What self-perception can kindergarten children have? American researchers have just answered it by showing that self -esteem is as strong in a 5 -year -old child as in adulthood. Self -esteem is a complex psychological complex to apprehend that revives the positive or negative judgment that an individual can have of himself and tends to remain relatively stable throughout life.
Researchers from the University of Washington (United States) suggest that this important personality trait is put in place early in childhood, even before kindergarten, because, at 5 years old, most children already have self-esteem comparable in intensity to that of adults.
The majority of children have a good image of themselves
Until now, there has been only one test intended for adults: the Implicit Association Test (measurement of implicit social cognitions), which analyzes attitudes, personalities or stereotypes via the association with keywords like “me” and “pleasant” or “others” and “unpleasant” to assess self -esteem. Scientists have therefore adapted it to children thanks to a new tool: preschool involves Association Test. 234 5 -year -old American children had to respond to a series of associations using “me“ and “not me” flags to match another series of words from the positive (well, funny, kind) and the negative (nasty, bad, disgusting). Their results indicate that they were more readily associated with positive words. The team continued with tests evaluating the identity of the male/female gender. They discovered that children with high self -esteem and a strong conscience of their sexual identity showed preferences for individuals of the same sex as them.
Feel good about yourself, essential from an early age
“” “Some scientists consider that kindergarten children are too young to have developed a positive or negative perception of self. Our results indicate that feeling good or bad about your skin is fundamental“, Explains Andrew Meltzoff, co-author of this study.“It is a social state of mind brought by children within the school and not developed in class“.
“” “What are the aspects of parent-child interaction which make it possible to promote and maintain self-esteem at preschool ages? This is an essential question to which we hope to answer by studying even younger children“Analysis Andrew Metzoff. The researcher and his team now want to determine at what age is precisely this notion.
Source :
AFP/Relaxnews
Children’s Self -Esteem Already Established by Age 5 – Washington University press release
Implicit Measures for Preschool Children Confirmen Self -Esteem’s Role in Holden Walk Identity – Dario Cvencek, Anthony G. Greenwald, Andrew N. Meltzoff – Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Volume 62, January 2016, pages 50–57 (Accessible online abstract)