ABSTRACT
The development of the self-concept from birth to late adolescence is one which, following the basic learning stage is characterised by a shift from an awareness of external physical factors and observable behaviours to an interior self concerned with psychological processes, internal values and a growing personal life philosophy. The child's self-concept passes through three main stages: existential or primitive self, exterior self, and interior self. S. A. Coopersmith reported studies on self-esteem with a sample of pre-adolescent children, comprising 1747 ten-year-olds, utilising a 58-item self-report inventory, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, together with a Behaviour Rating Form for use by observers in identifying children who exhibit different levels of self-esteem in their behaviour. Parents of children with high self-esteem were twice as likely to be firm and decisive as parents of low self-esteem children yet were also more concerned, accepting and less severe in punishment.
