Rosenberg (1979, as cited in: The Open University, 2010, pp. 21-22) researched the developmental sequences in self descriptions using semi-structured interviews with 8-18 year olds about various aspects of their sense of self. He hypothesised that by categorising replies in various categories and identifying patterns by age groups, a developmental progression in children’s sense of self may emerge. Rosenberg’s (ibid) findings indicated that younger children tend to describe more physical activities and characteristics whilst this gradually develops to include relationships and interpersonal traits, eventually shifting to more inner qualities. Rosenberg (1979, as cited in: The Open University, 2010, pp. 21-22) also found that the locus of self-knowledge gradually shifted from a reliance on another person as point of reference for judging themselves, towards the self.
This study intends to investigate, and confirm, the findings of Rosenberg (1979, as cited in: The Open University, 2010, pp. 21-22) by analysing transcripts of semi-structured interviews with two children aged eight and sixteen. This was done within the meaning of investigating the development of the self concept and the locus of self-knowledge.
METHOD
Design
The study is a comparison of the self-descriptions provided by two young people during one-to-one semi-structured self concept interviews.
Participants
Two participants participated in this study; an eight-year old girl (Annie), and a sixteen year old boy (Adam). They were recruited by The Open University course team who approached a primary and secondary school in the Milton Keynes area (England), for volunteers whose parents signed the relevant consent form. A number of volunteers were interviewed but only two of these interviews were used for this study.
Materials
The interviews were recorded using a recording microphone positioned in a non-intrusive way. Participants were presented with an A4 white paper with the words “Who am I” printed on top followed by ten numbered lines, each beginning with “I…” (see Appendix 1). Parents of all participants completed a consent form. Self descriptions were coded on a coding sheet containing the relevant categories in separate columns on the left and the “I” statement on the right (see Appendix 2 and 3)
Procedure
Interviews were independently conducted during school hours by two separate male Open University course team members; one (Kieron Sheehy) for the eight-year old participant, Annie, and another (Peter Barnes) for the sixteen-year old participant, Adam, at their respective schools. Annie was interviewed in the familiar surroundings of a building adjacent to the small village school used for PE lessons, accompanied by a classroom assistant. Adam was interviewed in a small interview room located opposite the school secretary’s office. The producer and sound recordist were present during all interviews.
Participants were informed that they may request recording to be stopped if they felt that they said something that they did not wish to be recorded; neither one did so. Participants were briefed as to the purpose of the interview and related study and were encouraged to speak freely. They were assured that there are no correct or incorrect answers.
The participants were asked to complete a list of ten sentences starting with “I” during which recording was suspended. The interviewer then proceeded to discuss each of these statements with the participants occasionally asking questions based on their responses.
Recording was paused where the background noise became too intrusive, during breaks and for technical recording reasons. The total recorded duration of the interview with the Annie was approximately twenty minutes, and thirty minutes with the Adam.
Self descriptions of participants were categorised by the researcher, a 38-year old female located in Cyprus, into four groups being (a) physical (mainly physical activities or features); (b) character (personal characteristics or traits); (c) relationships (interpersonal traits or relationships with others) and (d) Inner (I) (private inner world of emotions, attitudes, etc) i.e. self-knowledge. Statements were divided where two or more categories could be identified from a single statement (see Appendix 2 and 3).
RESULTS
Self Descriptions
The research hypothesis in this study was that there will be a gradual shift from physical to psychological characteristics whilst the locus of self-knowledge progressively transfers from others to the self as children get older. Self descriptions, in terms of “I” statements, were coded to fall into one of four categories (see Table 1).
Note: Percentages rounded to the nearest null
It can be seen from Table 1 that the responses of the Annie were evenly spread between physical and characteristic whilst those of the Adam were unevenly spread over all the categories. This tends to support the hypothesis that there is a gradual shift from physical characteristics to psychological characteristics as children get older.
Locus of self-knowledge
Annie’s responses to locus of self-knowledge questions were mixed. She showed external locus of self-knowledge; teacher (15:37) knows best about her school performance and her mother about her behaviour (17:15). Yet, when questioned about knowing her mathematical skills (16:01), she indicated both herself and her mother thus indicating an external and internal locus.
Adam was quite clear about the locus of self-knowledge in responding “I’d actually say my mum….” (28:02) when being asked if he or his mother knows about his best school subjects (27:41).
Self Evaluation
Annie related her self-concept with those of others and described it using physical characteristics. For example, in response to her best qualities she states “I just like being myself” and clarifies this with physical traits (08:15). She views her best point as having a lot of friends (09:13) and in describing her weak points, she uses physical characteristics, i.e. “My legs, [..], because I don’t have enough exercise…” (10:38).
Adam’s self evaluation is much more focused on others i.e. “…think that I’m approachable by anyone…” (19:45) and “... I really like to have fun” (20:02). He is more reflective and talks more of his inner self when reflecting on his weak points i.e. “…I get a bit jumpy in difficult situations” (22:32)
Self and Others
Annie recognised that she is both different and the same to other family members, i.e. her sister and mother (04:30 & 04:52) and peers (11:24 and 12:49). She describe the similarities and/or differences in terms of physical behaviour i.e. “..because we both like maths” (11:24), yet displays an ability to reflect inwards, i.e. “…people are the same than me then I wouldn’t feel special”
Adam showed an understanding that he is the same yet different from others and substantiates his reasoning with physical characteristics i.e. football-fans (24:30) and more complex issues i.e. cultural (24:43).
DISCUSSION
The aim of the study was to see if there is a shift in self descriptions from predominantly physical activities and characteristics by younger children, towards a more psychological perspective by older children through comparing open-ended interview responses of Annie (8-years, female) and Adam (16-years, male). The study also investigated if a paradigm shift can be observed whereby the locus of self-knowledge is progressively transferred from others to the self by using the same interview transcripts. Within the categories (i) physical and (ii) characteristics, Annie, in contrast to Adam, described herself exclusively in terms of physical activities and characteristics. Adam described various aspects of the self in terms of (iii) relationships and (iv) inner experiences whilst Annie showed an inability to see herself as such. The same pattern could be observed with self evaluation related responses whereby Annie was more inclined to evaluate herself physically whilst Adam included relationships and inner reflection. This seems to be consistent with the self-concept theory of James (1892 as cited in: Miell and Ding, 2005, pp.131-132) whereby the sense of self develops by degrees (Moccoby, 1980, as cited in Meill and Ding, 2005, pp. 130-131) and the two objects of the self-as-subject and self-as-object gradually develops during childhood.
In response to questions relating to the locus of self-knowledge, both Annie and Adam were inclined to rely on another person as the reference point of judging themselves. The interview with Annie allowed for more opportunity in expressing her locus of self-knowledge whilst only one question in the interview with Adam directly focused on this aspect. Adam does, however, display an ability to reflect on more complex issues and relationships when describing himself in relation to others in contrast to Annie using more physical and characteristic features. It is therefore impossible to either refute or agree with the findings of Rosenberg (1979, as cited in: The Open University, 2010, pp. 21-22) that the locus of self-knowledge gradually shifts from a reliance on another person towards the self. In contrast to the findings of Rosenberg (ibid) Annie indicated an external as well as an internal locus. This does nevertheless, seem to be consistent with Cooley’s (1902, as cited in: Miell and Ding, 2005, pp. 134-136) theory of the looking-glass self whereby descriptions of both participants indicated that the self is reflected in the reactions and actions of other people who can be seen as the “looking-glass” of themselves.
The participants and context of the self-descriptions has, however, been conducted within a Western cultural setting. Geertz (1984, as cited in Meill and Ding, 2005, p.130) argued that the emphasis on the uniqueness of an individual is embedded within the Western cultural views as illustrated in the comparison study between Eastern and Western participants by Tobin et al (1998, as cited in Meill and Ding, 2005, p. 130). It would therefore be inappropriate to conclude from the results that this is a global developmental trend, however, within its cultural settings, a progressive development from physical to psychological perspectives can be observed.
The use of self reporting measures through open-ended interviews with children poses some challenges to the researcher in that the cognitive demands of the tasks as well as the verbal ability of the children should be taken into account (The Open University, 2006, p. 45). Adam as well as Annie displayed on more than one occasion confusion about the actual question asked indicating that the interview questions were occasionally misleading and complicated. The researcher could, at the second attempt, explained the question better as opposed to having simply repeated the original question. Alternatively, although having been assured that there are not correct or incorrect answers as per standard research design, they might have been influenced by trying to answer what the researcher may perceive as being correct is indicative with Adam’s concern with his school marks. This is especially true in school environments where there is a strong expectation about power relations (The Open University, 2006, p. 45).
The concept of self-awareness is constructed through social interaction and continues to develop as they learn to communicate and interact with those around them (Mead, 1934 as cited in: Meill and Ding, 2005, p. 134). The speed of such development may vary between individuals whilst external and environmental factors may influence this process as is evident in the case of feral children (Rymer, 1993 as cited in: Meill and Ding, 2005, pp. 134-135). A key decision in the design of developmental studies is therefore the sample size. In this study only two individuals of each age group had been selected whilst both were from different genders whilst a larger sample would have allowed for extrapolation of the conclusions to the population. Although the results supported the findings of Rosenberg (1979, as cited in: The Open University, 2010, pp. 21-22) no definite conclusion should be drawn from such a small sample.
The categorizing of self-descriptions raised some methodological issues. For example, Adam’s self-description when he answered “I am a very sporty person and love playing and watching football”. This may be categorised into the “inner” column as it shows personal preferences but may also be categorised to the “character” column as it is a “manifested preference” or “emotional characteristic” (The Open University, 2004, pp. 23-24).
Conclusion
In conclusion, children mature at different rates. The development of self relies upon multiple factors (peer-groups, parents, peer-groups, society, etc). What seems to be general though is that there is a trend from physical towards psychological self description. These descriptions are liquid and exist within the discourse and changes with others and across time. The locus of self-knowledge also shifts by age from parent to self. Although the initial hypothesis has been partly proven to be generally in agreement with Rosenberg’s findings, there are some methodological issues related in the study of existential and categorical selves. Further research involving a larger cross-cultural sample with different researchers categorizing results may help to overcome some of these issues.
REFERENCES
Miell, D., & Ding, S. (2005). The early development of identity. In S. Ding, & K. Littleton, Children's Personal and Social Development (pp. 125-139). Milton Keynes: The Open University.
The Open University (2006), ED209 Child Development Methods and Skills Handbook (pp. 41-49). Milton Keynes: The Open University.
The Open University (2010), ED209 Child development Assignment Booklet (pp. 20-30). Milton Keynes: The Open University.
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Participant Self Descriptions Sheet
Note: The “Who am I” I statement sheet for self descriptions were presented to participants to complete prior to starting the actual interview. Recording of the interview was stopped whilst the participant completed the sheet.
Appendix 2
Coding Sheet of Self Descriptions: Annie
Note: This sheet represents the final coding of the “I” statements presented by Annie (female, eight-years old) during her interview. Statements were categorized in four distinct categories being (a) Physical (P), (b) Character (C), (c) Relationships and (d) Inner Experiences (I).
Appendix 3
Coding Sheet of Self Descriptions: Adam
Note: This sheet represents the final coding of the “I” statements presented by Annie (female, eight-years old) during her interview. Statements were categorized in four distinct categories being (a) Physical (P), (b) Character (C), (c) Relationships and (d) Inner Experiences (I). A single “I” statement was split in two where appropriate.
