Introduction
When thinking of dramatic changes in
children over time, people tend to think of the first two or three years of
life. During these years, there are usually striking changes; however, the
social changes and development that occur between 6 and 14 years are dramatic.
The development of children between the age of 6 and 14 is usually driven by
basic psychological needs to achieve competence, relatedness, and autonomy
(Aloa et al. 2013). Between middle childhood and adulthood, children tend to
seek opportunities to master and also demonstrate new skills so as to make
independent decisions and also control their behavior. As children approach
adolescences, their self-consciousness normally starts to increase. The focus
of children during this time is normally on external characteristics that later
shifts to introspection. It is normal for an early teenager to scrutinize her
appearance and also feel that everybody is staring at her. During adolescences,
it is a period of experimentation with different personae, a group of friends,
and changing styles of dress. In this report, the focus is on factors
influencing self-image during middle childhood and adolescence.
Factors
influencing self-image
Gender
There are several factors that influence
self-image during middle childhood and adolescence. The gender difference is
one of the factors influencing self-image. From a very early age, children
normally show an interest in gender. As children become aware of behaviors of
girls, boys, women, and men, they start pulling their knowledge together into
self-constructed understandings of how men and women are (Aloa et al. 2013).
The gender schemas tend to become part of their self-sense and provide a
guidance of how they should behave (Aloa et al. 2013). Boys and girls an overall
sense of self-worth tends to differ depending on gender. Starting in the upper
or middle school years, boys normally have a higher sense of self-worth than
girls.
The gender difference appears because of
boy’s tendency to overestimate their ability and the girl’s tendency to
underestimate theirs (Aloa et al. 2013). Also, girls at this age normally have
difficulty in taking criticism. Starting in middle childhood, girls normally
rate their physical appearance less favorably than boys and become more preoccupied
with how they look. Most adolescence embraces gender stereotypes until they can
become comfortable with themselves as young women and men. During adolescence,
adolescents start looking at women and men in a particular manner while
searching for feminine and masculine role models. Most adolescents expose
themselves to advice and images related to the gender roles in magazines and
other media (Aloa et al. 2013). Because of gender influence, some adolescents
become preoccupied with images of toned, slender, and for men, muscular bodies
in the media. Physical characteristics also influence the self-image in middle
childhood and adolescence (Dailey, 2010). Irrespective of what gender, the
physical attractiveness has a high correlation with self-image from early
childhood onwards. Adults tend to give more positive attention to physically
attractive toddlers than those deemed as being less physically attractive.
Cultural difference
Cultural difference is also another
factor influencing self-image. Cultures tend to tell children what they should
think about, what it means to be a good person, and how to relate to other
people. These factors integrate into the children’s sense of self. Different
cultures differ in how they encourage children to attend to their personal
needs or other people’s needs (Aloa et al. 2013). Some cultures tend to place
more emphasis on self. In the individualistic societies, teachers, parents, and
other adults normally encourage children to focus on their motivations, wishes,
and emotions. The individualistic society encourages children to become
confident in their initiatives and have a strong sense of self-worth. Contrary,
in collective societies, they place more emphasis on the group. Adults in
collectivist societies normally encourage children to take pride in the
accomplishments of their communities and families. Thus, the sense of self for
children in collectivist societies includes a strong sense of connection to the
community and family. When socialized in a particular culture, children tend to
learn to think of themselves as having the personal qualities of other people
(Aloa et al. 2013).
Family
The family setting is essential when
considering the development of children’s characters and personal traits. The
relationship between the family and the children in middle childhood and
adolescent has a significant impact on developing self-image. McCabe &
Ricciardelli (2001), claim that the parental patterns can influence the
self-image of adolescents. The experts claim that college women who did feel
over-protected in the early years tend to have low self-esteem. The explanation
is that children receive a negative message from their parents that they cannot
take care of themselves. They also fail to receive encouragement and trust from
their parents about their ability to handle matters. When considering these
factors in regards to the self-image of children, it leads to low self-esteem.
The character and self-image of the parent also influence the children’s
self-image.
Research findings indicate that the
parent-child association in self-image; the girl’s global self-worth positively
correlate with the mother’s global self-worth. According to Dailey (2010), the
family environment can contribute to the formation of the self-image. The
quality of the relationship among family members tends to have a great
influence on the self-worth of children between middle childhood and
adolescence. Families have the ability to provide more stability for a child,
and the uniqueness of each and each family cannot discount as being a factor of
temporary damage to self-image. All through the continuous changes that occur regarding
self-image, the influence of the family members may be so prevalent to a child
because it is likely for a family relationship to dissolve like peer
pressure. Similar to the relationship
between peers, the confirmation and challenges from family members also affect
adolescents.
The message that a parent communicates
affect different factors of the self-image of the child than message
communicated by fathers. Challenges from the mother have a significant effect
on the self-image of a late-adolescent and confirmation from the father have a
greater influence on the adolescent’s personality. The confirmation of the
father has a significant influence on the child’s self-image; however, the
father’s confirmation holds greater weight during early adolescence. Parental
acceptance, approval, and acceptance have a great association with higher
levels of self-image as children are getting older (Dailey, 2010). The quality
of parenting also affects the self-image of children. When parents are making
reasonable demands accepted by children and do not make unreasonable
restriction and allow children some control and choice, it leads to children
having high self-image. The expectations of the parents also influence the
children’s self-image. The provision of activities and materials for children
to master and learn new tasks provide children with opportunities for them to
see themselves as competent (McCabe, & Ricciardelli 2001). It also conveys
clues about the adult’s expectations. Those children who see that they have
less challenging materials than others may wonder if adults do not expect them
to success and, as a result, they may suffer self-image decrements.
Peer
Self-image tends to have several
characteristics and consist of multiple aspects. The body-image is one of the
parts of self-image. In adolescence, the body image is normally important to
most girls. In adolescence, girls tend to be more aware of their appearance and
also its consequences. According to Jones (2002) the peer influence on
self-image usually becomes more apparent when children enter the adolescence
phase. The quality of friendship also plays an essential part in deciding the
adolescent self-image. Adolescent girls tend to form friendship groups where
there is a high similarity between the body image concerns and also weight-loss
behaviors. Thus, girls in these groups talk a lot about weight loss, compare
bodies with others, and teased more frequently about their shape and weight.
Girls in these friendship groups usually feel that their friends are important
in influencing their decisions regarding diet (Shroff& Thompson 2006).
Adolescent girls tend to internalize the beliefs and values of their friends
during conversations and the more conversation about appearance one has, the
more they internalize the appearance ideals. When an individual fail to meet
the standards, they normally develop a negative body image. The social
interaction with peers influences the attitudes and behaviors of people. Thus,
peers influence the body satisfaction of children in middle childhood and
adolescence. Friends normally influence the self-image of an adolescent in
multiple ways. The more adolescent girls have conversations about dieting and
appearance, the more they feel dissatisfied with their body and they are likely
to develop a negative body-image (Shroff& Thompson 2006).
Materialism
Materialism
is another factor that also influences the children’s self-image. During the
period of middle childhood and adolescence, children tend to search for
external factors so as to use as enhancers for their self-worth. According to
Chaplin & John (2007), children focus on the material possession as a
method of developing the poor self-concept they have about themselves. However,
it leads to material possession acquired an adolescent to act in a manner the
child define himself. The negative effect of material possession acting as the
basis for the self-image enveloped in the child requiring self-esteem boosted
by material objects. In adolescents, self-esteem and materialism tend to relate
in an inverse relationship. Hence, when a high adolescent self-esteem expresses
low tendencies of materialism, the low-esteem adolescent will express high
tendencies of materialism (Chaplin & John 2007). Researchers claim that materialism occurs
because of perceived lack of social acceptance. Therefore, as acceptance among
peers increase, self-esteem tend to increases; thus, leading to a decrease in
materialism. Researchers claim that peer acceptance is a major factor that
strengthens self-image.
Conclusion
Middle childhood and adolescent tend to
be an essential stage in the development of self-image. The changes in the
physical and social development tend to have an impact on self-image. In this
report, we analyzed several influencing factors of self-image. Some of the
factors discussed in the paper include the culture, gender, peer influence,
materialism, and also the family.
Reference
Chaplin,
N. & John, R. (2007). Growing up in a material world Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 480-493
Cupit,
G McDevitt, T & Aloa, V (2013). Child
development and education Pearson Higher Education AU
Dailey,
M. (2010). Testing components of confirmation Communication Monographs, 77(4), 592-617
Jones,
C. (2002). Social comparison and body image Sex
Roles, 45, 645-664
McCabe,
P., & Ricciardelli, A. (2001). Parent, peer, and media influence on body
image and strategies to both increase and decrease the body size among
adolescent boys and girls. Adolescence,
36, 225-240
Shroff,
H., & Thompson, K. (2006). Peer influences, body-image dissatisfaction,
eating dysfunction and self-esteem in adolescent girls. Journal of Health Psychology, 11, 533-551
Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in legitimate essay writing service. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from research paper services.
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