Personality development during childhood

The concept of personality development It can be described as the vital process through which every individual passes where some bases and guidelines of character and behavior determined from which the traits, values ​​and forms of functioning organized and stable in the time of said person.

These mechanisms become a reference for the person in their interactions with the context (environmental or physical and interpersonal or social) in which he usually operates.

Personality factors

Thus, development is understood as the result of the bidirectional confluence between more biological or internal factors (Genetic heritage) and other contextual or external factors (environment). The former includes temperament, which is defined by an intrinsic and innate emotional and motivational disposition that mobilizes the subject for primary interests.

On the other hand, environmental factors can be classified into common influences (norms, values, social and cultural beliefs externally originated) and personal influences (experiences and life circumstances particular to each subject, such as, for example, a disease).

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 own. 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 attachment or bond emotional / affective established between the child and one or more reference figures (usually subjects belonging to the family system, although it may not be so in all cases). Attachment is made up of three elements: attachment behaviors, mental representations and feelings generated from the previous two.

The main function of the elaboration of the affective bond is both facilitate adaptive development in the emotional area which allows the subject to establish future functional and adequate affective interpersonal relationships, such as ensure balanced overall personality development. Without this support, children are not capable of establishing the emotional ties necessary to develop all their skills.

At the same time, attachment creates a context in which children can learn and explore their environment feeling safe, which is essential to discover their own capacities. 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 in which they normally live.

The process of attachment formation

In the process of attachment formation can be distinguished several phases depending on the distinction that the baby is learning to make about the people in his social environment. Thus, in the first two months, her inability to discriminate between attachment figures and other people motivates her to she has a good predisposition for social interaction in general, regardless of who she is try.

After 6 months, this differentiation becomes more pronounced, so that the boy or girl shows her preference for the closest figures of affective proximity. At 8 months, the "eighth month anguish" phase takes place. in which the baby shows her rejection of strangers or people who are not part of her closest attachment circle.

With the consolidation of the symbolic function, at 2 years of age, one is able to internalize the permanence of the object, even though this is not physically visible, which enables the consolidation of the affective bond. Subsequently, the child begins a stage characterized by a constant search for adult approval and affection, experiencing some emotional dependence and again showing a good predisposition for general social interaction.

Finally, between the ages of 4 and 6, the child's interest is focused on her relationship with her peers, which strengthens the beginning of the socialization stage in environments other than the family one, such as the school.

The conquest of autonomy

The acquisition of the capacity for autonomy takes place in the early childhood years of the child, once the process of selfconcept (as differentiation from other subjects) and the affective dependence of the adult begins to be overcome to orient yourself to experiencing the world independently.

By discovering that they can interact by following the first notions of internalized norms, values ​​and beliefs (not always coinciding with that of adults understood as a learning model) from life experiences early their motivation is oriented to govern their behavior based on 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 can lead to tantrums or other behavioral alterations as a sign of the intention to preserve his independence.

This is a delicate process, since added to the fact that the little one can be very difficult to handle, it requires that the adult sets strict and clear educational guidelines on the path of development suitable for drink. This is one of the fundamental ideas to highlight in relation to the development of the autonomy of the child.

It is important to remember that there must be that balance between the increasing freedom of action that the child is adopting and the permanent role of guide and orientation to be played by the attachment and educational figures that the former has.

Another fundamental point lies in the relevance of the environmental context in which the individual, which shapes and considerably influences the process of acquiring autonomy indicated. For this reason, each individual possesses his peculiarities and no universal pattern can be established that explains this process in a general way. Like most aspects related to the development of the person, it is characterized by its individuality and by qualitative differentiation with respect to other subjects.

Children's self-awareness, self-esteem and self-worth

The beginning of the acquisition of self-awareness or self-concept is intrinsically related to the achievement of the phase of cognitive development of permanence of the object. The child internalizes that he remains as the same being in different moments or situations thanks to the proliferation and linguistic development that occurs from the second year of life. From that moment on, the subject begins to see himself as being different from other individuals. and recognize one's own ideas, values, beliefs, feelings, interests, motivations. In other words, he begins to relate the environment in which he is situated with his 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 despite the fact that the aspects that are inherent to your person (personality) it is possible that some cognitive and / or emotional processes occur in a unconscious.

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 assessment of it, which makes it more or less positive. depending on the expectations and preferences of the child.

The role of self-esteem in boys and girls

With the appearance of the self-concept, its evaluative component, the self-esteem. Self-esteem is a phenomenon that is closely linked to the achievement of balanced and adaptive psychological development. Therefore, if the evaluation that the individual makes about his own value as a human being in interaction with the more cognitive aspects and qualities related to self-concept is positive, this fact will act as a protective factor in the future in the prevention of intense emotional disturbances, difficulties on a psychological level and, to a greater extent, problems in social interaction with other people.

It is very relevant 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) to consolidate an adaptive and adequate psychic and emotional development or balanced).

Another fundamental aspect is the role that external evaluations play on the level of self-esteem that each subject presents. A) Yes, the image that others have of oneself and the assessment they make of their skills or behaviors They significantly influence the child's perception of himself.

From the third or fourth year, the adult's search for approval would be related to this issue, since this motivation it is done with the ultimate purpose of establishing an acceptable level of self-esteem. As mentioned above, conflicts may arise at this stage, at the level of oppositional behaviors of the child in the face of educational figures and other adults, derived from the contrast between the protection of the adult and the search for autonomy of the small. Therefore, a fundamental aspect to take into account is the educational style that parents exercise on the child.

An educational style characterized by a balanced combination of control / discipline / authority and affection / understanding seems promote a high level of self-esteem and, in addition, a lower likelihood of tantrums and behavior negativist. In this way, it is essential that educators understand the importance of the progressive increase of autonomy on the part of the child and that as their maturation as a human being takes place, the exhaustive control of all those decisions related to the child should be gradually diminished.

Are personality, character, and temperament equivalent?

Although these three terms have been used in an undifferentiated way, the truth is that they are not conceptual equivalents. The definition of personality as a disposition or set of stable and permanent traits that guide both behavior, such as reasoning and emotional expression in a generic way, would encompass both the concept of temperament and that of character.

That is both temperament and character are elements that form 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 origin, more primitive. It's a phenomenon considerably stable over time and is subject to a lesser extent to ethnic or cultural interference. Rather, character, of a more cognitive and intentional nature, derives from environmental and cultural influence and is the product of external life experiences.

Bibliographic references:

• Irwin G. Sarason, Abnormal Psychology, Misfit Behavior Problem, Seventh Edition.

• Neil R Carbon, Physiological Psychology, Mexico publisher third edition.

• Galileo Ortega, J.L. and Fernandez de Haro, E (2003); Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education (vol2). Malaga. Ed: Cistern.

• Delval, Juan (1996). Human development. Siglo Veintiuno de España Editores, S.A.