A five- or six-year-old child’s sense of self-esteem is developed in the same way as an adult’s, recent research shows. Children at this age are able to independently evaluate their skills, although they cannot always answer the question of how they feel about themselves.
A sense of self-esteem is formed in early childhood and remains unchanged throughout life, according to one of the researchers on this issue, psychologist Andrew Meltzoff (Andrew Meltzoff). “Some colleagues believe that at preschool age children cannot yet have positive and negative self-images. However, our work shows that self-attitude is fundamental. This is the social attitude that children bring with them into life, it is not formed in the process of education or socialization.
Pass the tests
- How are you with self-esteem?
- Self-love: what is your level of self-esteem?
Until now, it has been quite difficult to test for self-esteem in children. Study author Dario Cvencek explains: “Preschoolers are perfectly comfortable talking about their strengths as long as it’s something very specific like ‘I can run fast’ or ‘I’m good at drawing. But any student will face a problem if he has to answer the question of whether he is good or bad.
Psychologists have developed a special test to find out how children feel about themselves. They were not asked directly, but were looking for associations in their speech. The experiment involved about two hundred five-year-old children.
Dario Cvenchek explains: “Our work provides the first insight into how preschoolers’ sense of self works. We have found that around the age of five, self-esteem is formed so clearly that we can measure it using certain methods. Self-esteem, how children feel about themselves, plays a major role in how they will position themselves in society in the future. And our research highlights the importance of the first five years in shaping that sense of self.”
Read more:
- Detectives boost self esteem
“The main question is to find out what influences the formation of a sense of self-esteem in children,” adds Andrew Meltsov. – How does this affect what happens within the family? We hope to be able to find out very soon by conducting research with even younger children.”
See more at издания Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
What is selfishness?
“Egoism is focusing solely on one’s desires and interests, neglecting the interests of other people,” writes Marina Paley in the book “ABC Truths” (Clever, 2016). – Meanwhile, there is the concept of “reasonable egoism.” It is already in animals. “Already” is even embarrassing to write. Because the instincts of animals – and all of them are aimed at preserving their lives, ensuring their kind – are much wiser than the so-called conscious behavior of people. The main rule: be far-sighted. Don’t harm yourself. And to others: we are all connected to each other. Don’t flood your neighbor! Don’t disturb him at night! Don’t throw trash in the hallway! Because even if the “neighbor” (that is, any “other”) will be inactive, your own stupidity – leaks, noise, garbage – will bring down step by step your home, your nerves, your life. And unreasonable egoism is everything that does not fit into the concept of “reasonable”. As the English philosopher Francis Bacon said: “To set fire to a house in order to fry one’s eggs is just in the nature of an egoist.”