Updraft:

Research Essay 

Bethany Bolsen 

English 102 

April 30, 2018 

Arizona Western College 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child psychology is the study of how children think, act, and react, as well as the factors that influence their way of thinking and their personality in general.  

Not only do we as humans have biological needs that translate into instincts needed for our survival, but we also have psychological needs that induce additional instincts, such as the need to feel safe and secure. Children have five main psychological needs, namely, the need for "love and belonging, power, fun, and freedom (Buck, pp.1)." The existence of these needs and the meeting of them drives kids' responses to and interactions with the world around them. Self-esteem, school, parenting, and social pressures are all areas in which these needs and the attempt to meet them are made manifest. "Relationships with peers and adults have an effect on how children think, learn and develop. Families, schools, and peer groups all make up an important part of the social context. (Check to see if this is direct quote)" Everything, from family and friends to culture has an effect on how kids think.  

Children are affected by their home life. Each individual person has thousands of small details and experiences that together form what one would call their background. These differences can be anything from the climate they live in to the religion they practice, but every part of our background, culture, economic status, social class, religion, geographical positioning, and even the marital status of our parents forms some part of our personality. It is part of what makes us who we are. No two people have the same background, not even family members, because each one of us has our own experiences that help to form us as individuals.  

One of these major areas of background is culture. A person’s culture determines a lot of what they do, how they think, and how they act. There are always cultural norms such as a way of dressing or a manner of speaking. For instance, the way a Muslim would dress is very different from how an African would dress. This is a result of culture. As Americans, it is very evident to us that each culture has a different manner of speaking as well. Because we live in a “melting pot” where all cultures come together and even blend to a certain degree, we are constantly surrounded by different languages and accents. Even within the U.S. itself, we have different vernaculars, each with their own slang words and acceptable phrases that might not necessarily make sense to someone of a different culture.  

Culture goes much deeper than language and dress, however. It is a way of life. Each culture has its own customs that may or may not make sense to any other culture and, in some instances, may even be offensive. Certain practices affect the way one thinks. For example, in many Asian homes, it is custom to remove one’s shoes before entering, while in many other countries, it can be somewhat offensive to remove your shoes and show your feet. This is just a simple example of how culture influences custom, which in turn affects behavior. This principle also applies to how children are raised.  

Culture usually determines what type of education a child will receive. It decides whether the child goes to public school, is homeschooled, or sent to private schools, and it even influences the amount and quality of education expected to be received by the child. Cultures that are extremely focused on academic success, such as those evident in many Asian countries, have an entirely different educational system than, for instance, America which has a focus on athletic as well as academic pursuits.  

Culture not only affects education and behavior, but it also determines certain disciplinary tactics used by parents. Some cultures believe in the idea that one should never tell a child “no,” as it could somehow damage their spirit or hinder their creativityi, while others still practice the belief that children should be seen and not heard. Obviously, the parents in these two cultural groups will go about their parenting in two completely different ways.  

Parents will also strive to instill in their children certain values that are important to them and their way of life. In certain cultures, for example, a child is encouraged to steal and is only punished for being caught. They are taught that stealing is only wrong when one is caught. However, in the American culture, the majority of children are taught that stealing is morally wrong and should not be done even if no one would ever find out.  

Even religion is influenced by culture. By nature, certain cultures usually cling to one of a few selective religions. This is largely due to the fact that their ancestors most likely practiced that religion. Depending on the religion, it can permeate every aspect of one’s life, down to their thinking, dress, and actions, especially towards others. Even atheism, the disbelief in any higher being, affects one’s reactions, thinking, and approach to life in general.  

Through all these avenues, whether education, parenting, or religion, one’s culture either directly or indirectly affects a child’s thinking. His educational background will be different, so he will approach problems and situations from a different viewpoint, and his customs are different, so he will support different actions and take offense to other actions. His childhood will be different because he was raised differently and has grown up learning certain values that may or may not align with someone else’s. Everything down to the way he dresses, talks, and holds himself speaks of his culture, and therefore his background. Our culture helps to shape who we are, and it definitely affects us and our behavior, especially as children. This is because as children, the only culture that we have experienced to a large degree is our own.  

Another part of our background is our social class and economic status. These two factors determine our opportunities to a certain degree. People of a higher social class and economic status are handed certain opportunities, whereas people of lower class or status have to work much harder for them. This affects children and how they think, in that they are affected by these factors while growing up. Children born to parents of lower class or status may grow up with their parents working longer hours or being stressed more while trying to make ends meet, while children born to parents of higher status or class may have parents at home more, but also may have more expected of them, namely, their parents want them to meet the same level of success that they did.  

Finally, gender constitutes a part of the background that shapes our thinking and our lives, especially as children. From the day we are born, we are treated and raised differently based on whether we are male or female. A study was recently done on a group of African American families to determine how gender affected the relationship between a mother and her child. (insert endnote) The goal was to investigate whether the gender disparity in African American success stories is due in part to the fact that children are treated differently while growing up because of their gender. The researchers observed the participants performing a series of tasks together, and looked for certain indicators of stress, contentment, and controlling behavior. They found that mothers were usually more warm and compassionate with their daughters, but they also were more demanding and expected them to be able to accomplish more on their own than if they were a son. Mothers of sons tended to be more controlling, and at times, irritable, but they did not expect as much of their sons as they would if they were daughters. This is very revealing when one views the success of female African Americans in relation to the success of their male counterparts. In many cases, because sons were more controlled as children and were not expected to amount to much, they are more likely to leave home at a relatively young age and rebel against what they feel is controlling authority. Therefore, they do not amount to much because they were never expected to.  

One of the easiest factors affecting child development and behavior to see is their parents. Parents are obviously instrumental in molding a child's character and personality. They are the ones who usually teach a child to walk, talk, and interact with the world around them. Therefore, every single part of a child's life is influenced by their parents and how they do things. Think about it. We all speak the same language as our parents or whoever raised us. We copy their mannerisms and their responses. There are several specific ways in which children are influenced by their parents.  

First of all, children learn from their parents by imitating them. As soon as kids are born into the world, they begin to imitate the people they are around. The way children learn to talk is by imitating sounds they hear and mouth movements that they see. As their muscle control increases. They begin to have the ability to make discernible sounds that are similar to the ones they are trying to imitate. As they continue to develop, they gain even more control, and start to say small words. Before long, they are talking up a storm and telling you everything that they think and feel.  

Not only do children learn to talk by imitating their parents, but they also learn to perform different actions such as walking, playing, and even fighting. If one were to watch a small child for any amount of time, he would see him imitate the adults in his life, especially his parents. It is completely normal for one to see a child talking on a pretend phone, driving a pretend car, or even packing a bag and going to their pretend job. Even when playing with toys, one can easily see the imitation taking place. When kids play with dolls, or play house, they began to tell a story of the life of their dolls or their "family." This story greatly reflects their home life and how they view certain situations. Children of single parents will most likely only have one parent in this pretend family, and kids whose mothers stay home with them probably will not have their "mother" going to work.  

This imitation can also be This imitation can also be seen in the way children interact with one another. If their parents fight a lot, the children are more likely to struggle in getting along with their peers. These children will most likely be timid and shy or they will take out their frustration and anger by frequently fighting with others or bullying them.  

Children can be heard using specific phrases that their parents use and responding in similar ways to certain stimuli. For instance, if a parent is easily angered by things such as slow drivers, their child can probably be observed getting frustrated with small things, such as a child using the toy they wanted to play with or cutting in front of them in line. However, if their parents are more laid back and not easily disturbed by situations or circumstances, the child is more likely to accept that things sometimes happen that we do not like.  

According to Lisa Nalven, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician, "Imitation is vital to the development of abilities ranging from language to social skills.i Without the ability to imitate others, children would be majorly limited in their ability to learn new things. If their parents were not there to show them how to do things, they would never learn to talk, walk, or even interact with others.  They would end up speaking some sort of unintelligible gibberish because they never had any human sounds or mouth movements to imitate. They would never learn how to walk because they would never think to do it without seeing others, and their social skills would be nonexistent because they would have never had any kind of interaction with other humans. Children learn many skills by imitating, and their parents are the main people that they imitate.   

Children are not only affected by their parents through imitation, however. They are influenced by their parents' feelings and actions as well. For instance, kids pick up on all kinds of emotions, whether it is stress, depression, joy, sadness, or even fear. I know that in my own life, when my mom is stressed out, the whole house is usually in chaos. It is not necessarily because of anything she is doing, but rather, her emotion is picked up on by us kids and it affects our moods. We soon become stressed and snappy, and our responses tend to be more curt and heartless. All of this can happen without my mom having to say or do anything. It happens simply because we pick up on her mood, many times without even realizing it. The same thing happens when she gets excited about something. We all get excited about it too, even if it does not really affect us personally.  

So, kids pick up on emotions. When their parents are stressed or depressed the children become anxious, and when parents are joyful and excited, the kids are happy and excited too. Recently, a study was done to determine how maternal depression affects child behavior. In the study, mothers were rated due to depression levels, and then their children were interviewed. The interviews consisted of very specific questions that were to be asked of the kids, and their responses were carefully recorded and then analyzed for signs of negative behavioral patterns. These findings were then placed alongside the depression levels of the mothers and checked for any kind of connections. The researchers found that a mother's depression does, in fact, cause negative behavioral changes in her children, including detrimental internalizing or externalizing behaviors. Somewhat surprisingly, boys were found to be affected by their mothers' depression levels more than girls were.  

Not only do children pick up on emotions and ultimately change their behavior in response to them, but they also interpret emotions differently based on their background. Another study was done with both foster children and birthchildren to determine if there were any behavioral differences on the child's part in relation to the parents, especially during any kind of conflictii. The researchers found that both foster children and birthchildren put effort into building and maintaining a solid relationship with their parents, but how they went about it was very different. Foster children were more likely to pull away, especially during moments of stress or conflict, while birthchildren were more likely to go to their parents and address the issue directly in order to get their way or find a compromise. This is a result of fear on the part of the foster child. They are not as secure in their position in the family as birthchildren are, and sometimes do not feel entitled to stating their dissenting opinion or fighting for what they want. On the other hand, most birthchildren are very secure in their position and in their relationship with their parents, and therefore, have no problem stating their needs and wishes even if they do not agree with the adult's decision. They are willing to try to work out a compromise, and at times even manipulate their parents into giving them their way. The study also found that "minor conflicts can trigger more violent emotions in foster children than in birthchildren.iii" Children in foster care are more likely to isolate themselves or respond "aggressively” when encountering friction or discord than birthchildren are.iv when encountering friction or discord than birthchildren are. Forty-nine percent of foster children were found to internalize negative emotion rather than try to resolve issues, while fifteen percent of the foster children responded aggressively in an act of self-preservation.  

The simple idea of how parents view their children affects kids in so many different ways. There was a study done with a group of children with cancer. The purpose of the study was to determine how a parent's "higher perceived child vulnerability" and the resulting "parental overprotection" influenced their child's "health-related quality of life (HRQOL)v”. In other words, they were investigating the connection between parents’ view of their children, whether they thought they were extremely vulnerable or not, and their overprotection of their child with the quality of life experienced by the child. The researchers found that “overprotective behavior and perceptions of vulnerability” were displayed by fifteen to twenty-five percent of the parents involved in the study, while eighteen percent described lower HRQOL in their childrenvi. This correlation between perceived child vulnerability and lower quality of life is evidence that a parent’s view of their child, as well as their responses, in accordance with that view, affects their child tremendously, to the point of affecting their overall quality of life.  

Another study investigated the “parental underestimation” and “overestimation” of their children’s “exposure to violence.vii” In this study, the researchers were observing how parents view their child’s “exposure to violence” and whether that view was exaggerated or the parents were not fully aware of the true level of violence that the child was experiencing. According to the study, the children’s psychological and social health was negatively affected by the “parental underestimation” but not “overestimation” of their “exposure to violence.” In other words, when parents do not realize how violent the atmosphere their children live in really is, children are psychologically and socially harmed or impaired. However, if parents are overprotective of their children and assume the violence level to be greater than it actually is, their children are not affected either positively or negatively. This finding is important because it demonstrates how violence affects children’s thinking and behavior, and parents’ thinking and responses affect their kids. Parental perceptions dictate their reactions and the protections they place on their children, and that in turn influences their child’s health and behavior.  

Children are impacted by their parents’ thoughts and decisions. When a parent views their child as impaired in some way, they treat that child differently than they would if he were considered normal. This is very evident in families with more than one child. Therefore, because of his being treated differently while growing up, that child will have different views on certain things, including his own ability to perform certain tasks. For instance, if a child with asthma has been overprotected by his parents during his formative years, he will end up being much less comfortable and much more fearful doing certain things, like exercising until he cannot breathe, or experiencing certain things such as a forgotten inhaler than a child whose parents have acknowledged his condition and calmly showed him how to do things to take care of himself and instilled confidence in him that he knows what to do even when they are not with him. This confidence or lack thereof then translates in some way to every aspect of that child’s life because when he has confidence in himself and the fact that he knows what he is doing, he will carry himself differently and think differently about so many things.