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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
OF
EARLY CHILDHOOD

FAMILY
RELATIONSHIPS:
Family relationships are
critical to the physical, mental, and
social health of growing pre-
schoolers. Many aspects of the
family—parenting
techniques, discipline, the number
and the birth order of siblings, the
family's finances, the family's
circumstances, the family's
health, and more—contribute to
young children's psychosocial
development.

PARENTING:
Parenting styles have a definite impact
on children. The authoritative style of
parenting fosters open communication and
problem solving between parents and their
children. In contrast, authoritarian
parenting may produce fearful and
dependent children. Permissive parenting
may result in rebellious children. And
indifferent parenting may render hostile
and delinquent children. In two-parent
families, in which each parent has a
different parenting style, one parent's style
often positively counterbalances the other
parent's style. For instance, a woman's
permissive style may counterbalance her
husband's authoritarian style.

SIBLINGS:
Siblings are children's first and
foremost peer group. Pre-schoolers
may learn as much or more from their
siblings as from their parents.
Regardless of age differences, sibling
relationships mirror other social
relationships, providing basic
preparation for dealing with people
outside of the home. Only siblings may
simultaneously have equal and unequal
status in the home, and only siblings
may provide opportunities (whether
desired or not) for children to practice
coping with the positives and negatives
of human relationships.

PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT:
No longer totally dependent on
their parents, preschoolers begin the
long road to becoming adept at
functioning on their own in the world.
During early childhood (ages 2–
6), children gain some sense of being
separate and independent from their
parents. According to Erikson, the task of
preschoolers is to develop
autonomy, or self-direction, (ages 1–
3), as well as initiative, or enterprise(ages
3–6).

FRIENDS AND
PLAYMATES:

Early family attachments
may determine the ease with which
children form friendships and other
relationships. Children who have
loving, stable, and accepting
relationships with their parents and
siblings are generally more likely to
form similar relationships with friends
and playmates.

First friendships are created when a
child is about age 3, although preschoolers
may play together before that age. Much
like adults, preschoolers tend to develop
friendships with children who share
common interests, are likable, offer
support, and are similar in sizes and looks.
Childhood friendships create opportunities
for children to learn how to handle anger-
provoking situations, to share, to learn
values, and to practice more mature
behaviors. Preschoolers who are popular
with their peers excel at these activities.
These children know how to be a
friend, not just how to have friends. On the
other hand, children who “tattle” or direct
hostility toward their playmates tend to be
less popular. In turn, aggressive children
often have fewer friends, which fuels their
hostility even more.

FEAR
AND
AGGRESSION:

Two negative emotions experienced
during early childhood are fear
(anxiety) andaggression (hostility).

Preschool children probably
become fearful because of their
remarkable fantasy life, and their
inability to distinguish between reality
and pretending. Childhood fears are
usually temporary; these fears
normally disappear with time.
Preschoolers (ages 2–6) are typically
afraid of animals, bodily injury, dark
places, loud noises, strangers, and
being separated from their parents.
Although childhood fears are normal
and to be expected, exaggerated or
chronic fears should be evaluated by a
professional.

Childhood aggression has been a
topic of intense study in recent decades.
Aggression, which appears by ages 2 or
3, may involve an intentional action to
harm another (such as biting another
child) or directed hostility to attain
particular goals (such as taking a toy
from another child). Fortunately, most
children become less aggressive at about
age 6. Preschoolers probably develop
aggression in response to their
egocentric perspective. Anyone or
anything that frustrates egocentric
children by preventing them from getting
what they want is likely to trigger a
hostile response. The male hormone
testosterone may also explain why males
are more likely than females to exhibit
aggressive behavior. As with childhood
fears, exaggerated or chronic aggression
should be evaluated by a professional.

Additonal sa parenting
Different parents employ different parenting techniques. The
techniques parents choose depend on cultural and community
standards, the situation, and the children's behavior at the time. The
techniques that parents use to relate to their children are
characterized by degrees of parental control and parental
warmth.Parental control involves the degree to which parents are
restrictive in their use of parenting techniques, and parental warmth
involves the degree to which they are loving, affectionate, and
approving in their use of these techniques. Authoritarian parents
demonstrate high parental control and low parental warmth when
parenting. Permissive parents demonstrate high parental warmth
and low parental control when parenting. Indifferent parents
demonstrate low parental control and low warmth. Authoritative
parents, however, demonstrate appropriate levels of both parental
control and warmth.

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Social development

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