Situational changes in self-awareness influence 3- and 4-year-olds' self-regulation.
In adults, heightened self-awareness leads to adherence to socially valued norms, whereas lowered self-awareness is associated with antinormative behavior. Levels of self-awareness are influenced by environmental cues such as mirrors. Do situational changes in self-awareness also have an impact on preschoolers' self-regulation? Adherence to a socially valued standard was observed under different conditions of self-focus. In Experiment 1 the standard was prescribed ("don't look in the box"), and in Experiment 2 children had the opportunity to be altruistic. Heightened self-focus was induced using a large mirror. In a neutral condition, the nonreflective side of the mirror was shown. To lower self-focus, children wore a disguise. Preschoolers peeked less and showed more altruism when the mirror image was present. As found for adults, it appears that self-awareness leads 3- and 4-year-olds to adhere to salient social standards. These results suggest that self-focus has a socially adaptive regulatory function from an early age.
Ross
J
J
School of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK. juross@dundee.ac.uk
Anderson
J R
JR
Campbell
R N
RN
D001364:Awareness; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012927:Social Control, Informal