Personality development during childhood
The elements of personality develop rapidly during the first years of life.
The concept of personality development can be described as the vital process through which every individual goes through, where certain bases and guidelines of character and behavior are established, from which the traits, values and forms of functioning organized and stable in time of that person are formed.
These mechanisms become a reference for the person in his or her interactions with the context (environmental or physical and interpersonal or social) in which he/she habitually develops.
Personality factors
Thus, development is understood as the result of the bidirectional confluence between more Biological or internal factors (genetic inheritance) and other contextual or external factors (environment). The former include temperament, which is defined by an intrinsic and innate emotional and motivational dispositionwhich is defined by an intrinsic and innate emotional and motivational disposition that mobilizes the subject by interests of a primary nature.
On the other hand, environmental factors can be classified into common influences (externally originated norms, values, social and cultural beliefs) and personal influences (particular life experiences and circumstances of each subject, such as, for example, an illness).
It can be said, therefore, that as the subject matures biologically and incorporates new experiences and external experiences, the process of personality development takes place. How does this personality development take place during childhood?
Affective development in early childhood
The most important phenomenon that characterizes the affective development of the child in the first years of life is the formation of the attachment or emotional/affective bond established between the child and one or more reference figures (usually subjects belonging to the family system, although this may not be the case in all cases). Attachment is composed of three elements: attachment behaviors, mental representations and feelings generated from the two previous ones..
The main function of the elaboration of attachment is to both to facilitate an adaptive development in the emotional area which allows the subject to be able to establish future functional and adequate affective interpersonal relationships, as well as to to ensure a balanced overall personality development. Without this support, children are not able to establish the emotional bonds necessary to develop all their competences.
At the same time, attachment generates a context in which children can learn and explore their environment feeling secure, which is fundamental to discover their own capabilities. These kinds of discoveries will shape their attitudes and a part of their personality, depending on whether they feel more or less competent in the areas they live in on a regular basis.
The attachment formation process
In the process of attachment formation, several phases can be distinguished several phases depending on the distinction that the infant learns to make about the people in its social environment. Thus, in the first two months, his inability to discriminate between attachment figures and other people motivates him to feel a good predisposition for social interaction in general, regardless of the person in question.
From 6 months onwards, this differentiation becomes more pronounced, so that the child shows his or her preference for the closest figures of affective proximity. At 8 months of age, the "eighth month distress" phase takes place in which the baby shows its rejection of strangers or people who are not part of its closest circle of attachment.
With the consolidation of the symbolic function, at 2 years of age, is able to internalize the permanence of the object, even if it is not physically visible.even if it is not physically visible, which makes the consolidation of the affective bond possible. Subsequently, the child begins a stage characterized by a constant search for the adult's approval and affection, experiencing a certain emotional dependence and showing a certain degree of emotional dependence.experiencing a certain emotional dependence and showing again a good predisposition for general social interaction.
Finally, between the ages of 4 and 6, the child's interest is focused on his or her relationship with peers, which reinforces the beginning of the socialization stage in environments other than the family, such as school.
The conquest of autonomy
The acquisition of the capacity for autonomy takes place in the first years of the child's childhood, once the process of self-concept (as differentiation from other subjects) has begun to consolidate and the emotional dependence of the child begins to be overcome. the affective dependence on the adult has begun to be overcome to become oriented towards independent experimentation of the world.
Upon discovering that they can interact following the first notions of norms, values and internalized beliefs (not always coinciding with those of adults understood as a learning model) from early life experiences, their motivation is oriented to govern their behavior according to their own decisions.. Thus, a phase of constant ambivalence is generated between the need to depend on the adult and the search for autonomy with respect to him, which may result in the manifestation of tantrums. may result in the manifestation of tantrums or other behavioral or other behavioral alterations as a sign of the intention to preserve their independence.
This is a delicate process, since in addition to the fact that the child can be very difficult to manage, it requires that the adult sets strict and clear educational guidelines on the appropriate developmental path to take. This is one of the fundamental ideas to highlight regarding the development of the child's autonomy.
It is important to remember that there must be It is important to remember that there must be a balance between the child's increasing freedom of action and the permanent role of guidance and orientation that the child's and orientation that the child's attachment and educational figures must play.
Another fundamental point is the relevance of the environmental context in which the individual develops, which shapes and influences considerably the process of acquiring the autonomy indicated. Therefore, each individual has his or her own particularities and a universal pattern cannot be a universal pattern cannot be established to explain this process in a general way.. Like most aspects of the development of the person, it is characterized by individuality and qualitative differentiation from other subjects.
Self-awareness, self-esteem and infantile self-worth
The beginning of the acquisition of self-consciousness or self-concept is intrinsically related to the achievement of the cognitive development phase of object permanence. The child internalizes that he/she remains the same being in different moments or situations thanks to the proliferation and linguistic development that occurs from the second year of life onwards. From that moment on, the subject begins to see him/herself as different from other individuals and to recognize his/her own ideas, values, beliefs, feelings, interests and motivations. and recognize his own ideas, values, beliefs, feelings, interests and motivations. That is to say, he begins to relate the environment in which he is situated with his own self.
This is a process that begins at this chronological moment; therefore, this differentiation and establishment of individual identity is not complete at all times and although the aspects that are inherent to the person (personality) are being assimilated, it is possible that some cognitive and/or emotional processes occur unconsciously.
Thus, it is a process by which what others express and what one interprets from their actions forms an image of oneself. In turn, this image is associated with a moral evaluation, which makes it more or less positive, depending on the child's expectations and preferences. depending on the expectations and preferences of the child..
The role of self-esteem in boys and girls
With the emergence of the self-concept, its valuational component, self-esteem, arises simultaneously. Self-esteem is a phenomenon that is closely linked to the achievement of a balanced and adaptive psychological development. Therefore, if the individual's evaluation of his or her own value as a human being in interaction with the more cognitive aspects and qualities related to self-concept is positive, this will act as a protective factor in the individual's development, this fact will act as a protective factor in the future in the prevention of intense emotional disturbancesThis fact will act as a protective factor in the future in the prevention of intense emotional alterations, difficulties at the psychological level and, to a greater extent, problems in social interaction with other people.
It is very important that there is not a very high discrepancy between the real self (what the individual represents) and the ideal self (what the individual would like to represent) in order to consolidate an adaptive and adequate or balanced psychic and emotional development.)
Another fundamental aspect is the role played by external evaluations on the level of self-esteem of each subject. Thus, the image that others have of oneself and the evaluation they make of one's competencies or behaviors have a significant influence on the perception of one's self-esteem. influence the child's perception of himself or herself.
From the third or fourth year onwards, the search for adult approval would be related to this issue, since this motivation is carried out with the ultimate aim of establishing the child's self-esteem. is carried out with the ultimate goal of establishing an acceptable level of self-esteem.. As previously mentioned, at this stage, conflicts may arise at the level of oppositional behaviors of the child before educational figures and other adults, derived from the contrast between the adult's protection and the child's search for autonomy. For this reason, a fundamental aspect to take into account is the educational style that the parents exercise over the child.
An educational style characterized by a balanced combination of control/discipline/authority and affection/comprehension seems to promote a high level of self-esteem and, in addition, a lower probability of tantrums and negative behavior. Thus, it is essential for educators to understand the importance of the progressive increase of autonomy on the part of the child. and that as the maturation of the child as a human being takes place, the exhaustive control of all decisions concerning the child must be gradually diminished.
Are personality, character and temperament equivalent?
Although these three terms have been used interchangeably, they are not conceptually equivalent. The definition of personality as a disposition or set of stable and permanent traits that guide behavior, as well as reasoning and emotional expression in a generic way, would encompass both the concept of temperament and character.
That is to say that both temperament and character are elements that make up the personality, interacting together. They cannot be isolated individually, but they help to understand our behavior patterns globally and in all areas of life.
Temperament refers to the innate emotional and motivational predisposition whose manifestations are due to biological or hereditary, more primitive origin. It is a phenomenon considerably stable over time and is subject to a lesser extent to ethnic or cultural interferences.. In contrast, character, of a more cognitive and intentional nature, derives from environmental and cultural influence and is the product of external life experiences.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)