Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

How do children and adolescents see themselves, and how do their self-perceptions relate to their relationships with others? How do cognitive and social processes interact in the development of each person's unique sense of self? Drawing upon the author's decades of innovative research, this long-awaited volume traces the stages of self-development and examines how self-representations affect functioning across diverse domains. With special attention to gender and cultural variables, chapters cover such topics as pathways to low self-worth and depression; the effects of child abuse; conflict provoked by shifting roles and self- representations in adolescence; and the authenticity of the self. The concluding chapter covers interventions designed to promote adaptive self-evaluations.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Contemporary Issues and Historical Perspectives
• 2 The Normative Development of Self-Representations during Childhood
• 3 The Normative Development of Self-Representations during Adolescence
• 4 The Developmental Emergence of Self-Conscious Emotions
• 5 The Content, Valence, and Organization of Self-Evaluative Judgments
• 6 Discrepancies between Real and Ideal Self-Concepts
• 7 Social Sources of Individual Differences in Self-Evaluation
• 8 A Model of the Causes, Correlates, and Consequences of Global Self-Worth
• 9 The Authenticity of the Self
• 10 The Effects of Child Abuse on I-Self and Me-Self Processes
• 11 Autonomy and Connectedness as Dimensions of the Self
• 12 Interventions to Promote Adaptive Self-Evaluations

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Harter (Univ. of Denver) provides a generally comprehensive and very readable treatment of the theoretical and empirical literature on the construction of the self in childhood and adolescence. Beginning with toddlerhood, when children are first able to verbalize self-representations, she traces the antecedents and consequences of self-development through late adolescence and early adulthood. Beyond the normative patterns of self-development, she examines individual, gender, and cross-cultural differences with respect to self-conscious emotions (pride, shame, and guilt), self-evaluation judgments, and authenticity of the self. There is, however, little on either race or class differences. In a particularly interesting chapter, Harter analyzes the culturally based themes of autonomy and connectedness and how these transform into self-defining dimensions of adult relationship styles. In the last chapter, she draws the implications for educational and clinical intervention strategies to promote adaptive self-evaluations. The book's strength is its coherent presentation of a diverse and scattered literature. It should be useful for upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty in psychology, family studies, and education. H. L. Minton University of Windsor

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Susan Harter, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Developmental Psychology Program at the University of Denver. Widely published, Dr. Harter has received two major faculty awards and serves on the editorial boards of a number of professional journals.