| dc.contributor.author | Clark, Sharon Elizabeth. | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-10-21T12:33:45Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2002 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2002 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.other | AAINQ67644 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10222/55817 | |
| dc.description | Research in developmental psychology is currently focused on how children understand themselves, social relationships with caregivers, and the behaviour of others. This dissertation examines concurrent relations between attachment security and representations of self and other in early-elementary school age children. A model proposed by Bartholomew (1990), based on Bowlby's attachment theory, is employed using combinations of children's self-image and image of others, which vary on a positive-negative dimension. The goal is to test whether this model of attachment predicts children's representations of self and their understanding of the social behaviour of others. The self-reliant and attachment security sub-scales from the Separation Anxiety Test are used to form the four prototypic attachment patterns (secure, preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful). | en_US |
| dc.description | Study one examines the connection between attachment and self-representations in 176 children, 5 to 9 years. Differences between the positive and negative self-dimension are found on the self-representation measures for children younger than 7 years, but not for children older than 7 years. Stronger associations are found between the girls' degree of attachment security and positivity on the self-representation measure than the boys'. | en_US |
| dc.description | In Study two, ambiguous vignettes are used to examine children's attributions about their peers', parents', and teachers' intentions. Attachment security and self-reliant scores are positively related to children's positive attributions about others' intentions. Expected differences between the positive and negative dimension of other were found on the attribution measures. The differences were most pronounced between the children classified as secure and fearful. Outcomes did not differentiate between the preoccupied and dismissing attachment categories. | en_US |
| dc.description | The results highlight the need to consider gender and age differences when evaluating the connections between attachment and self-representations in this age group. This dissertation contributes to the understanding of attributions as a possible mechanism through which working models "work", applies attachment theory to children's close social relationships, and provides evidence of children having a global model of the social behaviour of others. | en_US |
| dc.description | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2002. | en_US |
| dc.language | eng | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Dalhousie University | en_US |
| dc.publisher | | en_US |
| dc.subject | Psychology, Personality. | en_US |
| dc.title | Representation of self and other in early-elementary school age children as a function of attachment status. | en_US |
| dc.type | text | en_US |
| dc.contributor.degree | Ph.D. | en_US |
