6.13: Psychosocial Development

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Now let's turn our attention to concerns related to self‐concept, the world of friendships, and family life.

Self‐Concept

Children in middle childhood have a more realistic sense of self than do those in early childhood. That exaggerated sense of self as "biggest" or "smartest" or "tallest" gives way to an understanding of one's strengths and weaknesses. This can be attributed to greater experience in comparing one's own performance with that of others and to greater cognitive flexibility. A child's self‐concept can be influenced by peers and family and the messages they send about a child's worth. Contemporary children also receive messages from the media about how they should look and act. Movies, music videos, the internet, and advertisers can all create cultural images of what is desirable or undesirable and this too can influence a child's self‐concept.

The Tweens

Advertisers have created a new consumer group known as the "tweens". This group spends an estimated $51 billion dollars annually and has another $170 billion a year spent on them (Irvine, 2006). Tweens range in age from 8 to 12 years and are characterized as sophisticated, early‐maturing teenagers concerned primarily with their appearance, weight, and sexuality ("The 'Tween Market'" Media Awareness Network, 2007). Tweens are primarily targeted as consumers of media, clothing, and products that make them look "cool" and feel independent. For example, attitude t‐shirts have been very popular among female tweens for the past several years and the slogans on these shirts reflect what might be considered "cool". Here are a few found in a national retail clothing store that focuses on fashion for tweens.

Your boyfriend gave me this shirt.

I live to shop.

It's all about me.

You wish.

In general, toys are not marketed to this age group as they once were. However, some toys designed to appeal to slightly younger children tend to sexualize children (Harmanci, 2006). For an example of such sexy children's dolls, go to www.bratz.com. Jean Kilbourne, a noted expert on the impact of advertising on self‐image, responds to the promotion of such products as examples of how "marketers are hijacking our children's sexuality" at the expense of childhood (Squire, 2006).