Participants
Two schools were approached, one primary and one secondary, in Milton Keynes and asked to identify children who would be willing to be recorded talking about themselves. There were two participants both female one aged eight and another aged sixteen.
Materials and Apparatus
Materials and apparatus included sound recording instruments and microphone. A ‘Who am I’ recording sheet for participants and a pen or pencil to write with. Coding appendix, context analysis forms for coding and a computer to write up the investigation and compile the report.
Procedure
All aspects of the investigation aimed to adhere to the BPS ethics code and principles. Written consent from the parents of the children who agreed to take part was obtained for their participation and for the use of the audio-recording in this module. No personal data was disclosed prior to the investigation. The location of the interviews was chosen for its familiarity to the participants and participants were accompanied by a teaching assistant. A sound recordist and producer were also present and precautions were taken so the participants were not inhibited by the equipment or the presence of the other people in the room. I.E. the microphone was placed in a non-obtrusive place. Recording was paused when background noise interfered and resumed once stopped. The investigator prepared a semi structured interview; the questions for the first part of the interview involved self description exercise. The participants were presented with an A4 sheet of paper entitled ‘Who am I’ and below were ten numbered lines each beginning ‘I…’. The participants were asked to complete the ten statements using self descriptions. The investigator then asked the participants to expand on these statements asking further questions based on Rosenberg’s studies. These include self evaluation questions based on Rosenberg’s ‘points of pride and shame’. Questions regarding self and others based on his theme of people’s feelings of distinctiveness as separate individuals. Ideal self questions enquiring to the type of person young children would like to become; as well as questions based on Rosenberg’s concept of locus of self-knowledge. The investigator had no prior knowledge of the participants and sought assent before conducting the interview.
Following the interviews both recordings were transcribed (Sheehy and Barnes 2005). The self descriptions were transferred on to context analysis forms, these as well as other material in the interview relating the above questions were coded using Rosenberg’s four categories. The results were then analysed and compared to distinguish any developmental trend.
Results
Self Descriptions
The results show that Annie, aged eight, had a propensity to use descriptors around physical activities and attributes and these contributed to 50% of the statements. Annie appeared to relate a majority of her sense of self to the activities she enjoyed doing such as Maths and Harry Potter Lego. Kirsty, aged sixteen, tended to use descriptors which referred to her more inner world, emotions and attitudes and these account for 55% of her statements. Her statements indicate a developmental change in her sense of self as she is becoming aware of her uniqueness with statements such as ‘I’ve always been an individual’ and ‘I can’t change who I am’ reflecting this process. Annie’s inner descriptors accounted for 16.7% of her answers. For descriptors of character Kirsty and Annie scored 18% and 16.7% respectively (Appendix 1 and Appendix 2).
Kirsty made more reference to relationships (18%) stating interpersonal traits as well as her relationship with others. Annie’s statement ‘I love rabbits..’ is subjective, the use of the word ‘love’ suggests an emotional bond or relationship to the animals.
Kirsty’s statement ‘I am not a size 8!’ has been coded in the physical category (9%) due to it being an objective fact, however this is open to interpretation as the explanation mark could imply this is Kirsty’s ideation of what she should be.
Locus of Self Knowledge
Questions were asked to attain how far children have developed an independent, self reflective sense of self. Annie gave other people as a reference point for judging herself ‘..teachers..’ and ‘..My Mum and Dad.’ However, when the question was approached differently she was able to reflect and show some self knowledge ‘Yeah probably that I’m getting better every day (Maths).’ This shows some consideration of placing the locus of knowledge within herself.
Kirsty was ambiguous when giving answers in this area. When pressed relating to difference of opinions between her mother and herself she states ‘we see things in very different ways…’ and does not give a definitive answer. It is clear she is reflecting on the circumstances and when pressed on another question she states ‘I don’t know, it depends on the situation..’. This shows a strong self-reflective sense of self and an understanding of how others think and how she is perceived.
Self evaluation
When describing her weak points Annie’s descriptors are very physical. However, when Annie describes her best qualities she states ‘I just like being myself’ which is an interpersonal trait and ‘I’ve got lots of friends’ which relates to relationships. These are very mature responses and demonstrate a developing sense of self. Kirsty shows strong interpersonal and character traits in her self evaluation answers.
Ideal self
When asked what sort of person you would like to become Annie clearly states she wants to be an actress or archaeologist. These patent statements are physical descriptors. Kirsty responds in terms of interpersonal traits ‘I’ll be more secure and settled in my own life’.
Discussion
The aim of the study was to investigate into the ways individual children give self-descriptions and how the characteristics of these change with age. Previous studies have shown that younger children tend to use physical activity and physical characteristics to describe themselves, whilst older children tend to describe themselves in terms of their emotions and attitudes. The results of the study are comparable to previous studies and show a developmental trend in the progression of self. The majority of the descriptors used by Annie were related to physical activity and physical characteristics whereas, Kirsty, used descriptors that related to her inner thoughts and emotions. This would support the theories of Bannister and Agnew, Harter, and Rosenberg.
James identified four elements in the development of self. The first two represent the ‘self-as-subject’, an understanding of having power to act on the world and recognition of being distinct from others. It is clear from the interviews that both children present these qualities. A statement which would support this is ‘I just like being me’ from Annie. The second two elements: an awareness of continuity and the element of reflexiveness represent the ‘self-as-object; this aspect of ‘self’ concerns qualities of characteristics that define an individual. Annie shows some awareness of placing herself, when asked who she is similar to she places her self with peers who enjoy the same activities as her which emphasises the importance of social context in self-development.
Lewis posits once children gain a certain level of awareness they begin to place themselves into categories and this plays an important role in defining them uniquely. Kirsty is self aware and comments on the differences between herself and different peer groups. This is in concurrence of Mead’s concept that children develop a concept of themselves as they interact and learn to communicate with others gaining a perspective of themselves which could not be reached alone. There are many social factors that contribute to how individuals see themselves in relation to others and how others see them. Kirsty differentiates between her ‘real friends’ and ‘shallow people’ deliberating on the judgments and her perception of the peer group. This relates to ‘the looking glass self’ posed by Cooley that people see themselves as they are reflected by others.
Rosemberg’s ‘locus of self-knowledge’ found that younger children tended to rely on another person as a reference point. This study would support that theory showing a progression of cognitive abilities. This can be shown with Annie where she is developing her more inner thought and emotions ‘I like doing things out my own free will’ and concurrently developing her ‘LSK’. This corroborates findings that LSK parallels with the shift from physical to psychological self-descriptions.
However, it is important not to over generalise the results of this report. The results of this report are based on two participants both female which gives methodical limitations on the study. The sample does not reflect the general population and fails to address social factors such as gender and class.
Due to the qualitative design the semi structured interviews posed different approaches to question each participant. It could be argued that this was to make the interviews more age appropriate; however, this would not substantiate a direct comparison of results. The results were calculated into percentages, this is also not a true reflection due to the incomparable calculations; a larger diverse sample group would be needed for a more valid result. The coding method is also subjective and would need to be verified by independent coders by comparing results for inter-data reliability.
The ‘I’ statements at the start of the interview are another cause for debate. The concept of this task may be too ambiguous and conceptual for an eight year old to understand. The ability to describe and communicate emotions requires complex language skills. A different approach in the method could address this issue.
Conclusion
The study aimed to examine the previous literature surrounding the development of identity. It contributes to the findings of Rosenberg and Harter in the cognitive progression of children better distinguishing themselves from others and becoming more capable of thinking about themselves in different ways. It shows that physical attributes can be observed by everyone but inner thoughts, emotions, and experiences are only understood as perceived by the individual.
References
Bannister, D. and Agnew, J. (1977) ‘The child’s construing of self’ in Cole, J. (ed.) Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press.
Cooley, C.H. (1902) Human Nature and the Social Order, New York, Scribner.
Harter, S. (1983) ‘Developmental perspectives on the self-system’ in Mussen, P. H. (ed.) Handbook of Child Psychology, vol. 4, New York, John Wiley and Sons.
James, W. (1961) Psychology: the briefer course, New York, NY, Harper and Row (first published 1892)
Lewis, M. (1990) ‘Social knowledge and social development’, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, vol. 36, pp. 93-116.
Mead, G.H. (1934) Mind, Self and Society, Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Press.
Rosenberg, M. (1979) Conceiving the Self, New York, Basic Books.
Sheehy, K. and Barnes, P. (2005) in The Open University (2006) Media Kit, ED209: Child Development DVD-ROM (Media Kit Part 2, Audio Band 3), Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Miell, M. and Ding, S. (2009) ‘The early development of identity’, in Ding, S. and Littleton, K., in Children’s Personal and Social Development, Oxford/Milton Keynes, Blackwell Publishing/The Open University.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Category Analysis Forms
Category Analysis Form 1
Category Analysis Form 2
Appendix 2
Results Table and Graph
© 2006 The Open University
What is the statement of your hypothesis and its predictions?
An excellent Methodology section
You could have given examples here
What about ‘self and others’?
