The Importance Of Identity Formation For Children

Register to read the introduction… In our life time we adopt many different identities which we share with some groups but not with others dependent on whether we see ourselves as the same as a particular group or different. An important aspect of identity formation for children, involves them drawing distinctions between themselves and others. Psychologists are increasingly interested in the self-descriptions that children give at different ages. Harter 1983 reviewed interviews of children’s self-descriptions at different ages and found a developmental sequence. She found that young children gave self-descriptions in terms of their observable characteristics such as their physical appearance and through activities which they preferred, as the children became older they tended to describe their character, and eventually children tended to give self-descriptions in terms of their relationships to others and interpersonal traits. Bannister and Agnew 1977 suggested that “children gradually become better able to distinguish themselves psychologically from others as they get older and also become more capable of thinking about themselves in different ways” (Bannister and Agnew 1977). This idea was followed up by Rosenberg (1979), he and his co-workers used open ended interviews with children from 8-18 years old to find out about their self-descriptions. Rosenberg’s interviews explored the question …show more content…
Appendix 4
Category Analysis Form 1
P|C|R|I|Participant: Annie|Age:8|Sex: Female|
||||I like doing Harry Potter Lego, I’ve completed the night busI love rabbits, guinea pigs and dogsI think one of my hobbies is using the TV remote controlI’m really good at maths but get stuck on telling the timeI’m not very good at rememberingI like doing things out of my own free will|
3|3|0|0|column totals|Overall total = 6|
50|50|0|0|Percentages(column total / overall total x 100)|

Category Analysis Form 2
P|C|R|I|Participant: Kirsty |Age:16|Sex: Female|
||||I can’t change who I amI can only be my bestI’ve always been an individualI am not size eightI’m pretty plainI get on well with many peopleI’m friendly and my friends are like familyI work as hard as I canI may set my goals too highI can only be me and if some people don’t like that, I won’t apologise anymore|
2|2|2|4|column totals|Overall total = 10|
20|20|20|40|Percentages(column total / overall total x