Self and Story in Early Childhood

Volume 3 of The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Seventh Edition, is a definitive resource on social, emotional, and personality development across the lifespan. It provides a comprehensive synthesis of theory, research, and application, emphasizing that any individual process—whether emotional regulation, social behavior, or personality formation—interacts dynamically with a broad array of other developmental processes. By situating development within its sociocultural and historical context, this volume highlights how individuals grow within families, communities, and larger societal systems.

Key Features

• Interrelated developmental processes: Explores how social, emotional, and personality functions are interwoven and influenced by multiple co-occurring processes.
• Individual and contextual influences: Covers the roles of culture, family, socioeconomic factors, and historical context in shaping personality, morality, spirituality, aggression, motivation, gender, sexuality, and social engagement.
• Comprehensive scholarship: Integrates cutting-edge research across psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and anthropology to provide a holistic view of human development.
• Applied relevance: Offers insights for educators, policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers on supporting optimal development in diverse populations.
• Paradigm shift in developmental science: Reflects the field’s growing ability to describe, explain, and improve human development trajectories within complex social and environmental contexts.