Self and Identity

Dr Vicky Gunn

Learning and Teaching Centre

• What is the ‘self’?• How is it formed, does it emerge?• What is ‘identity’?• How is it formed?• How does the self inform identity?• How does identity influence the ‘self’?

Historical context

James (1890)

Subjective ‘I’ & objective ‘me’

Freud (1930s) Jung (1930s,40s)

Ego, Id, Super-ego self and shadow

(psycho-sexual dev.)

Melanie Kline (1940s, 50s)

Fragmented self, reintegrated

Erikson (Late 1950s-70s)

Self & identity in the life-cycle (psycho-social dev)

• What are the key points?

• What are the key criticisms?

• Once you have read the piece – discuss key points in your groups – and then summarize to whole class.

Erikson’s Life Cycle as a context

Oral sensory Birth to12-18 months

Trust vs mistrust

Feeding

Muscular-anal 18 mths-3 yrs Autonomy vs Shame, doubt

Toilet training

Locomotor 3-6 yrs Initiative vs guilt

Independence

Latency 6-12 yrs Industry vs inferiority

School

Adolescence 12-19 yrs Identity vs role confusion

Peer relationships

Young adult 19 – 40 yrs Intimacy vs isolation

Love relationships

Stage Age Conflict Signif. event

Self and the young child

• Stipek, Gralinski & Kopp (1990) moved studies of the self-concept in toddlers from a uni-dimensional approach (research into subjective ‘I’ or objective ‘me’ separately) to a multi-dimensional, sequential one.

Research suggests following sequence

Perceptual self-recognition (15 months) Cognitive self-representation (18 months)

Linguistic self-description (23-24 months)Motivational self-assertion

(29-46 months)

Emotional self-evaluation (30 months)

Social self-regulation

15 months 2 years 2 ½ years 3 years

Self, identity, and the adolescent

Development of gender identity:

beware of confusing ‘role’ with ‘identity’, they may well be interrelated and interdependent but they aren’t the same thing;

beware of using sex and sexuality as synonymous with gender;

beware of assuming that transexuality is the same as transgendered identity.

http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/year1/inttopic/development_nature.gif

http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/Photos/SomeHot.JPG

J. Money & A. Ehrhardt (1972) Man and woman, boy and girl. Baltimore.

• Sex – refers to physical attributes and is anatomically and physiologically predetermined;

• Gender – psychological transformation of the self, the internal conviction that one is either male or female (gender identity) and the behavioural expressions of that conviction.

• What does such a definition mean for the work of psychologists?

• Are sex and gender truly separable?

“gender identity can be defined as the sameness, unity, and persistence of one’s individuality as male, female, or ambivalent…..

Gender identity is the private experience of gender role, and gender role is the public experience of gender identity.”

Money & Ehrhardt (1972), p.4

Gender identity development: basics (1)

1. Gender awareness is an important part of the psychosocial development of a child;

2. Development typically involves congruence between gender identity (inner sense) and gender role (outward expressions);

Gender identity development: basics (2)

gendered play develops

gender stereotypes harden

gender constancy begins to dev.Infant recognises

male/female faces

Birth 9 months 1yr 2yrs 3yrs 4yrs Adult

Approaches to development of gender

• Freudian psychodynamicsFast, I. (1993) Aspects of early gender development: A psychodynamic approach. In The Psychology of Gender, ed. A.E.Beall & R.J. Sternberg. New York, 173-193.

• Social learningJacklin, C.N. & C. Reynolds (1993) Gender and childhood socialization. In The Psychology of Gender (as above), 197-214

• Cognitive development

Kessler, S.J. & W. McKenna (1978) Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach. New York.

• Systems approach

Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000) Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. New York

Freudian perspective• Child becomes aware of own

genitals, this awareness leads to erotic fantasies;

• This in turn leads to identification with a suitable adult and the development of appropriate gender role.

Is this a bit one-sided?

Social learning

• Main assumption – adult awareness of the child’s genitals leads to differential reinforcement;

• This leads adults to offer gender appropriate models which the child then internalizes.

Does a child have any ‘agency’ in the process of

gender identity construction?

Cognitive development

• Basic assumption: same as social learning in terms of adult perception of child’s genitals as critical.

• Person other than the child labels child’s gender and gives them a gender identity.

• This is followed by child acquiring appropriate gender role.

Systems approach

• Gender is represented within both social institutions and within individuals.

• Gender identity is effectively constructed within a self-perpetuating feed-back loop from institution to individual.

How do social context and daily practice of both adults and

children generate meaning?

• What do you think might be the implications of these different assumptions to gender identity for psychologists?

(do we need to redefine notion of psychopathology with respect to ‘gender identity disorder’? For example)