Personality Development of Children: Who Matters More?
Personality development of children: Who Matters More?
Judith Harris and John Bowlby
The impact of parents on child development has been a major matter among developmental psychologists who have been trying to find a direct link between parental activities and the personality development of children. The nature vs. nurture debate remains vital and keeps the world of developmental and clinical psychology polarized for a long time now (Encyclopedia.com).
There are various factors that affect child development. “What happens during the prenatal period and the earliest months”, says Hutchinson (2008) “sets the stage for the journey through childhood, adolescence and adulthood”. When talking about child development, one needs to take into consideration four types of development: physical, cognitive, emotional and social (Hutchinson, 2008). While all four are important, emotional development seems to be raising the most deliberation.
One of the components of child emotional development is attachment – the ability to form emotional bonds with others. Scholars agree that attachment is one of the most important aspects of child development, as it sets the groundwork for emotional development and subsequent social functioning (Hutchinson, 2008). Attachment relationships and their vast influence on people’s behaviors in all stages of their life cycles are essential to the research of developmental and clinical psychology (Encyclopedia.com).
The attachment theory was developed by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby, and focused on the infant-parent relationship and the impact of that relationship in the course of the life span of the child. The fundamental function of attachment theory is the protection of the child. Attachment between mother and the child guarantees that the child is sheltered from any harmful factors of his/her environment (Hutchinson, 2008).
Bowlby theorized four stages of attachment: preattachment, attachment in the making, clear-cut
Judith Harris and John Bowlby
The impact of parents on child development has been a major matter among developmental psychologists who have been trying to find a direct link between parental activities and the personality development of children. The nature vs. nurture debate remains vital and keeps the world of developmental and clinical psychology polarized for a long time now (Encyclopedia.com).
There are various factors that affect child development. “What happens during the prenatal period and the earliest months”, says Hutchinson (2008) “sets the stage for the journey through childhood, adolescence and adulthood”. When talking about child development, one needs to take into consideration four types of development: physical, cognitive, emotional and social (Hutchinson, 2008). While all four are important, emotional development seems to be raising the most deliberation.
One of the components of child emotional development is attachment – the ability to form emotional bonds with others. Scholars agree that attachment is one of the most important aspects of child development, as it sets the groundwork for emotional development and subsequent social functioning (Hutchinson, 2008). Attachment relationships and their vast influence on people’s behaviors in all stages of their life cycles are essential to the research of developmental and clinical psychology (Encyclopedia.com).
The attachment theory was developed by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby, and focused on the infant-parent relationship and the impact of that relationship in the course of the life span of the child. The fundamental function of attachment theory is the protection of the child. Attachment between mother and the child guarantees that the child is sheltered from any harmful factors of his/her environment (Hutchinson, 2008).
Bowlby theorized four stages of attachment: preattachment, attachment in the making, clear-cut
References: Debunking the “Nurture Assumption” www.pbs.org Encyclopedia.com: www.encyclopedia.com Gladwell, M. (1998). Do Parents Matter? New Yorker, 54-66. Harris J.R. (1998). The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do. New York, NY: Free Press. Hutchinson, E. D. (2008). Dimensions of Human Behavior: The changing life course (3rd Ed.) Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing. McMillen C. J. (1992). Attachment Theory And Clinical Social Work. Clinical Social Work Journal, 20 (2), 205-218.