Educational Psychology:
Theory and Practice
Chapter 3
Social, Moral and Emotional
Development
Organizing Questions
1. What are the different views of social,
emotional, and moral development?
2. What are the stages of children’s social and
emotional development?
3. How can you use the different theories of social,
emotional, and moral development to help solve
classroom problems in management?
Consider This
• Effective Teachers Understand Personal and
Social Development.
So They Can
1. Motivate
2. Teach
3. Meet Developmental Needs
Erik Erikson
Born: Erik Salomonsen
15 June 1902
Frankfurt am Main,
Germany
Died: 12 May 1994 (aged 91)
Harwich, Cape Cod,
Massachusetts
Citizenship: American, German
Nationality: German
Fields: Developmental
psychologist
Erikson
Background
Resolution of
Psychoanalyst Stage Theory
Psychosocial Crisis
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Stage Approximate Age Crises Significant Psychological
Relationship Emphasis
I Birth to 18 Trust vs. Maternal To get and to
Months Mistrust Person give in return
II 18 Months to Autonomy vs. Parental To hold on and
3 Years Doubt Persons to let go
III 3 to 6 Years Initiative vs. Basic Family To make (=
Guilt going after and
to “make like”
(= playing)
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Stage Approximate Age Crises Significant Psychological
Relationship Emphasis
IV 6 to 12 Years Industry vs. Neighborhood To make things
Inferiority School and to make
things together
V 12 to 18 Years Identity vs. Role Peer Groups and To be oneself (or
Confusion Models of not to be) and To
Leadership share being
oneself
VI Young Adulthood Intimacy vs. Partners in To lose and find
Isolation Friendships, Sex, oneself in
Competition, another
Cooperation
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Stage Approximate Crises Significant Psychological
Age Relationship Emphasis
VII Middle Generativity Divided Labor To take care of
Adulthood vs. Self- and Shared
Absorption Household
VIII Late Integrity vs. “Mankind,” To be, through
Adulthood Despair “My kind” having been
and to face not
being
Source: From “Figure of Erikson’s Stages of Personality Development,” Childhood and
Society by Erik H. Erikson. Copyright 1950, Copyright 1963 by W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., renewed Copyright 1978, 1991 by Erik H. Erikson. Used by permission of W.W. Norton
& Company, Inc.
Implications and Criticisms of
Erikson’s Theory
People Experience Crises Differently—
Impact and Time.
Age of Resolution of Crises Vary.
NO Explanation of HOW/WHY Individuals
Pass through Stages.
.
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
Heteronomous Morality (Younger)
• Based on Relations of Constraint
• Moral Realism
• Badness Is Judged Using Objective Form and
Consequences of Actions.
• Fairness Is Based on Adult Decisions.
• Arbitrary and Severe Punishments Are Fair.
• Punishment Is an Automatic Consequence of the Offense.
• Justice Is Inherent.
Source: From Social and Personality Development, 1st edition, by Michael E. Lamb, p. 213, © 1978.
Reprinted with permission of Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning: [Link]. Fax 800-730-2215.
.
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
Autonomous Morality (Older)
• Based on Cooperation and Mutual Recognition of Equality
Among Equals
• Rational Moral Attitudes
• Badness Is Judged Using Objective Form and
Consequences of Actions.
• Badness Is Relative to the Actor’s Intentions.
• Fairness Is Equal Treatment/Taking Account of
Individual Needs.
• Fairness of Punishment Is Appropriateness to the
Offense.
• Punishment Is Affected by Human Intention.
Source: From Social and Personality Development, 1st edition, by Michael E. Lamb, p. 213, © 1978.
Reprinted with permission of Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning: [Link]. Fax 800-730-2215.
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
As Children Get Older:
• Cognitive Abilities Develop.
• Understanding Moral Problems Gets
More Sophisticated.
Young Children Older Children Adults
Lawrence Kohlberg
Born: 25 October 1927
Died: 19 January 1987
(aged 59)
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
Background
Refined Piaget’s Work Moral Dilemmas Stage Theory
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
I. Preconventional Level
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation—
Rules Set Down by Others
• Physical Consequences Determine Actions:
Goodness or Badness
Stage 2: Instrumentation Relativist Orientation
• What is Right Satisfies One’s Own
Needs—Sometimes Others’.
• “You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours.”
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
II. Conventional Level
Stage 3: Subordinate Own Needs to Those of the
Group
• “Good Boy—Good Girl” Orientation
• Approval by Being Nice
Stage 4: “Law and Order” Orientation
• Right Is Doing One’s Duty to Others.
• Respect Authority and Social Order.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
III. Postconventional Level – People Define Own Values in
Terms of Ethical Values
Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation
• Right Determined by Societal Needs.
• Laws Can Change for the Good of Society.
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation
• Right is Determined by One’s Conscience.
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory
• May Be Biased against Women
• Young Children’s Reasoning
about Moral Situations Is Often
Higher than Stage Theory
Suggests.
• Focus on Moral Reasoning
Rather than Actual Behavior
• Context of Moral Dilemmas
Teacher’s Role in Producing Socially
and Emotionally Healthy Children
Reinforce Model
Coach Accept
Influences in the Social and Emotional
Development of Children
Middle/High
Preschool Elementary School
Family School Peers
Overview of Pre-School Social and
Emotional Development
Issues Critical Developments
Erikson’s Stage • Initiative versus Guilt
Piaget’s Stage • Preoperational Thinking
Source of Development • Family/Caregivers
Social Development • Result of Play
Emotional Development
Pre-School Peer
Relationships
• Importance of Peer Play
• Less Egocentric
• Leads to Understanding Point
of View of Others:
– Thoughts
– Feelings
– Viewpoints
– Sensitive to Results of Behavior
Pre-School Prosocial Behaviors
Causes Effects
• Parental
Disciplinary • Caring
Techniques • Sharing
• Warm and • Comforting
Responsive • Cooperation
Parents/Caregivers
• Expectations of
Parents/Caregivers
Play and Effects for Pre-School
Children
Benefits of Play
Types of Play [Link]
[Link] [Link]
[Link] [Link] Skills
[Link] [Link]
[Link] Thinking
[Link]
Same Sex Play Group
Socioemotional Development during
the Preschool Years
● Peers: children who are equal in age
q Peer play allows children to interact with other individuals whose
level of development is similar
q When peers have disputes, they cooperate in resolving them if the
play is to continue
q Peer conflict let them see others have different thoughts/ viewpoints
à overcome EGOCENTRISM
● Prosocial Behaviour: voluntary action toward others such as caring,
comforting and cooperating
q Factors associated with the development of prosocial behaviour
● Parental disciplinary techniques à warm, responsive
● Contact with adults à indicate they expect concern for others
● Contact with adults who attribute positive characteristics to children
when they do well
Socioemotional
Development during the
Preschool Years
● Importance of Play
q Exercises children’s linguistic, cognitive and social skills and
contributes to their general personality development
q Makes transformationà step toward abstract thinking freeing
their thoughts from focus on concrete objects
q Increases creativity à less literal and more flexible in one’s
thinking
● Vygotsky à In play a child is always above his average age, free to
explore ways of thinking and acting that are above their current level of
functioning
● Pretend Play: take on roles
● identities children assume in play
● [Link] a trip à driver, passengers
Types of Play
● Solitary Play
v Play separately from others, is independent of what other children are doing
v Play alone with toys
● Parallel Play
v Involves children engaged in the same activity side by side but with
little interaction
v Playing with similar objects clearly beside others but not with them
(near but not with others)
● Associative Play
v Like parallel but with increased levels of interaction in the form of
v sharing, turn-taking and general interest in what others are doing
● Cooperative Play
v Occurs when children join together to achieve a common goal e.g. building
a large castle with each child building a part of the structure à beginning of
“team work” Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Overview of Middle Childhood Social
and Emotional Development
Issues Critical Developments
Erikson’s Stage • Industry versus Inferiority
Piaget’s Stage • Beginning Concrete
Source of Development • School
Social Development • Adults Outside of Family/Caregivers
Emotional Development • Family/Caregivers
• Peers
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem Middle
Childhood
Self-Concept Self-Esteem
• Perceive OUR • Evaluate OUR
§ Strengths § Skills
§ Weaknesses § Abilities
§ Abilities
Remember 2 Es
§ Attitudes
§ Values Esteem and Evaluate
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem Middle
Childhood
● Self concept: a person’s knowledge about himself (e.g. strengths,
weaknesses, abilities, attitudes, values), its development begins at
birth and is continually shaped by experience
● Self esteem: how a person evaluates his skills and abilities (e.g.
confidence, self-assurance)
● place value on one’s characteristics, abilities, and behaviours
● Social Comparison: During middle childhood, children also begin
to evaluate themselves in comparison to others
Characteristics of Middle Childhood
Students
1. Abstract 7. Good Grades High
Thinking Self-Esteem
2. Social Characteristics 6. Internal Self
Comparison Develops
3. Peers 5. External Self
Becoming Develops
Important—
Attitudes and 4. Peers help w/Sense of
Values Security
Selman Beliefs of How Friendship
Develops
1. Temporary/Momentary—Between Ages
3 and 7
2. Stable and Reciprocal—Between Ages 7
and 12
Friendships in Middle
Childhood
v Friendship is the central social relationship between peers during
childhood and undergoes a series of changes before adulthood
v Children’s understanding of friendship changes over the years.
Between 3-7 years children view friendship as momentary playmates
This reveals the child’s view of friendship based on certain situation
rather than on shared interest/ belief
v As children enter middle childhood friendship becomes more
stable/reciprocal
Friends are described in term of personal traits, mutual support,
caring, loyalty, give-and-take
Importance of Friendships
● During elementary school ● Friends are also cognitive
years, friends are resources when they
companions with whom to teach/model specific
have fun and do things intellectual skills
● Friends serve as important ● Social norms for conduct,
emotional resources by social interaction skills
providing children with and how to resolve
the sense of security in conflicts successfully are
new situations and when also learned within the
problems arise context of friendships
Peer Acceptance
Type of Child Characteristics
1. Popular • Liked
• Attractive
• Cooperative
• Helpful
• Caring
2. Rejected • Disliked
• Aggressive
• Lack Pro-social & Conflict Resolution Skills
3. Neglected • Neutral—not liked/disliked
• Less Distinct Behavioral Style
• Change Status Often
4. Controversial • Liked Frequently & Disliked Frequently
• Less Distinct Behavioral Style
• Change Status Often
Teachers Can Help Develop
Social Skills
1. Reinforce Socially Well
2. Modeling Adjusted Child
3. Coaching
4. Consistent
Overview of Middle and High School
Social and Emotional Development
Issues Critical Developments
Erikson’s Stage • Identity versus Role Confusion
Piaget’s Stage • Beginning Formal Operations
Source of Development • Peers
Social Development • Peers
Emotional Development
Characteristics of Middle and
High School Students
1. Importance
of Peers 4. Anger
Characteristics
2. Reflective
3. Experiment
and Change
Marcia’s Four Identity Statuses
1. Identity 2. Identity Diffusion
Foreclosure
4. Identity 3. Identity Moratorium
Achievement
Identity Development
First sign of early adolescence is the appearance
of reflectivity (the tendency to think about
what is going on in one’s own mind and to
study oneself)
- look closely at themselves
- realize differences (think, feel, behave)
- become aware of their separateness from other
people and their uniqueness
- the issue of who and what one “really” is,
dominates personality development in
adolescents
Identity Statuses
The statuses reflect the degree to which
adolescents have made firm commitments
to religious and political values as well as to
a future occupation
Foreclosure
§ Willing to commit to some relevant roles,
values, goals for the future
§ Never experience an identity crisis
§ Tend to conform to the expectations of
others regarding their future (e.g. allow
parent to determine a career direction)
§ Established an identity of their parent’s
choice rather than their own
§ Individuals have not explored a range of
options
Identity Diffusion
● Inability to develop a clear direction or
sense of self
● Adolescent does not have a sense of
having choices
● He/she has not yet made or attempted /
willing to make a commitment
Moratorium
v The status in which adolescent is currently in
crisis
v Explore various commitments and is ready to
make choices but has not made a commitment to
these choices yet
v Experimentation with occupational and
ideological choices without definite commitment
v Directly in the midst of an identity crisis examine
alternate life choices
Identity Achievement
q The status in which adolescent has gone
through an identity crisis and has made a
commitment to sense of identity (i.e.
certain role/ value that he/she has chosen)
q They made their own conscious decisions
about occupation/ ideology (belief/idea)
q Individual is convinced that these decisions
were autonomous and freely made
● By late adolescence (18 – 22 years) most individuals have
developed a status on identity achievement
● Adolescents’ emotional development seems to be linked to
their identity status
● Level of anxiety
Highest: moratorium
Lowest: foreclosure
● Self esteem
Highest: identity achievement &
moratorium
Lowest: foreclosure and identity diffusion
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem
Self-Descriptions Based on:
•Personal Traits
•Emotions
•Personal Beliefs
Views on Self-Concept
Harter’s March’s Self-
Competencies Concepts
1. Scholastic [Link] Verbal
[Link] [Link]
[Link] Mathematical
[Link] Appearance [Link] Relations
[Link] Acceptance [Link] Sex
[Link] Friendships [Link] Sex
[Link] Appeal
[Link]
Take Note
Adolescent Girls Have
Lower Self-Esteem than
Boys
WHY?
Social Relationships
Relationships
Friendships Influence:
w/Peers
[Link] Verbal
[Link]
1. Emotions
Mathematical
2. Schools Performance
[Link] Relations
3. Self-Disclosure
[Link] Sex
4. Intimacy
[Link] Sex
5. Loyalty
6. Security
7. Support
Peer Relationships
• Social Status
• Acceptance
• Cliques—small
intimate group
• Crowds—large group
w/reputation
• Allegiance—short term
Emotional Development
• Experience Emotional
Conflict—not long
lasting.
• Fears Relating to
Acceptance.
• Parent Stress
• Anger
• Frustration
• Jealousy
Adolescent Problems
• Adolescent’s Decisions—
Good now independent to MAKE Bad
them.
If BAD then……..
• Emotional Disorders
• Bullying
• Dropping Out
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Delinquency
• Risk of Pregnancy
• Risk of STDs
• Sexual Identity
Intentional Teacher
1. Knows
Developmental
Level of Students.
2. Uses Multiple
Measures
of Assessment
3. Uses
Developmentally
Appropriate Materials
4. Reflects
Reflection
Write Two Details for Each Level of Development
Middle &
Middle Childhood
Pre-School High School
1. ____
1. ____ 1. ____
2. ____
2. ____ 2. ____
End of Chapter 3