45 is the transition into late adulthood, the supposed ‘mid life crisis’.
o The final season occurs after the transition to late adulthood – after 65 approx.
· Levinson claimed the period between 40 and 45 was often characterised by a ‘mid life crisis’ and this theme has been used in popular media to explain why men of this age may dress to appear younger than they are or use words that are used by younger people (Often to the embarrassment of the younger people concerned).
· “…It is not possible to get through middle adulthood without having at least a moderate crisis either in mid life or age 50 transition.” They even regard this crisis as desirable.
N.B. Note the ages at which the transitions occur for the exam.
Evaluation: Levinson’s work:
Lack of quantitative data:
Few data to support the ideas of Levinson because the information collected was in the form of clinical interview reports. Some would see this as a strength because of the richness of the qualitative data. Others regard this as a weakness.
Limited Sample Size:
Most interviews had not reached age 45, only 15 participants after age 45.
A Narrow Sample:
The original sample studied by Levinson was limited in age and occupational background as well as being all male.
Importance of the socio-cultural and historical setting when describing adult development:
This was largely ignored by earlier theorists.
Roger Gould’s “Evolution of Adult Consciousness.”
· Gould’s Psychiatric background led him to organise a cross-sectional survey of ‘524 white, middle class 16-50 year olds.
· Gould (1978) proposed a stage theory that reflects a concern with mental health. It follows a Freudian idea that adults must break away from the concerns of childhood and parental control, and then recover from a sense of separation anxiety.
· He claimed that holding, and eventually discarding, several false assumptions about our role influence our adulthood personality. One false assumption is the illusion that our parents will keep us absolutely safe.
· Holding false assumptions gives us a false sense of security. Rejecting them cause’s anxiety.
We should have evolved a realistic view of our own consciousness during adulthood, abandoning any false assumptions by the time we are in our fifties.
We should have realised that we are in charge of our own destiny and that other people are not responsible for us and our actions.
Evaluation: Gould’s Theory:
Restricted sample:
· Theory is based on taped patient interviews from only eight medical students.
· These were used as the basis for a questionnaire – validity concerns exist.
· 524 questionnaire respondents were white, middle class adults, which tells us little about other adult groups.
· Cannot be considered a universal theory of adult development.
Lack of reliability:
· No attempts more to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.
· Reliability is a fundamental requirement in psychological questionnaires as it demonstrates that a particular measure will measure something consistently. A lack of reliability means that such consistency can only be assumed.
Life after 60:
· Detail about life after 60 is sketchy; this is hardly surprising given the age range of Gould’s questionnaire respondents’ (Medical students and 16 to 50 year old respondents.)
Contributions
· The three theories broadly agree that there are identifiable themes that occur in adulthood — including establishing one’s own identity, forming fulfilling relationships, finding intimacy, reproducing, and finding a meaning for life.
· They agree that adulthood can be divided into phases or stages where particular influences or activities are occurring that are notably different from the influences and activities in other stages.
· They also agree that adulthood is characterised by crises or challenges that have to be resolved for healthy personality development to continue. In this they reflect Freudian ideas from over half a century earlier.
Criticisms
· The methods that each theorist employed to gather the data from which the theories were developed were unsound and unlikely to yield scientifically acceptable, or testable explanations.
· The emphasis on crisis and challenge ignored the fact that, for many people, adulthood is a time of pleasure and enjoyment, whilst others are simply too busy getting on with life to reflect on the crises and challenges others say they are facing.
· Very small samples were used from which to generate such all-encompassing explanations for adulthood.
· The theories can’t account for wide individual variation between adult
· experiences. One person’s daily routine is another person’s major challenge.
· They can also be criticised for ethnocentricity (reflecting only one culture’s experiences) and androcentricity (concerned with only male experiences).
· One further problem is that these theories have no ‘predictive validity’. They don’t state what happens if someone doesn’t deal with a challenge or is overcome by a crisis. Freud talked about adult neuroses, psychoses and personality disorders resulting from repression of traumatic experiences. These theories explain what is happening to form adult personality, and how important it is that challenges and crises must be resolved, but don’t indicate how we can know whether someone has resolved their supposed crises or not.
Evaluation: Stage Theories of adult development:
· Research methods:
In each case there are some doubts about the soundness of the research on which the ideas are based, particularly with regard to the number and type of participants used and the methods of data collection.
· Emphasis on crisis:
Some critics think there is a rather negative overemphasis on crisis, particularly in midlife and that this could be because of the nature of the cohorts used.
· Generalizability:
We cannot be sure how well the three approaches apply to different individuals, societies and cohorts.
Possible variation within these is well worth further investigation. Future research needs to take into account the impact of sociocultural, socioeconomic and gender differences on the development and life experiences of adults.
· Other age-related changes:
We must also remember that the changes described in these theories go on against a background of many other age related changes (E.g. physiological and cognitive / intellectual) that individuals have to cope with at the same time.
· Life stages or life events?:
Some researchers think that there is little convincing evidence for stages in adult development and prefer instead to focus on specific life events that affect many adults and which could be considered critical.
References of note:
Erikson (1980) - “Eight ages of man” Psychosocial
stages of personality development.
Gould (1978) - Proposed a stage theory that reflects
a concern with mental health. It follows a Freudian idea that adults must break away from the concerns of childhood and parental control, and then recover from a sense of separation anxiety.
Levinson (1978) - Saw relationships and work as
central to the adult life structure, by which he means the alternating pattern of stability and change that many lives pass through.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Age:
o Chronological Age;
o Biological Age;
o Psychological Age;
o Social Age.
· Cross sectional Design
· Longitudinal Design
· Cohort
· Cohort –Sequential Design
· Cross-sequential design
· Time Sequential Design
What do they say or do?
· Erikson
· Gould
· Levinson
Monday, 18 June 2007
syllabus's galore..
Sylabusses can be obtained at:
www.a-levelpsychology.co.uk
www.nec.ac.uk/courses
www.a-levelpsychology.co.uk/aqaa/spec2006.asp
and other places no doubt..
www.a-levelpsychology.co.uk
www.nec.ac.uk/courses
www.a-levelpsychology.co.uk/aqaa/spec2006.asp
and other places no doubt..
Personality development
Personality Development.
What is personality?
Personality develops from ‘temperament’ which is greatly influenced by those around them
If the way they are treated is reasonably consistent they will develop a stable set of behaviours, attitudes, interests and capabilities which are typical of them and which can be used to predict what their likely reaction to any particular circumstance will probably be.
These characteristics have some coherence – we don’t just posses a list of characteristics, but they all combine somehow into a ‘personality’.
It is an individual difference, a means of distinguishing between people.
Explanations of personality development.
Ranges from entirely genetic to entirely social.
Two major and contrasting theories:
Psychodynamic theory;
Social learning theory.
· Psychodynamic theory was one of the first and massively influential explanations and combined with genetic and biological forces with social experiences to explain how personality is acquired through childhood and how unsatisfactory childhood experiences can shape adult mental health.
· An extension of the theory has been a set of therapeutic procedures for those with adult neuroses – psychotherapy.
· Social learning theory stresses the importance of social experiences and largely excludes any biological contribution. Essentially it states children learn by observing other peoples behaviour and copying some of it. In turn, this shapes their personality.
Freud’s Personality Theory:
Sigmund Freud was a Viennese doctor with a special interest in causation and treatment of neurotic disorders. He advances a psychoanalytical theory – modified over 40 years of analysis and writing.
Hailed as the person who destroyed the notion that man is a rational animal. (The third great blow to mans uniqueness..)
He identified three aspects of the self that shaped personality development:
1. The Id
Present from birth;
Embodies the pleasure principle;
Irrational and demands satisfaction immediately;
With the id in control the individual behaves impulsively;
During development, the individual seeks gratification from different organs in the body;
Erogenous zones vary with age, beginning with the oral stage.
2. The Ego
Develops at age 2 years;
The executive of the personality;
This is the equivalent of our rational mind;
Uses the reality principle and seeks logical solutions to satisfying the child’s needs;
Acts as a censor and hides from conscious awareness the Id’s impulses;
Focuses on the anus as the erogenous zone during this anal stage of personality development
By the age of 3 to 5 years the erogenous zone has shifted to the genitals (The phallic stage) and the child now experiences ‘pre-genital’ sexual feelings towards the opposite sex parent and some jealousy of the same sex parent;
This creates anxieties since the child also loves the same sex parent.
3. The superego
A largely unconscious part of the self that acts as the moral part fo the self;
The origin or source of guilt;
Provides a sense of right and wrong;
AKA the morality principle, which influences the child’s behaviour and he or she resolves the dilemma by identifying with the same sex parent.
Unconsciously adopts the moral standards of their parents;
Monitors the Ego and influences it to substitute socially acceptable outlets for the Id’s immoral impulses (Sublimation);
By the end of this stage the personality is pretty well formed – ‘calm after the storm.’ And a ‘Latency period’ occurs. During the latency period identification with the same sex is consolidated.
Final Psychosexual period occurs at puberty when they enter the genital stage.
Freud argued that early personality growth is a struggle between two further groups of instinctive urges which are called the libido. Libidos are life instincts (Eros) sexual urges, fulfilment, creativity etc. and death instincts (Thantos) which drive us to behave dangerously, to risk our own safety in seeking thrills and excitement. If some trauma, over indulgence or deprivation occurs during a specific stage of psychosexual development, some aspects of libido become fixated in the unconscious mind (Stuck and unable to move forward) and might have effects well into adulthood. E.g. someone who was weaned too early may well develop and ‘oral personality’ and take up seeking gratification through smoking.
Freud concluded that girls never develop quite the same sense of justice as boys as they do not experience quite as strong a resolution of their genital conflicts.
‘Females desire for a baby is an unconscious desire to make up for a lack of having a penis…’
The Id and the Superego are inevitably in conflict. Conflicts cause anxiety, and in order to reduce anxiety the ego uses ‘Defence mechanisms.’
These ego defences are unconscious and are a key dynamic of the personality.
In the long term, ego defences may cause abnormal personality development because they exert pressure through unconsciously motivated behaviour.
Handling conflict
Summing up:
The id irrationally demands satisfaction immediately;
The Ego seeks logical means for satisfying needs;
The superego mediates between these two when issues of right and wrong are resolved
One way to solve this conflict is through dreams, (refer to ‘The interpretation of dreams’ 1900) which act as a safety valve to release the pressures that have occurred, especially during the day before the dream. Freud regarded dream analysis as a major tool for investigating the unconscious mind (“The royal road to the unconscious.”) He also claimed that the anxieties are too intense to be released through dreams when we unconsciously trigger an ego defence mechanism.
The notion of unconscious was another key element of Freud’s theory. He proposed there were three levels of the mind:
The conscious consists of those thoughts that are currently the focus of attention;
The preconscious consists of information and ideas that could be retrieved easily from memory and brought into consciousness.
The unconscious consists of information that is either very hard or almost impossible to bring into conscious awareness.
Stages in psychosexual development
Consistency of the unconscious and conscious parts of the mind in terms of the id ego and superego varies, however, we may represent them in the following diagrams:
Freud did not intend the idea of personality structures to suggest real entities; “…he was not literally dividing the mind into three parts, but was describing the experience of being pulled in different directions by conflicting influences.” Jarvis (2000)
Empirical evidence
Empirical evidence interpretations subjective.
Biased sample may have existed, most of his patients being Viennese women.
Freud (1909) case of little Hans documented the Oedipus conflict in a little boy (Little Hans) where he competed for his mother’s affection with his father and sister.
Myers and Brewin (1994) studied repressors and found that :
Repressors are low on anxiety and high on defensiveness;
Took much longer to recall childhood memories than other personality types.
Therefore suggesting there is a tendency for some personality types to repress memories rather than others.
Evaluation:
Contributions and Strengths:
1. Freud made the first major attempt to identify the possible forces from within the human psyche that shape aspects of our behaviour.
2. Accounts for rationality and irrationality. The introduction of the unconscious permits us to explain how someone can be both rational and irrational and accounts for many aspects of behaviour, such as the fact that people predict they will behave in one way and then do something quite differently.
3. He produced an enormous body of work identifying the importance of early childhood experiences on later behaviour — a theme taken up later by many other researchers such as John Bowlby.
4. Psychoanalytic theory is a coherent and comprehensive explanation of the acquisition of personality.
5. Freud’s explanations have had a huge influence on the way that psychologists in the middle of the twentieth century saw childhood development and adult mental health.
6. Psychoanalytic theory has practical applications in psychoanalytic therapy as applied to adults and children — for example, for eating disorders, and in other areas of child development such as explaining gender roles and aggression.
7. Freud’s greatest and most lasting contribution is not what he did for psychology in particular as what he did for society in general. Freud has become a cultural phenomenon — a happening that has inspired and challenged many, many others. Whatever the scientific status of his theories, his cultural contribution has been very significant.
8. The view that personality is somewhat flexible with some potential for change was different from the then popular view that people were born with their personality preformed.
9. The concept of unconscious motivation
Negative aspects include the following:
1. Freud is accused of ‘having an answer for everything’ without providing any scientifically valid evidence to support them.
2. It is impossible to find support for the existence of id and ego, libido or death instincts that Freud hypothesised — despite his claims to have made a scientific breakthrough.
3. Freud’s methods such as the interpretation of dreams and the interpretation of slips of the tongue are not scientifically acceptable by the standards of science that we demand today.
4. His patients were not representative of the people to whom he was generalising his findings. They were, by Freud’s own definition, neurotic. A large number were middle class, and often Jewish, women living in Vienna between the 1880s and 1920s.
5. Freud’s claim that personality was just about formed by the age of five seems incredible. Our characteristic responses to stimuli continue to change well beyond that age.
6. Freud also claimed that boys have a stronger moral sense (including conscience) than girls because of the increased pressure on them to identify through fear of castration.
7. No evidence for castration anxiety, penis envy or Oedipus complex.
8. Lack of evidence, testability, validity and Possible experimental bias
Social Learning Theory:
· Behaviourists reject the unscientific nature of psychodynamic theory with its many references to ‘uncontrollable forces.’
· They don’t have much regard for the concept of ‘personality’ either.
Since ‘personality’ simply describes what people are likely to do, why do we need another term when typical or predictable behaviour covers it anyway?
Behaviour unlike unconscious forces is direct and observable and is open to scientific control and manipulation to discover causal relationships between independent and dependant variables.
· With many animal experiments in the 1930’s Skinner proposed that all behaviour is the result of reinforcement. Albert Bandura believes that, whilst reinforcement was important, it was not the only factor in explaining how children acquire their characteristic social responses.
· Children learn much through observing others who are successful in accomplishing a goal. If the other person is important to the child, such as a parent has a higher status, then it is so much the more likely that the persons behaviour will be modelled upon.
· Learning theory is based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning.
o The development of personality is probably best explained in terms of the latter any behaviour that results in a rewarding consequence is more likely to be repeated in the future.
o Rewards reinforce the probability of that behaviour being repeated.
o Punishments decrease future probabilities.
This can explain how any behaviour is acquired, including the behaviour we are interested in — the acquisition of personality characteristics.
For example, individuals might acquire the personality trait of friendliness because they are rewarded when displaying such behaviour (operant conditioning).
· However, Albert Bandura felt that learning theory was not sufficient to explain all learning; it would simply take too long to learn everything through trial and error, reward and punishment. He formulated an extension of learning theory, which would incorporate the social context. He suggested that reinforcement or punishment could take place indirectly. If an individual sees someone else being rewarded, they are likely to imitate that behaviour. This is called ‘vicarious reinforcement’.
· Bandura’s classic studies using the Bobo doll showed that children do acquire new behaviours by imitating the behaviour of others.
· Simply watching the behaviour of another may lead to the imitation of that behaviour. This is made more likely if the observer identifies with the model (e.g. they are the same gender or age), or if the model possesses desirable qualities (e.g. they are a TV personality), and if the model is rewarded or praised for their actions.
· This element of reward highlights the difference between learning and performance. A child may learn a new behaviour simply through observation.
· Behaviour will only be repeated if there is an expectation of a reward and if the child possesses appropriate skills.
· Subsequent repeating of the behaviour occurs only if the behaviour turns out to be rewarding for the child (direct reinforcement).
· If the behaviour doesn’t produce rewards, then the behaviour will not be repeated. Thus social learning relies on observation, vicarious reinforcement and imitation, and, finally, is maintained through direct reinforcement.
· Bandura (Bandura and Walters 1963) developed a theory of personality development based on the principles of social learning theory. According to this view, all aspects of personality are learned. A child may learn novel behaviours through direct or indirect reinforcement, or through punishment. Punishment reduces the probability that behaviour will be repeated. Subsequently, personality characteristics that are in the child’s repertoire may be strengthened or weakened depending on whether the child is indirectly rewarded or punished.
Demonstrating social modelling
· Bandura’s Bobo studies are given as evidence that specific behaviours are learned through observation and vicarious reinforcement, and also that general aggressiveness is learned in this way.
· Bandura (1965) also demonstrated the difference between learning and performance. If children were offered rewards after the observation of a model, then they repeated the model’s behaviour even if they had originally seen the model punished. This shows that what is learned is (a) a behaviour and (b) the expectation of reward or punishment. The latter affects the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.
· Walters and Thomas (1963) demonstrated how someone will learn to reduce rather than produce behaviour. Here participants were paired with experimental confederates and told to give the learner a shock following each error that was made on a learning task. After each error, the participant was given the opportunity to select the level of shock to use for the next trial. Prior to the experiment all participants had been shown a film. Those participants who watched a violent scene were found to select higher shock intensities than those watched a non-violent movie scene. Bandura and Walters explained this in terms of ‘disinhibition’. The participants observed socially unacceptable behaviour in the film and this weakened the pro-social behaviour they had previously learned.
Reciprocal determination and self-efficacy
To explain personality development further, Bandura (1977) introduced two important concepts:
· Reciprocal determinism — Both learning theory social learning theory portray the individual as controlled by their environment. Things happen to the individual, which increase or decrease the likelihood of any future behaviour. However, Bandura recognized that learning is not merely passive — it is reciprocal.
As the individual acts, this changes the environment, thus affecting subsequent behaviour.
· Individuals are also capable of reinforcing themselves. They are capable of making their own choices and this ultimately affects what they imitate.
· Self-efficacy — Bandura (1977) claimed that a person’s sense of their own effectiveness (or ‘efficacy’) influences what they ultimately achieve. If you believe that you cannot jump over a two-metre hurdle, this will affect the way you approach the task and thus what you achieve. Your sense of self efficacy is an important personality trait derived from direct and indirect experience.
Evaluation of Bandura’s theory:
Strengths:
· The theory is successful in explaining aspects of behaviour, although there are other aspects of behaviour that are not covered by the social learning approaches.
· Well supported by research evidence:
Bandura’s theory consists of testable propositions which means that the validity of the concepts can be demonstrated.
Numerous ways to apply theory to real life situations.
Limitations:
· Methodological problems
Research generally conducted in contrived laboratory environments.
Behaviour may be the effects of demand characteristics.
· Lack of detail and cohesiveness as an account of personality development.
Sketchy on how we influence our environment and make choices
· As an explanation of the fairly coherent, usually consistent, patterns of behaviour that characterise personality the theory is not successful.
· Alternative perspectives abound:
E.g. Biological perspectives – Eysenck’s (1963) in which he suggested three main types of personality dimensions:
Intropvert / Extrovert
Neurotic / stable
Normality / Pychoticism
· Thomas and Chess (1980) demonstrated that babies are born with certain characteristic patterns of emotional response or temperament which develop in childhood, and these traits tend to endure throughout life. Temperament interacts with life experience to produce adult personality.
Situationalism:
Mischel (1968) argues that ‘personality’ is not a consistent set of predictable behaviours but a response that will vary widely according to different situations.
Others claim that humans have several sub personalities. The exact nature and function of these sub personalities is yet to be revealed but rowan calls for a redical re-think of our current understanding of the concept of personality.
Evaluation of Mischel’s theory
Whilst we may not be entirely consistent across every situation, and may act ‘out of character’ occasionally, that does not mean that there is not a basic set of behaviours that characterise us – and which we display on most occasions.
To suggest that we only respond to situations doesn’t allow for individual responses that are at odds with the situational requirements. The anti conformist who refuses to do what everyone else does, the eccentric who doesn’t understand why everyone needs to behave in a similar manner, individualists who can afford not to care about what other people think or expect and simply do what they want to do, are all examples of people whose personalities transcend situational determinants. And we all sometimes do something just for the hell of it.
Mischel pointed out that the reason we may think that personality is consistent is because we tend to see people in similar situations, and offer excuses for occasional lapses. One advantage of Mischel’s theory, therefore, is that it can explain personality inconsistency.
A further reason why we think of personality as being consistent is because that is the way our minds are organized. The notion of consistency is a useful tool for organizing our perceptions about others and ourselves, and it allows us to be able to make predictions about subsequent behaviour. We all intuitively recognize the situational element whenever we say, ‘She is never late except when her children are ill’. However, Mischel suggests that this is a ‘personality paradox’, because we think that we and others have consistent personalities but this is not true.
Behaviour specificity
Mischel used the term ‘behaviour specificity’ to describe how the choice of how to behave is determined by the specific situation in which a person finds themselves, It is determined by past experiences of reward and punishment. Certain behaviours are rewarded in certain situations but not in other situations, so that the probabilities are altered from situation to situation. Mischel’s theory is an example of the social learning approach because it suggests that we learn through selective reinforcement — we learn that certain behaviours are most appropriate or successful in certain situations. This leads us to behave in the same way in those situations, but not in the same way in other situations.
This is similar to the concept of ‘context-dependent learning’ (or retrieval): things that are learned in one situation are more easily remembered when the circumstances are the same.
Mischel and Peake’s (1982) Carleton Study
Interactions between person variables and the situation:
Mischel (1973) introduced a second strand to his theory: “Person variables” These include the following:
Competencies: Skills, problem solving strategies, concepts about the world based on experiences.
Encoding strategies and personal constructs:
Attention strategies and individual schemas.
Expectancies:
Expectancies based on past experiences with similar situations.
Subjective values
Ones own personal values.
Self regulating systems and plans:
Using past experience to determine future goals and plans.
Evaluation: Mischel’s Situationalist perspective
Limitations:
Social learning accounts deny free will.
People are actually more consistent.
Suggests that personality traits do influence behaviour.
Strengths:
Telling it like it is.
A combined approach:
Mischel and Shoda (1998) suggest its possible to combine situationalism and consistency. People are consistent in their situational differences i.e. you may be shy in a large group of strangers but not with your friends. You always behave in a particular way in particular situations thus you are consistent, but also exhibit behavioural specificity.
Consistency versus situationalism:
Buss (1989) propose that situational factors will be strong in situations which are novel, formal, brief and where there is little choice in how to behave.
In situations which are more informal, longer in duration and where one is more free to act according to personal inclination, then dispositional factors will outweigh situational factors.
References of note:
Jarvis (2000) - Freud did not intend the idea of personality
structures to suggest real entities; “…he was not literally dividing the mind into three parts, but was describing the experience of being pulled in different directions by conflicting influences.”
Freud (1909) - Case of little Hans and a documented
Oedipus conflict in a little boy (Little Hans) where he competed for his mother’s affection with his father and sister.
Myers and Brewin (1994) - Studied repressors and found that :
Repressors are low on anxiety and high on defensiveness;
Took much longer to recall childhood memories than other personality types.
Therefore suggesting there is a tendency for some personality types to repress memories rather than others.
Bandura and Walters (1963) - Developed a theory of personality
development based on the principles of social learning theory. According to this view, all aspects of personality are learned. A child may learn novel behaviours through direct or indirect reinforcement, or through punishment. Punishment reduces the probability that a behaviour will be repeated. Subsequently, personality characteristics that are in the child’s repertoire may be strengthened or weakened depending on whether the child is indirectly rewarded or punished
Bandura (1965) - Demonstrated the difference between
learning and performance. If children were offered rewards after the observation of a model, then they repeated the model’s behaviour even if they had originally seen the model punished. This shows that what is learned is (a) a behaviour and (b) the expectation of reward or punishment. The latter affects the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.
Walters and Thomas (1963) - Demonstrated how someone will learn to
reduce rather than produce behaviour. Here participants were paired with experimental confederates and told to give the learner a shock following each error that was made on a learning task. After each error, the participant was given the opportunity to select the level of shock to use for the next trial. Prior to the experiment all participants had been shown a film. Those participants who watched a violent scene were found to select higher shock intensities than those watched a non-violent movie scene. Bandura and Walters explained this in terms of ‘disinhibition’. The participants observed socially unacceptable behaviour in the film and this weakened the pro-social behaviour they had previously learned.
Eysenck’s (1963) - Biological perspectives –in which he
suggested three main types of personality dimensions: Intropvert / Extrovert; Neurotic / stable; Normality / Pychoticism.
Thomas and Chess (1980) - Demonstrated that babies are born with
certain characteristic patterns of emotional response or temperament which develop in childhood, and these traits tend to endure throughout life. Temperament interacts with life experience to produce adult personality.
Mischel (1968) - Argues that ‘personality’ is not a consistent
set of predictable behaviours but a response that will vary widely according to different situations.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· personality
· psychoanalytical / psychodynamic theory
o ego
o superego
o id
o erogenous zones
o anal stage
o oral stage
o phallic stage
o genital stage
o morality principle
o pleasure principle
o reality principle
o defence mechanism
o libido
o Eros
o Thantos
o Sublimation
· Empirical
· Situationalism
· Social Learning Theory
o Reinforcement
o Vicarious reinforcement
o Direct reinforcement
o Reciprocal determinism
o Self-efficacy
o behaviour specificity
What do they say or do?
· Bandura
· Freud
· Mischel
· Myers and Brewin
· Skinner.
What is personality?
Personality develops from ‘temperament’ which is greatly influenced by those around them
If the way they are treated is reasonably consistent they will develop a stable set of behaviours, attitudes, interests and capabilities which are typical of them and which can be used to predict what their likely reaction to any particular circumstance will probably be.
These characteristics have some coherence – we don’t just posses a list of characteristics, but they all combine somehow into a ‘personality’.
It is an individual difference, a means of distinguishing between people.
Explanations of personality development.
Ranges from entirely genetic to entirely social.
Two major and contrasting theories:
Psychodynamic theory;
Social learning theory.
· Psychodynamic theory was one of the first and massively influential explanations and combined with genetic and biological forces with social experiences to explain how personality is acquired through childhood and how unsatisfactory childhood experiences can shape adult mental health.
· An extension of the theory has been a set of therapeutic procedures for those with adult neuroses – psychotherapy.
· Social learning theory stresses the importance of social experiences and largely excludes any biological contribution. Essentially it states children learn by observing other peoples behaviour and copying some of it. In turn, this shapes their personality.
Freud’s Personality Theory:
Sigmund Freud was a Viennese doctor with a special interest in causation and treatment of neurotic disorders. He advances a psychoanalytical theory – modified over 40 years of analysis and writing.
Hailed as the person who destroyed the notion that man is a rational animal. (The third great blow to mans uniqueness..)
He identified three aspects of the self that shaped personality development:
1. The Id
Present from birth;
Embodies the pleasure principle;
Irrational and demands satisfaction immediately;
With the id in control the individual behaves impulsively;
During development, the individual seeks gratification from different organs in the body;
Erogenous zones vary with age, beginning with the oral stage.
2. The Ego
Develops at age 2 years;
The executive of the personality;
This is the equivalent of our rational mind;
Uses the reality principle and seeks logical solutions to satisfying the child’s needs;
Acts as a censor and hides from conscious awareness the Id’s impulses;
Focuses on the anus as the erogenous zone during this anal stage of personality development
By the age of 3 to 5 years the erogenous zone has shifted to the genitals (The phallic stage) and the child now experiences ‘pre-genital’ sexual feelings towards the opposite sex parent and some jealousy of the same sex parent;
This creates anxieties since the child also loves the same sex parent.
3. The superego
A largely unconscious part of the self that acts as the moral part fo the self;
The origin or source of guilt;
Provides a sense of right and wrong;
AKA the morality principle, which influences the child’s behaviour and he or she resolves the dilemma by identifying with the same sex parent.
Unconsciously adopts the moral standards of their parents;
Monitors the Ego and influences it to substitute socially acceptable outlets for the Id’s immoral impulses (Sublimation);
By the end of this stage the personality is pretty well formed – ‘calm after the storm.’ And a ‘Latency period’ occurs. During the latency period identification with the same sex is consolidated.
Final Psychosexual period occurs at puberty when they enter the genital stage.
Freud argued that early personality growth is a struggle between two further groups of instinctive urges which are called the libido. Libidos are life instincts (Eros) sexual urges, fulfilment, creativity etc. and death instincts (Thantos) which drive us to behave dangerously, to risk our own safety in seeking thrills and excitement. If some trauma, over indulgence or deprivation occurs during a specific stage of psychosexual development, some aspects of libido become fixated in the unconscious mind (Stuck and unable to move forward) and might have effects well into adulthood. E.g. someone who was weaned too early may well develop and ‘oral personality’ and take up seeking gratification through smoking.
Freud concluded that girls never develop quite the same sense of justice as boys as they do not experience quite as strong a resolution of their genital conflicts.
‘Females desire for a baby is an unconscious desire to make up for a lack of having a penis…’
The Id and the Superego are inevitably in conflict. Conflicts cause anxiety, and in order to reduce anxiety the ego uses ‘Defence mechanisms.’
These ego defences are unconscious and are a key dynamic of the personality.
In the long term, ego defences may cause abnormal personality development because they exert pressure through unconsciously motivated behaviour.
Handling conflict
Summing up:
The id irrationally demands satisfaction immediately;
The Ego seeks logical means for satisfying needs;
The superego mediates between these two when issues of right and wrong are resolved
One way to solve this conflict is through dreams, (refer to ‘The interpretation of dreams’ 1900) which act as a safety valve to release the pressures that have occurred, especially during the day before the dream. Freud regarded dream analysis as a major tool for investigating the unconscious mind (“The royal road to the unconscious.”) He also claimed that the anxieties are too intense to be released through dreams when we unconsciously trigger an ego defence mechanism.
The notion of unconscious was another key element of Freud’s theory. He proposed there were three levels of the mind:
The conscious consists of those thoughts that are currently the focus of attention;
The preconscious consists of information and ideas that could be retrieved easily from memory and brought into consciousness.
The unconscious consists of information that is either very hard or almost impossible to bring into conscious awareness.
Stages in psychosexual development
Consistency of the unconscious and conscious parts of the mind in terms of the id ego and superego varies, however, we may represent them in the following diagrams:
Freud did not intend the idea of personality structures to suggest real entities; “…he was not literally dividing the mind into three parts, but was describing the experience of being pulled in different directions by conflicting influences.” Jarvis (2000)
Empirical evidence
Empirical evidence interpretations subjective.
Biased sample may have existed, most of his patients being Viennese women.
Freud (1909) case of little Hans documented the Oedipus conflict in a little boy (Little Hans) where he competed for his mother’s affection with his father and sister.
Myers and Brewin (1994) studied repressors and found that :
Repressors are low on anxiety and high on defensiveness;
Took much longer to recall childhood memories than other personality types.
Therefore suggesting there is a tendency for some personality types to repress memories rather than others.
Evaluation:
Contributions and Strengths:
1. Freud made the first major attempt to identify the possible forces from within the human psyche that shape aspects of our behaviour.
2. Accounts for rationality and irrationality. The introduction of the unconscious permits us to explain how someone can be both rational and irrational and accounts for many aspects of behaviour, such as the fact that people predict they will behave in one way and then do something quite differently.
3. He produced an enormous body of work identifying the importance of early childhood experiences on later behaviour — a theme taken up later by many other researchers such as John Bowlby.
4. Psychoanalytic theory is a coherent and comprehensive explanation of the acquisition of personality.
5. Freud’s explanations have had a huge influence on the way that psychologists in the middle of the twentieth century saw childhood development and adult mental health.
6. Psychoanalytic theory has practical applications in psychoanalytic therapy as applied to adults and children — for example, for eating disorders, and in other areas of child development such as explaining gender roles and aggression.
7. Freud’s greatest and most lasting contribution is not what he did for psychology in particular as what he did for society in general. Freud has become a cultural phenomenon — a happening that has inspired and challenged many, many others. Whatever the scientific status of his theories, his cultural contribution has been very significant.
8. The view that personality is somewhat flexible with some potential for change was different from the then popular view that people were born with their personality preformed.
9. The concept of unconscious motivation
Negative aspects include the following:
1. Freud is accused of ‘having an answer for everything’ without providing any scientifically valid evidence to support them.
2. It is impossible to find support for the existence of id and ego, libido or death instincts that Freud hypothesised — despite his claims to have made a scientific breakthrough.
3. Freud’s methods such as the interpretation of dreams and the interpretation of slips of the tongue are not scientifically acceptable by the standards of science that we demand today.
4. His patients were not representative of the people to whom he was generalising his findings. They were, by Freud’s own definition, neurotic. A large number were middle class, and often Jewish, women living in Vienna between the 1880s and 1920s.
5. Freud’s claim that personality was just about formed by the age of five seems incredible. Our characteristic responses to stimuli continue to change well beyond that age.
6. Freud also claimed that boys have a stronger moral sense (including conscience) than girls because of the increased pressure on them to identify through fear of castration.
7. No evidence for castration anxiety, penis envy or Oedipus complex.
8. Lack of evidence, testability, validity and Possible experimental bias
Social Learning Theory:
· Behaviourists reject the unscientific nature of psychodynamic theory with its many references to ‘uncontrollable forces.’
· They don’t have much regard for the concept of ‘personality’ either.
Since ‘personality’ simply describes what people are likely to do, why do we need another term when typical or predictable behaviour covers it anyway?
Behaviour unlike unconscious forces is direct and observable and is open to scientific control and manipulation to discover causal relationships between independent and dependant variables.
· With many animal experiments in the 1930’s Skinner proposed that all behaviour is the result of reinforcement. Albert Bandura believes that, whilst reinforcement was important, it was not the only factor in explaining how children acquire their characteristic social responses.
· Children learn much through observing others who are successful in accomplishing a goal. If the other person is important to the child, such as a parent has a higher status, then it is so much the more likely that the persons behaviour will be modelled upon.
· Learning theory is based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning.
o The development of personality is probably best explained in terms of the latter any behaviour that results in a rewarding consequence is more likely to be repeated in the future.
o Rewards reinforce the probability of that behaviour being repeated.
o Punishments decrease future probabilities.
This can explain how any behaviour is acquired, including the behaviour we are interested in — the acquisition of personality characteristics.
For example, individuals might acquire the personality trait of friendliness because they are rewarded when displaying such behaviour (operant conditioning).
· However, Albert Bandura felt that learning theory was not sufficient to explain all learning; it would simply take too long to learn everything through trial and error, reward and punishment. He formulated an extension of learning theory, which would incorporate the social context. He suggested that reinforcement or punishment could take place indirectly. If an individual sees someone else being rewarded, they are likely to imitate that behaviour. This is called ‘vicarious reinforcement’.
· Bandura’s classic studies using the Bobo doll showed that children do acquire new behaviours by imitating the behaviour of others.
· Simply watching the behaviour of another may lead to the imitation of that behaviour. This is made more likely if the observer identifies with the model (e.g. they are the same gender or age), or if the model possesses desirable qualities (e.g. they are a TV personality), and if the model is rewarded or praised for their actions.
· This element of reward highlights the difference between learning and performance. A child may learn a new behaviour simply through observation.
· Behaviour will only be repeated if there is an expectation of a reward and if the child possesses appropriate skills.
· Subsequent repeating of the behaviour occurs only if the behaviour turns out to be rewarding for the child (direct reinforcement).
· If the behaviour doesn’t produce rewards, then the behaviour will not be repeated. Thus social learning relies on observation, vicarious reinforcement and imitation, and, finally, is maintained through direct reinforcement.
· Bandura (Bandura and Walters 1963) developed a theory of personality development based on the principles of social learning theory. According to this view, all aspects of personality are learned. A child may learn novel behaviours through direct or indirect reinforcement, or through punishment. Punishment reduces the probability that behaviour will be repeated. Subsequently, personality characteristics that are in the child’s repertoire may be strengthened or weakened depending on whether the child is indirectly rewarded or punished.
Demonstrating social modelling
· Bandura’s Bobo studies are given as evidence that specific behaviours are learned through observation and vicarious reinforcement, and also that general aggressiveness is learned in this way.
· Bandura (1965) also demonstrated the difference between learning and performance. If children were offered rewards after the observation of a model, then they repeated the model’s behaviour even if they had originally seen the model punished. This shows that what is learned is (a) a behaviour and (b) the expectation of reward or punishment. The latter affects the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.
· Walters and Thomas (1963) demonstrated how someone will learn to reduce rather than produce behaviour. Here participants were paired with experimental confederates and told to give the learner a shock following each error that was made on a learning task. After each error, the participant was given the opportunity to select the level of shock to use for the next trial. Prior to the experiment all participants had been shown a film. Those participants who watched a violent scene were found to select higher shock intensities than those watched a non-violent movie scene. Bandura and Walters explained this in terms of ‘disinhibition’. The participants observed socially unacceptable behaviour in the film and this weakened the pro-social behaviour they had previously learned.
Reciprocal determination and self-efficacy
To explain personality development further, Bandura (1977) introduced two important concepts:
· Reciprocal determinism — Both learning theory social learning theory portray the individual as controlled by their environment. Things happen to the individual, which increase or decrease the likelihood of any future behaviour. However, Bandura recognized that learning is not merely passive — it is reciprocal.
As the individual acts, this changes the environment, thus affecting subsequent behaviour.
· Individuals are also capable of reinforcing themselves. They are capable of making their own choices and this ultimately affects what they imitate.
· Self-efficacy — Bandura (1977) claimed that a person’s sense of their own effectiveness (or ‘efficacy’) influences what they ultimately achieve. If you believe that you cannot jump over a two-metre hurdle, this will affect the way you approach the task and thus what you achieve. Your sense of self efficacy is an important personality trait derived from direct and indirect experience.
Evaluation of Bandura’s theory:
Strengths:
· The theory is successful in explaining aspects of behaviour, although there are other aspects of behaviour that are not covered by the social learning approaches.
· Well supported by research evidence:
Bandura’s theory consists of testable propositions which means that the validity of the concepts can be demonstrated.
Numerous ways to apply theory to real life situations.
Limitations:
· Methodological problems
Research generally conducted in contrived laboratory environments.
Behaviour may be the effects of demand characteristics.
· Lack of detail and cohesiveness as an account of personality development.
Sketchy on how we influence our environment and make choices
· As an explanation of the fairly coherent, usually consistent, patterns of behaviour that characterise personality the theory is not successful.
· Alternative perspectives abound:
E.g. Biological perspectives – Eysenck’s (1963) in which he suggested three main types of personality dimensions:
Intropvert / Extrovert
Neurotic / stable
Normality / Pychoticism
· Thomas and Chess (1980) demonstrated that babies are born with certain characteristic patterns of emotional response or temperament which develop in childhood, and these traits tend to endure throughout life. Temperament interacts with life experience to produce adult personality.
Situationalism:
Mischel (1968) argues that ‘personality’ is not a consistent set of predictable behaviours but a response that will vary widely according to different situations.
Others claim that humans have several sub personalities. The exact nature and function of these sub personalities is yet to be revealed but rowan calls for a redical re-think of our current understanding of the concept of personality.
Evaluation of Mischel’s theory
Whilst we may not be entirely consistent across every situation, and may act ‘out of character’ occasionally, that does not mean that there is not a basic set of behaviours that characterise us – and which we display on most occasions.
To suggest that we only respond to situations doesn’t allow for individual responses that are at odds with the situational requirements. The anti conformist who refuses to do what everyone else does, the eccentric who doesn’t understand why everyone needs to behave in a similar manner, individualists who can afford not to care about what other people think or expect and simply do what they want to do, are all examples of people whose personalities transcend situational determinants. And we all sometimes do something just for the hell of it.
Mischel pointed out that the reason we may think that personality is consistent is because we tend to see people in similar situations, and offer excuses for occasional lapses. One advantage of Mischel’s theory, therefore, is that it can explain personality inconsistency.
A further reason why we think of personality as being consistent is because that is the way our minds are organized. The notion of consistency is a useful tool for organizing our perceptions about others and ourselves, and it allows us to be able to make predictions about subsequent behaviour. We all intuitively recognize the situational element whenever we say, ‘She is never late except when her children are ill’. However, Mischel suggests that this is a ‘personality paradox’, because we think that we and others have consistent personalities but this is not true.
Behaviour specificity
Mischel used the term ‘behaviour specificity’ to describe how the choice of how to behave is determined by the specific situation in which a person finds themselves, It is determined by past experiences of reward and punishment. Certain behaviours are rewarded in certain situations but not in other situations, so that the probabilities are altered from situation to situation. Mischel’s theory is an example of the social learning approach because it suggests that we learn through selective reinforcement — we learn that certain behaviours are most appropriate or successful in certain situations. This leads us to behave in the same way in those situations, but not in the same way in other situations.
This is similar to the concept of ‘context-dependent learning’ (or retrieval): things that are learned in one situation are more easily remembered when the circumstances are the same.
Mischel and Peake’s (1982) Carleton Study
Interactions between person variables and the situation:
Mischel (1973) introduced a second strand to his theory: “Person variables” These include the following:
Competencies: Skills, problem solving strategies, concepts about the world based on experiences.
Encoding strategies and personal constructs:
Attention strategies and individual schemas.
Expectancies:
Expectancies based on past experiences with similar situations.
Subjective values
Ones own personal values.
Self regulating systems and plans:
Using past experience to determine future goals and plans.
Evaluation: Mischel’s Situationalist perspective
Limitations:
Social learning accounts deny free will.
People are actually more consistent.
Suggests that personality traits do influence behaviour.
Strengths:
Telling it like it is.
A combined approach:
Mischel and Shoda (1998) suggest its possible to combine situationalism and consistency. People are consistent in their situational differences i.e. you may be shy in a large group of strangers but not with your friends. You always behave in a particular way in particular situations thus you are consistent, but also exhibit behavioural specificity.
Consistency versus situationalism:
Buss (1989) propose that situational factors will be strong in situations which are novel, formal, brief and where there is little choice in how to behave.
In situations which are more informal, longer in duration and where one is more free to act according to personal inclination, then dispositional factors will outweigh situational factors.
References of note:
Jarvis (2000) - Freud did not intend the idea of personality
structures to suggest real entities; “…he was not literally dividing the mind into three parts, but was describing the experience of being pulled in different directions by conflicting influences.”
Freud (1909) - Case of little Hans and a documented
Oedipus conflict in a little boy (Little Hans) where he competed for his mother’s affection with his father and sister.
Myers and Brewin (1994) - Studied repressors and found that :
Repressors are low on anxiety and high on defensiveness;
Took much longer to recall childhood memories than other personality types.
Therefore suggesting there is a tendency for some personality types to repress memories rather than others.
Bandura and Walters (1963) - Developed a theory of personality
development based on the principles of social learning theory. According to this view, all aspects of personality are learned. A child may learn novel behaviours through direct or indirect reinforcement, or through punishment. Punishment reduces the probability that a behaviour will be repeated. Subsequently, personality characteristics that are in the child’s repertoire may be strengthened or weakened depending on whether the child is indirectly rewarded or punished
Bandura (1965) - Demonstrated the difference between
learning and performance. If children were offered rewards after the observation of a model, then they repeated the model’s behaviour even if they had originally seen the model punished. This shows that what is learned is (a) a behaviour and (b) the expectation of reward or punishment. The latter affects the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.
Walters and Thomas (1963) - Demonstrated how someone will learn to
reduce rather than produce behaviour. Here participants were paired with experimental confederates and told to give the learner a shock following each error that was made on a learning task. After each error, the participant was given the opportunity to select the level of shock to use for the next trial. Prior to the experiment all participants had been shown a film. Those participants who watched a violent scene were found to select higher shock intensities than those watched a non-violent movie scene. Bandura and Walters explained this in terms of ‘disinhibition’. The participants observed socially unacceptable behaviour in the film and this weakened the pro-social behaviour they had previously learned.
Eysenck’s (1963) - Biological perspectives –in which he
suggested three main types of personality dimensions: Intropvert / Extrovert; Neurotic / stable; Normality / Pychoticism.
Thomas and Chess (1980) - Demonstrated that babies are born with
certain characteristic patterns of emotional response or temperament which develop in childhood, and these traits tend to endure throughout life. Temperament interacts with life experience to produce adult personality.
Mischel (1968) - Argues that ‘personality’ is not a consistent
set of predictable behaviours but a response that will vary widely according to different situations.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· personality
· psychoanalytical / psychodynamic theory
o ego
o superego
o id
o erogenous zones
o anal stage
o oral stage
o phallic stage
o genital stage
o morality principle
o pleasure principle
o reality principle
o defence mechanism
o libido
o Eros
o Thantos
o Sublimation
· Empirical
· Situationalism
· Social Learning Theory
o Reinforcement
o Vicarious reinforcement
o Direct reinforcement
o Reciprocal determinism
o Self-efficacy
o behaviour specificity
What do they say or do?
· Bandura
· Freud
· Mischel
· Myers and Brewin
· Skinner.
Gender Development (A2)
Personality Development.
In order to understand this topic fully you should have an understanding of behaviourist and social learning theory, psychodynamic theory, and a basic appreciation of evolutionary ideas.
What is gender:
In society
A set of culturally defined expectations that describe how males and females should think, act, and feel
= Gender Role
There are beliefs about the behaviour and attitudes typical of and appropriate for males and females
= Gender Role Stereotyping
There are beliefs about differences between the sexes
= Gender / sex difference
Individuals are treated differently according to sex
= Sex typing / Gender typing
Individuals…
Are usually biologically of one sex or another
= Sexual Identity
Feel themselves to be either male or female
= Gender Identity
May understand and accept different roles for males and females
= Gender role identity
May behave in ways which are typical for a particular gender
= Gender Role Identity
Often have preferences about the gender of their sexual partners
= Sexual Orientation
Sex is the biological differences between males and females.
Gender is the psychological differences between them.
By the age of three, children have a good idea of their own and other peoples gender identities. Schemas of each child being gradually adapted over time to ensure understanding.
Gender Constancy
Jean Piaget states that children use appearance as the main feature in understanding objects properties. Since its appearance is so important to children it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they believed their gender could change whenever their appearance did.
Sometime after their third birthday children grasp that their own sex won’t change, but its not until age 5 that they realise that other peoples wont either. This is the stage of gender stability. The realisation that gender remains constant, even when external features change e.g. hair length.
Social Learning Theory:
Direct re-inforcement can shape appropriate or inappropriate gender behaviour.
Parental praise acts as a powerful re-inforcer, encouraging similar behaviour in future.
Direct reinforcement:
Influence of parents:
Children learn gender appropriate and gender inappropriate behaviour through the application of reward and punishment.
Much direct reinforcement is unconscious.
Smith and Lloyd (1978) videotaped women playing with a 4 month old baby. The baby was dressed either as a boy or a girl and was introduced with an appropriate name. There were seven toys present. They found that each woman’s choice of toy varied with the perceived gender of the infant. Women also responded differently with gross motor activity from boys and girls. In other words women were reinforcing gender stereotypes, probably with very little conscious thought.
It is possible however, that the women displayed demand characteristics of the experiment – they only had one clue to guide their behaviour which was the apparent gender of the infant.
In real life parents behaviour will be affected by many other factors and thus people might behave in a les stereotyped fashion.
Influence of peers:
Peers are also important in this process of direct gender behaviour reinforcement.
Lamb and Roopnarine (1979) observed a group of nursery schoolchildren that found the children generally reinforced peers for a gender appropriate play (By giving them more attention or imitating them) and were quick to criticise gender inappropriate play.
Indirect and Vicarious reinforcement
Social learning theorists stress the importance of observation as a means of social learning. The media contains countless such images. Thus if you are in some way rewarded for indirectly imitating behaviour of a set gender you may repeat this action, similarly should you be punished in some way you may refrain from this course of action in future.
Even if children do not acquire gender roles totally in this way its difficult to believe that they do not gain some impressions by being exposed to these sorts of stereotypes in the media.
Cultural attitudes are conveyed through stereotypes. Our society has many persistent gender stereotypes. E.g. a typical male is assertive, independent, and good at maths. A typical female is dependant, relatively passive and good at verbal tasks.
· Williams (1985) Notel / Multitel experiment shows the impact and effects of media on gender roles.
o Natural experiment;
o Residents of a small Canadian town received TV for the first time;
o Town is called ‘Notel’ nearby town with TV being named ‘Multitel’
o Used both subject and control to asses the impact of TV on local behaviour.
o Observed for period of 2 years.
o Findings were that Notel gender stereotypes became more traditional with gender role attitudes;
o Williams suggested that US TV portrays men and women in traditional roles and this influenced the gender role attitudes of children;
o He felt that the effects of TV were stronger in developing countries where children have relatively less information to influence their attitudes, whereas children in the developed world would be less influenced by TV stereotypes.
Leary et al. (1982) found that children who watched TV frequently were more likely to hold stereotypical ideas about gender and more likely to conform to gender-role preferences of a culturally appropriate nature. N.B. Correlation does not mean Causation.
Other studies have found gender stereotypes in children’s books. E.g. Crabb and Bielawski (1994) compared books from 1938 and 1989 in terms of how they represented the way men and women use equipment such as washing machines, lawn mowers and so on and found relatively little change
Social Cognitive Theory:
Portrays the child as a passive part of the process of gender identity development.
Individual motivation, self regulation, and cognitive processes play a crucial role in gender identity development.
Three influence sources are claimed to affect gender development. That is:
· Modelling; - They acquire knowledge of stereotypes
by observing others.
· Enactive experience; - As soon as the child begins to develop gender
related behaviours then this is selectively reinforced. This explains why opposite sex behaviour is not imitated, despite frequent exposure. This leads to ‘outcome expectancies’ for the individual. These form the cognitive part of the theory.
· Direct tuition. - Parents reinforce gender behaviours through direct
tuition. i.e. this is or is not apt. Fathers are even more likely to encourage apt behaviour and discourage inapt. behaviours (Lee and Fagot 1997)
Bussey and Bandura (1992) has a process of independent self evaluation of how children themselves feel when engaged in either gender apt. or cross gender play.
· By age 4 girls and boys showed opposite preferences for toys based on gender stereotypes. Bandura concluded that early in life there are sanctions against cross-gender behaviour and they start to regulate their own behaviour accordingly.
· N.B. In studies such as this we must take every effort to avoid the inclusion of demand characteristics within the experiment.
Evaluation of Social Learning Theory:
Social learning theory claims:
However:
Social factors do influence children’s knowledge and understanding
These are also influenced by biological differences such as hormone levels and maturational states
Parental gender-role behaviour will be socialised into their children
No link was found in one study between strength of gender behaviour between parents and their children. But different levels of enforcement of social rules.
The child is fairly passive absorber of external influences
Children are actively involved in their own socialisation, driven by emotional and motivational as well as cognitive states.
Strengths
Reducing gender-role stereotypes.
Explains cultural differences:
Whiting and Edwards (1988):
Examined 11 different cultures and concluded that “We are the company we keep.” However, the general principle is that any behaviour which increases an individual’s survival and reproduction is desirable and ‘adaptive’. Any gender behaviour that promotes survival is likely to be retained in an animal’s repertoire.
Limitations:
Alternative perspectives:
Research has demonstrated the importance of biological factors in gender role development, which means that social learning theory is not a sufficient explanation of gender-role development on its own.
Conflicting evidence:
Some evidence conflicts with the empirical data outlined above. E.g. Jacklin and Maccoby’s (1978) study found that boys and girls are not treated differently in terms of the kinds of gender reinforcements they receive.
Daglish (1977) found that parents who exhibited more gender-stereotypical behaviour did not necessarily have children who were equally gender-stereotyped, whereas social learning theory would predict such a link.
Artificial research:
Research is largely removed from natural situations (Katz 1987) and overlooks the fact that children may actually pay little attention to adult models of gender behaviour, especially when they are young.
Adevelopmental
This theory does not explain why children’s behaviour changes as they get older, yet there is much evidence to demonstrate that this is the case. As we will see when looking at cognitive-developmental theories.
Cognitive-developmental theories (e.g. Kohlberg’s Theory):
Childrens experience of gender begins with a label. This expands and eventually they are able to conserve gender in the same way that they learn how to conserve number
Lawrence J. Kohlberg also offered a theory of how children learn about their own gender. This is a development of Piaget’s ideas and comprises the three stages shown below:
Age
Stage of understanding of gender
Description
2-3 years
Gender Identity
Child recognises that she is a boy or a girl.
3-7 years
Gender Stability
Awareness that gender is fixed. The child accepts that males remain male and females remain female.
7-12 years
Gender Consistency
Children recognise that superficial changes in appearance or activities do not alter gender. Even when a girl wears jeans or plays football etc. a child’s gender remains constant.
These three stages can be observed in children both in the west and in other countries and may well be universal.
Empirical support for Kohlberg’s theory.
Slabley and Frey (1975) tested children from 2 years and found that they did not develop a sense of gender constancy until about seven years. This is required for a sense of gender appropriate behaviour. However, western research shows that younger children can acquire gender constancy about themselves sooner than they can about others.
Shortly after gender constancy has developed rigid rules are applied as to what is regarded as their appropriate own behaviour as a member of their own sex.
Evaluation of Kohlberg’s theory:
Kohlberg’s Explanation:
Evaluation:
Offers a stage theory about a child’s understanding about sex and gender roles.
Changes may be more subtle and gradual than is explained by stage theory
Understanding about sex and gender roles develop parallel to the child’s cognitive development.
Slabey and Freey’s (1975) research findings support this claim.
Kohlberg sees gender roles being the result, not the cause, of acquiring ones gender identity.
Behaviourists see gender roles emerging as a result of reinforcement and identification with other members of ones own sex.
Kohlberg says the child is active in socialising itself.
Behaviourists claim that other people socialise the child.
Disagreement exists between psychologists over ages and stages formation times.
Bem (1989) showed photographs of real children, first nude with full sexual anatomy visible, and then dressed in gender inappropriate clothing, almost half of the 3 to 5 year olds knew that the child’s gender had not changed.
Universal sequence of development appears to occur in this case. Munroe et al. (1984) observed the same sequence of identity, stability and constancy in children from many different cultures. This suggests that the sequence is biologically controlled because people in different cultures will have different social experiences.
However, Martin and Little (1990) suggest that Kohlberg was wrong in suggesting that children do not begin collecting information about appropriate gender behaviour before they achieve constancy. They measured gender concepts, sex typed preferences and stereotyped knowledge in children from 3 to 5 years. Gender concept measures included ability to identify and discriminate sexes, understanding gender group membership, temporal stability of gender and gender consistency over situational changes.
Gender Schema Theory:
A schema is an idea about what something is, what it is like, what it does, how it works, what it can be used for. Schemas (Or schemata) can be strategies that help us interpret information
Gender schema theory proposes that as soon as the child has discovered his or her own sex (Basic gender identity), he or she will actively seek out information to help enrich an apt. gender schema.
This departs from Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s view that children must have gender constancy or consistency in order to develop gender typing.
N.B. Gender consistency and constancy is the same thing…
Martin and Halverson’s (1983) alternative cognitive development approach differs from Kohlberg insofar as they suggested that children are motivated to begin to acquire knowledge about their gender at a much younger age.
The term Schema refers to concept clusters that a child acquires in relation to the world around them. Gender schemas are theories about how men and women should behave which help children both to organise and to interpret their experience. It is the readiness to categorise gender information that drives the development of gender.
Empirical Evidence for gender schema theory.
Support for the importance of in group schemas is related to how such schemas affect the processing of information.
Libden and Signorella (1993) showed young children pictures of adults engaged in stereotypical opposite-gender activity (Such as a male nurse).
They found that the children disregarded the information missed the point or forgot it completely, insisting that the nurse was a woman.
This supports the notion that children only notice information that is consistent with their existing stereotypes and underlines the importance of stereotypes in acquiring further knowledge.
This is again ‘confirmatory bias’.
Evaluation of Gender Schema Theory:
Theory:
Evaluation:
Gender socialisation begins with inflexible gender stereotypes.
This is true in the west. Other societies (For example the Arapesh, studied by Margaret Mead) may not have rigid gender stereotypes.
Schema Theory assumes that children need categorical rules to make sense of that world
This needs further cross cultural research to verify.
Children actively construct their own gender concepts
This is true where there are rigid stereotypes to adapt.
There is a relationship between awareness of ones own gender and behaving appropriately
There’s little actual evidence for any such relationship. Children’s state of awareness and what they do are often quite contradictory.
The progress of the acquisition of gender based
Also:
The persistence of stereotypes may be a problem in that people are more likely to remember information that is consistent with their schemas and to forget or distort gender inconsistent information.
Research support such as Fagot (1985) shows that teachers tend to reinforce ‘feminine’ behaviours in both boys and girls, however, as both display both behaviours its suggested that boys gender schema overrides the reinforcement.
Gender awareness and gender typed behaviour research fails to find anything but a weak connection between gender awareness and gender typed behaviour (Bee 1999).
In terms of resolving contradictions, Stangor and Ruble (1989) suggest a way to resolve contradictions between the two types of theories. Gender schemas and gender consistency may represent different and complementary processes that occur during development. They suggest that gender schemas have two separate aspects:
The schema contains knowledge about gender appropriate differences in such areas as activities, behaviours and attire. Such knowledge is acquired early and facilitates memory about gender schema.
The schema encompasses the degree to which the knowledge is used to guide behaviour i.e. how motivated a child is to repeat certain behaviours.
Biological theories:
Although the syllabus does not specify biological theories of gender development in order to assist in evaluating behaviourist and cognitive developmental theories you will find it useful to have some knowledge about this approach.
Psychodynamic theory:
According to Freud and his pupil C G Jung, the child driven to identify with its same-sex parent in order to resolve Electra and Oedipal conflicts caused by its feelings of attraction towards the other parent. As a result of the identification process, it acquires its gender identity, and gender roles follow as the child matures. Same sex parents become role models.
However, how do these complexes develop in single parent families?
Evolutionary views:
If gender-related behaviour promotes reproductive success and survival long enough to maximise it, then it may become naturally selected and stay as part of the human behavioural repertoire.
The influence of hormones:
Male hormones given to pregnant women (To prevent miscarriage) were found to cause female foetuses to develop some male sexual characteristics and subsequently behave in a more ‘Tomboyish’ manner.
Beach (1974) found that female dogs that were exposed pre-natal to male hormones were subsequently likely to urinate in the manner of males.
Similarly, Young et al. (1964) found that female monkeys exposed to male hormones during the critical pre-natal period were more likely to engage in rough and tumble play in their early years. There is also some evidence of the same effects on human behaviour.
This treatment was stopped when it became apparent that the mothers gave birth to genetic females with male genitals. The girls received corrective surgery, but appeared to behave in a more tomboyish fashion when assessed later in childhood. - Money and Ehrhardt (1972)
Evaluation of Gender Schema Theory:
References of note:
Smith and Lloyd (1978) - Videotaped women playing with a
4 month old baby. The baby was dressed either as a boy or a girl and was introduced with an appropriate name. There were seven toys present. They found that each woman’s choice of toy varied with the perceived gender of the infant. Women also responded differently with gross motor activity from boys and girls.
Lamb and Roopnarine (1979) - Observed a group of nursery
schoolchildren that found the children generally reinforced peers for a gender appropriate play (By giving them more attention or imitating them) and were quick to criticise gender inappropriate play.
Williams (1985) - Notel / Multitel experiment shows
the impact and effects of media on gender roles.
Leary et al. (1982) - Found that children who watched TV
frequently were more likely to hold stereotypical ideas about gender and more likely to conform to gender-role preferences of a culturally appropriate nature.
N.B. Correlation does not mean Causation.
Crabb and Bielawski (1994) - Found gender stereotypes in
children’s books. E.g. compared books from 1938 and 1989 in terms of how they represented the way men and women use equipment such as washing machines, lawn mowers and so on and found relatively little change
Lee and Fagot (1997) - Example case of how parents
reinforce gender behaviours through direct tuition. i.e. this is or is not apt. Fathers are even more likely to encourage apt. behaviour and discourage inapt. behaviours.
Bussey and Bandura (1992) - Has a process of independent self
evaluation of how children themselves feel when engaged in either gender apt. or cross gender play. By age 4 girls and boys showed opposite preferences for toys based on gender stereotypes. Bandura concluded that early in life there are sanctions against cross-gender behaviour and they start to regulate their own behaviour accordingly.
N.B. In studies such as this we must take every effort to avoid the inclusion of demand characteristics within the experiment.
Whiting and Edwards (1988): - Examined 11 different cultures and
concluded that “We are the company we keep.” However, the general principle is that any behaviour which increases an individual’s survival and reproduction is desirable and ‘adaptive’. Any gender behaviour that promotes survival is likely to be retained in an animal’s repertoire.
Slabley and Frey (1975) - Tested children from 2 years and
found that they did not develop a sense of gender constancy until about seven years. This is required for a sense of gender appropriate behaviour. However, western research shows that younger children can acquire gender constancy about themselves sooner than they can about others.
Bem (1989) - Showed photographs of real
children, first nude with full sexual anatomy visible, and then dressed in gender inappropriate clothing, almost half of the 3 to 5 year olds knew that the child’s gender had not changed.
Munroe et al. (1984) - Observed the same sequence of
identity, stability and constancy in children from many different cultures. This suggests that the sequence is biologically controlled because people in different cultures will have different social experiences.
Martin and Little (1990) - Suggest that Kohlberg was wrong in
suggesting that children do not begin collecting information about appropriate gender behaviour before they achieve constancy. They measured gender concepts, sex typed preferences and stereotyped knowledge in children from 3 to 5 years. Gender concept measures included ability to identify and discriminate sexes, understanding gender group membership, temporal stability of gender and gender consistency over situational changes.
Martin and Halverson’s (1983) - Alternative cognitive development
approach differs from Kohlberg insofar as they suggested that children are motivated to begin to acquire knowledge about their gender at a much younger age.
Libden and Signorella (1993) - Showed young children pictures of
adults engaged in stereotypical opposite-gender activity (Such as a male nurse). They found that the children disregarded the information missed the point or forgot it completely, insisting that the nurse was a woman.
Fagot (1985) - Shows that teachers tend to reinforce
‘feminine’ behaviours in both boys and girls, however, as both display both behaviours its suggested that boys gender schema overrides the reinforcement.
Stangor and Ruble (1989) - Suggest a way to resolve
contradictions between the two types of theories. Gender schemas and gender consistency may represent different and complementary processes that occur during development.
Beach (1974) - Found that female dogs that were
exposed pre-natal to male hormones were subsequently likely to urinate in the manner of males.
Young et al. (1964) - Found that female monkeys exposed
to male hormones during the critical pre-natal period were more likely to engage in rough and tumble play in their early years. There is also some evidence of the same effects on human behaviour.
Money and Ehrhardt (1972) - Practices cited in Young et al. (1964)
This treatment was stopped when it became apparent that the mothers gave birth to genetic females with male genitals. The girls received corrective surgery, but appeared to behave in a more tomboyish fashion when assessed later in childhood.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Basic Gender Identity;
· Cognitive-Developmental Theory;
· Counter-Stereotype;
· Electra and Oedipal conflicts;
· Gender Constancy;
· Gender Role;
· Gender Role Stereotype;
· Gender Schema Theory;
· Gender Stability;
· Gender Typing;
· Sex Typing;
· Vicarious Reinforcement;
· Social cognitive theory:
o Modelling
o Enactive Experience
§ Outcome expectancies
o Direct tuition
What do they say or do?
· Bern
· Kohlberg
· Liben and Signorella
· Martin and Little
· Paiget
· Slabey and Frey
In order to understand this topic fully you should have an understanding of behaviourist and social learning theory, psychodynamic theory, and a basic appreciation of evolutionary ideas.
What is gender:
In society
A set of culturally defined expectations that describe how males and females should think, act, and feel
= Gender Role
There are beliefs about the behaviour and attitudes typical of and appropriate for males and females
= Gender Role Stereotyping
There are beliefs about differences between the sexes
= Gender / sex difference
Individuals are treated differently according to sex
= Sex typing / Gender typing
Individuals…
Are usually biologically of one sex or another
= Sexual Identity
Feel themselves to be either male or female
= Gender Identity
May understand and accept different roles for males and females
= Gender role identity
May behave in ways which are typical for a particular gender
= Gender Role Identity
Often have preferences about the gender of their sexual partners
= Sexual Orientation
Sex is the biological differences between males and females.
Gender is the psychological differences between them.
By the age of three, children have a good idea of their own and other peoples gender identities. Schemas of each child being gradually adapted over time to ensure understanding.
Gender Constancy
Jean Piaget states that children use appearance as the main feature in understanding objects properties. Since its appearance is so important to children it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they believed their gender could change whenever their appearance did.
Sometime after their third birthday children grasp that their own sex won’t change, but its not until age 5 that they realise that other peoples wont either. This is the stage of gender stability. The realisation that gender remains constant, even when external features change e.g. hair length.
Social Learning Theory:
Direct re-inforcement can shape appropriate or inappropriate gender behaviour.
Parental praise acts as a powerful re-inforcer, encouraging similar behaviour in future.
Direct reinforcement:
Influence of parents:
Children learn gender appropriate and gender inappropriate behaviour through the application of reward and punishment.
Much direct reinforcement is unconscious.
Smith and Lloyd (1978) videotaped women playing with a 4 month old baby. The baby was dressed either as a boy or a girl and was introduced with an appropriate name. There were seven toys present. They found that each woman’s choice of toy varied with the perceived gender of the infant. Women also responded differently with gross motor activity from boys and girls. In other words women were reinforcing gender stereotypes, probably with very little conscious thought.
It is possible however, that the women displayed demand characteristics of the experiment – they only had one clue to guide their behaviour which was the apparent gender of the infant.
In real life parents behaviour will be affected by many other factors and thus people might behave in a les stereotyped fashion.
Influence of peers:
Peers are also important in this process of direct gender behaviour reinforcement.
Lamb and Roopnarine (1979) observed a group of nursery schoolchildren that found the children generally reinforced peers for a gender appropriate play (By giving them more attention or imitating them) and were quick to criticise gender inappropriate play.
Indirect and Vicarious reinforcement
Social learning theorists stress the importance of observation as a means of social learning. The media contains countless such images. Thus if you are in some way rewarded for indirectly imitating behaviour of a set gender you may repeat this action, similarly should you be punished in some way you may refrain from this course of action in future.
Even if children do not acquire gender roles totally in this way its difficult to believe that they do not gain some impressions by being exposed to these sorts of stereotypes in the media.
Cultural attitudes are conveyed through stereotypes. Our society has many persistent gender stereotypes. E.g. a typical male is assertive, independent, and good at maths. A typical female is dependant, relatively passive and good at verbal tasks.
· Williams (1985) Notel / Multitel experiment shows the impact and effects of media on gender roles.
o Natural experiment;
o Residents of a small Canadian town received TV for the first time;
o Town is called ‘Notel’ nearby town with TV being named ‘Multitel’
o Used both subject and control to asses the impact of TV on local behaviour.
o Observed for period of 2 years.
o Findings were that Notel gender stereotypes became more traditional with gender role attitudes;
o Williams suggested that US TV portrays men and women in traditional roles and this influenced the gender role attitudes of children;
o He felt that the effects of TV were stronger in developing countries where children have relatively less information to influence their attitudes, whereas children in the developed world would be less influenced by TV stereotypes.
Leary et al. (1982) found that children who watched TV frequently were more likely to hold stereotypical ideas about gender and more likely to conform to gender-role preferences of a culturally appropriate nature. N.B. Correlation does not mean Causation.
Other studies have found gender stereotypes in children’s books. E.g. Crabb and Bielawski (1994) compared books from 1938 and 1989 in terms of how they represented the way men and women use equipment such as washing machines, lawn mowers and so on and found relatively little change
Social Cognitive Theory:
Portrays the child as a passive part of the process of gender identity development.
Individual motivation, self regulation, and cognitive processes play a crucial role in gender identity development.
Three influence sources are claimed to affect gender development. That is:
· Modelling; - They acquire knowledge of stereotypes
by observing others.
· Enactive experience; - As soon as the child begins to develop gender
related behaviours then this is selectively reinforced. This explains why opposite sex behaviour is not imitated, despite frequent exposure. This leads to ‘outcome expectancies’ for the individual. These form the cognitive part of the theory.
· Direct tuition. - Parents reinforce gender behaviours through direct
tuition. i.e. this is or is not apt. Fathers are even more likely to encourage apt behaviour and discourage inapt. behaviours (Lee and Fagot 1997)
Bussey and Bandura (1992) has a process of independent self evaluation of how children themselves feel when engaged in either gender apt. or cross gender play.
· By age 4 girls and boys showed opposite preferences for toys based on gender stereotypes. Bandura concluded that early in life there are sanctions against cross-gender behaviour and they start to regulate their own behaviour accordingly.
· N.B. In studies such as this we must take every effort to avoid the inclusion of demand characteristics within the experiment.
Evaluation of Social Learning Theory:
Social learning theory claims:
However:
Social factors do influence children’s knowledge and understanding
These are also influenced by biological differences such as hormone levels and maturational states
Parental gender-role behaviour will be socialised into their children
No link was found in one study between strength of gender behaviour between parents and their children. But different levels of enforcement of social rules.
The child is fairly passive absorber of external influences
Children are actively involved in their own socialisation, driven by emotional and motivational as well as cognitive states.
Strengths
Reducing gender-role stereotypes.
Explains cultural differences:
Whiting and Edwards (1988):
Examined 11 different cultures and concluded that “We are the company we keep.” However, the general principle is that any behaviour which increases an individual’s survival and reproduction is desirable and ‘adaptive’. Any gender behaviour that promotes survival is likely to be retained in an animal’s repertoire.
Limitations:
Alternative perspectives:
Research has demonstrated the importance of biological factors in gender role development, which means that social learning theory is not a sufficient explanation of gender-role development on its own.
Conflicting evidence:
Some evidence conflicts with the empirical data outlined above. E.g. Jacklin and Maccoby’s (1978) study found that boys and girls are not treated differently in terms of the kinds of gender reinforcements they receive.
Daglish (1977) found that parents who exhibited more gender-stereotypical behaviour did not necessarily have children who were equally gender-stereotyped, whereas social learning theory would predict such a link.
Artificial research:
Research is largely removed from natural situations (Katz 1987) and overlooks the fact that children may actually pay little attention to adult models of gender behaviour, especially when they are young.
Adevelopmental
This theory does not explain why children’s behaviour changes as they get older, yet there is much evidence to demonstrate that this is the case. As we will see when looking at cognitive-developmental theories.
Cognitive-developmental theories (e.g. Kohlberg’s Theory):
Childrens experience of gender begins with a label. This expands and eventually they are able to conserve gender in the same way that they learn how to conserve number
Lawrence J. Kohlberg also offered a theory of how children learn about their own gender. This is a development of Piaget’s ideas and comprises the three stages shown below:
Age
Stage of understanding of gender
Description
2-3 years
Gender Identity
Child recognises that she is a boy or a girl.
3-7 years
Gender Stability
Awareness that gender is fixed. The child accepts that males remain male and females remain female.
7-12 years
Gender Consistency
Children recognise that superficial changes in appearance or activities do not alter gender. Even when a girl wears jeans or plays football etc. a child’s gender remains constant.
These three stages can be observed in children both in the west and in other countries and may well be universal.
Empirical support for Kohlberg’s theory.
Slabley and Frey (1975) tested children from 2 years and found that they did not develop a sense of gender constancy until about seven years. This is required for a sense of gender appropriate behaviour. However, western research shows that younger children can acquire gender constancy about themselves sooner than they can about others.
Shortly after gender constancy has developed rigid rules are applied as to what is regarded as their appropriate own behaviour as a member of their own sex.
Evaluation of Kohlberg’s theory:
Kohlberg’s Explanation:
Evaluation:
Offers a stage theory about a child’s understanding about sex and gender roles.
Changes may be more subtle and gradual than is explained by stage theory
Understanding about sex and gender roles develop parallel to the child’s cognitive development.
Slabey and Freey’s (1975) research findings support this claim.
Kohlberg sees gender roles being the result, not the cause, of acquiring ones gender identity.
Behaviourists see gender roles emerging as a result of reinforcement and identification with other members of ones own sex.
Kohlberg says the child is active in socialising itself.
Behaviourists claim that other people socialise the child.
Disagreement exists between psychologists over ages and stages formation times.
Bem (1989) showed photographs of real children, first nude with full sexual anatomy visible, and then dressed in gender inappropriate clothing, almost half of the 3 to 5 year olds knew that the child’s gender had not changed.
Universal sequence of development appears to occur in this case. Munroe et al. (1984) observed the same sequence of identity, stability and constancy in children from many different cultures. This suggests that the sequence is biologically controlled because people in different cultures will have different social experiences.
However, Martin and Little (1990) suggest that Kohlberg was wrong in suggesting that children do not begin collecting information about appropriate gender behaviour before they achieve constancy. They measured gender concepts, sex typed preferences and stereotyped knowledge in children from 3 to 5 years. Gender concept measures included ability to identify and discriminate sexes, understanding gender group membership, temporal stability of gender and gender consistency over situational changes.
Gender Schema Theory:
A schema is an idea about what something is, what it is like, what it does, how it works, what it can be used for. Schemas (Or schemata) can be strategies that help us interpret information
Gender schema theory proposes that as soon as the child has discovered his or her own sex (Basic gender identity), he or she will actively seek out information to help enrich an apt. gender schema.
This departs from Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s view that children must have gender constancy or consistency in order to develop gender typing.
N.B. Gender consistency and constancy is the same thing…
Martin and Halverson’s (1983) alternative cognitive development approach differs from Kohlberg insofar as they suggested that children are motivated to begin to acquire knowledge about their gender at a much younger age.
The term Schema refers to concept clusters that a child acquires in relation to the world around them. Gender schemas are theories about how men and women should behave which help children both to organise and to interpret their experience. It is the readiness to categorise gender information that drives the development of gender.
Empirical Evidence for gender schema theory.
Support for the importance of in group schemas is related to how such schemas affect the processing of information.
Libden and Signorella (1993) showed young children pictures of adults engaged in stereotypical opposite-gender activity (Such as a male nurse).
They found that the children disregarded the information missed the point or forgot it completely, insisting that the nurse was a woman.
This supports the notion that children only notice information that is consistent with their existing stereotypes and underlines the importance of stereotypes in acquiring further knowledge.
This is again ‘confirmatory bias’.
Evaluation of Gender Schema Theory:
Theory:
Evaluation:
Gender socialisation begins with inflexible gender stereotypes.
This is true in the west. Other societies (For example the Arapesh, studied by Margaret Mead) may not have rigid gender stereotypes.
Schema Theory assumes that children need categorical rules to make sense of that world
This needs further cross cultural research to verify.
Children actively construct their own gender concepts
This is true where there are rigid stereotypes to adapt.
There is a relationship between awareness of ones own gender and behaving appropriately
There’s little actual evidence for any such relationship. Children’s state of awareness and what they do are often quite contradictory.
The progress of the acquisition of gender based
Also:
The persistence of stereotypes may be a problem in that people are more likely to remember information that is consistent with their schemas and to forget or distort gender inconsistent information.
Research support such as Fagot (1985) shows that teachers tend to reinforce ‘feminine’ behaviours in both boys and girls, however, as both display both behaviours its suggested that boys gender schema overrides the reinforcement.
Gender awareness and gender typed behaviour research fails to find anything but a weak connection between gender awareness and gender typed behaviour (Bee 1999).
In terms of resolving contradictions, Stangor and Ruble (1989) suggest a way to resolve contradictions between the two types of theories. Gender schemas and gender consistency may represent different and complementary processes that occur during development. They suggest that gender schemas have two separate aspects:
The schema contains knowledge about gender appropriate differences in such areas as activities, behaviours and attire. Such knowledge is acquired early and facilitates memory about gender schema.
The schema encompasses the degree to which the knowledge is used to guide behaviour i.e. how motivated a child is to repeat certain behaviours.
Biological theories:
Although the syllabus does not specify biological theories of gender development in order to assist in evaluating behaviourist and cognitive developmental theories you will find it useful to have some knowledge about this approach.
Psychodynamic theory:
According to Freud and his pupil C G Jung, the child driven to identify with its same-sex parent in order to resolve Electra and Oedipal conflicts caused by its feelings of attraction towards the other parent. As a result of the identification process, it acquires its gender identity, and gender roles follow as the child matures. Same sex parents become role models.
However, how do these complexes develop in single parent families?
Evolutionary views:
If gender-related behaviour promotes reproductive success and survival long enough to maximise it, then it may become naturally selected and stay as part of the human behavioural repertoire.
The influence of hormones:
Male hormones given to pregnant women (To prevent miscarriage) were found to cause female foetuses to develop some male sexual characteristics and subsequently behave in a more ‘Tomboyish’ manner.
Beach (1974) found that female dogs that were exposed pre-natal to male hormones were subsequently likely to urinate in the manner of males.
Similarly, Young et al. (1964) found that female monkeys exposed to male hormones during the critical pre-natal period were more likely to engage in rough and tumble play in their early years. There is also some evidence of the same effects on human behaviour.
This treatment was stopped when it became apparent that the mothers gave birth to genetic females with male genitals. The girls received corrective surgery, but appeared to behave in a more tomboyish fashion when assessed later in childhood. - Money and Ehrhardt (1972)
Evaluation of Gender Schema Theory:
References of note:
Smith and Lloyd (1978) - Videotaped women playing with a
4 month old baby. The baby was dressed either as a boy or a girl and was introduced with an appropriate name. There were seven toys present. They found that each woman’s choice of toy varied with the perceived gender of the infant. Women also responded differently with gross motor activity from boys and girls.
Lamb and Roopnarine (1979) - Observed a group of nursery
schoolchildren that found the children generally reinforced peers for a gender appropriate play (By giving them more attention or imitating them) and were quick to criticise gender inappropriate play.
Williams (1985) - Notel / Multitel experiment shows
the impact and effects of media on gender roles.
Leary et al. (1982) - Found that children who watched TV
frequently were more likely to hold stereotypical ideas about gender and more likely to conform to gender-role preferences of a culturally appropriate nature.
N.B. Correlation does not mean Causation.
Crabb and Bielawski (1994) - Found gender stereotypes in
children’s books. E.g. compared books from 1938 and 1989 in terms of how they represented the way men and women use equipment such as washing machines, lawn mowers and so on and found relatively little change
Lee and Fagot (1997) - Example case of how parents
reinforce gender behaviours through direct tuition. i.e. this is or is not apt. Fathers are even more likely to encourage apt. behaviour and discourage inapt. behaviours.
Bussey and Bandura (1992) - Has a process of independent self
evaluation of how children themselves feel when engaged in either gender apt. or cross gender play. By age 4 girls and boys showed opposite preferences for toys based on gender stereotypes. Bandura concluded that early in life there are sanctions against cross-gender behaviour and they start to regulate their own behaviour accordingly.
N.B. In studies such as this we must take every effort to avoid the inclusion of demand characteristics within the experiment.
Whiting and Edwards (1988): - Examined 11 different cultures and
concluded that “We are the company we keep.” However, the general principle is that any behaviour which increases an individual’s survival and reproduction is desirable and ‘adaptive’. Any gender behaviour that promotes survival is likely to be retained in an animal’s repertoire.
Slabley and Frey (1975) - Tested children from 2 years and
found that they did not develop a sense of gender constancy until about seven years. This is required for a sense of gender appropriate behaviour. However, western research shows that younger children can acquire gender constancy about themselves sooner than they can about others.
Bem (1989) - Showed photographs of real
children, first nude with full sexual anatomy visible, and then dressed in gender inappropriate clothing, almost half of the 3 to 5 year olds knew that the child’s gender had not changed.
Munroe et al. (1984) - Observed the same sequence of
identity, stability and constancy in children from many different cultures. This suggests that the sequence is biologically controlled because people in different cultures will have different social experiences.
Martin and Little (1990) - Suggest that Kohlberg was wrong in
suggesting that children do not begin collecting information about appropriate gender behaviour before they achieve constancy. They measured gender concepts, sex typed preferences and stereotyped knowledge in children from 3 to 5 years. Gender concept measures included ability to identify and discriminate sexes, understanding gender group membership, temporal stability of gender and gender consistency over situational changes.
Martin and Halverson’s (1983) - Alternative cognitive development
approach differs from Kohlberg insofar as they suggested that children are motivated to begin to acquire knowledge about their gender at a much younger age.
Libden and Signorella (1993) - Showed young children pictures of
adults engaged in stereotypical opposite-gender activity (Such as a male nurse). They found that the children disregarded the information missed the point or forgot it completely, insisting that the nurse was a woman.
Fagot (1985) - Shows that teachers tend to reinforce
‘feminine’ behaviours in both boys and girls, however, as both display both behaviours its suggested that boys gender schema overrides the reinforcement.
Stangor and Ruble (1989) - Suggest a way to resolve
contradictions between the two types of theories. Gender schemas and gender consistency may represent different and complementary processes that occur during development.
Beach (1974) - Found that female dogs that were
exposed pre-natal to male hormones were subsequently likely to urinate in the manner of males.
Young et al. (1964) - Found that female monkeys exposed
to male hormones during the critical pre-natal period were more likely to engage in rough and tumble play in their early years. There is also some evidence of the same effects on human behaviour.
Money and Ehrhardt (1972) - Practices cited in Young et al. (1964)
This treatment was stopped when it became apparent that the mothers gave birth to genetic females with male genitals. The girls received corrective surgery, but appeared to behave in a more tomboyish fashion when assessed later in childhood.
Concepts to note:
Define these terms:
· Basic Gender Identity;
· Cognitive-Developmental Theory;
· Counter-Stereotype;
· Electra and Oedipal conflicts;
· Gender Constancy;
· Gender Role;
· Gender Role Stereotype;
· Gender Schema Theory;
· Gender Stability;
· Gender Typing;
· Sex Typing;
· Vicarious Reinforcement;
· Social cognitive theory:
o Modelling
o Enactive Experience
§ Outcome expectancies
o Direct tuition
What do they say or do?
· Bern
· Kohlberg
· Liben and Signorella
· Martin and Little
· Paiget
· Slabey and Frey
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