Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves.

How exactly does this self-image form and change

over time? This image develops in a number of ways but is particularly influenced by our interactions
with important people in our lives.

Defining Self-Concept
Self-concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and
unique characteristics. It is essentially a mental picture of who you are as a person. For example,
beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept.

Self-concept tends to be more malleable when people are younger and still going through the
process of self-discovery and identity formation. As people age, self-perceptions become much
more detailed and organized as people form a better idea of who they are and what is important
to them.

Part of what is developing in children as they grow is the fundamental cognitive part of the self,
known as the self-concept. The self-concept is a knowledge representation that contains
knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics,
abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals.
Throughout childhood and adolescence, the self-concept becomes more abstract and complex
and is organized into a variety of different cognitive aspects of the self, known as self-schemas.
Children have self-schemas about their progress in school, their appearance, their skills at
sports and other activities, and many other aspects. In turn, these self-schemas direct and
inform their processing of self-relevant information (Harter, 1999), much as we saw schemas in
general affecting our social cognition.

These self-schemas can be studied using the methods that we would use to study any other
schema. One approach is to use neuroimaging to directly study the self in the brain. As you can
see in Figure 3.3, neuroimaging studies have shown that information about the self is stored in
the prefrontal cortex, the same place that other information about people is stored (Barrios et
al., 2008).
Sociability Self-Concept

Global self-concept refers to the overall extent to which one values oneself; however, individuals may
also hold more differentiated beliefs in specific domains of functioning (Harter, 1996). For example, a
student’s self-evaluation in the academic domain may differ from a self-evaluation in the social domain.
Whereas global conceptions of self remain fairly stable (Shavelson & Bolus, 1982), domain-specific
conceptions can be influenced by contextual experiences and by significant others. Prior research has
noted young adolescents’ selfconcepts in the areas of social skills are particularly fluid and receptive to
both positive and negative influences (Rice & Dolgin, 2005). Indeed, young adolescents are particularly
vulnerable to changes in self-concept (Baldwin & Hoffmann, 2002); thus, sociability self-concept is an
important construct that should be addressed. In general, sociability is a preference for being in the
company of others versus being alone (Cheek & Buss, 1981) and is based on the extent to which a
student prefers to have many social relationships (Mounts, Valentine, Anderson, & Boswell, 2009). Even
within the context of adolescence, when peer relations become increasingly important, sociability self-
concept appears to vary across individuals (Bokhorst, Sumter, & Westenberg, 2010). In this study,
sociability self-concept refers to a student’s social predisposition. Thus, a student low in sociability self-
concept would prefer more social distance, while a student high in sociability selfconcept would tend to
seek and encourage many close social interactions.
The Core of Social Learning and Emotional Wellbeing
Key aspects of sociability are derived from skills that help children understand
and express feelings and behaviors in ways that facilitate positive
relationships. These aspects include self-regulation, active
listening, cooperation, and effective communication. While we know that some
children are more naturally extroverted or introverted than others, all children
can learn to work together to build the social-emotional learning skills
necessary for human thriving.

We don’t have to look far for research that shows the benefits of sociability
and its related social-emotional learning skills. These skills are developed in
children through relational experiences both inside and outside of the
classroom. In modern times, these “softer” skills have been most recognized
and valued by social scientists whose research has linked them to positive
development and wellbeing. But recently, even economists have taken note.
In a paper published by Columbia University in 2015, The Economic Value of
Social-Emotional Learning (PDF), evidence suggests that classroom efforts to
improve sociability are well worth the costs. In an analysis of six different
school-based SEL programs, all were found to have measurable benefits,
such as reduced aggression and improved impulse control, from between three
to thirteen times their costs to schools.

Sociability is at the core of social learning and emotional well-being. The

cooperative ability to engage with others is critical to successful learning
communities. Whether that community is a classroom or after-school activity,
sociability flourishes when kids feel connected, respected, cared about, and
when they can communicate their feelings of connectivity with others.
Sociability not only gives children an advantage in school, today’s business
leaders see it as key to leading, managing, and innovating in a world of
increasing complexity.

3 Strategies that Foster Sociability and Social-

Emotional Learning

1. Teach social skills early.

One of the most effective strategies to teach social skills in elementary school
is to create a common “social language” that becomes part of the classroom
culture. This language contains familiar, understandable ways to
communicate with others, including how to listen, show gratitude, or apologize.
If your school hasn’t yet implemented a social skills training program, you can
gain insights and great materials from a number of successful programs,
including The Toolbox Project, Project Happiness, and Responsive
Classroom.

2. Create shared social norms.

Sociability is increased when students learn to cooperate with each other. The
problem in many schools and classrooms is that cooperation is undervalued.
Instead, many kids feel a need to compete for power, status, or achievement.
Instead of thinking about how to create order in classrooms, it is more
important to think about how to create a collaborative learning community.
This means we need to shift from more traditional leadership approaches that
force cooperation through rules and compliance to ways we can give kids a
voice in creating their own shared social norms.

When students are actively engaged in setting social norms, research shows
that cooperative behavior and learning increases. As a result of their
involvement, students come to own the belief that cooperation is the right way
to behave. It is also an experiential lesson in democracy and social
responsibility.

3. Engage students in cooperative learning.

When there is joint ownership of an outcome, children learn to work together.

Regardless of the subject matter, research shows that students who work
together in small groups learn better and retain knowledge longer than when
the same content is presented in other formats. In fact, children know this
intuitively. When Heather Wolpert-Gawron asked her eighth grade students
what engaged them most, it was no surprise that “working with their peers”
was first on their list.

Cooperative learning involves working together with peers toward a common

goal. Often, it involves collectively identifying and studying real-world
problems, interacting with classmates, and assessing each other’s
contributions such as in project-based learning.
The best environment for cooperative learning is one where students: (a)
must cooperate to complete the assignment; (b) are each held accountable for
the final outcome (they sink or swim together); (c) help each other learn; (d)
use interpersonal and small group skills like decision-making, conflict
resolution, and effective communication; and (e) reflect on how well their team
has functioned and how it can improve. When children learn in these kinds of
supportive, relational groups, they not only learn better, they develop
sociability and social skills that strengthen their relationships and prepare
them for successful careers.

Altruism: Development of the Prosocial Self

Altruism begins in infancy.

Developmental trends in altruism

Prosocial conduct becomes more and more common from the early elementary school
years onward.

No apparent differences between boys and girls.

Empathy: An important affective contributor to altruism

Socialization of empathy

Age trends in the empathy-altruism relationship

The felt-responsibility hypothesis

Encouraging Empathetic Reactions

1. Foster perspective-taking and empathy
2. Model empathy and communicate that empathy is valued
3. Expect empathetic behavior and reinforce it
4. Help children deal with other people
5. Explain positive consequences of empathy
Cultural and Social Influences on Altruism

Cultural influences

Western, individualistic nations have an emphasis on competition and on individual

rather than group goals.

Collectivist societies and subcultures are taught to suppress individualism and to

cooperate with others for the greater good of the group.

Prosocial behaviors can be positively reinforced.

Practicing and preaching altruism is important for children to observe.

Who raises altruistic children?

Parents who had warm, affectionate parents who were highly concerned with the
welfare of others

Eisenberg’s summary of the development of altruism

1. Capacity for prosocial responding evident by age two.

2. The increase with age in capacity for prosocial responding reflects:
a. A gradual internalization of moral principles
b. Increasing understanding of the perspectives of other people (particularly those not
known well)
3. Children within an age differ in how prosocial/altruistic they are. These differences reflect:
a. The outcomes of the socialization experience (e.g., the kinds of behavior modeled and
reinforced, amount of exposure to explanations fostering perspective taking and
concern for others, etc.)
4. Altruism/prosocial behavior varies with context and with the child’s interpretation of the
situation (e.g. emergency or everyday need.)
5. Motivational factors at that moment, in that context (e.g., cost versus benefits of altruistic
behavior influence expression of prosocial behavior.)

Promoting Altruism

1. Cultural emphasis on altruism and endorsement of a norm of social responsibility.

 2. Verbal (but not tangible) reinforcement of altruistic behavior.
3. Structure activities to encourage cooperation and sharing.
4. Model (as well as preach) altruism.
5. Discipline harmdoing with nonpunitive, affective explanations.
6. Encourage harmdoer to comfort or help victim.
7. Provide explanations when disciplining that encourage role taking.
8. Encourage children to think of themselves as helpful or nice.

Children who are assigned responsibilities, such as caring for younger siblings, tend to be more altruistic.

Altruism can be increased by direct material reinforcement, or by verbal reinforcement if administered

by a warm and charitable person the child likes and respects.

Children who are encouraged to play cooperative games with group goals may become more
cooperative, and also more likely to engage in other altruistic behaviors such as sharing.

Parents who use "altruistic exhortations" and who "practice what they preach" tend to produce
altruistic children.

Persuading a child to think of himself or herself as generous, helpful, kind, nice, and so on, can increase
altruism.

Empathy training can increase altruism and altruistic behaviors even for very young children. Empathy
training involves encouraging the child to role take and to experience the other person's distress.

What Is Morality?

A set of principles or ideals that help the individual to distinguish right from wrong, to act
on this distinction, and to feel pride for virtuous conduct and guilt for conduct that violates
his or her standards

Affective component

Cognitive component

Behavioral component
Social Learning and Morality

Moral conduct and moral character are not consistent.

Learning to resist temptation

Reinforcement of acceptable behaviors

The role of punishment in establishing moral prohibitions

Early research indicates punishment is more effective if accompanied by a cognitive

rationale.

Prosocial behaviours are voluntary acts intended to benefit others.1 Prosocial acts
emerge early in life, soon after babies learn to crawl,2 and increase in complexity
across the lifespan, with the emergence of paradoxically prosocial acts such as
prosocial lying in middle childhood, and acts of long-term commitment in
adolescence and adulthood.

The appearance of prosocial behaviour in infancy has led to recent claims that
babies are born with a predisposition for morality and altruism.3,4 A lifespan
perspective on prosocial development both enriches and challenges this view.
Throughout life, prosocial behaviour serves many functions, from simple
enjoyment, to relationship building, to reputation enhancement, to explicitly moral
aspirations.5