PSY Chapter 10
Dating and Romantic Relationships
- Entry into romantic attractions and affiliations at about 11 to 13 years of age (Interested in romance, developing crushes, dating in group setting) - Exploring romantic relationships at approximately 14 to 16 years of age (casual dating and group dating). - Consolidating dyadic romantic bonds at about 17 to 19 years of age (more serious romantic relationships, strong emotional bonds).
Anger Cry
A cry similar to the basic cry followed but with more excess air forced through the vocal cords (loud, harsh sound).
Social Smile
A smile in response to an external stimulus, which, early in development, typically is a face.
Reflexive Smile
A smile that does not occur in response to external stimuli. It happens during the month after birth, usually during sleep. (no external stimulus needed).
Pain Cry
A sudden, initial loud cry followed by breath holding, without (high intensity stimulus)
Slow-to-warm-up Child
A temperament style in which the child has low activity level, somewhat negative, low intensity of mood (15%).
Easy Child
A temperament style in which the child is generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines, adapts easily to new experiences (40%).
Difficult Child
A temperament style in which the child tends to reacts negatively/cries frequently, irregular daily routines, slow to accept change (10%).
Positive and Negative Emotions
Positive: enthusiasm, joy, love Negative: anxiety, anger, guilt, sadness
Social Referencing
Reading emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in specific situations.
Coping Suggestions for Children
Reassure children of their safety and security - This step may need to be taken numerous times. Allow children to retell events and be patient in listening to them. Encourage children to talk about any disturbing or confusing feelings - Tell them that these are normal feelings after a stressful event. Help children make sense of what happened - Children may misunderstand what took place. For example, young children "may blame themselves, believe things happened that did not happen, believe that terrorists are in the school, etc. Gently help children develop a realistic understanding of the event". Protect children from reexposure to frightening situations and reminders of the trauma - This strategy includes limiting conversations about the event in front of the children and limiting exposure to media coverage of the event.
Goodness of Fit
Refers to the match between a child's temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with. For example, a very active child who lives in a small apartment may have greater difficulty getting out all of his energy than a similar child who lives on a farm. This can make things harder for the child and the parent. Similarly, a very active child in a very traditional and more restrictive school setting might run into trouble abiding by the rules of conduct. For example, if a very active parent has a child who does not enjoy physical activity, this can create potential conflict in the home if it feels to the parent that he is begging his child just to go for a bike ride.
Examples of Emotional Competence
- Having awareness of one's emotional states (Being able to differentiate whether one feels sad or anxious) - Detecting others' emotions (Understanding when another person is sad rather than afraid) - Using the vocabulary of emotion terms in socially and culturally appropriate ways (Appropriately describing a social situation in one's culture when a person is feeling distressed) - Having empathetic and sympathetic sensitivity to others' emotional experiences (Being sensitive to other people when they are feeling distressed) - Recognizing that inner emotional states do not have to correspond to outer expressions (Recognizing that one can feel very angry yet manage one's emotional expression so that it appears more neutral) - Adaptively coping with negative emotions by using self-regulatory strategies that reduce the intensity or duration of such emotional states (Reducing anger by walking away from an aversive situation and engaging in an activity that takes one's mind off the aversive situation) - Having awareness that the expression of emotions plays a major role in relationships (Knowing that expressing anger toward a friend on a regular basis is likely to harm the friendship) - Viewing oneself overall as feeling the way wants to feel (Striving to cope effectively with the stress in one's life and feeling that one is successful doing this)
Development of Emotions: Middle and Late Childhood
- Improved emotional understanding - Marked improvement in ability to suppress or conceal negative emotional reactions - The use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings - An increased tendency to take into fuller account the events leading to an emotional reaction - Development of capacity for genuine empathy
Benefits of Secure Attachment
- Individuals who are securely attached have a well-integrated sense of self-acceptance, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. - They have the ability to control their emotions, are optimistic, and are resilient. - Facing stress and adversity, they activate cognitive representations of security, are mindful of what is happening around them, and mobilize effective coping strategies - More positive romantic relationships
Emotion Regulation and Coping: Infancy
- Infant gradually develops emotional inhibition, minimize, the intensity and duration of emotional reactions. - Soothing behaviors/self-distraction (thumbs in mouth to soothe themselves, depend on caregivers to help them soothe their emotions). - Language Development - Context (infants are often affected by fatigue, hunger, time of day, the people who are around them, and where they are. Infants must learn to adapt to different contexts that require emotion regulation).
Caregiving Styles
- Maternal sensitivity & secure attachment (U.S. & Colombia) - Avoidant babies unavailable & rejecting caregivers - Resistant babies inconsistent caregivers - Disorganized babies neglectful/abusive caregivers
Attachment: Late Adulthood
- Older adults have fewer attachment relationships than younger adults - With increasing age, attachment anxiety decreases - In late adulthood, attachment security is associated with psychological and physical well-being - Insecure attachment is linked to more perceived negative caregiver burden in caring for patients with Alzheimer disease (i.e., the caregiver feels a greater sense of burden; study done on parent-child dyads)
Three types of temperaments
1. Easy child 2. Difficult Child 3. Slow-to-warm-up child
Strange Situations
Ainsworth observational measure of infant attachment to a caregiver that requires the infant to move through a series of introductions, separations, and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order.
Stress and Gender
Fight or Flight - when men experience stress, they are more likely to become aggressive, withdraw from social contact, or drink alcohol. Tend and befriend - when women experience stress, they are more likely to seek social alliances with others, especially female friends.
Affectionate Love
Also called compassionate love, this type of love occurs when individuals desire to have another person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person. As love matures, passion gives way to to affection. Communication and sexual intimacy were more important in early adulthood, and feelings of emotional security and loyalty were more important in later-life love relationships At all ages, emotional security was ranked as the most important factor in love, followed by respect, communication, help and play behaviors, sexual intimacy, and loyalty.
Romantic Love
Also called passionate love, or eros, this type of love has strong components of sexuality and infatuation, and it often predominates in the early part of a love relationship. Romantic love includes a complex intermingling of emotions—fear, anger, sexual desire, joy, and jealousy.
Temperament: Biological Influences
Amygdala, HPA axis, cortisol, heart rate, frontal lobe. Heredity has moderate influence (twin studies.
Locomotion
An infants push for independence is likely paced by the development of locomotion skills. Once infants have the ability to move in goal oriented pursuits, the reward from these pursuits leads to further efforts to explore and develop skills.
Phase 2: From 2 to 7 months
Attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people.
Avoidant attachment style
Avoidant individuals are hesitant about getting involved in romantic relationships and once in a relationship tend to distance themselves from their partner.
Emotions are influenced by?
Biology: Biological evolution has endowed human beings with the capacity to be emotional. Environment/Culture: Cultural embeddedness and relationships with others provide diversity in emotional experiences (i.e. throughout childhood, East Asian parents encourage their children to show emotional reserve rather than to be emotionally expressive).
Coping with Stress: Middle and Late Childhood
By 10 years of age, most children are able to use these cognitive strategies to cope with stress (but depends on family context). Disasters can harm children's development and produce adjustment problems. Among the outcomes for children who experience disasters are acute stress reactions, depression, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder
Phase 4: From 24 months on
Children become aware of others' feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions.
Insecure Resistant Children
Children who might cling to the caregiver, then resist her by fighting against the closeness, perhaps by kicking or pushing away.
Insecure Avoidant Children
Children who show insecurity by avoiding the mother
Insecure Disorganized Children
Children who show insecurity by being disorganized and disoriented.
Securely Attached Children
Children who use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment. (Linked with positive emotional health, high self esteem, self confidence, and socially competent interactions with others through adolescence).
Kagan's Behavioral Inhibition
Classifies temperament by focuses on differences between shy, subdued, timid children and sociable, extraverted, bold children. States a broad temperament category called inhibition to the unfamiliar. Inhibition to the unfamiliar - initial avoidance, distress, subdued affect (7-9 months).
Commitment (Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love)
Commitment is our cognitive appraisal of the relationship and our intent to maintain the relationship even in the face of problems.
Emotions: Infancy
Communication with Others: through emotions, infants communicate important aspects of their lives such as joy, sadness, interest, and fear Behavioral Organization: In terms of behavioral organization, emotions influence children's social responses and adaptive behavior as they interact with others in their world.
Attachment: Adolescence
Connectedness to parents (positive peer relationships & emotional regulation).
Emotional Regulation
Consists of effectively managing arousal to adapt to circumstances and to reach a goal In infancy and early childhood, regulation of emotions shifts from external sources to self initiated, internal regulation.
Infants' Emotional Communication
Crying and Smiling
Temperament: Developmental Contexts
Cultural variations (e.g., response to behavioral inhibition). Encourage or discourage persistence.
Gender and Temperament
Differential parental reactions as a result of child's gender.
Developmental Connections in Temperament
Easy temperament at early age were likely to be well adjusted as adults. Boys with difficult temperament continue formal education Girls with difficult temperament marital conflicts
Parents can help children regulate emotion by Emotion-Coaching or Emotion-Dismissing
Emotion-Coaching: Parents monitor their children's emotions, view their children's negative emotion as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them how to deal effectively with emotions. Emotion-Dismissing: Parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions. Less rejecting manner, use more scaffolding and praise.
Emotions
Feeling, or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an interaction that is important to him or her, especially to his or her well-being.
Emotional Competence
Focuses on the adaptive nature of emotional experience; involves developing a number of skills in social contexts.
Primary Emotions
Emotions that are presented in humans and other animals, emerge early in life, and are culturally universal (i.e. joy, anger, sadness, fear, disgust).
Self-Conscious Emotions
Emotions that require consciousness and a sense of "me" They include empathy, jealousy, embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt. Most appear first at some point after 18 months of age when a sense of self becomes consolidated in toddlers.
Development of Emotions: Early Childhood
Increased understanding of emotions. They understand certain situations are likely to evoke particular emotions, facial expressions indicate specific emotions, emotions affect behavior, and emotions can be used to influence others' emotions. 2-4 years of age: children considerably increase the number of terms they use to describe emotions. During this time, they are also learning about the causes and consequences of feelings. 4-5 years of age: children show an increased ability to reflect on emotions.
Temperament
Individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding.
Infants' Social Sophistication and Insight
Infants are socially sophisticated and insightful.
Social Orientation
Infants are socioemotional beings who show a strong interest in the social world and are motivated to orient to it and understand it. Face to face play often begins to characterize caregiver-infant interaction (2-3 months).
Emotional Expression and Social Relationships
Infants communicate emotions allows coordinated interactions with their caregivers and the beginning of an emotional bond between them. Parents change their emotional expressions in response to their infants' emotional expressions and vice versa. These interactions are reciprocal.
Phase 1: From birth to 2 months
Infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures. Strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling or crying from the infant.
Intention, Goal-Directed Behavior, and Cooperation
Infants perceive people as engaging in intentional and goal directed behavior. Joint attention- when caregiver and infant focus on the same object.
Intimacy (Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love)
Intimacy is the emotional feelings of warmth, closeness, and sharing in a relationship.
Ineffective emotion regulation
Linked with a lower level of executive function, difficulty succeeding in school, a lower level of moral development (weak conscience and lack of internalization of rules, for example), failure to adequately cope with stress, and difficulty in peer relations.
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Laura Carstensen)
Older adults become more selective about their activities and social relationships in order to maintain social and emotional well-being. According to this theory, older adults systematically condense their social networks so that available social partners satisfy their emotional needs.
Fear: Infancy
One of first to appear (6 months of age) Stranger anxiety (6 - 9 months) Separation protest (7 - 8 months, peak at 15 months)
Emotion-Coaching
Parents monitor their children's emotions, view their children's negative emotion as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them how to deal effectively with emotions.
Emotion-Dismissing
Parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions. Less rejecting manner, use more scaffolding and praise.
Passion (Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love)
Passion is physical and sexual attraction to another.
John Bowlby: Responsiveness of Caregiver/Attachment
Phase 1 (From birth to 2 months) - Infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures. Strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling or crying from the infant. Phase 2 (From 2 to 7 months) - Attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people. Phase 3 (From 7 to 24 months) - Specific attachments develop. With increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers such as the mother or father. Phase 4 (From 24 months on) - Children become aware of others' feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions.
Basic Cry
Rhythmic pattern usually consisting of a cry, a brief silence, a shorter inspiratory whistle that is higher pitched than the main cry, and then a brief rest before the next cry (hunger)
Secure attachment style
Securely attached adults have positive views of relationships, find it easy to get close to others, and are not overly concerned with, or stressed out about, their romantic relationships. These adults tend to enjoy sexuality in the context of a committed relationship and are less likely than others to have one-night stands.
Phase 3: From 7 to 24 months
Specific attachments develop. With increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers such as the mother or father.
Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love
States that love includes three components or dimensions - Passion, Intimacy, Commitment - A relationship marked by intimacy and commitment but low or lacking in passion is called affectionate love, a pattern often found among couples who have been married for many years. - If passion and commitment are present but intimacy is not, Sternberg calls the relationship fatuous love, as when one person worships another from a distance. - If passion, intimacy, and commitment are all strong, the result is consummate love, the fullest type of love
Regulating Emotions: Early Childhood
Understanding others' emotions (i.e., component of social competence) linked to emotion regulation.
Changes in the aging brain
There is a decreased physiological arousal of emotion due to aging in the amygdala and autonomic nervous system. There is a reduction in subcortical activation and also to increased activation in the prefrontal cortex.
Development of Emotions: Adulthood
There is adaptive integration of emotional experience into satisfying daily life and successful relationships with others. Greater positive/lesser negative emotions in older age (mellowed out)
Anxious attachment style
These individuals demand closeness, are less trusting, and are more emotional, jealous, and possessive.
Rothbart & Bates' Classification
Three broad dimensions: Extraversion/Urgency - approach, pleasure, smiling, laughter (unhabituated children) Negative Affectivity - fear, frustration, sadness, and discomfort (these children are easily distressed, may fret and cry often). Effortful Control - attentional focusing and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, and low-intensity pleasure (self-regulation)
