Jerry Vaughn 

Professor Silverstein 

TA: Awab Shawkat 

Psy 102000 (D8) 

03/17/2022 

Using Developmental Psychology to Analyze My Girlfriend’s Problem 

Problems are something we all face in life, and from those problems, we grow or solve them thanks to developmental psychology. Development psychology is the study of human growth and development throughout their life. These types of developmental growth include physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and several more. Developmental psychology can be used to explain our thought processes and growth throughout our lifespan. So, when we deal with an issue or problem in our life, we can look back at the concepts of developmental psychology. In this paper, I will be looking at how my girlfriend deals with her problem and apply 3 specific concepts of developmental psychology to see how she deals with said problem. The problem I would like to look at is her relationship with her family and how it affects her, then I would like to apply gender schema, egocentrism, and autonomy vs shame and doubt as my concepts. 

Erika Aguila, my girlfriend who is 17 and currently in her junior year of high school, was born on the island of Cuba. She is currently thinking of pursuing a path in entrepreneurship. She moved to America at the age of 8 to Las Vegas and when she was 12, she moved to the Bronx. She recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee along with her father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. She is planning to move back to NYC to attend Baruch College. Her problem derives from her family and how they were raised. Erika, despite being old enough and having reasons to go out, is not allowed as often or at all most of the time by her parents. So, she ends up staying home instead of going out to work, doing extracurricular activities, and hanging out with friends. Her brother does not have this issue as her parents are more biased towards him because of his gender as they believe he should have more privilege than her because of the way her parents were raised. This leads her to feel lonely and frustrated about always being in the house, and to make matters worse, it is hard for her parents to listen to how she feels. Developmental psychology can explain the problem at hand.  

The first concept being applied to the problem Erika is facing is a schema, specifically, a gender schema. Gender schema is a cognitive theory that categorizes certain characteristics to a specific gender. Children can be exposed to this schema and then formulate their own gender schemas based on what they see in their culture. This ties back to Erika’s parents who believe that the man has more power and should have more freedom than the women of the household who should be cleaning or tending to the men of the household. She thought it was a normal occurrence in other households until her friends and I told her about how our family treats us. There is not much Erika can do to combat this schema, but she is talking with her mom as she is better understanding than her father and occasionally her brother. More recently, her mother is talking to her dad and explaining to him how she should be out more along with her sister-in-law, and her dad is starting to cave in more but not fully. To fight a schema like this, cultures need to properly instruct the children of the next generation on a healthier gender schema to avoid toxic gender schemas like this.  

The next concept of development psychology to explain Erika’s issue is egocentrism. Egocentrism is a cognitive behavior where the individual thinks that the world revolves around them and in turn, their perspective is that everyone should think like them. This behavior is normal in children as they do not fully understand the concept of different perspectives but, this is abnormal and dangerous behavior if found in adults. Egocentrism is commonly found in children in the preoperational stages of development (2 years old – 7 years old). Erika does not fit in with this stage of development as she is aware and mindful of the world around her. Her father, however, can be accounted for egocentrism. Her father is not mindful of Erika or her mother as he barely lets them out as he believes he is always right no matter the situation or what they say. They usually must ask Erika’s brother to vouch for them or beg him on their own to let them go out or go somewhere. This results in Erika and her mother constantly getting in arguments with her father over wanting to go out together, buying clothes, and getting a job. It is hard for Erika to deal with this as her father does not want to listen to anybody but himself and occasionally Erika’s brother. 

Lastly, to use developmental psychology to explain Erika’s problems, I will be applying the concept of autonomy vs shame and doubt. Autonomy vs shame and doubt is the second stage of Erikson’s stages of psychological development. This is the stage where young children between the ages of 18 months (about 1 and a half years) to 3 years old will try to become more independent from their parents. Shame and doubt are defined as self-conscious emotions displayed when someone believes that an action was dishonorable or shameful. Erika and her father have a role to play in this stage of psychological development despite the age. Erika is an independent person and tries to be as much as possible, but it is constantly hindered by her father who does not allow her to be independent as she should. Her father does not want her to work and instead wants her to depend on them for money, rides, and whatever else she needs. Even when she was younger, her father played a strict role in her life where she was limited in what she could wear, eat, say, and do. As she got older and gained weight, and her father’s remarks comparing her to her younger self, it made her receive low self-esteem and gave her a tough time expressing herself not only in independence but also in her own words. Recently, she has been talking to her mother and I so she can express how she feels and how to cope. Along with that, her mother, brother, and sister-in-law are trying to help her become independent by finding her a job and a driver’s license. She is still currently dealing with the remarks from her father, but she is still finding her way to independence. 

In conclusion, development psychology plays a significant role in our lives. It plays a role in how we develop our minds and bodies, grow, and solve our problems. As seen in the paragraphs before, my girlfriend is going through a rough time with family and these problems she faces can all be traced back to various concepts of developmental psychology such as gender schemas, egocentrism, and autonomy vs shame and doubt. This case can be used as an example to help others who have issues. Developmental psychology has a wide array of concepts used to provide support for others such as once they know what the root cause may be. Just like Erika, they can establish a probable cause and solution to the situation they are in. Development psychology is more than just a study, but a guideline for proper growth and development.