(which in turn is the theorist's formulation of the person). As in the familar hyphenated contexts just noted, the term "selfhood" focuses on the reflexive aspects of being a person, those that follow from characteristically human self-awareness. "Self' is substantively synonymous with person, with connotations that emphasize these reflexive aspects. Among the aspects of selfhood that seemed to merit examination from a life-course perspective were: (I) the emergence and transformation of selfunderstanding, including the sense of identity-i.e., the cognitive aspects of selfhood; (2) the emergence and transformation of affective-evaluative responses; and (3) dispositions toward self: self-esteem, shame, guilt, and the entire gamut of emotions and emotional dispositions. A central phenomenon of selfhood that was delineated and examined in its complex ramifications is the way in which the formulations that people arrive at about themselves via interactive social processes often become actual determinants of their social participation as personswhether active or passive, coping or defensive. A number of relevant theoretical and methodological orientations have been brought to bear upon the emergence and development of selfhood, including: psychological attribution theory, the psychodynamic treatment of competence; symbolic interactionist theory; identity theory; psychoanalytic objectrelations theory and self-theory; "hermeneutic" narrative theory; cross-cultural approaches; cognitive social psychology; sociological labelling theory; and mainstream empirical developmental research, focused primarily on early childhood and adolescence. There has been little mutual exchange or influence across the different traditions. In particular, there has been little interchange between workers at the empirical end of the spectrum and those at the more clinical end. The conference was organized to foster communication across as many perspectives as could be fruitfully brought together in a two-day conference.
A life-course approach was considered useful in encouraging such interchange among approaches and in encouraging a specific developmental and contextual orientation where it has been lacking. A life-course approach brings to bear a recurring concern with aspects of continuity and change during the development and maintenance of self-understanding and of basic attitudes toward self and the world, especially the concern with transitions and with the impact of nonnormative life events. The program consisted of the following sessions and presentations: 78
Alternative Integrative Formulations Kurt Fischer, "The Development of Skills Regarding the Self " Hazel Markus, "Possible Selves: The Relation Between Motivation and the Self-Concept" John Meyer. "The Social Construction of the SeW'
Discussanl : Dale Miller
Infancy and Childhood Michael Lewis, "The Rol e of the Self in Emotional Development" James Connell, "Self¡ Regulation as a Life-Span Process"
Adolescence Jack Block , "Antecedents of Self Esteem <'Ind Aspects of the Self. Concept in Adolescence"
Richard Lerner, "On the Lore and Laws of Adolescence: The Self, Social Context, and Synthesis"
Robert Kegan, "The Child Behind the Mask: Sociopathy as Developmental Delay"
Discussant: Nancy Chodorow Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Perspectives Richard A. Shweder, "Cross-Cultural Study and the Interpretation of 'Otherness' " Janusz Reykowski, "Social Motivation and the SelP'
CLosing Discussants: Judith Dunn , M. Brewster Smith, and Orville G. Brim, Jr.
The participants included: Paul B. Baltes
Jack Block
Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education (Berlin) University of California,
Lila Braine
Barnard College
Onlille G. Brim, Jr.
Russell Sage Foundation
Nancy J. Chodorow
University of California, Santa Cruz University of Rochester Stanford University Cambridge University
Berkeley (CASBS,* 198!;"'86) (I 9S!;'"S6)
James P. Connell Sanford Dornbusch
Judith Dunn
(CASBS, 198!;"'S6) Glen H. Elder, Jr. David L. Featherman Kurt W. Fischer Per Gjerde
University University University University
of of of of
North Carolind Wisconsin Denver California,
Anita Greene
West Virginia University
Albert H. Hastorf E. Mavis Hetherington Kathryne Jacobs
Stanford University University of Virginia University of Maryland
Robert Kegan
Harvard Graduate School of Education Stanford University
Berkeley (CASBS, 198!;"'86)
Medical School
Herbert Leiderman
â&#x20AC;˘ Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. VOLUME
39,
NUMBER
4