Social development
Why is understanding social development important?
We need to be able to interpret other people’s actions and intentions. By understanding mental states the social world around us becomes coherent and intelligible. Our everyday understanding of others is our most fundamental resource for introducing meanings in a world of causes.
Social Cognition
Social cognition is how we understand and think about our social interactions with others. To do this, we develop a theory of mind. Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own. Deficits occur in people with autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as neurotoxicity due to alcohol abuse.
Socialization with Peers
Socialization is the process by which children learn how to behave in accordance with the rules and norms of society. Children internalize these rules and norms and make them a part of who they are.
During infancy and early childhood, children that had secure attachments to their parents tend to have more positive relationships with peers. Imitation and pretend play are important forms of play interaction in early childhood. The conflicts that occur between playmates are a part of the process of learning how to sustain a social relationship. By the age of three, children can form friendships.
After children enter school, many of them find a best friend. There has been a question as to whether girls' friendships and boys' friendships are qualitatively different, but gender differences in social relationships are usually small. Sociometry is a technique used to measure peer status. Based upon nominations by peers, children can be classified as popular, rejected, average, neglected, or controversial. Certain child characteristics are associated with different statuses, and there are different developmental outcomes for children in different statuses. Although the rejected status places a child at risk, sine children have a low level of rejection sensitivity, so being rejected by peers may not distress them.
Adolescents spend an increasing amount of time with peers, and relationships become reciprocal and more intimate (especially for girls). There is a great deal of similarity between adolescent friends, and both selection and influence contribute to this similarity. Friends for cliques, and individual adolescents are placed within different crowds by their peers. Although peers exert peer pressure, the pressure is often subtle and is more likely to be for positive rather than negative behavior. Adolescents become more resistant to peer pressure as they get older. There is a debate over the relative influence of parents and peers, but it appears that peers have more influence in certain areas while parents have greater influence in others. Romantic relationships first emerge in adolescence. Adolescents' ideas about nature of romantic relationships are influenced by friends and the media. The quality of romantic relationships is usually similar to the quality of the adolescents' relationships with others.
We need to be able to interpret other people’s actions and intentions. By understanding mental states the social world around us becomes coherent and intelligible. Our everyday understanding of others is our most fundamental resource for introducing meanings in a world of causes.
Social Cognition
Social cognition is how we understand and think about our social interactions with others. To do this, we develop a theory of mind. Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own. Deficits occur in people with autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as neurotoxicity due to alcohol abuse.
Socialization with Peers
Socialization is the process by which children learn how to behave in accordance with the rules and norms of society. Children internalize these rules and norms and make them a part of who they are.
During infancy and early childhood, children that had secure attachments to their parents tend to have more positive relationships with peers. Imitation and pretend play are important forms of play interaction in early childhood. The conflicts that occur between playmates are a part of the process of learning how to sustain a social relationship. By the age of three, children can form friendships.
After children enter school, many of them find a best friend. There has been a question as to whether girls' friendships and boys' friendships are qualitatively different, but gender differences in social relationships are usually small. Sociometry is a technique used to measure peer status. Based upon nominations by peers, children can be classified as popular, rejected, average, neglected, or controversial. Certain child characteristics are associated with different statuses, and there are different developmental outcomes for children in different statuses. Although the rejected status places a child at risk, sine children have a low level of rejection sensitivity, so being rejected by peers may not distress them.
Adolescents spend an increasing amount of time with peers, and relationships become reciprocal and more intimate (especially for girls). There is a great deal of similarity between adolescent friends, and both selection and influence contribute to this similarity. Friends for cliques, and individual adolescents are placed within different crowds by their peers. Although peers exert peer pressure, the pressure is often subtle and is more likely to be for positive rather than negative behavior. Adolescents become more resistant to peer pressure as they get older. There is a debate over the relative influence of parents and peers, but it appears that peers have more influence in certain areas while parents have greater influence in others. Romantic relationships first emerge in adolescence. Adolescents' ideas about nature of romantic relationships are influenced by friends and the media. The quality of romantic relationships is usually similar to the quality of the adolescents' relationships with others.
Bullying
Bullying is a threat to the well-being of a number of children and adolescents, and cyberbullying is a particular vicious form of bullying. Bullies often have relatively poor self-concepts, lack of self-control, and do poorly in school. Victims of bullies may feel anxious or depressed and may react by withdrawing from peers or striking out against them. Programs designed to reduce bullying, such as the video to the right, have only had a small effect on reducing the incidence of bullying, and they could be improved. |
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