Self, Identity and Well-Being

Abstract

This chapter describes a meaningful life as central to the concept of the self, as articulated by children. We discuss concepts of self-identity that children foreground in discussing well-being—the moral self, the purposeful self and the authentic self—and outline the social contexts that children prioritise as important to the presentation and development of their sense of self. We present a child standpoint in terms of the sociality children experience in both intergenerational and intragenerational relations. We discuss how these relations pertain to the presentation of the self by children, in the intimate sphere of family, in friendships and in cultural practices. We also describe the significance children attach to private space for processing the meanings self has for them as individuals.