Who Am I? A Longitudinal Investigation of the Multidimensional Self

Abstract

Cross‐sectional research employing the mirror mark test of self‐recognition has dominated research focused on the development of self‐reflection in children. However, the mirror mark test may fail to capture the complexity of self as a social object, and the developmental antecedents and consequences of self‐reflection remain largely uncharted. Here, we provide an overview of the extant longitudinal data on mirror self‐recognition and present our own longitudinal findings based on a multidimensional parent‐report measure of children's self‐development. Offering a snapshot of development over 3 months for 74 children aged between 14 and 36 months, and mirroring extant longitudinal data for mirror self‐recognition, our results suggest that increases in self‐reflection are longitudinally related to developments in pretend play, prosocial behaviour, imitation and declarative pointing. However, although baseline self‐reflection was statistically predictive of children's prosocial behaviour at follow‐up, no strong developmental predictor of self‐reflection emerged. We conclude that more longitudinal research, moving beyond or supplementing mirror self‐recognition, is needed to identify the cognitive and social precursors of self‐reflection. Nevertheless, growth in ‘moral’ behaviour emerges as a significant developmental consequence of this capacity in a western sample. Further research is needed to explore cultural variability in developmental pathways to and from self‐reflection.