Developmental Psychology: Case Study & Discussions - Business Admin

This assignment comprises a case study involving the observation and interview of a human subject, alongside responses to nine discussion questions related to developmental psychology. The discussions cover topics such as popularity in middle childhood, weakened parental relations, physical and cognitive development in adolescence, moral development, the Dove beauty campaign, self-discovery quiz results, emotional affairs, marriage and longevity, and a personal death announcement. The case study delves into the participant's background, relevant developmental theories, the subject's current stage of development, and the biological, cognitive, social, and personality issues they face. It further explores theories and concepts relevant to the individual, along with findings, revelations, surprises, and difficulties encountered during the study. The assignment draws upon various sources to support its analysis and conclusions.

Running head: DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Developmental Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Discussion 1: Popularity in Middle Childhood..........................................................................3
Discussion 2: Weakened Parental relations...............................................................................4
Discussion 3: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence........................................7
Discussion 4: Moral Development.............................................................................................8
Part A:....................................................................................................................................8
Part B:.....................................................................................................................................9
Discussion 5: Dove Beauty Campaign.....................................................................................11
Part A:..................................................................................................................................11
Part B:...................................................................................................................................11
Discussion 6: Self Discovery Quiz results (Holland Code Career Test).................................12
Discussion 7: Emotional Affairs..............................................................................................13
Part a.....................................................................................................................................13
Part b:...................................................................................................................................13
Discussion 8: Marriage and Longevity:...................................................................................15
Discussion 9: My Death Announcement..................................................................................16
Case Study: Case Study- Observation and interview of a human subject...............................17
Introduction of the participant:.............................................................................................17
Four types of development relevant theories and concepts:................................................17
Stage of development of the subject is experiencing:..........................................................19
Biological, Cognitive, Social, and Personality issues faced by the subject:........................19
Theories and concepts relevant to the individual:................................................................20

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Findings, revelations, surprises and difficulties encountered in the study:..........................21
References:...............................................................................................................................23

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Discussion 1: Popularity in Middle Childhood
During my elementary and junior high years, my social competencies included the
ability to socialize with people, develop communication and interpersonal relations with
them. I was also a low status child and most of my classmates were from families that were
economically rich and higher family income groups.Since I was very good in interpersonal
communication and had strong emotional intelligence, I was able to develop friendships with
children belonging to both high and low status children in the school and thus have a large
friends circle.During the school years, I was very much popular as I was avidly involved in
various extracurricular activities such as sports and debates in which I have represented my
school on a number of occasions at both national and state levels.One popular child I can
recollect from my school memories was an individual who came from a rich and affluent
family who were very much popular in the state. One unpopular child I can recollect was an
individual, who was raised by a single parent and was very secluded and withdrawn from
other children.The popular child was more of an extrovert and outgoing person, preferring the
company of others and enjoying being at the center of attention. This child would often go to
great lengths to impress his friends, throwing parties and showing off expensive gadgets to
his friends. This significantly contributed to his popularity as children got attracted to the
privileges this child inherited.The unpopular child on the other hand rarely spoke with other
children, was hardly seen playing games with others during recess and mostly kept to himself
and was awkward socially. Due to this he was mostly rejected by his peers and was
considered to be unpopular in school.The unpopularity of this child in my opinion have been
caused due to a poor interaction and inadequate communication between the child and his
peers and his introverted and withdrawn nature.

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Discussion 2: Weakened Parental relations
The relationship between the parents and the child are stressed by various factors resulting in
a weakening as sometimes estrangement of the relation. These factors can include:
1) The psychological stress in the first year of after divorce where the children
experience maximum psychological distress, anxiety, anger and disbelief.
2) Emotional impacts on the children when they have to choose between which parent to
live with; a feeling of guilt thinking they might be responsible for their parent’s
separation and anger about the divorce on themselves or the parents.
3) Stressful events such as losing daily contact with one parent; increased amount of
stress on the single parent taking care of the child; changes in schools or shifting to a
new home, changing the neighborhood and sometimes reduced access to resources.
4) Remarriage and adjusting to it.
5) Mental health risks such as anxiety, depression and compulsive disorders
6) Deterioration in academic performance
In order to protect their relation with their children during divorce the following should be
considered and ensured:
1) Equal Responsibility for either parents to take care of the child
2) Co-parent the child after the divorce peacefully, keeping personal conflicts and the
divorce aside
3) Not putting the children in the middle of the conflict between the parents
4) Maintaining a healthy relationship with the child
5) Showing consistency in disciplining
6) Always monitoring the children especially in their adolescence
7) Empowering the children

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8) Develop coping skills among them
9) Give them a feeling of security and safety at home
10) Taking part in parent education and counselling programs.
11) Always maintaining a clear and open communication with the children, especially
when they are growing up.
Reply to Onyx A.CN’s post:
I completely agree that one of the most crucialresponsibilities of parents going
through divorce is to protect their relation with their children through this process and after it.
It is important for the parents to impress upon the children that the divorce is a result of a
mutual agreement between two consenting adults to terminate their interpersonal relation and
would in no way hamper their relation which the children and the parents still has the
responsibility of taking care of the children even after they are separated (Thompson et al.,
2017). Parents should also not put the children in a position where they have to choose
between one parent and another which can increase anxiety among them (Morrison et al.,
2017). As parents, one has the responsibility to look after the best interest of the children,
which means taking every action to ensure the divorce does not leave a child with an
emotional scar (Braithwaite et al., 2016).
Reply to Victoria Ch.MO’s post
The fact that the process of parental divorce and bad parenting can be a learning
experience for a child, as they realize the kind of parenting practice one should not engage in,
learning from their personal experience (Kalmijn, 2015; Jackson et al., 2016). I believe that
such as outlook can develop when the child has enough emotional resilience to overcome the
emotional stress of poor parenting and learn from the experience instead of the experience

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acting as an emotional stressor (Weaver & Schofield, 2015). Good parenting skills and a
sense of responsibility towards children is therefore important as much as emotional
resilience of the child in order to ensure proper early development among them (Bernet et al.,
2016; Yárnoz-Yaben&Garmendia, 2016).

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Discussion 3: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence
While the high school, I looked towards my classmates and school friends with
openness towards diversity among people. I was raised by my parents to be acceptable and
open towards differences among people, in terms of their skin color, language they spoke,
eye color, race, religion or ethnicity which significantly influenced how ti though of others.
Since my childhood I was also very comfortable with my body and did not have a
poor body image, which was developed through the parenting I received.
Since I was actively engaged in sports activities since childhood, I had an athletic
body, good height and a healthy weight and BMI score. I also felt that I had a strong posture
and good shape, which made me fairly good looking in the class. According to many of my
friends, I also had a nice smile, which I can agree upon.
During the later years of my high school, I gained extra weight as I reduced my
exercise. This did affect my body image, self-esteem and confidence adversely at that point,
which I was able to overcome later.
Since my early childhood, I was very much fond of food but hardly overate. My
parents further helped me develop healthy eating habits and taught me to avoid unhealthy
food such as junk food and sugar sweetened beverages which were the major sources of
childhood obesity and diabetes. My parents ever forced me to choose certain foods or go for
strict diets, but instead provided me multiple options for healthy food as well as junk food,
with the condition to exercise for extra hour to burn the additional calories.This naturally
limited my intake of energy and calorie rich food and thus improves my dieting practice.

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Discussion 4: Moral Development
Part A:
How each of the influence can contribute positively or negatively to a child’s moral
development:
Parental Role Modeling:
Parental role modeling can positively contribute to the moral development of the child
since a child learns from his/her relation with parents, and through observation, mimicking
and following how parents behave and the rules srt by them, which have been supported by
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development and attachment theories (Boerner et al., 2017;
Schoeppe et al., 2016). This is only possible when the parents themselves are able to adopt
and exhibit moral standards and behavior. However on the other hand, poor moral standards
can also get passed on to the children, when the parents exhibit immoral behaviors in from of
them and thus adversely impacting their moral development (Bao et al., 2015;
Sengsavang&Krettenauer, 2015).
Peer Influences:
Peer influence can have a positive impact on moral development when the peer group
has a strong moral value that is followed by every member. Peer influence can also help in
the development of interpersonal relations and sense of empathy towards others which can
also foster moral development (Cox et al., 2017). Peer influence can also have a negative
influence when it promotes immoral behavior in the group, thereby setting up wrong moral
standards/codes (Breakwell&Beardsell, 2016).
Concrete Rules:

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Concrete rules provide children an immutable code of conduct that needs to be
followed by the children under all circumstances. These rules develop a sense of obedience
among the children and help the child to develop moral standards by followingthese fixed
rules or codes of conduct. The concrete rules can also be an emotional stressor when the
children are unable to follow them successfully and rules set on weak moral values can
significantly hamper the moral development of the child (Abdel-Aty&Plumert, 2016)
Negotiated/Self-Guided Rules
Negotiated or self-guided rules can help a child develop his/her own set of moral
standards and codes and therefore provide the children flexibility in their behavior. Since
these codes are developed through observation of others, these rules can be both facilitate as
well as challemge the development of moral standards based on the moral standards of others
(Schuck et al., 2019).
Social Constructs and Environmental Conditions:
Social constructs and environmental conditions can provide guidance to a child on
moral behaviors. When social constructs offers a positive normative influence, it facilitates
moral development, while if these constructs are immoral in nature, it can challenge the
moral development in the child (Cameron et al., 2015; Fish, 2017).
Part B:
Reply to Christian’s post:
I agree to the Christian’s argument that morality starts developing from birth in a
child when the child experiences love and support from people around them and when they
form attachments with others. This view is supported through the attachment theory and

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shows how the environment and people in the social circles are important for the
development of morality in the child.
Reply to Nicole’s post
I also agree with Nicole’s point of view that parents are important role models for the
children from whom they can observe and learn important behavior and moral standards. It is
also correct that peer influence also can have a normative influence on the child and have
have a positive or negative effect depending in the circle of friends.

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Discussion 5: Dove Beauty Campaign
Part A:
I believe that my peers were correct that advertisements such as the ones used by
Dove are deceitful for the consumers and propagates a negative body image by highlighting
specific features as attractive and others as ugly. However, I feel that the overall impact of
such deceitful campaign strategy is an adverse one on the self-esteem of several women who
lack thefeatures deemed beautiful in these advertisements such as skin complexity. Although
it is true that the advertisements are in themselves also a reflection of our own perceptions,
which companies like Dove use to influence the behavior of the consumers strategically and
attracting customers with the false premise that they can enhance their beauty through their
products. It should also be noted that these advertisements also reinforces negative body
image as an ulterior motive to encourage customers to use their products and only focuses on
making few women who has desirable features to feel good about themselves.
In order to overcome such stereotyping of what can be considered as beautiful, it is
necessary that the consumers themselves develops awareness and confidence about their own
body and therefore a positive body image which cannot be easily influenced by what is
shown on the popular media and beauty product advertisements (Honka et al., 2017; Zandstra
et al., 2016).
Part B:
I do not agree to the comment made by Hayley H0 MO in that the campaign does not
promote positive body image among women but does just the opposite to that. The glorified
advertisements showing flawless skin of attractive models only creates a sense of
despondence among many audiences.