Social Emotional Perspective Analysis
Introduction to Human Development: Social-Emotional Perspective - Part 1
Through this perspective we look at the how social influences and emotions shape our development, with a focus on the way we behave. From very soon after we’re born it becomes clear that we have an identifiable temperament. Most first-time parents probably think their constantly crying baby is going to grow up to be a disagreeable little… Well, thankfully they’re usually wrong.
Temperament has many definitions, though it can be summarised as stable, individual differences in the quality and intensity of emotional reactions. Your temperament forms the base of your personality and is one set of traits which is much more influenced by your genes than by the environment. …show more content…
Temperament
Temperament is described by (and often measured according to) terms such as sociability, adaptability, persistence, activity level, and reactivity. Many studies have been done on temperament but I have to mention one particular Australian study, funnily enough called the Australian Temperament Project. It’s a long term and on-going study which began in 1982, and is continuing to follow around 2000 people born around that time, aiming to investigate “the influence of an individual’s temperament on his/her emotional and behavioural adjustment.”
That and other studies have produced some significant findings, not the least of which is to highlight just how important it is that parents interact with children in a way which is appropriate to the various aspects of the child’s temperament. There is no “one size fits all” method of raising children. For example, a highly reactive (very sensitive to all kinds of stimulation) and easily distracted child would require a different approach to a highly reactive but persistent child. This seems like common sense, but shows like Super Nanny show us that if it is common sense, some parents don’t have any.
The ATP study showed that highly reactive adolescents who had a low level of supervision had the highest number of incidents of fighting, stealing, disobedience, and other similar unwanted behaviours. And yet adolescents who weren’t reactive who also had little supervision showed very few of those unwanted behaviours.
Ironically it is the ideal balance of interaction between parent (or other carer) and child which allows the child to develop self-regulation, letting them then manage their own responses, stopping them from heading down a path towards poor psychological development and all associated problems such as getting into fights, caving in to peer pressure, or thinking Paris Hilton is a good role model. (Is Paris Hilton a good role model? A clue: no).
Attachment
Attachment, important to parenting and development, can be defined as a close emotional relationship between two people, in which each displays affection towards the other as well as a desire to maintain closeness.
John Bowlby developed a theory of attachment based on observations of children’s reactions to separation from their primary carer (usually a parent, most often their mother). The theory was also inspired by studies of imprinting in baby geese. While not quite the same as imprinting, Bowlby did propose that both adults and babies have complimentary innate behaviours which keep them close to each other, and which help create a stronger, long-lasting attachment. Just like super-glue and fingers.
That attachment lets the child see the parent as a safe haven to return to when something in the world seems threatening. You see this fairly often when a child runs to cling to his mother’s legs. But the parent also acts as secure base, somewhere from which the child can safely explore the world, confident that, if necessary, they can return to their safe haven. So according to Bowlby’s theory, security and comfort are at the core of attachment. Not so much so for super-glue and …show more content…
fingers.
One challenge to Bowlby’s theory was that feeding was the main reason that children formed attachments, and that security and comfort were not as important.
This challenge was dismissed by some experiments Harry Harlow performed with rhesus monkeys. He started by building a pair of surrogate mothers for the monkeys; one feeder which was just a wire frame with a milk bottle poking out of it, and one comforter which was a wire frame wrapped in terry cloth. The monkeys all showed a clear preference for the comforter, spending most of their time with it, and always returning to it whenever they felt threatened, or once they had finished exploring or playing.
Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues applied the study of attachment to humans by developing what is called The Strange Situation. It involves a series of observations of a child reactions to the absence or presence of their primary parent, or a stranger. By watching how different children reacted to the same series of situations (carer in the room, carer leaving, carer returning, stranger arriving, etc), Ainsworth came up with three ways of grouping behaviour which highlighted the different degrees of security a child feels, and how that affects their
behaviour.
Unfortunately a lack of long term studies doesn’t allow us to come to any strong conclusions of just how childhood attachment influences later life, though studies of orphans have shown that a lack of security during early years leads to psychological problems in later years of childhood, but that when placed in a caring environment, over time those problems mostly disappear.
Onwards
Temperament forms the basis of our reactions to the world during childhood, which influences the styles of attachment we form. Our temperament also demands that others adjust their interaction with us in a way that best teaches us to react in ways which are beneficial. With the right kind of interaction and teaching we’ll be able to develop in a way that sets the stage for positive development in later years, and a psychological make up that will allow us to enjoy our lives.
If you’re interested in finding out more about attachment theory, have a look at this review paper. But bear in mind it is an academic paper.
As you’ve noticed this is just part one of the social-emotional perspective, and I’ve barely touched on behaviour and emotion. Stay tuned.
Related entries:
Introduction to Human Development
Introduction to Human Development: Psychoanalytic/Psychosocial Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Biological Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Social-Emotional Perspective - Part 2
Introduction to Human Development: Cognitive Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Socio-cultural Perspective
Through this perspective we look at the how social influences and emotions shape our development, with a focus on the way we behave. From very soon after we’re born it becomes clear that we have an identifiable temperament. Most first-time parents probably think their constantly crying baby is going to grow up to be a disagreeable little… Well, thankfully they’re usually wrong.
Temperament has many definitions, though it can be summarised as stable, individual differences in the quality and intensity of emotional reactions. Your temperament forms the base of your personality and is one set of traits which is much more influenced by your genes than by the environment. …show more content…
Temperament
Temperament is described by (and often measured according to) terms such as sociability, adaptability, persistence, activity level, and reactivity. Many studies have been done on temperament but I have to mention one particular Australian study, funnily enough called the Australian Temperament Project. It’s a long term and on-going study which began in 1982, and is continuing to follow around 2000 people born around that time, aiming to investigate “the influence of an individual’s temperament on his/her emotional and behavioural adjustment.”
That and other studies have produced some significant findings, not the least of which is to highlight just how important it is that parents interact with children in a way which is appropriate to the various aspects of the child’s temperament. There is no “one size fits all” method of raising children. For example, a highly reactive (very sensitive to all kinds of stimulation) and easily distracted child would require a different approach to a highly reactive but persistent child. This seems like common sense, but shows like Super Nanny show us that if it is common sense, some parents don’t have any.
The ATP study showed that highly reactive adolescents who had a low level of supervision had the highest number of incidents of fighting, stealing, disobedience, and other similar unwanted behaviours. And yet adolescents who weren’t reactive who also had little supervision showed very few of those unwanted behaviours.
Ironically it is the ideal balance of interaction between parent (or other carer) and child which allows the child to develop self-regulation, letting them then manage their own responses, stopping them from heading down a path towards poor psychological development and all associated problems such as getting into fights, caving in to peer pressure, or thinking Paris Hilton is a good role model. (Is Paris Hilton a good role model? A clue: no).
Attachment
Attachment, important to parenting and development, can be defined as a close emotional relationship between two people, in which each displays affection towards the other as well as a desire to maintain closeness.
John Bowlby developed a theory of attachment based on observations of children’s reactions to separation from their primary carer (usually a parent, most often their mother). The theory was also inspired by studies of imprinting in baby geese. While not quite the same as imprinting, Bowlby did propose that both adults and babies have complimentary innate behaviours which keep them close to each other, and which help create a stronger, long-lasting attachment. Just like super-glue and fingers.
That attachment lets the child see the parent as a safe haven to return to when something in the world seems threatening. You see this fairly often when a child runs to cling to his mother’s legs. But the parent also acts as secure base, somewhere from which the child can safely explore the world, confident that, if necessary, they can return to their safe haven. So according to Bowlby’s theory, security and comfort are at the core of attachment. Not so much so for super-glue and …show more content…
fingers.
One challenge to Bowlby’s theory was that feeding was the main reason that children formed attachments, and that security and comfort were not as important.
This challenge was dismissed by some experiments Harry Harlow performed with rhesus monkeys. He started by building a pair of surrogate mothers for the monkeys; one feeder which was just a wire frame with a milk bottle poking out of it, and one comforter which was a wire frame wrapped in terry cloth. The monkeys all showed a clear preference for the comforter, spending most of their time with it, and always returning to it whenever they felt threatened, or once they had finished exploring or playing.
Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues applied the study of attachment to humans by developing what is called The Strange Situation. It involves a series of observations of a child reactions to the absence or presence of their primary parent, or a stranger. By watching how different children reacted to the same series of situations (carer in the room, carer leaving, carer returning, stranger arriving, etc), Ainsworth came up with three ways of grouping behaviour which highlighted the different degrees of security a child feels, and how that affects their
behaviour.
Unfortunately a lack of long term studies doesn’t allow us to come to any strong conclusions of just how childhood attachment influences later life, though studies of orphans have shown that a lack of security during early years leads to psychological problems in later years of childhood, but that when placed in a caring environment, over time those problems mostly disappear.
Onwards
Temperament forms the basis of our reactions to the world during childhood, which influences the styles of attachment we form. Our temperament also demands that others adjust their interaction with us in a way that best teaches us to react in ways which are beneficial. With the right kind of interaction and teaching we’ll be able to develop in a way that sets the stage for positive development in later years, and a psychological make up that will allow us to enjoy our lives.
If you’re interested in finding out more about attachment theory, have a look at this review paper. But bear in mind it is an academic paper.
As you’ve noticed this is just part one of the social-emotional perspective, and I’ve barely touched on behaviour and emotion. Stay tuned.
Related entries:
Introduction to Human Development
Introduction to Human Development: Psychoanalytic/Psychosocial Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Biological Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Social-Emotional Perspective - Part 2
Introduction to Human Development: Cognitive Perspective
Introduction to Human Development: Socio-cultural Perspective