Abstract
Psychological investigations of the self-concept of children constitute a significant body of knowledge. This study focuses on self-concept from a sociological perspective, viewing self-concept as a social construct instead of a psychological construct. Drawing data from qualitative in-depth interviews with 30 children aged 8 to 12, the article asserts that children describe their self-concept within their cultural context. Focusing on the Pakistani context, we demonstrate the cultural embeddedness of self-concept by showing that children describe their social identity with reference to specific ideas of traditional gender roles and with reference to religious and national identifications which are formally valued in Pakistan. The importance of acting as moral agents who consider it obligatory to undertake domestic roles, perform well at school and support their family members in the future is also emphasized. We argue that there are multiple domains of self-concept, within which children represent themselves in a specific cultural context.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldgate, J. (2010). Child-wellbeing, child development and family life. In C. McAuley & W. Rose (Eds.), Child well-being: Understanding children’s lives (pp. 21–38). UK: Jessica Kingsley.
Ariès, P. (1962). Centuries of childhood. A social history of family life. New York: Vintage Books.
Ayoub, G., & Kurt, W. F. (2006). Development pathways and intersection among domains of development. In K. McCartney & Deborah (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of early childhood development (pp. 62–81). UK: Blackwell.
Benninger, E., & Savahl, S. (2016). Children’s discursive construction of the self. Child Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s1218-016-9389-8.
Bong, M., & Einar, M. S. (2003). Academic self-concept and self efficacy: How different are they really? Educational Psychology Review, 15(1), 1–40.
Chang, T. S. (1975). The self concept of children in ethnic groups: Black American and Korean American. The Elementary School Journal, 76(1), 52–58.
Clark, R. M. (2010). Childhood in Society: for early childhood studies.UK: Learning Matters.
Cohen-Malayev, M., Elli, P. S., & Yisrael, R. (2014). Teachers and the religious socialization of adolescents: Facilitation of meaningful religious identity formation process. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 205–214.
Corsaro, A. W. (2005). Collective action and Agency in Young Children. In J. Qvortrup (Ed.), studies in modern childhood: Society, agency and Culture (pp. 231–247). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Durrani, N., & Mairead, D. (2010). Curriculum and National Identity: Exploring the links between religion and nation in Pakistan. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 42(2), 215–240.
Dyson, L. L. (2003). Children with learning disabilities within family context: A comparison with siblings in global self-concept, academic self-perception, and social competence. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18(1), 1–9.
Erten, I. H., & Robert, L. B. (2014). The relationships between academic self-concept, attribution and L2 achievement. System, 42, 391–401.
Fattore, T., Fegter, S., & Hunner-Kreisel, C. (2015). Children’s understandings of well-being - global and local contexts – Unpublished research proposal.
Goodvin, R., Sara, M., Ross, A. T., & Rachel, H. (2008). Self-understanding in early childhood: Associations with child attachment security and maternal negative affect. Attachment and Human Development, 10(4), 433–450.
Guay, F., Herbert, W. M., & Michel, B. (2003). Academic self-concept and academic achievement: Development perspectives on their casual ordering. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(1), 124–136.
Guralnick, M. J. (2006). Family influence on early development: Integrating the science of normative development, risk and disability. In K. McCartney and Deborah (Ed.), Blackwell Handbook of Early Childhood Development (pp. 44–61). UK: Blackwell.
Hall, S. (1996). Introduction: Who needs identity? In S. Hall & D. G. Paul (Eds.), Questions of cultural identity (pp. 1–18). London: SAGE.
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography. London: Routledge.
Hendrick, H. (2001). The Child as a Social Actor in Historical Sources: problems of identification and interpretation. In P. Christensen and Allison J. (Ed.), Research with Children: perspectives and practices (36–62). London: Falmer Press.
Hogg, M. A., Terry, D. J., & White, K. M. (1995). A tale of two theories: A critical comparison of identity theory with social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(4), 255–269.
James, A. (2005). Life times: children’s perspectives on age, agency and memory across the life course. In J. Qvortrup (Ed.), Studies in modern childhood: Society, agency and culture (pp. 248–268). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
James, A., & Alan, P. (1997a). Constructing and reconstructing childhood. In A. James & P. Alan (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (pp. 1–5). London: Falmer Press.
James, A., & Alan, P. (1997b). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance, promise and problems. In A. James & P. Alan (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (pp. 7–32). London: Falmer Press.
Jenkins, R. (2008). Social identity. Routledge London.
Jenks, C. (1996). Childhood. London & New York: Routledge.
Jenks, C. (2001). Zeitgeist Research on Childhood. In P. Christensen and Allison J. (Ed.), Research with Children: perspectives and practices (62–77). London: Falmer Press.
Jenks, C. (2002). A sociological approach to childhood development. In P. K. Smith & H. H. Craige (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development (pp. 78–94). UK: Blackwell.
Lall, M. (2008). Educate to hate: The use of education in the creation of antagonistic National Identities in India and Pakistan. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 38(1), 103–119.
Lansdown, G. (1994). Children’s right. In B. Mayall (Ed.), Children’s childhoods: Observed and experienced (pp. 33–44). London: The Falmer Press.
Markus, H. R., & Shinobu, K. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253.
Marsh, H. W. (1990). A multidimensional, hierarchical model of self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychological Review, 2(2), 77–172.
Marsh, H. W., Louise, A. E., & Rhonda, G. C. (2002). How do preschool children feel about themselves? Unraveling measurement and multidimensional self-concept structure. Developmental Psychology, 38(3), 376–393.
Mayall, B. (1994). Children in action at home and school. In B. Mayall (Ed.), Children’s childhoods: Observed and experienced (pp. 114–127). London: The Falmer Press.
Mayall, B. (2005). The social condition of UK childhood: children’s understandings and their implications. In J. Mansoon & F. Toby (Eds.), Children taken seriously: In theory, policy and practice (pp. 79–90). Jessica Kingsley: UK.
Mayall, B. (2013). A History of the Sociology of Childhood. London: Institute of Education Press 20 Bedford Way.
Miller, P. J., & Sarah, C. M. (2005). Developing selves are meaning-making selves: Recouping the social in self-development. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2005(109), 51–59.
Moinian, F. (2006). I can tell it as it is! Exploring how children write and talk about themselves in school. Ethnography 1(2), 231–246.
Murphy, A., & Janet, L. (2013). Children’s perceptions of National Identity in Wales. Education 3–13, 41(2), 188–201.
National Education Policy. (2009). Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan.
O’Kane, C. (2001). The Development of Participatory Techniques: facilitating children’s views about decision which affect them. In P. Christensen and Allison J. (Ed.), Research with Children: perspectives and practices (136–160). London: Falmer Press.
Oakley, A. (1994). Women and children first and last: Parallels and differences between children’s and women studies. In B. Mayall (Ed.), Children’s childhoods: Observed and experienced (pp. 13–32). London: The Falmer Press.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. (2017). Government of Pakistan. www.pb.gov.pk.
Pinxten, C., Sofie, W., Franzis, P., Christoph, N., Bieke, D. F., & Karine, V. (2014). The formation of academic self-concept in elementary education: A unifying model for external and internal comparison. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 124–132.
Qamar, A. H. (2012). Gendered aspects of informal education in childhood: Research reflections from the rural Panjab, Pakistan. Academic Research International, 2(1), 383–397.
Qvortrup, J. (1997). A voice for children in statistical and social accounting: A plea for children’s to be heard. In A. James & P. Alan (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (pp. 83–199). London: Falmer Press.
Qvortrup, J. (2005). Varieties childhood. In Jens Q. (Ed.), studies in modern childhood: Society, agency and Culture (pp. 1–20). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rosenholtz, S. J., & Carl, S. (1984). The formation of ability conception: Developmental trend or social construction? Review of Educational Research, 54(1), 31–63.
Rumble, A. C. (2011). Religion as collective identity. In R. M. Kramer, G. J. Leonardelli, & R. W. Livingston (Eds.), Social cognition, social identity, and intergroup relation (pp. 145–161). New York: Psychology Press.
Scourfield, J., Bella, D., Mark, D., & Andrew, D. (2006). Children place and identity: Nation and locality in middle childhood. New York: Routledge.
Solberg, A. (1997). Negotiating childhood: Changing construction of age for Norwegian children. In A. James & P. Alan (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (pp. 123–140). London: Falmer Press.
Tajfel, H., & Jhon, C. T. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The Social Psychology of Group Relation (pp. 33-47). Monetary: Brooks-Cole.
Taylor, L. D., Pamela, D., & Oksana, M. (2007). Self-esteem, academic self-concept and aggression at school. Aggressive Behavior, 33, 130–136.
Turmel, A. (2008). A historical sociology of childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Turner, J. C. (1984). Social identification and psychological group formation. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), social Dimension (pp. 519–538). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Turner, J. C., Penelope, J. O., Alexander Haslam, S., & Craig, M. (1994). Self and Collective: cognition and social context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 454–463.
Uszynska-Jarmoc, J. (2004). The conception of self in Children’s narratives. Early Child Development and Care, 174(1), 81–97.
Waller, T. (2005a). Introduction. In T. Waller (Ed.), An introduction to early childhood: A multidisciplinary approach. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Waller, T. (2005b). Modern childhood: Contemporary theories and children lives. In T. Waller (Ed.), An introduction to early childhood: A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 55–70). London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Wang, Q. (2006). Culture and development of self knowledge. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(4), 182–187.
Woodhead, M. (1997). Psychology and cultural construction of Children’s need. In A. James & A. Prout (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (pp. 61–74). London: Falmer Press.
Zia, R. (2003). Religion and education in Pakistan: An overview. Prospects, 33(2), 165–178.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the services of Prof. Tobia Fattore in editing and correction of the text of the manuscript. Indeed, he deserves a lot of appreciation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors do not disclose any conflict of interests for this study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmed, M., Zaman, M. Children’s Self-Concept of their Well-Being in Rawalpindi and Islamabad: Actor’s Perspectives of Identity and Existence. Child Ind Res 12, 501–523 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9552-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9552-5