Literature Supports Children’s Personality Development Essay -- Psycho

Personality development is the development of the organized pattern of behaviors and attitudes that makes a person distinctive (Laberge, 2006). Adults, especially parents and teachers, are principal components of these environments and therefore play a powerful role in helping or hindering children in their personality and cognitive development (Morrison, 2007, p. 99). According to Erikson (2007), children’s personalities and social skills grow and develop within the context of society and in response to society’s demands, expectations, values, and social institutions, such as families, schools, and other child care programs (pp. 98-99). Children personality does not occur over night. They learn and experience new things in life and how they relate to these experiences affect their personality. Erik Erickson (1902-1994), is a well-known German psychoanalyst that based his theory of psychosocial development on the premise that cognitive and social development occur hand in hand and cannot be separated (Morrison, 2007, p. 125). Erickson also strived to explain personality growth by describing how human beings respond to potential conflicts at specific periods in their lives (Giorgis and Glazer, 2009, p. 171). He described and explained his eight stages of psychological development, in which the first four of the stages relates to early childhood children. 1. Infancy: Birth-18 months old Basic Trust vs. Mistrust- Hope During the first stage, the first or second year of life, the major emphasis is on the whether the child develops trust. Children learn to trust or mistrust their environment and their caregivers. Trust develops when children’s needs are met consistently, predictable, and lovingly (Morrison, 2007, p. 126); therefor... ... as they grow. The little snail in this book had to learn that being different is not always good. Both books are good for parents and children to share a new adventure in life changing experiences, whether the baby is not the baby anymore, but a big brother or sister or if the young child is not happy about who they are until they see that who they want to be is not what they expect. Literature can provide young children adventures they may never experience in their life time. For those young children, who do experience adventures in their life, they need good age appropriate literature in their lives to show them different ways on how to deal, cope, or function in their life. A child’s personality can be supported and nurtured if they are given opportunities to explore and learn from their environment, whether the learning is exploring or reading a good book.