Title: An analysis of how children’s identity develops over time: using Rosenberg’s study of self-descriptions (1979).
Abstract
This report is an analysis of two semi structured interviews investigating the ways individual children give self- descriptions, and how these change with age. An 8 year old girl and a 16 year old boy were interviewed separately in a familiar environment. They first wrote down their chosen self-descriptions which were then discussed with the interviewer. These were followed by a series of questions relating to self-evaluation, self and others, ideal self and the locus of self-knowledge. The results were coded using the same methodology the researcher Rosenberg used to analyse children’s self-descriptions in
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(b) Participants
One primary and one secondary school in Milton Keynes were approached by the Open University to help the team find willing participants for their research. The younger participant was Annie, selected from three 8 year olds that were interviewed by Kieron Sheehy. The older participant was Adam, selected from three 16 year olds interviewed by Peter Barnes. The participants were told at the start of the interview they could stop the recording and withdraw participation any time if they wished.
(C) Materials
A consent form of participation and use of audio-recording was signed by the parents of the children prior to the interviews. In both venues the sound recordist and the producer were present, and the 8 year olds also had a classroom assistant in attendance. There was an unobtrusive microphone, a pen, and a sheet of paper for the written task. The sheet of paper had the heading 'Who am I?' followed by ten lines, each beginning with 'I...'
(d) Procedure
The interviews took place during the school day. After introducing himself, the researcher told the participant that they were taking part in research that would help Third-Level students understand how children of different ages think and talk about themselves. The participant was then invited to complete the written task ‘Who am I?’ on the sheet. They could write as many or as
According to Erik Erikson, adolescence is marked by the child’s questioning his or her identity during what he refers to as the identity versus identity confusion developmental stage. During this phase, the adolescent becomes mindful of his or her identity and seeks his or her purpose in life, as well as the answer to the eternal question, “who
Adolescence is Erikson’s fifth stage of development wherein the person must master the conflict of identity versus role confusion. The question, who I am? Is a question that arises during this time? The child is concerned with
With respect to Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, the adolescence is the stage of identity versus role confusion. He also believes that identity as the significant personality achievement of adolescence is an essential step toward becoming a productive happy adult (Feldman, 2006). I remember so vividly my high school experience; especially
One of the theorists to investigate the development of identity would be Erik Erikson. According to Erikson (1968), throughout an individual’s life-span, they experience conflicts. These conflicts arise at certain points in life and need to be successfully resolved for the progression in to the next of Erikson’s eight stages (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). The specific stage relevant to the development of identity formation in adolescence would be the ‘identity versus role confusion’ stage. Identity development involves exploring options and making commitments to obtain a relatively stable self-perception (DeHaan & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast, role confusion occurs when individuals are not able to commit specific life choices (DeHaan & MacDermid,
First of all, with the use of plot and character as dramatic elements, MacLeod is able to depict the main characteristics of the nature of adolescence, mainly the search for identity and the quest for independence. Among the scientific community, adolescence is believed to be the most crucial period in human development. It is a period of “rapid biological, social and psychological change” (Soto, et al. 330). There are the transformations that define puberty, there are changes in the relationships and attitudes towards adults and peers, and many teenagers struggle to form a coherent identity (331). In the process of discovering their identities, most adolescents become self-centered. Having not yet
“Identity Development “ Identity is most simply defined as a person's own sense of self; their personal sense of who they are. Identity development is intrinsically linked with adolescence because, according to John Santrock author of the book entitled Adolescence 15th edition, "...for the first time, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development advance to the point at which the individual can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and identifications to construct a viable path toward adult maturity.” We often see the results of this sorting process in behaviors of adolescents such as adopting and shedding different personas, including speech patterns, clothing styles and peer groups. Although these transitions
This investigation looks at the self descriptions of two child participants and how they develop with age using the findings of Rosenberg (1979) as a reference. Rosenberg found that the self descriptions of younger children, physical qualities were more prevalent, whereas older children focused on their inner beliefs and character attributes.
In this qualitative phenomenological research, the researcher went to the building that the participants’ schools were located for participants’ convenience. The researcher followed a protocol of first conducting individual interviews with each of the ten participants. A semi-structured, conversational style of individual interviewing was adopted in order to explore the respondents’ stories which made interviewing multiple subjects more methodical (See Appendix A for Interview Protocol). According to Meehan, 20014),
The purpose of assignment is to understand the human growth associated with each lifecycle group. There are eight age groups with each has its own stage of development and related tasks. This assignment covers stage 4, “Identity vs Inferiority” middle childhood (6-12 years), ”Identity versus Identity-Confusion” stage 5, (13-20 years) covering early childhood, and Intimacy vs. Isolation stage 6, (20-40 years), early adulthood. Identity growth and development is not identical for each group and each child and is depending on so many other things, how a child is raised by parents and supported by caregivers, exposed to the outside world and the environment.
The interviews were conducted over a two-week period in Term 4 of the NSW school year. Interviews took place at the participating institution branches, in a designated room as discussed with the administrators. Each participant was invited to an individual interview, which took approximately 15 minutes, dependent upon the participant’s level of participation and the time constraints. Throughout each interview, the conversation between the interviewer (i.e., the author) and the interviewee (i.e., a participant) were audio recorded to facilitate
Our identity can sometimes be shaped by the way others see us. As we have seen, the way in which others view us can have some sort of impact on how we see ourselves. There are also other contributing factors such as our years of adolescence, the basic human need of wanting to belong and maturing; all play an equally important part in the forming of our character and who we are. On balance it appears that there is not only one influence in the shaping of our identity, but there are many.
The goal of this case study is to help me get a better understanding of identity in an adolescent, particularly the idea of identity roles (future career and education). I believe that for my case, the 15 year old will have a general idea of their identity. Identity according to Erik Erikson is having a sense of who and what you want to be as well as coming to terms with yourself, such as the way you look. To do this case study, I intend to do an interview because it’s better to have that one on one with an adolescent. This is the better choice because I can also see into their cognitive thinking, what they don 't show in person or physically, doesn’t even make up for half the things going on in their head. Personally it would be hard to follow this student around the high school and gain consent from all of their teachers, which why I chose to do an interview instead. The interview questions that I used were all from the Internet because I could not think of any questions off the top of my head. This was very useful because I was able to give my interview very quickly because I had everything in front of me. The questions ranged from “what do you want to be when your older?” to “if you can change one thing about yourself, what would it be?” These are just a couple of the questions used to help me get a better understanding of the 15 year old.
Next the detailed responses to the interview questions, including the locus of self-knowledge questions, were analysed in the context of Rosenberg’s research findings. The responses of the children were analysed to see if the same patterns were present.
In entering adolescence, people heavily contemplate their ego identity. In the early 1900s, theorist Erik Erikson believed in eight stages of ego development from birth to death. For the purpose of this paper I have
Two girls, an 8 year old and a sixteen year old were interviewed talking about who they are, following Rosenberg’s categories .It was found that there is a developmental trend between the girls. The locus of self – knowledge shifts with the age from relating on others to relating to the self.