PSYC Final

Reciprocal socialization


____ have lost socializing role in the family
More urban and suburban dwelling than in rural, on farms
More family mobility across the United States
___ exposure to media and technology
____ divorces and remarriages; rising dissatisfaction

Reciprocal socialization


Changes in families: children affected most
High immigration rates of Latinos and Asians in the United States
More stressors (language, identity, relocation, SES)

Multiple development trajectories
Different trajectories for children and adults – timing of changes
Children: timing of child care and middle school entry
Adults: timing of family tasks and changes
Planned such as delayed marriage
Unplanned such as job loss and divorce
Reentry into workforce

Single Adults
Being single
Dramatic increase from 2000 to 2006 (ages 20 to 29)
Single stereotypes
Advantages and disadvantages
When deciding to settle down, changes occur in:
Autonomous decisions on life course, developing personal resources for goals, personal scheduling, pursuit of interests and opportunities, privacy

Cohabiting adults
Living together, unmarried, in a sexual relationship
United States: from 11% in 1970 to 60% today
More likely in low-income than higher-earning situations
Relationships more equal than those in marriage
Cohabiting tends to be short-lived in United States
Single women at higher risk of abuse than married ones
Higher in countries other than the United States
Advantages and disadvantages of cohabiting?

Married adults – we’re still a marrying society
Fulfillment of goals in and out of marriage have changed marriage; created new trends
Changing male-female equality in marriage has created more fragile, intense marital relationships
More adults remain single longer
United States still a marrying society; divorce rates slowing
Social contexts: culture influences marriage
International comparisons in marriage

What makes marriages work - Gottman

Coontz on U.S. marriages

Gottman: Important for self-repair process

Improves quality of marriage
May reduce risk of divorce
Linked to higher commitment level to spouse, lower destructive level in marital conflict

Benefits of a good marriage

Middle Adulthood
Most marrieds express ...

Middle Adulthood
Widowhood and adjustment
Adjustments needed at retirement
Happiness affected by each partner’s coping with aging, personal conflicts
More satisfied than younger singles; very happy

If divorce occurs, it usually happens early in marriage
Stress of separation, divorce risks: psychological and physical difficulties
Psychiatric disorders, hospital admission, clinical depression, alcoholism, sleep disorders, chronic health problems

Dealing with divorce
A chance for personal growth
Make decisions carefully
Focus more on the future than on past
Use your strengths and resources
Don’t expect success, happiness in all you do
You’re never trapped by one pathway
Custodial/non-custodial parental issues

Hetherington – “For Better or For Worse”
Six pathways out of divorce-
The Good-enoughs –
The defeated –
The libertines –
The seekers –
The enhancers –
The competent loners –

Main reason for staying married: ....

Main causes of divorce

For women

Verbal, physical, emotional abuse (23%)

Alcohol or drug abuse (18%), cheating (17%)

For men

No obvious problems, just fell out of love (17%)

Cheating (14%), different values, lifestyles (14%)

Average: remarriage within four years of divorce

Remarried Adults and adjustment

Strategies: have realistic expectations and develop new positive relationships within family
Avoid repeating past problematic behaviors

Gay and lesbian adults
Lesbian couples place high priority on equality
Compared to heterosexual couples
Satisfactions: loves, joys, conflicts
Needs: romantic love, affection, autonomy, equality
More flexible in gender roles than heterosexuals
Prefer long term, committed relationships
Lesbians usually do not have open relationships
Increasingly creating families with children

Parental Roles

Many plan to be parents; others are startled

Needs and expectations stimulate myths

Parents As Managers
Provide opportunities, monitor, act as social arrangers for children
Teach child to be independent, make competent decisions
Serve as regulators of children
Effective management produces best outcomes
Important in adolescence due to social contexts avail

Baumrind’s parenting styles
Authoritarian — restrictive, punitive
Authoritative — warm, supportive, accountability stressed
Neglectful — uninvolved in child’s life, no controls/norms
Indulgent — highly involved, child sets rules, no controls

Authoritative parenting linked to competence across wide range of
Ethnic/cultural groups (variation in styles, especially Asians and Latinos)
SES: physical punishment used more by African Americans
Most associated with positive child outcomes in ethnic studies

Consequences of corporal or harsh punishment

Parent is out-of-control role model

Instills fear, rage, and avoidance in child

Shows/tells child what not to do; not what to do

Punishment can be abusive

Physical abuse
Infliction of physical injuries

Child neglect:
Failure to provide basic necessities

Sexual abuse
Fondling of genitals, exploitation, pornography production, physical penetration of body cavities

Emotional abuse
Acts/omissions inflicting mental/psychological injury

Girls of working mothers engage in less gender stereotyping, have more egalitarian views of gender

Effects of Divorce on Children
More likely to show poorer adjustment
More likely to have academic and behavioral problems
Overall adjustment affected by social maturity, gender, temperament, custody situation, SES

In general, adopted children
More likely to have psychological and school-related problems; use illicit drugs, engage in delinquency
Show slightly more behavior problems
Have higher use of mental health services
More prosocial, less likely to be withdrawn
No differences in self-esteem

Social Support and Social Integration
Important physical and psychological impact
Social convoy model of social relations — go through life embedded in personal network of individuals that give social support
Helps those of all ages cope
Improves mental and physical health
Linked to reduced symptoms of disease
Linked to longevity
Emotionally positive contact lowers depression

Successful aging
Positive dimensions ignored too long
Proper diet, technology, medical advances, and active lifestyle prolong and enhance quality of life
Related to perceived control over one’s environment (self-efficacy)
Social integration is very important
Being lonely and isolated – a significant health factor

Centenarians – optimistic and very happy

Psychological effects of poverty
Powerless, vulnerable, no financial resources
Inadequate housing, at-risk environment, etc.
Long term effects: chronic health problems

Who is poor?
Women — feminization of poverty
Single mothers; single fathers
Families and poverty
Economic pressure linked with parenting
Benefits to parents help children
Poverty, aging, and ethnicity
Overall more among women and ethnic minorities; more than 25% of older women
Ethnic diversity continues to increase

Peer Group Functions

Parent influences on peer relations

Peer contexts
Interaction influenced by context; situation, location, culture

Five peer statuses
Popular – often designated a best friend, rarely disliked
Average – receive average positive/negative ratings
Neglected – rarely nominated a best friend, not disliked
Rejected – actively disliked, infrequently nominated as best friend
Controversial – frequently nominated as best friend and being disliked

From age 3, children prefer same-sex groups

From age 6, boys prefer larger groups

Boys: organized group games, rough-and-tumble
Girls: collaborative discourse

Cliques: Small groups averaging 5 or 6; usually same sex and age
Crowd: larger than cliques, less personal than cliques

Six Functions of Friendship

Parten’s social play categoriess

Disengagement theory

Activity theory

Ageism
Prejudice against other people because of age, especially prejudice against older adults
Most based on assumed frailty and ailments of age

Important physical and psychological impact
Social convoy model of social relations — go through life embedded in personal network of individuals that give social support
Helps those of all ages cope
Improves mental and physical health
Linked to reduced symptoms of disease
Linked to longevity
Emotionally positive contact lowers depression

Social integration is very important
Being lonely and isolated – a significant health factor
Centenarians – optimistic and very happy

Positive dimensions ignored too long
Proper diet, technology, medical advances, and active lifestyle prolong and enhance quality of life
Related to perceived control over one’s environment (self-efficacy)

Men’s gender development
Male roles are contradictory and inconsistent
Can cause role-strain in
Health (may be considered: hazardous)
Male-female relationships (affected by traditions)
Male-male relationships (fathers have impact)

Women’s gender development
Women often try to actively participate in others’ development
Emotionally
Intellectually
Socially
Women maintain competency, self-motivation, and self-determination in relationships

Consequences of Adolescent Pregnancy
Health risks for mother and child
Low birth rate in newborns linked to infant mortality, neurological problems, childhood illness
Young mothers more likely to
Drop out of school; were low achievers in school
Have history of conduct problems
Come from low-income backgrounds
Live in poverty

Emerging adulthood
Patterns of heterosexual behavior
Time frame for sexual activity and singlehood
Males have more casual sex; females more selective
Most limit sex partners to one or two persons annually
Casual sex more common in “hooking up”
The earlier the age of first sex, the more sexual activity in emerging adulthood
Religious adults have fewer sexual partners
Alcohol use loosens inhibitions, decreases caution

Middle adulthood
Climacteric: midlife transition, fertility ends/declines
Women: Menopause late forties or early fifties;
Perimenopausal is transitional time
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): risks involved
Men: less testosterone, less desire, possible erectile dysfunction (Viagra and similar drugs have appeared)
Ability to function slows little, frequency drops in old age

Regulation of emotion
External sources regulate in infancy, childhood
Shift to internal, self-initiated regulation with increasing age

Parents’ roles in helping children

Emotion-coaching approach
Monitor child’s emotions
Negative emotion is a coaching opportunity

Emotion-dismissing approach
Deny, ignore negative emotions
Linked to poor emotional regulation in child

Emotionally Competent Individuals

Emotional expression and social relationships
Infants: two types

Crying – most important for communication
Basic cry: rhythmic pattern
Anger cry: variation of basic cry
Pain cry: long, sudden initial loud cry

Reflexive smile: innate origins
Social smile: response to external stimuli

Self-conscious emotions
Self-awareness; emerges at 18 mos. or earlier
Empathy, jealousy, and embarrassment

Fear: first appears about 6 mos.; peaks at 18 mos

Stranger anxiety: fear and wariness of strangers; intense between 9 and 12 mos.
Affected by social context, stranger’s characteristics
Individual variations
Separation protest — crying when caregiver leaves; peaks about 15 months of age

Early childhood
Young children experience many emotions
Ages 2 to 4: increased number of ways and terms to describe emotions
Learn about causes, consequences of feelings
Ages 4 to 5: increased ability to reflect on emotions
Self-conscious emotions
Pride, shame, embarrassment, and guilt
First appear about age 18 months
Ability to reflect on emotions increases with age

Kagan’s behavioral inhibition

Match between child’s temperament and environmental demands

Social orientation in infants
Face-to-face play: infant-caregiver interactions
Still-face paradigm: shows infants react differently to people than objects

Ages 1 to 2: more locomotion, social play with peers, independence, goal-directed motivation

Social referencing

Theories of attachment

Bowlby: stresses importance of attachment in first year and responsiveness of caregiver

Develops in series of phases

Preattachment Phase : birth to 2 months
Attachment in the making Phase: 2 to 7 months of age
Clear-cut Attachment: 7 to 24 months of age
Reciprocal relationship: 24 months and older

nAinsworth and the “strange situation”

nMeasure of infant attachment to caregiver

nRequires infant to move through a series of introductions, separations, and reunions

nSecurely attached or insecure

nCriticisms:

nMay not reflect real world behavior

nCulturally-biased to Western children

Secure Attachment: Use the parents as a secure base; actively seek contact with the parent when he or she returns.
Avoidant Attachment: Seem unresponsive to the parent and are slow to greet the parent upon reunion.
Resistant Attachment: Seek closeness to the parent and are distressed and angry when the parent returns.
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment: Pattern reflects the greatest insecurity. At reunion, these infants often show confused, contradictory behaviors.

Caregiver Behavior and Attachment

Types of attachment to parents

Dismissing/avoidant: caregiver rejection
Preoccupied/ambivalent: inconsistent parenting
Unresolved/disorganized: high fear due to traumatic experiences

Adolescent


Dating and romantic relationships
Spend lots of time dating or thinking about it
Form of recreation
Source of status or achievement
A way to learn about close relationships
Function for mate selection

Adulthood and romantic love
Also called passionate love or eros
Strong components of sexuality and infatuation
Complex intermingling of emotions
Often predominates early part of love relationship
Affectionate love or companionate love
Have deep, caring affection for person

Erikson's 


Generativity: taking care of next generation
Middle-aged adults develop in many ways
Stagnation
Self-absorption, develops when one senses s/he has done nothing for next generation

Developmental changes in self-esteem
Adulthood: older adults
Emotion-related goals increase
Health evaluation based on peer comparisons
May help maintain positive self-image
Low self-esteem linked to being widowed or institutionalized; experiencing physical decline/impairment; low religious commitment