Self-concept development in the toddler years

This study was designed to determine groupings of behaviors associated with self-concept development in toddlers and the sequence in which groups of behaviors appear. Mothers of 123 toddlers of ages 14 to 40 months reported on the presence of 25 behaviors associated with the self. A factor analysis and a Guttman Scale analysis suggested the following sequence in behaviors: (a) physical self-recognition, (b) self-description (both neutral and evaluative), and (c) emotional responses to wrongdoing.