This document discusses the development of self from infancy through adulthood. It notes that infants begin to develop a basic sense of self around 8 months when they experience separation distress from caregivers. Between 18-24 months, most children can recognize their reflection in a mirror. During the preschool years, children understand themselves based on observable traits, but have unrealistically positive self-evaluations. Through school-age and adolescence, the self-concept becomes more complex and integrated as abstract thinking develops, though adolescents may be preoccupied with how others see them. By late adolescence/early adulthood, the conception of self is usually more coherent and internally defined.

1. 1
By: Faizan Tanoli
Abbottabad

2. The Developing Sense of Self
 Children’s sense of self
emerges in the early years of
life and continues to develop
into adulthood, becoming
more complex as the
individual’s emotional and
cognitive development
deepens.
 Self-esteem grows in relation
to these factors.
2

3. The ‘Self’
 Self / ‘not others’
 Conceptions of the Self
 A conceptual system made up of one’s thoughts and
attitudes about oneself.
 An individual’s conceptions about the self can include
thoughts about one’s own physical being, social roles
and relationships, and ‘spiritual’ or internal
characteristics.
 Conceptions of ‘Identity’
 The idea of selfhood based on the uniqueness and
individuality which makes a person distinct from others.
3

4. The ‘Self’
 Self-concept
A multi-dimensional construct that refers to
an individual’s perception of ‘self’ in
relation to any number of characteristics,
e.g. gender roles and sexuality, racial
identity, and many others.
 Self-awareness
An individual’s awareness of their self.
 Self-esteem
The evaluative element of the self-
concept.

5.  Self development is a lifelong process.
It’s a way for people to assess their skills
and qualities, consider their aims in life
and set goals in order to realise and
maximise their potential.
 Although early life development and
early formative experiences within the
family, at school, etc. can help to
shape us as adults, self development
should not stop later in life.
Self development

6. The Rouge (Mark) Test
 A self-recognition test that
identifies a child’s ability to
recognise a reflection in a
mirror as his or her own.
 A measure of self-concept; the
child who touches the rouge
on their own nose upon looking
into a mirror demonstrates
basic ability of understanding
global awareness.
6

7. The Rouge (Mark) Test
 Using makeup, an
experimenter surreptitiously
places a dot on the nose of
the child.
 The child is then placed in front
of a mirror and their reactions
are monitored; depending on
the child’s development,
distinct categories of responses
are demonstrated.
7

8. The Rouge (Mark) Test
 6 to 12 months - the child simply
sees a ‘sociable playmate’ in the
mirror’s reflection.
 12 months - self-admiring and
embarrassment begin.
 14 to 20 months - most children
demonstrate avoidance
behaviours.
 18 months half of children
recognise the reflection in the
mirror as their own.
 20 to 24 months self-recognition
climbs to 65 percent.
8

9. The Developing Sense of Self
 Infants have a rudimentary
sense of self in the first
months of life, as evidenced
by their control of objects
outside of themselves.
 Their sense of self becomes
more distinct at about 8
months of age, when they
respond to separation from
primary caregivers with
separation distress.

10. The Developing Sense of Self
 By 18 to 20 months of age, many children
can look into a mirror and realise that the
image they see there is themselves.
 By 30 months of age, almost all children
recognise their own photograph.
 By Two-years-old children’s exhibition of
embarrassment and shame, their self-
assertive behaviour, and their use of
language also indicate their self-awareness.
10

11. The Developing Sense of Self
 At age 3 to 4, children understand themselves
in terms of concrete, observable characteristics
related to physical attributes, physical activities
and abilities, and psychological traits.
 Their self-evaluations during the preschool years are
unrealistically positive.
 Children begin to refine their conceptions of self in
primary school, in part because they increasingly
engage in social comparison, the process of
comparing aspects of one’s own psychological,
behavioural, or physical functioning to that of
others in order to evaluate oneself.
11

12. The Developing Sense of Self
 By middle to late primary
school, children’s
conceptions of self begin to
become integrated and
more broadly encompassing,
reflecting cognitive
advances in the ability to use
higher-order concepts.
 In addition, older children
can coordinate opposing
self-representations and are
inclined to compare
themselves with others on
the basis of objective
performance.

13. The Developing Sense of Self
 The ability to use abstract
thinking allows adolescents to
think of themselves in terms of
abstract characteristics that
encompass a variety of
concrete characteristics and
behaviours.
 Adolescents can also
conceive of themselves in
terms of a variety of selves,
depending on the context.
13

14. The Developing Sense of Self
 In early adolescence, thinking about the self is
characterised by a form of egocentrism called the
personal fable, a story that adolescents tell about
themselves that involves beliefs in the uniqueness of
their own feelings and their immortality.
 The kind of egocentrism that forms the basis for
adolescents’ personal fables also causes many
adolescents to be preoccupied with what others
think of them.
 The imaginary audience refers to the belief that
everyone is focused on the adolescent’s
appearance and behaviour.
14

15. The Developing Sense of Self
 In their middle teens, adolescents
often begin to agonise over the
contradictions in their behaviour
and characteristics.
 Most, however, still do not have
the cognitive skills needed to
integrate their recognition of
these contradictions into a
coherent conception of self .
15

16. The Developing Sense of Self
 In late adolescence and early adulthood,
the individual’s conception of self becomes
both more integrated and less determined
by what others think.
 Older adolescents’ conceptions of self also
frequently reflect internalised personal
values, beliefs, and standards.
 Support and tuition from parents, teachers,
and others is important in helping
adolescents understand the complexity of
personalities.
16

17. 17