Stability and Change in Children's Self-Understanding

Self-concept research assumes a construct with some core empirical stability. Yet within social psychology there is a long-standing and unresolved debate about whether the self-conceptions of individuals are indeed stable over time and context. In fact, extreme but currently influential positions have maintained that self-concept is nothing more than an ephemeral epiphenomenon, and social-psychological research has yet to provide a definitive answer to such claims. We argue that conceptual and methodological approaches from the developmental tradition can inform this debate and provide critical data in support of stability. Through the developmental focus on behavioral organization and orderly change, stability may be found in the midst of flux; and developmental research techniques such as the clinical interview help sharpen this focus. In support of these arguments, we present longitudinal data from a 5-year study on self-understanding in children and adolescents. These data show the regular and predictable nature of self-concept transformations during the ages of 4 through 18. This offers self-concept researchers who are willing to assume a developmental perspective a long-term stability of sorts. Such stability, however, should not be confused with absolute behavioral constancy, which is practically nonexistent over the course of development.