아동의 성격 특질에 대한 이해 발달：특질 추론과 상황적, 시간적 안정성을 중심으로 = Children's understanding of personality traits：with focus on trait inference and situational and temporal stability

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examined 3- to 7-year-old children's understanding of personality traits in three domains: trait identification, prediction of other's behavioral response, and beliefs about the stability of trait. A total of 79 children's responses(Male, Ns = 36, Female, Ns = 43) were used for the analysis. Each child heard 12 stories describing six contrasting pairs of traits and had to answer three questions about each trait. The results of this study are as follows; first, children from 3 years could identify the trait term from target person's past behavioral information. Second, children from 4 years made different behavioral prediction in the same situation for target persons with different trait. Third, children from age 3 to 7 believed that negative trait would be change in a positive direction. These results indicate that preschoolers have ability to understand personality trait as a causal mediator of one's behavior. Also children from age 3 to 7 are instrumental-incremental theorists believing that personality traits are relatively malleable.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 연구는 아동의 성격 특질에 대한 이해의 발달적 변화를 세 가지 측면에서 검토했다. 첫째, 일련의 행동 정보를 토대로 대상의 특질을 추론하는 능력의 발달적 변화를 살펴보았다. 둘째, 특질을 통해 대상의 미래 행동을 예측하는 능력의 발달적 변화를 검토했다. 셋째, 아동이 특질을 고정된 실체로 이해하는지 아니면 변화가능하다고 생각하는지의 특질 안정성 믿음을 검토했다. 연구 대상은 만 3세, 4세, 5세, 7세 아동 총 79명(남자 36명, 여자 43명)이었다. 총 12개의 긍정적, 부정적 특질을 지닌 주인공에 대한 시나리오를 작성하여 실험을 실시했다. 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 특질 추론 능력은 3세에 우연수준을 넘어서 7세가 되면 거의 완벽한 수준으로 발달했다. 둘째, 행동 예측 능력은 4세에 처음 우연수준을 넘었으며 연령이 증가할수록 수행이 향상됐다. 셋째, 3세에서 7세까지의 아동은 특질이 바람에 의해서 변화될 수 있다는 믿음을 갖고 있었다. 이러한 결과는 특질 이해 능력이 학령전기에 발달하기 시작하지만 그 이후에도 꾸준히 발달하며, 어린 아동들은 특질이 가변적이라는 ‘증대 이론’을 갖고 있음을 시사한다.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 "한국인의 성공의식과 귀인양식: 토착심리학적 접근" 12 : 96-126, 1998

2 "한국 학생의 귀인양식: 초 중 고 대학생의 비교" 11 : 71-98, 1997

3 "Young children's understanding of the psychological causes of behavior" 257-285, 1989

4 "Young children's beliefs about the stability of traits: Protective optimism" 73 : 1408-1430, 2002

5 "The use of trait label in making psychological inferences" 70 (70): 604-619, 1999

6 "The handbook of social psychology" 1969

7 "The development of bases for trait attribution:Children's understanding of traits as causal mechanisms based on desire" 34 : 574-586, 1998

8 "The child's theory of mind" 1990

9 "The adaptive nature of cognitive immaturity" 47 : 46-54, 1992

10 "Responses to open-ended questions versus trait ratings and predictions of future behavior The growth of reflection in children" Academic Press 37-60, 1985

11 "Preschoolers' ability to make dispositional predictions within and across domains" 6 : 53-75, 1997

12 "Perspectives on personality(4th ed)" Allyn & Bacon 2000

13 "Person Perception in Child and Adolescence" 1973

14 "From theory of mind to theory of personality Mental state understanding in 5- to 10-year-olds" University of California 2001

15 "Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture" 51-97, 1989

16 "Early cross-cultural commonalities in social explanation" 22 : 514-520, 1986

17 "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences" 515-526, 1978

18 "Directions in Cognitive Anthropology University of Chicago Press" 321-343, 1985

19 "Developmental changes in the formation and organization of personality attributions" 52 : 683-691, 1981

20 "Developmental changes in attribution of descriptive conceptions to persons" 27 : 120-128, 1973

21 "Culture and the development of everyday social explanation" 46 : 961-978, 1984

22 "Cultural similarities and differences in social inference Evidence from behavioral predictions and lay theories of behavior" 28 : 109-120, 2002

23 "Conceptions of ability and achievement motivation Research in motivation in education" Academic Press 39-73, 1984

24 "Children's use of personality attribution to predict other people's emotional and behavioral reactions" 59 : 743-754, 1988

25 "Children's understanding of dispositional characteristics of others" 55 : 550-560, 1984

26 "Children's thinking about traits:Implications for judgments of the self and others" 64 : 391-403, 1998

27 "Children's theories of intelligence Learning and Motivation in the Classroom" 239-256, 1983

28 "Children's reasoning about norms and traits as motives for behavior" 19 : 401-416, 2004

29 "Children's production and comprehension of trait terms" 10 : 131-142, 1992b

30 "Children's conceptions of ability in major domains" 11-36, 1991

31 "Children's conception of personality trait" 35 : 265-279, 1992a

32 "Beliefs about the origins of human psychological traits" 36 : 663-678, 2000

33 "Acquisition of emotion-descriptive language Receptive and productive vocabulary norms for age 18 months to 6 years" 901-908, 1985

34 "Accuracy and consistency in the development of social perception" 21 : 30-36, 1985

35 "A social- cognitive approach to motivation and personality" 95 : 256-273, 1988